now voyager why ask for the moon

“Now, Voyager”: Why the 1942 screen classic with Bette Davis and Paul Henreid will never age

“Box office dynamite—that’s ‘Now, Voyager’.” Those are the first words of Naka ‘s “Now Voyager” Variety film review, as published August 19, 1942. Continuing in the very same review: ‘Here is drama heavily steeped in the emotional tide that has swept its star, Bette Davis, to her present crest, and it’s the kind of drama that maintains Warners’ pattern for box office success. (…) It affords Miss Davis one of her superlative acting roles, that of a neurotic spinster fighting to free herself from the shackles of a tyrannical mother. (…)  For Henreid, perhaps, this is his top role in American pictures; he neatly dovetails and makes believable the sometimes underplayed character of the man who finds love too late.’

The film tells the story of Boston heiress Charlotte Vale (in the beginning unglamorously portrayed by Bette Davis), a sheltered, frumpy, and middle-aged neurotic who is driven to a nervous breakdown by her domineering mother (Gladys Cooper), but with the help of a soft-spoken idealized therapist (Claude Rains), she is transformed into a modern, secure and attractive young woman. During an ocean voyage to South America, she meets a suave man, Jerry Durrance (Paul Henreid), and blooms as a woman. Durrance, unhappily married to a woman he dares not to hurt, has a young daughter Tina (played by the then twelve-year-old promising juvenile actress Janis Wilson in an uncredited role). She is an emotionally depressed child victimized by the insecurity of their unsettled home. Ultimately, Charlotte Vale and Jerry Durrance end up in a platonic relationship in which she keeps Tina, who in the meantime, is in the process of recovering, while Henreid stays with his unwanted wife.

“Now, Voyager” is an unabashed first-rate soap opera—or a woman’s picture, if you wish—and as such, it’s one of the very best of its kind, thanks to Warner Bros. expertise. At the same time, the powerful drama is backed by Max Steiner’s lush and Academy Award-winning musical score which is almost as much a part of the film as the actors. Bette Davis, one of Hollywood’s queens in the 1940s, made the film’s heroine a touching, dignified, and truly believable woman.

Miss Davis was not the first choice to play the role of Charlotte Vale, though. Irene Dunne, along with Charles Boyer, her co-star in “Love Affair” (1939), were considered to be perfect for the leading roles. Producer Hal B. Wallis also offered the female lead to Norma Shearer, and although she was fond of it, she had already made up her mind to retire from the screen after George Cukor’s “Her Cardboard Lover” (1942), due to her eye problems. When Irene Dunne heard that the script had also been discussed with Norma Shearer, she declined as well, fearing that both actresses were played against each other. Then Ginger Rogers was offered the part. She liked it, but weeks passed by for her to reply, and even after Wallis sent her a wire while she was on her ranch on the Rogue River, she did not respond, so finally the part went to Bette Davis, who was eager to play it.

One of the most famous and landmark scenes of the film is when Paul Henreid lights two cigarettes simultaneously and gallantly hands one of the cigarettes to Bette Davis, thereby starting a new custom (in an era when people obviously weren’t aware of the danger of smoking). The film became highly successful: “Now, Voyager” was Warner Bros.’s fourth biggest grossing film of 1942.

Compared to the then-established two-time Academy Award-winner Bette Davis, Mr. Henreid only had a few years of experience in Hollywood. After leaving Austria in the mid-1930s, he first settled in London and then moved on to the West Coast. So, although pretty much a newcomer in Hollywood when “Now, Voyager” was made, his performance was well-received. The New York Herald Tribune wrote, ‘Paul Henreid achieves his full stature as a romantic star’ while Time praised him as ‘Hollywood’s likeliest leading man who acts like a kind and morally responsible human being.’

In his autobiography “Ladies Man” (1984), Paul Henreid remembers Bette Davis as ‘a solid master of her craft’: “I found her a delight to work with, and we got along famously. In fact, a very close friendship started between us, and she remained a dear, close friend—and always a very decent human being.” The atmosphere on the set was amiable and supportive, although Miss Davis did have problems with her co-star Bonita Granville (who played the part of Charlotte’s young niece June Vale). “She was bitchy in the film and off. I don’t remember the details, but she struck me as flighty and gossipy,” she told Boze Hadleigh in his interview book “Bette Davis Speaks” (1996).

Principal photography of “Now, Voyager” began on the Warner lot on April 7, 1942, and ended on June 23, with retakes on July 3. The film was released in the U.S. on October 31, 1942. “Casablanca,” another Hal B. Wallis production, also starring Paul Henreid and Claude Rains (a frequent performer in Wallis’ pictures), was released a few months later on January 23, 1943, and was almost shot simultaneously at Warner Bros., from May 25 until August 3. Over the years, “Casablanca” gained a more popular following than “Now, Voyager” did; in 1998, a novel entitled “As Times Goes By,” written by Michael Walsh for Warner Books, follows the characters of Rick, Ilsa, Victor (Paul Henreid), Sam, and Louis (Claude Rains) after they left Casablanca.

When originally scheduled to direct “Now, Voyager,” filmmaker Edmund Goulding wrote a treatment for the film, but he fell ill and was unable to direct the film. Michael Curtiz then was assigned as director, as soon as he had finished shooting another Wallis production called “Yankee Doodle Dandy” (1942) with James Cagney. Still, from the very start, it became clear that Curtiz and Bette Davis couldn’t get along. Finally, producer Hal B. Wallis decided to go with a new director, London-born Irving Rapper. “He was a pleasant, amusing Englishman. He liked Bette, and she liked him,” Wallis recalled in “Starmaker,” his 1989 mémoires . Irving Rapper was a vocal coach, dialogue director, and assistant director in the 1930s who, prior to “Now, Voyager,” had directed only three features, including “One Foot in Heaven” (1941) starring Fredric March and Martha Scott, and “The Gay Sisters” (1942) with Barbara Stanwyck. In the end, just like Bette Davis, he was not the first choice by all means, but he turned out to be the right one.

Four years later, Irving Rapper and his three leading actors from “Now, Voyager”—Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains (Davis’ favorite co-star)—were reunited with the drama “Deception,” also made at Warner Bros. (this one without Hal B. Wallis). In 1964, Paul Henreid directed Bette Davis (playing twin sisters) in the crime drama “Dead Ringer,” with his daughter Monika Henreid playing a supporting role.

Irving Rapper and Bette Davis later worked together again in “The Corn Is Green” and “Another Man’s Posion’ (1951). “Irving has directed some of my best pictures,” she said in later interviews.

Author Olive Higgins Prouty wrote four novels about the wealthy Vale family in Boston (“Now, Voyager” being the third). She sold the “Voyager” rights to Wallis for $35,000 in October 1941, and made several suggestions. She preferred Technicolor to be used, with the flashbacks shown in subdued colors as if seen through a veil, and she had laid down a scheme for particular sequences. Wallis decided to go ahead and ignore them completely, but after she had seen the film in her New England home with twenty-five friends, ‘all of them applauded,’ Wallis wrote in his autobiography. She wrote him a letter, saying that ‘the plot follows very closely that of my book and the personalities of the various characters have been carefully observed and preserved.’

