Now, Voyager (1942) (NTSC)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Main Menu Audio Biographies-Cast-Bette Davis Listing-Cast & Crew Audio-Only Track-Scoring Session Musical Cues (6) Theatrical Trailer Awards
Rating
Year Of Production	1942
Running Time	117:28
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,4	Directed By	Irving Rapper
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Bette Davis Paul Henreid Claude Rains Gladys Cooper Bonita Granville John Loder Ilka Chase Lee Patrick Franklin Pangborn
Case	?
RPI	$34.95	Music	Max Steiner

    Now, Voyager is the story of one woman's struggle to overcome mental illness and lead a normal and fulfilling life.

    Charlotte Vale (Bette Davis) is the only daughter in a successful Boston family. Charlotte has grown up under the influence of her domineering mother who has made all her decisions and controlled all aspects of her life. When she suffers a nervous breakdown, Charlotte is sent away to a country retreat to recover and it is here that she is finally able to begin to establish her own identity. After leaving the country retreat, Charlotte sets out on a South American cruise and meets Jeremiah Duveaux Durrance (Paul Henreid), a married man with two daughters. As their time together progresses, Charlotte forms an intimate relationship with Jeremiah and one of his daughters whose life closely parallels her own.

    This movie is considered by many to be one of the best films ever made by Bette Davis and after viewing it it becomes clear why. This is an interesting story, adapted from a novel by Olive Higgins Prouty, with a well-written script and excellent performances. If you are a fan of Bette Davis or classic movies in general you should definitely take a look at Now Voyager.

Video

    The full frame NTSC transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

    The transfer is extremely sharp throughout and always displays a high level of detail. As with most high quality black and white transfers, the shadow detail displayed is excellent with very high levels of detail visible in the darker sections of the image. No low level noise was detected during the transfer.

    This is a black and white transfer and the image displays a uniform greyscale throughout with no colouration present at any time.

    A small number of Gibbs artefacts may be seen around hand written text displayed at 36:45. This only lasts for a very short period and is not distracting to the viewer. Some minor aliasing is present throughout the transfer, such as at 1:58, 4:55, 7:11, 8:00 and 11:50.

    Considering the age of this film, very few film artefacts are present. Some may be seen at 3:38, 9:42, 22:24, 27:33 and 63:48 but are all very minor. An obvious use of stock footage may be seen at 40:15 which does contain a high number of film artefacts but it is only of short duration.

    A hair may be seen at 36:24 but only appears for a few seconds.

    Four sets of subtitles are included on this disc. I extensively sampled the English stream and found them to be consistently accurate at all times. A set of English closed captions is also provided for the transfer.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The dialogue is clear and easy to understand at all times. No dropouts or problems with audio sync were detected at any time during the transfer.

    The score by Max Steiner won the 1942 Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Comedy or Dramatic Picture. This score makes its presence felt throughout and its orchestral tracks are very typical of Max Steiner's work of the time.

    The surround and subwoofer channels were not utilised by this soundtrack.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The non-animated menu is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

Cast and Crew

    This is a single page listing the main cast and crew members. A short three page biography and select filmography for Bette Davis is also provided.

Scoring Session Music Cues

    This is a collection of musical segments from the film's score presented as a Dolby Digital 2.0 track. The following musical segments are provided:

• Medley Of Themes: Flowers, Charlotte, Clash (4:30)
• Medley Of Themes: Moody, Persuasion, Ivory Box, Doctor, Room (0:49)
• Charlotte weaving at Cascade (2:47)
• Medley Of Themes: Fragmentary, Tina, Moody, Jerry (2:28)
• Medley Of Themes: Charlotte, Doctor, Parting, Yankee Doodle (1:10)
• Medley Of Themes: Flowers, Charlotte (3:57)

Trailer (2:15)

    The theatrical trailer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Awards

    This is a single page stating that the film won the Academy Award for Best Score for a Drama or Comedy in 1942.

    This is the identical disc as released previously in Region 1.

    Now, Voyager is an enjoyable classic movie that is justifiably considered one of Bette Davis's best films.

    Considering the age of the film, the video transfer presented is of excellent quality.

    The mono soundtrack is adequate and reflects the age of the film.

    The minimal extras are a little disappointing and would have been improved by the inclusion of an expanded collection of biographies and filmographies.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall