Now, Voyager (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Nervous spinster Charlotte Vale (Bette Davis) is stunted from growing up under the heel of her puritanical Boston Brahmin mother (Gladys Cooper), and remains convinced of her own unworthiness until a kindly psychiatrist (Claude Rains) gives her the confidence to venture out into the world on a South American cruise. Onboard, she finds her footing with the help of an unhappily married man (Paul Henreid). Their thwarted love affair may help Charlotte break free of her mother’s grip—but will she find fulfillment as well as independence? Made at the height of Davis’s reign as the queen of the women’s picture and bolstered by an Oscar-winning Max Steiner score, Now, Voyager is a melodrama for the ages, both a rapturous Hollywood romance and a poignant saga of self-discovery. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES • New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack • Episode of The Dick Cavett Show from 1971 with actor Bette Davis • Interview with Paul Henreid from 1980 • Selected-scene commentary on the film’s score by professor Jeff Smith • New interview with film critic Farran Smith Nehme on the making of the film • New interview with costume historian Larry McQueen • Two radio adaptations from 1943 and 1946 • PLUS: An essay by scholar Patricia White and a 1937 reflection on acting by Davis