Finally, film director Irving Rapper, born in 1898 in London, passed away at age 101 in 1999 in Woodland Hills, California, of natural causes. Never really in the spotlights, there’s not too much written about him. Authors Charles Higham and Joel Greenberg did include him in their interview book “The Celluloid Muse: Hollywood Directors Speak” (1969), a collection of fifteen interviews with film directors who spent most of their careers working in Hollywood. In their introduction of the Irving Rapper interview, they describe his whereabouts at the time of the interview: ‘Irving Rapper’s apartment is set high in a glistening white building in the very heart of Hollywood. Only a stone’s throw from Hollywood Boulevard, with its seedy spangle of light-signs,  its driven restless sixties people, and its ever-skulking hustlers, Rapper inhabits a seemingly sealed-off forties world. As so often in Hollywood, fantasy and reality seem one, so that as you enter the hall, where a super-efficient blonde announces your arrival directly from the reception desk to the host’s telephone, you could easily be in a scene from a vintage Bette Davis picture, and you half expect to see her charge stormily at any moment through the glass window doors, ready for an argument with David Brian or Bruce Bennett—those lost figures of Hollywood’s past. Chez Rapper, the atmosphere of that past exists. Comfortably plump and relaxed, with an elegant and cultivated personality, he is utterly unlike the brisk new generation of grey-suited, fiercely efficient Hollywood men. (…) Like so many Hollywood talents, he has been put firmly—and one hopes only temporarily—on the shelf by the newest generation, but looking round his apartment, you see the compensations: Chinese lampstands ‘fit for a museum,” magnificent paintings crowded tightly up of a wall, a louvered cocktail recess, an atmosphere of spacious, glossy luxury. And beyond the great windows and the penthouse balcony, the whispering traffic, the horn-bleeps and the diamond shine of an ocean of lights: Los Angeles.’

Just for the record, even though “Now, Voyager” isn’t mentioned in AFI’s list of 100 Greatest American Films of All Time, the film ranks at #23 in AFI’s 100 Greatest Love Stories of All Time, while Bette Davis’ closing line, ‘Oh, Jerry, don’t let’s ask for the moon… we have the stars!’ is at #46 in AFI’s Greatest Movie Quotes of All Time. In 2007, “Now, Voyager” was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.’

“Now, Voyager” (1942, trailer)

NOW, VOYAGER (1942) DIR Irving Rapper PROD Hal B. Wallis SCR Casey Robinson (novel ‘Now, Voyager’ [1941] by Olive Higgins Prouty) CAM Sol Polito MUS Max Steiner ED Warren Low CAST Bette Davis ( Charlotte Vale ), Paul Henreid ( Jerry Durrance ), Claude Rains ( Doctor Jaquith ), Gladys Cooper ( Mrs. Vale ), Bonita Granville ( June Vale ), John Loder ( Elliott Livingston ), Ilka Chase ( Lisa Vale ), Mary Wickes ( Dora Pickford ), Janis Wilson ( Tina Durrance )

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Now, Voyager Quotes

Shmoop will make you a better lover...of quotes

Source: Now, Voyager

Speaker: Charlotte Vale

Oh, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars.

This line is spoken by Charlotte Vale (played by Bette David) in Now, Voyager, directed by Irving Rapper (1942).

Charlotte Vale was depressed and miserable, but after a stay in a sanitarium she recovered. (We'd prefer a stay at a spa, ourselves.) Charlotte even finds a little love along the way… but with a married man. Oh well, nothing's perfect.

She may not have a man, but Charlotte has enough to be happy, as she says in the film's final moments. She and Jerry, the married man, agree to remain in a platonic relationship. He asks her if she'll be happy. They share cigarettes (lung cancer has never been so romantic) and she says , "Oh, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars." Sigh.

Where you've heard it

This line is perfect for greeting cards or other sentimental moments when you want to say "be happy with what you have" in the style of a 1940s movie star. It's also the perfect comeback if some guy you're not that into says he wants to bring you the moon. Yeah, good luck with that, buddy.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back here it is, on a scale of 1-10..

This quote demonstrates that some people are able to find happiness without a man in their lives, which isn't pretentious. But it is kinda lofty-sounding and uses unusual sentence structure ("Don't let's ask"? Why not just say "let's not ask," lady?) so it gets a few pretension points.

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W hy's T his F unny?

Now, Voyager (1942) with Paul Henreid and Bette Davis

“Oh, Jerry, don’t let’s ask for the moon. We have the stars.” ——Bette Davis to Paul Henreid

N ot in Jezebel , certainly not in Dark Victory , nor in Mr. Skeffington , nor in All About Eve , did [intlink id=”228″ type=”category”]Bette Davis[/intlink] appear on screen as anything besides a lovely young lady, usually sophisticated, well-off or famous, or all those things, even, if in the end, there was some kind of retribution. Although much of her early career featured “unattractive” and forgettable roles, it wasn’t until Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? , Hush . . . Hush, Sweet Charlotte and The Anniversary , when Bette was no longer in her glory days, that she deliberately allowed herself to be unattractive, either in appearance or in the characters she played, or both.

If one film should be set aside as the ideal of the Davis art—it’s tempting to designate Dark Victory where Death adds poignancy and dramatic challenge— Now, Voyager would be as good a choice as any.

The movie has all the necessary qualities from among the star’s long list of “weepers,” “women’s pictures,” “soapers”—whatever the label—that made her famous. Warner Bros. gives it the full treatment, the top of its A-class films. It was Hal B. Wallis’ first effort as an independent producer and director Irving Rapper’s first Davis film. Rapper would later guide the actress in The Corn Is Green and Deception . Further super-confident support included an appropriately “soapy” script by Casey Robinson, brilliant photography by Sol Polito and a lush score—one of his lushiest—by Max Steiner, Bette’s favorite composer.

Gladys Cooper practically steals the show in a cruelly negative role as a domineering mother, the type of character people love to hate. She artfully avoids the pitfalls of a one-note performance and was justly nominated for a Supporting Oscar. A famous beauty in her youth, she would play, at seventy, another domineering mother to Deborah Kerr in Separate Tables in 1958. In the ’50s and ’60s she did much television, including P layhouse 90, Twilight Zone and The Rogues .

Henreid’s nondescript presence would be offset by the great, always dependable Claude Rains in the sympathetic role of a psychiatrist, dignified, intelligent and humane, practically interchangeable with the one he played almost simultaneously in Kings Row . The supporting cast would include such familiar faces as Mary Wickes, Franklin Pangborn, Lee Patrick, Ian Wolfe and Charles Drake.

All this polish and talent go to create a story about repressed, dowdy spinster Charlotte Vale (Davis), with wire-rimmed glasses, thick eyebrows, hair in skull-hugging marcel waves and wearing cotton dresses and “practical” shoes. She isolates herself in the upstairs bedroom of her mother’s (Cooper) Boston home, compiling scrap books and decorating ivory boxes.

