Now, Voyager (1942)

Bette Davis, Claude Rains, Paul Henreid

I've been on an old movie kick, lately, and I'm liking it okay so far.

Now, Voyager is the story of repressed spinster Charlotte Vale. She was the child of her mother's old age, and her mother was a domineering and strict disciplinarian. As a result, Charlotte is ill-adjusted and socially awkward.

A psychiatrist is brought in to help her (played by the excellent Claude Rains, who you may recognize from Casablanca) and he recommends that she be removed from under the thumb of her mother.

Under his care, she begins to flourish a little, but it isn't until she's sent on a cruise on her own that she truly comes into her own. I sure to do love me an ugly duckling story, so that part was fun times for me!

But, on the cruise, she meets a man, Jerry, trapped in an unhappy marriage (played by Paul Henreid, who you may also recognize from Casablanca). The two hit it off and end up falling in love (adultery, BOOOOOO!!! ).

But, despite the adultery, I can still feel for poor Charlotte, who must now do her best to forget about Jerry, since their romance is doomed.

Charlotte is a new creature, confident and graceful. But she still longs for Jerry. She fights with her mother over breaking off her engagement to another man over this, and her mother dies.

Traumatized, Charlotte returns to the Cascades (the mental health retreat where she first began to come into her own). But she finds a young girl there who reminds her of herself when she first came to the Cascades. The girl turns out to be Tina, Jerry's daughter.

Through helping Tina, Charlotte finds purpose in her own life. Although she can't be with Jerry, she still feels connected to him.

It was a sweet movie and, if you don't mind the adultery, you might enjoy the romantic aspect of it. For me, it was the plight of girls like Charlotte and Tina that touched me. I was a bit of an ugly duckling myself.