starring Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
directed by Irving Rapper
117 minutes
Charlotte Vale (Bette Davis) is sent on a trip to South America by her family. Dr. Jaquith (Claude Rains) recommended it. It is a transformative experience for Charlotte. She spends a lot of time in the company of Jerry Durrance (Paul Henreid) during the trip. He is a married man traveling alone. He helps her to come out of her shell.
Charlotte returns home after the trip a changed woman. She enjoys her life and no longer lets her mother push her around. She gets engaged to Elliot Livingston but later breaks that off when she realizes that she still carries a torch for Jerry and doesn't really want to be the sort of wife that Elliot wants.
Charlotte's mother dies suddenly in the middle of an argument with Charlotte over her decision to break off her engagement to Elliot. Charlotte inherits most of her mother's money but is depressed over the loss of her mother, despite the state of their relationship at the time.
Charlotte checks herself into a sanitarium. She spent some time at the sanitarium, under Dr. Jaquith's supervision, before her trip to South America. There she meets Tina, Jerry's daughter, who is in considerably worse shape that Charlotte. She singlehandedly takes charge of Tina's care, with Dr. Jaquith's permission.
Charlotte's relationship with Tina brings her back in contact with Jerry who is still married. She accepts that they cannot be together and yet still wants to help Tina by giving her the love that Tina's mother cannot.
Thoughts
The title of the movie is a reference to a line from Walt Whitman poem.
This was my first time seeing this movie. I was very impressed by it. Bette Davis was once again excellent and, as with Dark Victory (1939), she also earned an Academy Award nomination (but did win the award) for this performance. Katherine Hepburn was nominated that same year for Woman of the Year (1942) but they bother lost out to Greer Garson who won for her role in Mrs. Miniver.
Gladys Cooper (who played Charlotte's mother) was nominated for an Academy Award but did not win. Teresa Wright won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress that year for her role in Mrs. Miniver.
The only Academy Award that the movie did win (and the only other one that it was nominated for) was for Best Music. The Award went to composer Max Steiner. It was the second of three Academy Awards that he won. He was nominated a total of 24 times from 1935 to 1956, sometimes earning more than one nomination in the same year. There were just two years (1938, 1952) in that 22 year span that he was not nominated for at least one Academy Award.
Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains also co-starred together in Deception (1946) which was also directed by Irving Rapper.
I can see how some people might see Charlotte's efforts to help Tina as a way to win over Jerry but I did not. Charlotte saw a kindred spirit in Tina and felt the need to help her in a way that she had not been helped at that age. This was the part of the movie that moved me the most.
I really wasn't sure where the movie was going when it started. I did not foresee all the twists and turns in the plot or the emotional journey that Charlotte would take before the end of the movie. This movie probably isn't made for everyone but I really enjoyed it and I am glad that I went to see it.
I saw this movie at the AFI Silver Theater. It was part of the American Film Institute's celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Warner Bros. See also AFI - Warner Bros Centennial for more films that I saw as part of this program.
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