Her sister-in-law (Ilka Chase), unlike the mother, is concerned for Charlotte’s sanity and invites Dr. Jaquith (Rains) to observe her, incognito. In meeting this guest, Charlotte’s descent on the stairs is accompanied by appropriate “descending” music from Steiner, whatever his positives, the master of Mickey-Mousing and tune-borrowing.

Recovering quickly, Charlotte becomes an attractive, sophisticated woman—without screen transition, miraculously, like another Immaculate Conception, even. Instead of returning home to her mother, she takes a cruise at Dr. Jaquith’s suggestion. He encourages her with a quote from Walt Whitman: “Now, voyager, sail forth to seek and find.” Aboard ship, she meets Jerry Durrance (Henreid), and from his two traveling companions (Patrick and James Rennie) learns that he is in an unhappy marriage and would divorce his controlling, jealous wife were it not for his love of his young daughter Tina (Janis Wilson, strangely uncredited). (Interestingly, in Bette’s earlier “women’s picture” The Old Maid of 1939, her daughter is named Tina.)

Charlotte’s return home and the dramatic “coming out” of her new persona to family and friends is one of the highlights of the film. Everyone is shocked, surprised and amazed, especially her mother, who is unnerved that her daughter has taken charge of her own life. Desperate to regain control and resentful of her daughter’s new-found independence, Mrs. Vale deliberately falls down the stairs. Even bedridden, she threatens to withdraw Charlotte’s monthly allowance—and inheritance.

Feeling guilty—the power of possessive mothers often endures beyond the grave!—Charlotte returns to the sanatorium and here, again, with the coincidences inherent in these weepers and in the manner of much fiction, she meets Tina. Charlotte sees her former self in the young girl, lonely and with an unloving mother, and takes an interest in her welfare and recovery. She is, after all, Jerry’s child. (If the similarities aren’t obvious enough, the script gives Tina horn-rimmed glasses.)

With Dr. Jaquith’s approval, Charlotte takes Tina home, and when Jerry visits, he is surprised by the change in his daughter and realizes she has found her rightful place with Charlotte. Although the couple cannot ever be together, Charlotte says that Tina is his gift to her, a way she can be close to him. In one of filmdom’s famous scenes, with the two exchanging cigarettes, Jerry asks if she is happy, and she replies with an equally famous line: “Oh, Jerry, don’t let’s ask for the moon. We have the stars.”

Her scenes with Henreid are rather sedate; there is never the sense of a passionate love affair, maybe due to the actor’s annoying docility. Bette has a more convincing, heartfelt rapport with Wilson, though perhaps too much screen time is devoted to her relationship with the daughter; after a while, the point is obvious, that this is Jerry’s own. It’s here, too, that the film becomes its syrupiest, with such lines as “This is Jerry’s child in my arms!” Better still are Bette’s scenes with Cooper. Each actress—Cooper is Bette’s match here—maintains the mother’s animosity and the daughter’s desperate need for some kind of reconciliation.

While the two stars appear unromantically together in Juarez , they are married in Mr. Skeffington , and, along with Henreid, would be reunited in that musicians’ love triangle known as Deception (1946).

Also occurs another Steiner trademark, some bright, scherzo-like music to accompany any joyous scene that might appear in his movies, in the case of Now, Voyager for a tennis game between Charlotte and Tina. During Bette’s brief courtship with Loder, they hear on the radio a snip from Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique” Symphony (the first movement), and Steiner interpolates this, the second theme, into the actual score. It seems a perfect complement to the “It Can’t Be Wrong” melody.

One thought to “Now, Voyager (1942) with Paul Henreid and Bette Davis”

thank you for this. you have captured everything a movie lover should feel when watching this performance. no one ever did quite what she could do. of course, this coin does have two sides. again, thanks.

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Now, Voyager

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Brief Synopsis

Cast & crew, irving rapper, bette davis, paul henreid, claude rains, gladys cooper, bonita granville, photos & videos, technical specs.

Dowdy, thirtyish Charlotte Vale lives with her dictatorial, aristocratic mother in a Boston mansion. Fearing that Charlotte is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, her sister-in-law Lisa brings psychiatrist Dr. Jaquith to the Vale home to examine her unobtrusively. Jaquith's observations and conversation with Charlotte convince him that she is, in fact, very ill, and he recommends that she visit his sanitarium, Cascade. Away from her domineering mother, Charlotte recovers quickly, but does not feel ready to return home and accepts Lisa's proposal of a long cruise as an alternative. On board the ship, a newly chic Charlotte is introduced to Jerry Durrance, who is also traveling alone. The two spend a day sight-seeing together, during which time the married Jerry asks Charlotte to help him choose gifts for his two daughters. Charlotte is touched when Jerry thanks her with a small bottle of perfume. Subsequently, Charlotte tells Jerry about her family and her breakdown and learns from his good friends, Deb and Frank McIntyre, that Jerry is unhappily married but will never leave his family. After the ship docks in Rio de Janeiro, Jerry and Charlotte become stranded on Sugarloaf Mountain and spend the night together. Having missed her boat, Charlotte stays with Jerry in Rio for five days before flying to Buenos Aires to rejoin the cruise. Although they have fallen in love, they promise not to see each other again. Back in Boston, Charlotte's family is stunned by her transformation. Her mother, however, is determined to regain control over her daughter. Charlotte's resolve to remain independent is strengthened by the timely arrival of some camellias. Although there is no card, Charlotte knows the flowers are from Jerry because he had called her by the nickname "Camille," and, reminded of his love, she is able to forge a new relationship with her mother. Charlotte eventually becomes engaged to eligible widower Elliot Livingston. One night, at a party, Charlotte encounters Jerry, who is now working as an architect, a profession he had renounced years before in deference to his wife's wishes. His youngest daughter Tina is now seeing Dr. Jaquith for her own emotional problems. Charlotte asks Jerry not to blame himself for their affair as she gained much from knowing that he loved her. This chance encounter forces Charlotte to realize that she does not love Elliot passionately, and they break their engagement, so angering Mrs. Vale that during an argument with Charlotte, she has a heart attack and dies. Guilty and distraught, Charlotte returns to Cascade, where she meets Tina. Seeing herself in the girl, Charlotte takes charge of her, with Jaquith's tentative approval. When Tina improves enough, Charlotte takes her home to Boston. Later, Jerry and Jaquith visit the Vale home, and Jerry is delighted by the change in Tina. Charlotte warns him, however, that she is only able to keep Tina with her on condition that she and Jerry end their affair. Jerry believes that he is responsible for her decision not to marry Elliot, but Charlotte reassures him otherwise, saying that Tina is his gift to her and her way of being close to him. Jerry then asks if Charlotte is happy and she responds, "Well, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon; we have the stars."

Lee Patrick

Franklin Pangborn

Katherine Alexander

James Rennie

Mary Wickes

Michael ames.

Charles Drake

David clyde.

Frank Puglia

Janis wilson, claire du brey.

Don Douglas

Charlotte wynters, lester matthews, sheila hayward, bill edwards, isabel withers, yola d'avril, georges renavent, bill kennedy, reed hadley, elspeth dudgeon, george lessey.

