“Now, Voyager” is quite the romantic melodrama, and despite its longstanding respect in critical circles, it’s never quite won me over until now, in a restoration whose clarity somehow makes all the difference. It seems entirely new, not the film I saw on Sunday afternoon TV years ago, and tried watching again on VHS. Even on DVD, it seemed as muddy a mess visually as it did thematically. I never thought I’d purchase a blu-Ray of it, but the terrific cover on Criterion’s release caught my eye a while ago, and finally I sprang for it on sale. I am so happy I did. There are beautiful subtleties in the film, of expression and motion and voice, that had escaped me before. I was entranced.
There are not tons of extras, but what is here is quite good and very interesting, especially an entire episode of The Dick Cavett Show with Bette Davis.