Hottoceame The Age of Commercialism

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

tarmcgator This 1948 Warner Brothers release was based on a Broadway play that had opened in December 1943 and closed only weeks before the movie premiered. The central issues of the film are a mix of the up-to-date and the outdated -- fear of commitment, as well as the propriety of "intergender cohabitation."In an era when proper young ladies didn't discuss sex with proper young gentlemen -- at least, not in movies sanctioned by the Hayes Office -- THE VOICE OF THE TURTLE was a bit risqué, which helped account for its long run on Broadway. The fear of what other people might think about a nice girl offering a spare bed to an attractive young man in uniform, even during the housing shortages of World War II, was not foreign to a lot of Americans, especially women, as the war put a strain on the nation's sexual mores and values. Among those born since the 1940s, that kind of innocent gesture might be taken for granted as an act of kindness, with no sexual overture implied by the woman. The scene in which Sally and Bill frantically try to prevent Olive from finding out that he's come to her apartment that morning to have breakfast with her may seem silly (though it is funny), but Sally knows that if Olive finds Bill there at breakfast, Olive will immediately assume "the worst." (I also anticipated that, if Bill was discovered, Sally's subsequent "reputation" might cause her to become an even more tempting target for the aging stage lothario with whom she's been cast in a play, but that little tete-a-tete occurs off-stage/off-camera.) It was still the 1940s, and in those days, people WOULD talk. (Some people STILL do.)Fear of commitment is still with us. Unfortunately, here the film doesn't succeed very well, perhaps because, again, of Hollywood's self-censorship. We get a little information about Sally's disappointing relationship with a theatrical producer (which, the context implies, did become sexual), but the allusions to Bill's pain about lost love are weak. (At one point he encounters his old lover in a nightclub, but we never learn anything more about her, or them.) The delicate minuet that Sally and Bill dance around their immediate attraction to one another is what drives the story, but (not having the seen or read the play) I have a strong sense that Van Druten's original addressed their dilemma more directly than his Hayes Office-vetted screenplay.No doubt self-censorship also undercut the more brazenly promiscuous aspects of Olive, though Eve Arden does a fine job with what she is given to work with. In fact the cast is one of the things that makes this film still worth watching. Eleanor Parker does well in conveying Sally's uncertainty about love, and whatever you think of Ronald Reagan's later political activities, he effectively portrays the essential decency of Bill. Actors Wayne Morris, Kent Smith, and those who play a host of other supporting characters (none of them in the original stage version) also are effective.THE VOICE OF THE TURTLE is best approached as a period piece, a time capsule of how Americans viewed awakening love in a changing wartime culture. For all the restraints imposed by the Hayes Office, it remains worth an occasional viewing.

40sfan This is one of the best of the WW II Homefront movies. It embraces all the classic 1940's values in a very cute and modest way. Sally played by Eleanor Parker has been burnt badly in the Love department and has sworn off it for the duration. She agrees to keep Bill [played by Ronald Reagan] company mainly out of a sense of duty. He's a soldier you know. Cupid is hard at work though and the inevitable happens. Her sweet, attentive nature coupled with her innocent beauty is something that any man would succumb to even in 1944. Best thing is that she always keeps her seams straight. In this day and age she would literally be worth her weight in gold. This film could be called corny & sappy but it could also be called wonderful. Every hopeless Romantic should give this one a viewing, you won't be disappointed !!

haroldg-2 Irving Rapper's 1947 wartime comedy 'One For the Book,' is based on John Van Druten's Broadway play, 'The Voice of the Turtle.'Eleanor Parker plays a young, struggling NY stage actress who's been disappointed with love, but agrees to go out with a soldier on leave (Ronald Reagan) after he's stood up by her friend (Eve Arden). They spend the weekend together and fall in love.I don't think there was a prettier girl in all the movies then Eleanor Parker, who also had one of the loveliest speaking voices, so distinct and individual. On top of that, she's a marvelous screen actress, and this is one of her best early films, in Margaret Sullavan's famous stage role. (She even wears Sullavan's hairstyle with her trademark bangs.) Though she's usually at her best playing strong, domineering women, she's very charming in this entertaining romantic comedy.Ronald Reagan, too, had one of his better film roles, and working with Parker brought out the best in him. With the exception of his dramatic role in 'Kings Row,' he's rarely this appealing, and his love scenes with lovely Eleanor are very romantic.And Eve Arden is terrific as always as Parker's man-chasing friend.A very bright, enjoyable romantic comedy, well directed and acted.

Neil Doyle Eleanor Parker was approaching the peak of her career when she was cast as Sally Middleton, the slightly daffy heroine of this charming wartime romantic comedy. Ronald Reagan, fresh from his stint in the service, returned to play a soldier who finds himself falling for the charming actress and staying overnight (innocently) in her apartment. Eve Arden is on hand for comic relief as the heroine's best friend and gets some hearty laughs with her usual witty observations and Wayne Morris has a secondary role as her Naval commander boyfriend. Kent Smith is wasted as a producer unwilling to make a relationship commitment with Parker. Eleanor Parker carries most of the film and proves adept at the physical comedy--notably in a scene where she prepares a sofabed for her Army soldier, empties ashtrays and primps pillows--all in harmony with Max Steiner's jaunty background score.One of Reagan's better post-war films with his usual amiable performance as the decent soldier--and far and away one of Miss Parker's most fetching roles.