Constance Purdy

Corbet morris, hilda plowright, tempe pigott, dorothy vaughan, martha acker, al alleborn, eddie allen, george becker, edward blatt, meta carpenter, phyllis clark, joseph cramer, emmett emerson, frank evans, leo f. forbstein, hugh friedhofer, robert haas, robert b. lee, rydo loshak, fred m. maclean, scotty more, harold noyes, charles o'bannon, casey robinson, marguerite royce, sherry shourds, gilbert souto, max steiner, willard van enger, perc westmore, photo collections.

Hosted Intro

Award Nominations

Best actress, best supporting actress, the essentials - now, voyager.

Pop Culture 101 - Now, Voyager

Trivia - now, voyager - trivia & fun facts about now, voyager, trivia - now, voyager - trivia & fun facts about now, voyager, the big idea - now, voyager, behind the camera - now, voyager, critics' corner - now, voyager, critics' corner - now, voyager.

No member of the Vale family has ever had a nervous breakdown. - Mrs. Henry Windle Vale

Well there's one having one now. - Dr. Jasquith

Oh Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars. - Charlotte Vale

Remember what it says in the Bible, "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away." - Dr. Jasquith

How does it feel to be the Lord? - Charlotte Vale

Not so very wonderful, since the Free Will Bill was passed. Too little power. - Dr. Jasquith

I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid, mother. I'm not afraid. - Charlotte Vale

A maiden aunt is an ideal person to select presents for young girls. - Charlotte

Producer Hal B. Wallis originally wanted Irene Dunne for the lead role, but Bette Davis convinced him otherwise.

The Walt Whitman poem Bette Davis reads (just before leaving Cascades) is "The Untold Want" from Songs of Parting (just 2 lines): "The untold want by life and land ne'er granted / Now voyager sail thou forth to seek and find."

Bette Davis complained about 'Max Steiner' 's Academy Award-winning musical score, saying that it was too intrusive on her performance.

The film is remembered for the scene in which Paul Henreid places two cigarettes in his mouth, lights them, and then passes one to Bette Davis, but it wasn't an original idea - a similar exchange occurred ten years earlier between Davis and 'George Brent' in _Rich Are Always With Us, The (1932)_ .

The title of Olive Higgins Prouty's novel was taken from Walt Whitman's poem "The Untold Want." In a letter to literary agent Harold Ober included in the Warner Bros. Collection at the USC Cinema-Television Library, Prouty made the following suggestions about the novel's adaptation: "...In my novel I tell my story by the method of frequent flashbacks....It has occurred to me, however, that by employing the silent picture for the flashbacks, in combination with the talking picture, similar results can be accomplished, and with much interest to an audience because of the novelty of the technique....I am one of those who believe the silent picture had artistic potentialities which the talking picture lacks. The acting, facial expressions, every move and gesture is more significant....Of course the silent picture has 'gone out' now, but I believe it has a place, for depicting what goes on in the mind of a character...."        Various contemporary sources add the following information about the production: Mary Astor was first signed as the second female lead and Norma Shearer and Irene Dunne were approached to play the role of "Charlotte." Producer Hal Wallis sent Ginger Rogers a copy of Olive Higgins Prouty's novel, hoping to interest her in the film. Juanita Quigley tested for the role of "Tina." Director Edmund Goulding wrote a treatment for the film and, at that time, was scheduled to direct; later Michael Curtiz was assigned to direct the film. Some scenes were filmed on location in Laguna Beach, CA and the Cascade scenes were filmed at Lake Arrowhead, CA. Although Frank Puglia's character is called "Giovanni" in the film, contemporary reviews, the screenplay and the CBCS list it as "Manoel."        According to modern sources, Prouty had written an elaborate cigarette-lighting ceremony for her characters, which proved too awkward to complete on film. In its place, Henreid invented a romantic gesture which has since become famous. He lit two cigarettes at the same time and handed one of the cigarettes to "Charlotte." Modern feminist critics have described Now Voyager as an "initiation" or "coming of age" film in which a psychologically immature woman becomes a self-determining adult and comment favorably on the accurate depiction of the mother-daughter relationship. Although contemporary critics derided the film as contrived and melodramatic, it was Warner Bros. fourth-highest grossing film in 1942 and has enjoyed an enduring popularity. Max Steiner won an Oscar for Best Score, and both Gladys Cooper and Bette Davis were nominated for Academy Awards. The film was adapted for radio and, starring Bette Davis and Gregory Peck, was broadcast on The Lux Radio Theatre on February 11, 1946 and May 24, 1955.

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States 1942

Released in United States on Video April 5, 1988

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Hints and Echoes

The great eventful Present hides the Past, but through its loud din, hints and echoes from the life behind steal in       — John Greenleaf Whittier

“Don’t Let’s Ask For The Moon; We Have The Stars.” (Now, Voyager,1942)

I love Cinderella stories, I enjoy watching old movies, and I’m a fan of Bette Davis. It follows, therefore, that I have watched Now, Voyager more than once and will probably watch it again.

Poor Charlotte Vale, (Cinderella), the child of a domineering, hateful mother (mean stepsister) is on the verge of a nervous breakdown when her sister-in-law brings Dr. Jaquith, a psychiatrist  (fairy godmother) by the house to secretly evaluate her.  Charlotte is squirrled off to Dr. Jacquith‘s  rest home where under his ministrations she is transformed. And what a transformation it is! When weeks later we first see her—gone are the sensible shoes, the dowdy dress, the apologetic posture, the glasses, the severe unstylish hairdo, and the shaggy eyebrows. Well actually the eyebrows are pretty much gone altogether, having been replaced by a thin line drawn with an eyebrow pencil—the idea of glamor in the 40’s— as was the movie mouth, which I tried in my youth to replicate—unsuccessfully as it turned out, since I didn’t know about lip liner.

To mark her newly found independence, Charlotte goes on a cruise where she meets Jerry Durrance (prince charming) who is unhappily married, traveling alone on business, and has an emotionally damaged child who is unloved and unwanted by her mother.  You guessed it—Jerry and Charlotte fall in love. Now even though Charlotte has been transformed, she is not quite yet cured, but the love of Jerry and the relationship she later develops with Jerry’s child, Tina, brings her completely around.

However, Jerry and Charlotte are not exactly going to live happily ever after because there is the impediment of the wife, to whom Jerry is honor bound. (A quaint idea to be sure). But Jerry and Charlotte are now inextricably bound by their shared love of Tina. The famous last line comes after Jerry asks if she can be happy with such an arrangement: “Oh Jerry, don’t let’s ask for the  moon; we have the stars.”

It’s a far-fetched story, hopelessly romantic with a terrific score and of course the incomparable Bette Davis. Modern audiences no doubt find the outmoded sensibilities amusing, and the lack of overt sex odd. There are lots and lots of loving words, however, and interesting dialogue.

And there is one more thing that dates the film and makes it a subject of study of times past.   Now, Voyager is “the cigarette movie.” Everybody smoked back in the day, because they didn’t know any better—and never has the cigarette been utilized more effectively than in this movie. In this last scene, Pau Henreid, who plays Jerry, does something that is the quintessence of cool. He puts two cigarettes in his mouth at once, lights them both, and hands one to Davis. They say it was he who originated this custom, and although this movie precedes my smoking days by some years, I definitely remember young men doing this. In fact, I believe Herb did it for me. Certainly Herb was very cool.

