Now, Voyager

Synopsis: Overweight Boston spinster Charlotte is a repressed, self-esteemless woman completely dominated by her wealthy mother, Mrs. Henry Vale. When her sister-in-law Lisa Vale brings her friend Dr. Jaquith, a renowned psychiatrist, to visit Charlotte, he invites her to spend some time in his sanitarium. Soon Charlotte transforms into a sophisticated, confident woman and takes a cruise to South America. She meets married architect Jerry Durrance and they have a love affair in Rio de Janeiro. Six months later she returns home and confronts her mother with her independence. One day they have an argument and her mother has a heart attack and dies. Charlotte inherits the Vale fortune but feels guilty for her mother's death. She decides to return to Dr. Jaquith's sanitarium, where she befriends Jerry's 12-year-old daughter Tina, who has been rejected by her mother. Charlotte takes Tina home to Boston with her and one day Jerry brings Dr. Jaquith to visit them there.
Genre: Drama, Romance
Director(s): Irving Rapper
Production: MGM Home Entertainment
  Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.
 
IMDB:
8.0
Rotten Tomatoes:
91%
APPROVED
Year:
1942
117 min
1,952 Views


She's coming down.

William!

- Yes, ma'am?

- Has my daughter-in-law telephoned?

Mrs. Lisa phoned.

She'll be here at 4:00.

It's 4 now. We'll pour tea

in the drawing room.

Very good, ma'am.

Mrs. Lisa is bringing someone.

- Show them in here.

- Very good.

Tell Miss Charlotte

to be down in 10 minutes.

How often must I tell you not to have

the table here now?

Sorry, ma'am.

What's that noise?

Whoever is doing that

will kindly stop.

- Whoever said that...

- Yes, that's Mother.

I'll go smooth the path.

Messy things, pipes. I like them.

- Your coat, sir.

- Oh, yes, yes.

Thank you.

- This way, please.

- Thank you.

There can be no harm

in talking. I thought...

Dr. Jaquith, my mother-in-law,

Mrs. Henry Windle Vale.

- How do you do?

- I will not pretend...

...that I approve of you.

My daughter Charlotte is no more ill

than a molting canary.

That's what we hope he will confirm.

Mother's disapproval isn't personal.

- Please sit down.

- Thank you.

The last doctor I consulted

warned me my heart would finish me.

The fact I've outlived him has

not increased my trust of doctors.

A highly sensible reaction.

Please try to relax

your grim disapproval...

...with this doctor.

We're honored by the visit of

the country's foremost psychiatrist.

It was pretty sweet of him

to come from New York to Boston.

He doesn't go to people.

They go to him.

Wouldn't hurt if you added that's

from lack of time, not vanity.

And, Mother, before I forget it...

...don't call him

Dr. Jaquith near Charlotte.

That's his name.

Yes, but forget the "doctor."

Make it "mister."

She'll shut up like a clam

if she thinks we're examining her.

So please try to cooperate.

I've already sent for her.

My little girl will be here directly.

Miss Charlotte.

Your mother's waiting

in the drawing room.

Is it facts about my daughter

you want?

- Anything interesting.

- Charlotte was a late child.

There were three boys.

After a while, this girl.

"Child of my old age," I call her.

I was well into my 40s.

Her father died

soon after she was born.

My ugly duckling.

All late children are marked.

Often such children aren't wanted.

I've kept her close always.

When she was young,

I made decisions for her.

Always the right decisions.

A child should wish

to repay a mother's kindness.

There you are, Charlotte.

I'm so glad to see you.

Hello, dear.

This is my very good friend,

Mr. Jaquith.

I ran into him

and brought him by for tea.

I hoped you and Mother

would be pleased.

How do you do?

Well?

Has the cat got your tongue?

I apologize for my daughter's

bad manners, doctor.

Mother, please!

I will not deceive

my own flesh and blood.

Nor will I approve her nonsense.

Lisa says that your peculiarities...

...your crying, your secretiveness...

...indicate the verge

of a nervous breakdown.

Is that what you're trying to achieve?

Believe me, I'm trying to help.

Dr. Jaquith has a sanitarium.

In Vermont.

