A waste of 90 minutes of my life

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

I'm not going to be repetitive here. If you want to know about the plot, there is a summary on the first screen.What's amazing about this film is the chemistry between Paul Henreid and Bette Davis, and the sexual sparks fly off the screen.Davis, a unique-looking actress, looked sleek as a cat in this film. No actress ever had such a feline way of walking as Davis did. Her wardrobe was designed by the legendary Orry Kelly, who won an Oscar for the exquisite gowns Davis wore in the film.Henreid was never so smoulderingly sexy as he was in this film. The classic cigarette-lighting scenes set the screen on fire.A story of love, passion and self discovery, this is a classic film and a must-see. Now go do it.

. . . but it certainly qualifies as the most fabulous effort to get young teens hooked on Cancer--I mean, addicted to cigarettes (a.k.a., "coffin nails")--ever to hit the Big Screen. I doubt very much that novelist Olive Higgins Prouty dashed off a tale about cool lovers lighting up Kools, Old Golds, Chesterfields, Pall Malls, Winstons, Kents, Camels, etc., after deciding that turning their windpipes into blackened chimneys was the most nurturing thing that they could possibly do with their affections. Of course, Big Tobacco was not bribing Ms. Prouty with untold billions of off-the-books cash, as they did with the Hollywood moguls for decades. If you cut the smoking scenes from NOW, VOYAGER, you'd be left with a much shorter flick constituting an incoherent mess. NOW, VOYAGER was released during WWII, which invites comparison to another propaganda masterpiece deserving a rating of "10," since it also was extremely effective in getting across its single-minded message, the Magnus Opus of Hitler's personal Videographer (Leni Riefenstahl), known here as TRIUMPH OF THE WILL. Even if you blame Mr. Hitler for ALL 100 million WWII deaths, his toll pales in comparison with the more insidious carnage wreaked over the centuries by Big Tobacco. As BT's primary propaganda arm, Hollywood could be responsible for the lion's share, including many limbs of MY family tree. NOW, VOYAGER may have doomed some of YOUR direct ancestors, as well.

The Much Mentioned "Ugly Duckling" Theme Represented in this Film is a bit Misrepresented. The Ugly Duckling was Born Ugly. Physically Different, Anthropomorphically Strange, whereas Bette Davis is Not Physically Ugly or Different, She is Psychologically Scarred and Cannot Present Herself as Normal or Pretty because She is Repressed to the Point of the Ability or Desire to Externally Show Anything Other than that what She has been Told..."You were late and unwanted."Although the Mother is Presented to be Cruel and Unusual and a Tyrant to Her Daughter, the Metamorphosis of the Young Miss Vale is Nothing More than Cosmetic (no plastic surgery) and Interpersonal. The Psychiatry Clinic and the Claude Rains' Doctor is Thankfully Subtle and Restrained for the Era that was Becoming More and More Infatuated with the "Science". The Freudian Mother Complex Finally Peaked in Films with Psycho (1960), but here it is just as Horrifying. The Only Thing that Really "Cured" Charlotte was the Removal from Proximity from Her Excessively Depressing Environment.This was Bette Davis' Biggest Box Office Success and is One of Her Best Remembered Roles and the Movie is Among the Most Popular "Weepies" of All Time. Her Romantic Interlude with Paul Henreid is Remembered and is Consequential to the Story to be Sure, but it Could be Said that the Movie Works so Well and Reaches its Emotional Level because of Charlotte's Natural Love and Mothering of the Twelve Year Old Tina (a warm and heart wrenching performance and character).It is that Sacrifice and Attention Given the Damaged Tina, that Makes Charlotte so Endearing and the Third Act is so Essential to the Plot and Cannot Help but be the Lynchpin to All of the Romantic Ruminations that Came Before. The Final, Oft Quoted Line is Embraced and Celebrated Anytime the Movie is Discussed. It's a Good Line, but it Could Not have Worked so Well without the Uncelebrated Character of Tina, the Little Lost Girl, that Charlotte Vale can...Now, Mother.

what shall i say, it's another legendary performance by the legend Bette Davis. To begin with The first time i heard about miss Davis was in this film, and that was at 2006, and it took my all this years to watch it finally, and i must tell you it was worth it. before i see this Pic i always felt that Bette Davis can only play the hard roles ( even with Dark victory 1939 she was a strong character) but after i saw this one it convinced me that she can play any role u may thinking of including the weak heroine There were moments that made me cry when she was at the train station and the final scene when she refused to kiss her lover even she loved him very much even more than herself. I should also give a special thanks to Miss. Gladys Cooper who played Davis mother, she was really a great at her part ( a very strong character) and with all her scenes she never smiled which is a very important thing to give for the character. Finally i recommend this movie for anyone who wants to see the legend Bette Davis at her peak of both here acting skills and her beauty.