I’m sure Cinderella stories will be around as long as people tell stories. The cigarette trick on the other hand . . . .

Here’s how it was done:

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Published by mary knapp.

After a few years in advertising, writing reams of persuasive prose, I finally realized my true calling, went back to graduate school, and became a teacher, first in a public high school, then as a docent at the Merchant’s House Museum in New York City. Now, retired from teaching out loud, I silently share my thoughts with anyone who wants to listen. View all posts by Mary Knapp

11 thoughts on “ “Don’t Let’s Ask For The Moon; We Have The Stars.” (Now, Voyager,1942) ”

A lovely reminiscence, Mary. Note that the “terrific score” is by Max Steiner.

Thanks, Steven. And Max Steiner, wherever you are, take a bow!

Wow. That is great. And the hair swoopy thing. How did they get their hair to do that!? I truly don’t know how those actors kept a straight face when they were blowing the smoke at each other. Just curious. When Herb lit your cigarette like that, did you then blow smoke at each other? I’ve got the giggles now.

Well, let’s see. Lots of combs with gripper teeth. And that fat sausage roll has a “rat” inside: a mesh tube filled with hair to match around which the real hair is rolled. And yes—I’m sure we blew a lot of smoke.

I don’t want to be bad here, but I thought the cigarette thing was a substitute for sex. Anyway Betty really did have “The Betty Davis Eyes” thing down. She could say so much with a look.

In those days, the movies were rigorously censored—as I recall it was the “Hays office” that was in charge— and sex scenes weren’t permitted period. So–that may very well be what they had in mind here. Pretty poor substitute if you ask me.

Thanks for this great post! Now, Voyager is one of my all-time favourite ’40s films. (I’ve also included clips from it in two of my posts: http://cinemattire.wordpress.com/2014/01/27/hair-glasses/ & http://cinemattire.wordpress.com/2014/02/25/veiled-ladies/ ) I think Paul Henreid is undeservedly neglected these days – he made some great flicks. Thankfully, his turn as Victor Laszlo in Casablanca probably still keeps him on the radar to some extent!

I like your blog. I actually had a few of those hats with veils. When did women quit wearing hats anyway?

I love hats, and often wear one (albeit sans veil!). 😉

love when fems wear hats. In Paris a very common site… a hat, a neato-jet tied scarf, a belted leather jacked (maroon is my fav) walking briskly along…..such an awesome great classy look….

We could use a little more classy. Bring back the hat!

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• Movie quotes
• Now, Voyager

“Now, Voyager” quotes

“Don't ask for the moon. We have the stars.” Bette Davis - Charlotte Vale

“Dr. Jaquith says that tyranny is sometimes expression of the maternal instinct. If that's a mother's love, I want no part of it.” Bette Davis - Charlotte Vale

“I didn't want to be born. You didn't want me to be born. It's been a calamity on both sides.” Bette Davis - Charlotte Vale

“- Charlotte Vale: So many, many thanks to you. - Jerry Durrance: For what? - Charlotte Vale: For walking my legs off sight-seeing, and for lunch and for shopping and for a few moments today when I actually felt alive.” Bette Davis - Charlotte Vale Paul Henreid - Jerry Durrance

“You're behaving like a romantic girl of eighteen.” Gladys Cooper - Mrs. Henry Vale

“I want to believe that there's a chance for such happiness to be carried on somehow somewhere.” Paul Henreid - Jerry Durrance

“- Dr. Jaquith: I thought you came up here to have a nervous breakdown . - Charlotte Vale: I've decided not to have one, if it's all the same to you.” Claude Rains - Dr. Jaquith Bette Davis - Charlotte Vale

“Having fun together, getting a kick out of simple little things, out of beauty like this. Sharing confidences we wouldn't share with anybody else in all the world. Won't you be honest and tell me if you are happy too? Since the night on the boat when you told me about your illness, I can't get you out of my mind - or out of my heart either.” Paul Henreid - Jerry Durrance

“If I were free, there would be only one thing I'd want to do - prove you're not immune to happiness.” Paul Henreid - Jerry Durrance

“- Dr. Jaquith: If you had deliberately and maliciously planned to destroy your daughter's life, you couldn't have done it more completely. - Mrs. Henry Vale: How? By having exercised a mother's rights? - Dr. Jaquith: A child has rights, a person has rights, to discover her own mistakes , to make her own way, to grow and blossom in her own...” (continue) (continue reading) Claude Rains - Dr. Jaquith Gladys Cooper - Mrs. Henry Vale

“I'm my mother's well-loved daughter. I'm her companion . I am my mother's servant.” Bette Davis - Charlotte Vale

“- Charlotte Vale: How does it feel to be the Lord? - Dr. Jaquith: Not so very wonderful, since the Free Will Bill was passed. Too little power .” Bette Davis - Charlotte Vale Claude Rains - Dr. Jaquith

“I've been living my own life, making my own decisions for a long while now. It's impossible to go back to being treated like a child again. I don't think I'll do anything of importance that will displease you, but Mother, from now on, you must give me complete freedom.” Bette Davis - Charlotte Vale

“Some women just aren't the marrying kind.” Bette Davis - Charlotte Vale

“When she was young, foolish , I made decisions for her, always the right decisions. One would think a child would wish to repay her mother's love and kindness.” Gladys Cooper - Mrs. Henry Vale

“- Jerry Durrance: Are you afraid of getting burnt if you get too close to happiness? - Charlotte Vale: No. I'm immune to happiness and therefore to burns.” Paul Henreid - Jerry Durrance Bette Davis - Charlotte Vale

“I don't put much faith in scientific terms. I leave that to the fakers and the writers of books.” Claude Rains - Dr. Jaquith

“You've never done anything to make your mother proud , or to make yourself proud either.” Gladys Cooper - Mrs. Henry Vale

- Mrs. Henry Vale: The very word "psychiatry", doesn't it fill you with shame, my daughter, a member of our family? - Dr. Jaquith: 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". Gladys Cooper - Mrs. Henry Vale Claude Rains - Dr. Jaquith

• determination
• nervousness
• companionship
• falling in love

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Now, Voyager 1942

Charlotte Vale: Oh Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars.

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Now, Voyager

Now, Voyager Quotes

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Last updated: 2018-12-13

Characters in ‘Now, Voyager’

• Charlotte Vale

NASA back in communication with Voyager I, now 15 billion miles away | The Sky Guy

A fter five months NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is once again returning usable data to Earth. Voyager 1 stopped sending usable data in November last year though NASA scientists knew it was receiving data from them.

The space craft is the most distant manmade object in space having entered interstellar space 22 years ago. Voyager 1, and its twin Voyager 2, were launched 46 years ago.

According to NASA: “In March, the Voyager engineering team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California confirmed that the issue was tied to one of the spacecraft’s three onboard computers, called the flight data subsystem (FDS). The FDS is responsible for packaging the science and engineering data before it’s sent to Earth.