Probably one of those places

with yowling inmates.

I wouldn't want anyone

to have that notion.

Cascade is where people go

when they're tired.

Like you go to the seashore.

The very word "psychiatry"...

Doesn't it fill you with shame?

A member of our family?

There's nothing shameful

or frightening about it.

It's simple, what I do.

People come to a fork in the road.

They don't know which way to go.

I put up a signpost:

"Not that way. This way."

Really, Mother.

Excuse me. Miss Vale?

I wonder if I might ask you a favor.

Would you show me this house?

One doesn't often get the chance.

I had a look at the downstairs

when I came in.

There's nothing

like these Boston homes.

Here on Marlborough Street,

they stand like bastions.

Firm, proud, resisting the new.

Houses turned in, hugging their pride.

- Introverted, doctor.

- I wouldn't know about that.

I don't believe in scientific terms.

I leave that to fakirs and writers.

That's the room where I was born.

- My mother's.

- Fine room.

Do you think so?

I'd prefer to see your room.

- I'm not your patient yet.

- Nobody thinks you ever will be.

I've seen the rooms of many people.

Of course, if you don't want to...

It's on the floor above.

When I was 17,

I came in once after midnight.

That tread hasn't been fixed since.

She locks her door.

Make a note of it.

Significant, isn't it?

It signifies that it's your door.

A woman's home is her castle.

My castle, doctor.

This was built to last a lifetime.

Solid.

Enduring and inescapable.

Are you comfortable here?

I try to be. I'm here most of the time.

Why, what's this?

Did you do these?

Why shouldn't I?

The point is how you could.

They're professional.

Do you mind if I look?

No, I don't mind.

They aren't difficult. I get raw ivory.

I have the tools.

It's just a matter of the doing.

And the skill!

This is very good detail.

I admire people who are clever

with their hands. I'm clumsy.

I thought you were the least

clumsy person I'd ever met.

This is excellent!

You may have one.

- May I? Any one?

- Of course.

All except this one.

While I worked on it,

my mother sent for me.

My chisel slipped.

- A pity to ruin such a nice box.

- Yes.

- I'll get something to wrap it in.

- No.

Any old piece of paper will do.

Do you happen to have a cigarette?

I left my tobacco in my coat.

Do you think I hide cigarettes

in my room?

Where do I hide them?

Behind the books?

Cigarettes and books

my mother won't let me read?

A secret life hidden

behind a locked door?

- It was the box that reminded me.

- How very perceiving you are.

How very right you are.

I was about to hide this album.

You should read it.

It's a shame to miss your amusement.

The intimate journal

of Miss Vale, spinster.

Can I convince you

I don't wish to pry?

You must pry. I insist you do.

Nothing to frighten you.

A few snapshots, a memento.

A record of my trip up the coast

of Africa with my mother.

There's a picture of our ship.

You wouldn't have known me then.

I was 20.

Oh, I say.

That was a scorcher.

Leslie, you act so funny.

Do I?

- I thought men didn't like prudes.

- You're gorgeous, Charlotte.

Give us another.

There's the first mate.

There's always lots of work

before we dock.

- Are you going ashore?

- Are we, pet?

If I can't go, you won't, will you?

- Even if that girl from New York does?

- Not likely.

There's nothing like you in Africa.

There he is again. I'd better go.

- Leslie.

- Yes?

Come here.

Darling. Dearest darling.

I had read that in novels.

About men not liking prudes.

That's all I had to go by, novels.

Leslie said he'd rather have me...

...than any girl. I was so responsive.

The others were like schoolgirls

compared to my lovemaking.

Where are your glasses?

They're in my bag.

They're so unattractive.

- Other girls don't...

- Put them on.

What's that book?

Marconi. Wireless. I'm studying it.

- From whom are you learning this?

- Mr. Trotter lent me the book.

- You mean the wireless officer?

Rate this script:3.5 / 2 votes

Casey Robinson

Kenneth Casey Robinson (October 17, 1903 – December 6, 1979) was an American producer and director of mostly B movies and a screenwriter responsible for some of Bette Davis' most revered films. Film critic Richard Corliss once described him as "the master of the art – or craft – of adaptation." more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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