“The team started by singling out the code responsible for packaging the spacecraft’s engineering data. They sent it to its new location in the FDS memory on April 18. A radio signal takes about 22 ½ hours to reach Voyager 1, which is over 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) from Earth, and another 22 ½ hours for a signal to come back to Earth.

When the mission flight team heard back from the spacecraft on April 20, they saw that the modification worked: For the first time in five months, they have been able to check the health and status of the spacecraft.”

Morning sky: Mercury, Mars and Saturn will be visible in the east before sunrise. Mercury rises around 6 a.m. and will enter the Sun’s glare by the end of the month. Mars rises around 5 a.m. in early May and around 4 a.m. at month’s end. Saturn rises around 4:30 a.m. at the beginning of May and around 2:30 a.m. by end of month. Watch the Moon pass a couple of bright stars and planets, see below for dates.

Evening sky: Brilliant Jupiter has entered the Sun’s glare. Watch the Moon pass a couple of bright stars and planets, see below for dates.

1st: Last quarter Moon.

3rd: Moon, Saturn, and Mars form a big line in the east in the early morning sky.

4th : Crescent Moon between Saturn and Mars in the early morning sky.

4th : Tallahassee Astronomical Society’s free planetarium show, “May Skies over Tallahassee,” at the Downtown Digital Dome Theatre and Planetarium at the Challenger Learning Center (not recommended for children under 5). Doors close at 10 a.m. sharp.

5th : Crescent Moon between Mars and Mercury in the early morning sky.

8th : New Moon.

12th: Crescent Moon near bright star Pollux in Gemini in the early evening sky.

15th: First quarter Moon near bright star Regulus in Leo in the evening sky.

18th: Moon occults bright star Beta Virginis beginning at 1:53 a.m. and ends at 2:50 a.m.

23rd: Full Moon near bright star Antares in Scorpius in the evening sky.

31st: Moon near Saturn in morning sky.

Check out TAS’s events calendar at tallystargazers.org .

Ken Kopczynski is a former president of the Tallahassee Astronomical Society, a local group of amateur astronomers .

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: NASA back in communication with Voyager I, now 15 billion miles away | The Sky Guy

NASA’s Voyager 1 Resumes Sending Engineering Updates to Earth

NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is depicted in this artist’s concept traveling through interstellar space, or the space between stars, which it entered in 2012.

After some inventive sleuthing, the mission team can — for the first time in five months — check the health and status of the most distant human-made object in existence.

For the first time since November , NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is returning usable data about the health and status of its onboard engineering systems. The next step is to enable the spacecraft to begin returning science data again. The probe and its twin, Voyager 2, are the only spacecraft to ever fly in interstellar space (the space between stars).

Voyager 1 stopped sending readable science and engineering data back to Earth on Nov. 14, 2023, even though mission controllers could tell the spacecraft was still receiving their commands and otherwise operating normally. In March, the Voyager engineering team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California confirmed that the issue was tied to one of the spacecraft’s three onboard computers, called the flight data subsystem (FDS). The FDS is responsible for packaging the science and engineering data before it’s sent to Earth.

After receiving data about the health and status of Voyager 1 for the first time in five months, members of the Voyager flight team celebrate in a conference room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on April 20.

The team discovered that a single chip responsible for storing a portion of the FDS memory — including some of the FDS computer’s software code — isn’t working. The loss of that code rendered the science and engineering data unusable. Unable to repair the chip, the team decided to place the affected code elsewhere in the FDS memory. But no single location is large enough to hold the section of code in its entirety.

So they devised a plan to divide the affected code into sections and store those sections in different places in the FDS. To make this plan work, they also needed to adjust those code sections to ensure, for example, that they all still function as a whole. Any references to the location of that code in other parts of the FDS memory needed to be updated as well.

The team started by singling out the code responsible for packaging the spacecraft’s engineering data. They sent it to its new location in the FDS memory on April 18. A radio signal takes about 22 ½ hours to reach Voyager 1, which is over 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) from Earth, and another 22 ½ hours for a signal to come back to Earth. When the mission flight team heard back from the spacecraft on April 20, they saw that the modification worked: For the first time in five months, they have been able to check the health and status of the spacecraft.

Get the Latest News from the Final Frontier

During the coming weeks, the team will relocate and adjust the other affected portions of the FDS software. These include the portions that will start returning science data.

Voyager 2 continues to operate normally. Launched over 46 years ago , the twin Voyager spacecraft are the longest-running and most distant spacecraft in history. Before the start of their interstellar exploration, both probes flew by Saturn and Jupiter, and Voyager 2 flew by Uranus and Neptune.

Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages JPL for NASA.

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NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft finally phones home after 5 months of no contact

On Saturday, April 5, Voyager 1 finally "phoned home" and updated its NASA operating team about its health.

NASA's interstellar explorer Voyager 1 is finally communicating with ground control in an understandable way again. On Saturday (April 20), Voyager 1 updated ground control about its health status for the first time in 5 months. While the Voyager 1 spacecraft still isn't sending valid science data back to Earth, it is now returning usable information about the health and operating status of its onboard engineering systems. 

Thirty-five years after its launch in 1977, Voyager 1 became the first human-made object to leave the solar system and enter interstellar space . It was followed out of our cosmic quarters by its space-faring sibling, Voyager 2 , six years later in 2018. Voyager 2, thankfully, is still operational and communicating well with Earth. 

The two spacecraft remain the only human-made objects exploring space beyond the influence of the sun. However, on Nov. 14, 2023, after 11 years of exploring interstellar space and while sitting a staggering 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) from Earth, Voyager 1's binary code — computer language composed of 0s and 1s that it uses to communicate with its flight team at NASA — stopped making sense.

Related: We finally know why NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft stopped communicating — scientists are working on a fix

In March, NASA's Voyager 1 operating team sent a digital "poke" to the spacecraft, prompting its flight data subsystem (FDS) to send a full memory readout back home.

This memory dump revealed to scientists and engineers that the "glitch" is the result of a corrupted code contained on a single chip representing around 3% of the FDS memory. The loss of this code rendered Voyager 1's science and engineering data unusable.

The NASA team can't physically repair or replace this chip, of course, but what they can do is remotely place the affected code elsewhere in the FDS memory. Though no single section of the memory is large enough to hold this code entirely, the team can slice it into sections and store these chunks separately. To do this, they will also have to adjust the relevant storage sections to ensure the addition of this corrupted code won't cause those areas to stop operating individually, or working together as a whole. In addition to this, NASA staff will also have to ensure any references to the corrupted code's location are updated.

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—  Voyager 2: An iconic spacecraft that's still exploring 45 years on

—  NASA's interstellar Voyager probes get software updates beamed from 12 billion miles away

—  NASA Voyager 2 spacecraft extends its interstellar science mission for 3 more years

On April 18, 2024, the team began sending the code to its new location in the FDS memory. This was a painstaking process, as a radio signal takes 22.5 hours to traverse the distance between Earth and Voyager 1, and it then takes another 22.5 hours to get a signal back from the craft. 

By Saturday (April 20), however, the team confirmed their modification had worked. For the first time in five months, the scientists were able to communicate with Voyager 1 and check its health. Over the next few weeks, the team will work on adjusting the rest of the FDS software and aim to recover the regions of the system that are responsible for packaging and returning vital science data from beyond the limits of the solar system.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Robert Lea is a science journalist in the U.K. whose articles have been published in Physics World, New Scientist, Astronomy Magazine, All About Space, Newsweek and ZME Science. He also writes about science communication for Elsevier and the European Journal of Physics. Rob holds a bachelor of science degree in physics and astronomy from the U.K.’s Open University. Follow him on Twitter @sciencef1rst.

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• Robb62 'V'ger must contact the creator. Reply
• Holy HannaH! Couldn't help but think that "repair" sounded extremely similar to the mechanics of DNA and the evolution of life. Reply
• Torbjorn Larsson *Applause* indeed, thanks to the Voyager teams for the hard work! Reply
• SpaceSpinner I notice that the article says that it has been in space for 35 years. Either I have gone back in time 10 years, or their AI is off by 10 years. V-*ger has been captured! Reply

Admin said: On Saturday, April 5, Voyager 1 finally "phoned home" and updated its NASA operating team about its health. The interstellar explorer is back in touch after five months of sending back nonsense data. NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft finally phones home after 5 months of no contact : Read more

evw said: I'm incredibly grateful for the persistence and dedication of the Voyagers' teams and for the amazing accomplishments that have kept these two spacecrafts operational so many years beyond their expected lifetimes. V-1 was launched when I was 25 years young; I was nearly delirious with joy. Exploring the physical universe captivated my attention while I was in elementary school and has kept me mesmerized since. I'm very emotional writing this note, thinking about what amounts to a miracle of technology and longevity in my eyes. BRAVO!!! THANK YOU EVERYONE PAST & PRESENT!!!

• EBairead I presume it's Fortran. Well done all. Reply

SpaceSpinner said: I notice that the article says that it has been in space for 35 years. Either I have gone back in time 10 years, or their AI is off by 10 years. V-*ger has been captured!

EBairead said: I presume it's Fortran. Well done all.

• View All 13 Comments

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After months of silence, Voyager 1 has returned NASA’s calls

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For the last five months, it seemed very possible that a 46-year-old conversation had finally reached its end.

Since its launch from Kennedy Space Center on Sept. 5, 1977, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft has diligently sent regular updates to Earth on the health of its systems and data collected from its onboard instruments.

But in November, the craft went quiet.

Voyager 1 is now some 15 billion miles away from Earth. Somewhere in the cold interstellar space between our sun and the closest stars, its flight data system stopped communicating with the part of the probe that allows it to send signals back to Earth. Engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge could tell that Voyager 1 was getting its messages, but nothing was coming back.

“We’re to the point where the hardware is starting to age,” said Linda Spilker, the project scientist for the Voyager mission. “It’s like working on an antique car, from 15 billion miles away.”

Week after week, engineers sent troubleshooting commands to the spacecraft, each time patiently waiting the 45 hours it takes to get a response here on Earth — 22.5 hours traveling at the speed of light to reach the probe, and 22.5 hours back.

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This space artist created the Golden Record and changed the way we see the universe

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By March, the team had figured out that a memory chip that stored some of the flight data system’s software code had failed, turning the craft’s outgoing communications into gibberish.

A long-distance repair wasn’t possible. There wasn’t enough space anywhere in the system to shift the code in its entirety. So after manually reviewing the code line by line, engineers broke it up and tucked the pieces into the available slots of memory.

They sent a command to Voyager on Thursday. In the early morning hours Saturday, the team gathered around a conference table at JPL: laptops open, coffee and boxes of doughnuts in reach.

At 6:41 a.m., data from the craft showed up on their screens. The fix had worked .

“We went from very quiet and just waiting patiently to cheers and high-fives and big smiles and sighs of relief,” Spilker said. “I’m very happy to once again have a meaningful conversation with Voyager 1.”

Voyager 1 is one of two identical space probes. Voyager 2, launched two weeks before Voyager 1, is now about 13 billion miles from Earth, the two crafts’ trajectories having diverged somewhere around Saturn. (Voyager 2 continued its weekly communications uninterrupted during Voyager 1’s outage.)

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They are the farthest-flung human-made objects in the universe, having traveled farther from their home planet than anything else this species has built. The task of keeping communications going grows harder with each passing day. Every 24 hours, Voyager 1 travels 912,000 miles farther away from us. As that distance grows, the signal becomes slower and weaker.

When the probe visited Jupiter in 1979, it was sending back data at a rate of 115.2 kilobits per second, Spilker said. Today, 45 years and more than 14 billion miles later, data come back at a rate of 40 bits per second.

The team is cautiously optimistic that the probes will stay in contact for three more years, long enough to celebrate the mission’s 50th anniversary in 2027, Spilker said. They could conceivably last until the 2030s.

The conversation can’t last forever. Microscopic bits of silica keep clogging up the thrusters that keep the probes’ antennas pointed toward Earth, which could end communications. The power is running low. Eventually, the day will come when both Voyagers stop transmitting data to Earth, and the first part of their mission ends.

But on the day each craft goes quiet, they begin a new era, one that could potentially last far longer. Each probe is equipped with a metallic album cover containing a Golden Record , a gold-plated copper disk inscribed with sounds and images meant to describe the species that built the Voyagers and the planet they came from.

Erosion in space is negligible; the images could be readable for another billion years or more. Should any other intelligent life form encounter one of the Voyager probes and have a means of retrieving the data from the record, they will at the very least have a chance to figure out who sent them — even if our species is by that time long gone.

JPL tries to keep Voyager space probes from disconnecting the world’s longest phone call

Keeping in touch with NASA’s two aging Voyager spacecraft is getting harder to do as they get farther away and their power sources dwindle.

Sept. 3, 2022

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Corinne Purtill is a science and medicine reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Her writing on science and human behavior has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, Time Magazine, the BBC, Quartz and elsewhere. Before joining The Times, she worked as the senior London correspondent for GlobalPost (now PRI) and as a reporter and assignment editor at the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. She is a native of Southern California and a graduate of Stanford University.

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Now, Voyager (1942)

Bette davis: charlotte vale.

• Photos (57)
• Quotes (21)

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Quotes 

[last lines] 

Charlotte Vale : Oh, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars.

Dora Pickford : [about Mrs. Vale]  She wants to see you.

Charlotte Vale : I know: "At once!"

Dora Pickford : She's had two hours' sleep and she's bright as a button! And mad, 'cause she smelled the fire and sent Hilda to investigate. Now, if I were you, I'd just let her blow off her steam. I put two tablespoons of sherry and a sleeping powder in her hot milk, so it shouldn't last long. I'll wait right outside the door.

Charlotte Vale : Dora, I suspect you're a treasure.

Charlotte : Jerry, Dr. Jaquith knows about us. When he said I could take Tina, he said "You're on probation." Do you know what that means? It means that I'm on probation because of you and me. He allowed this visit as a test. If I can't stand such a test, I'll lose Tina and we'll lose each other. Jerry, please help me.

Jerry : Shall we just have a cigarette on it?

Charlotte : Yes.

Jerry : May I sometimes come here?

Charlotte : Whenever you like. It's your home, too. There are people here who love you.

Jerry : And look at you and Tina, and share with you peace and contentment.

Charlotte : Of course. And just think, it won't be for this time only. That is, if you will help me keep what we have. If we both try hard to protect that little strip of territory that's ours. We can talk about your child...

Jerry : *Our* child.

Charlotte : Thank you.

Jerry : And will you be happy, Charlotte?

Charlotte : Oh, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars.

Dr. Jasquith : Remember what it says in the Bible, "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away."

Charlotte Vale : How does it feel to be the Lord?

Dr. Jasquith : Not so very wonderful, since the Free Will Bill was passed. Too little power.

Charlotte Vale : [to her mother]  I didn't want to be born. You didn't want me to be born. It's been a calamity on both sides.

Dr. Jasquith : I thought you came up here to have a nervous breakdown.

Charlotte : Well, I've decided not to have one... if it's all the same to you.

Jerry : If I were free, there would be only one thing I'd want to do - prove you're not immune to happiness. Would you want me to prove it, Charlotte? Tell me you would. Then I'll go. Why, darling, you are crying.

Charlotte : I'm such a fool, such an old fool. These are only tears of gratitude - an old maid's gratitude for the crumbs offered.

Jerry : Don't talk like that.

Charlotte : You see, no one ever called me "darling" before.

Charlotte Vale : Dr. Jasquith says that tyranny is sometimes expression of the maternal instinct. If that's a mother's love, I want no part of it.

June : Cigarette, Aunt Charlotte?

[Offering her cigarette case] 

Charlotte Vale : Thank you.

[taking one] 

June : They're cork-tipped. Make sure you get the right end.

Charlotte Vale : Thanks for the instructions, Roly-Poly.

Lisa Vale : If I were you, June, I'd give up.

Jerry : Are you one of the Vales of Boston?

Charlotte : One of the lesser ones.

Charlotte Vale : Some women just aren't the marrying kind.

Lisa Vale : [during the party after Charlotte 's return]  Oh uh, by the way, do you know Elliott Livingston?

Charlotte Vale : How do you do?

Elliot Livingston : How do you do? Tell me, why haven't we met before?

Charlotte Vale : Well, the world is a small place, but Boston is a big one.

Charlotte Vale : I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid, mother. I'm not afraid.

Charlotte : A spinster aunt is an ideal person to select presents for young girls.

Jerry : Is it Miss, or Mrs.?

Charlotte : It's Aunt.

Charlotte Vale : Thanks to you. Oh, so many, many thanks to you.

Jerry : For what?

Charlotte Vale : Oh, for walking my legs off sight-seeing, and for lunch and for shopping and, for a few moments today when I actually felt alive.

Dr. Jasquith : You know, there's nothing like these old Boston homes anywhere. Here on Marlborough Street or Beacon Hill, you see them standing in a row like bastions: firm, proud, resisting the new. Houses turned in upon themselves, hugging their pride.

Charlotte Vale : [pointedly]  Introverted, doctor?

Dr. Jasquith : Well, I wouldn't know about that. I don't put much faith in scientific terms. I leave that to the fakers and the writers of books.

Charlotte : An architect! I could cry with pride.

June : Got the shakes, Aunt Charlotte?

Charlotte : Go on! Make fun of me! You think it's fun making fun of me!

Dr. Jasquith : This morning Charlotte, during your office appointment with me, I referred to a quotation. Remember?

Charlotte Vale : Oh yes, Walt Whitman's.

Dr. Jasquith : Well, I had it looked up and typed out on a slip of paper for you. If old Walt didn't have you in mind when he wrote this, he had lots of others like you. He's put into words what I'd like to say to you now. And far better than I could ever express it.

[He hands her the paper] 

Dr. Jasquith : Read it.

[She takes the paper] 

Dr. Jasquith : Bye.

Charlotte Vale : [He leaves]  Bye.

[Reading from the paper] 

Charlotte Vale : "The untold want by life and land ne'er granted, / Now voyager sail thou forth to seek and find."

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April 22, 2024

After Months of Gibberish, Voyager 1 Is Communicating Well Again

NASA scientists spent months coaxing the 46-year-old Voyager 1 spacecraft back into healthy communication

By Meghan Bartels

NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is depicted in this artist’s concept traveling through interstellar space, or the space between stars, which it entered in 2012.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

After months of nonsensical transmissions from humanity’s most distant emissary, NASA’s iconic Voyager 1 spacecraft is finally communicating intelligibly with Earth again.

Voyager 1 launched in 1977 , zipped past Jupiter and Saturn within just a few years and has been trekking farther from our sun ever since; the craft crossed into interstellar space in 2012. But in mid-November 2023 Voyager 1’s data transmissions became garbled , sending NASA engineers on a slow quest to troubleshoot the distant spacecraft. Finally, that work has paid off, and NASA has clear information on the probe’s health and status, the agency announced on April 22.

“It’s the most serious issue we’ve had since I’ve been the project manager, and it’s scary because you lose communication with the spacecraft,” said Suzanne Dodd, Voyager project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in an interview with Scientific American when the team was still tracking down the issue.

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The Voyager 1 spacecraft is a scientific legend : It discovered that Jupiter’s moon Io, far from being a dead world like our own companion, is instead a supervolcanic world . The craft’s data suggested that Saturn’s moon Titan might have liquid on its surface. And for more than a decade, Voyager 1 has given scientists a glimpse at what space looks like beyond the influence of our sun.

Yet its long years in the harsh environment of space have done a number on the probe, which was designed to last just four years. In particular, degraded performance and low power supplies have forced NASA to turn off six of its 10 instruments, and its communication has gotten even spottier than can be explained by the fact that cosmic mechanics mean a signal takes nearly one Earth day to travel between humans and the probe.

When the latest communications glitch occurred last fall, scientists could still send signals to the distant probe, and they could tell that the spacecraft was operating. But all they got from Voyager 1 was gibberish—what NASA described in December 2023 as “a repeating pattern of ones and zeros.” The team was able to trace the issue back to a part of the spacecraft’s computer system called the flight data subsystem, or FDS, and identified that a particular chip within that system had failed.

Mission personnel couldn’t repair the chip. They were, however, able to break the code held on the failed chip into pieces they could tuck into spare corners of the FDS’s memory, according to NASA. The first such fix was transmitted to Voyager 1 on April 18. With a total distance of 30 billion miles to cross from Earth to the spacecraft and back, the team had to wait nearly two full days for a response from the probe. But on April 20 NASA got confirmation that the initial fix worked. Additional commands to rewrite the rest of the FDS system’s lost code are scheduled for the coming weeks, according to the space agency, including commands that will restore the spacecraft’s ability to send home science data.

Although, for now, Voyager 1 appears to be on the mend, NASA scientists know it won’t last forever. Sooner or later, a glitch they can’t fix will occur, or the spacecraft’s ever dwindling fuel supply will run out for good. Until then NASA is determined to get as much data as possible out of the venerable spacecraft—and its twin, Voyager 2, which experienced its own communications glitch earlier in 2023 .

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