User reviews

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.

With snow falling softly over a back-lot Manhattan, and a French boîte where a Benedictine bottle holds the shade for a table lamp, how can anybody resist The Voice of the Turtle (Irving Rapper's adaptation of the John Van Druten stage hit, reissued as One for the Book)? It's a bit of romantic fluff set on the home front during the Second World War that somehow survives into the new millennium with much of its artifice and most of its charm intact.

Circumstances throw together struggling young actress Eleanor Parker, on the rebound, and furloughed serviceman Ronald Reagan, who has just been daintily dumped by Eve Arden. Since hotel rooms are hard to come by on rainy nights in wartime, Reagan ends up spending the night on a studio bed in Parker's apartment. And the inevitable happens – they fall in love.

That's just about all there is to it, allowing for some excursions into the New York theater world. But the cast, none of whom was on Hollywood's A-list at the time, gives it their best. This was the sort of amiable, easy-going role that Reagan played best, from the movies to the White House. Parker (in a dreadful hairdo) seems a little tense in the ditzy part of an ingenue with a slight obsessive-compulsive disorder, but ultimately she wins us over. Best of all is Arden, for once not a vinegar virgin but a high-fashion woman-about-town who's possessive about the multiple men in her life only when she's about to lose them. All told, The Voice of the Turtle is a somewhat faded sachet that brings back nostalgic memories of a 1940s Manhattan that probably never existed – but makes it fun to daydream that maybe once it did.

"The Voice of the Turtle" is a gentle comedy romance. The principal characters are an aspiring actress and an Army sergeant on a weekend pass in New York. The time is not clear - there's no news or hint of war, and not many servicemen or women around. But, besides the main character, there is a Navy commander. It would probably be around the time of the film - 1947, a couple years after World War II when there would still be some men in uniform.

Ronald Reagen is Sgt. Bill Page and Eleanor Parker is Sally Middleton. They meet when Sally's friend, Olive Lashbrooke (played by Eve Arden) stands Bill up for another date with Navy Commander Ned Burlin (played by Wayne Morris). Most of the comedy dialog comes from Olive in the biting, quirky lines that were Arden's trademark throughout her career in films and on TV.

Sally is somewhat shy and awkward, and Bill sees the humor or cheeriness in her character. Their relationship blooms slowly in film time, even though the period covered is but a weekend. The story is probably a much more realistic portrayal of dates of that type and time than other films have shown. The movie may seem very slow to some, and probably intolerable for those who thrive on a thrill-a-minute action films. But those who like light comedy and drama that shows a slice of life from a specific period should enjoy this film.

Incidentally, the title comes from something Bill says in the film. After he refers to the voice of the turtle, Sally asks "voice of the turtle?" rhetorically. Bill replies, "turtledove," and says it comes from the Bible. His reference was to Songs 2:12 - "The flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning the vines has come, and the song of the turtledove is heard in our land."

My favorite line from the film is in the drugstore where people are waiting outside a telephone booth. A woman says, "I've been waiting for half an hour. How long can he talk for a nickel?"

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.

Hollywood did not even wait for the Broadway run to end with The Voice Of The Turtle. It would not be until 1948 that the John Van Druten play finished its run of 1557 performances, one of the biggest runs of the decade. On Broadway the roles played by Ronald Reagan, Eleanor Parker, and Eve Arden were done by Elliott Nigent, Margaret Sullavan, and Audrey Christie.

And it's only a three character play so Warner Brothers got Van Druten himself and others to pad out the film. It also takes place in the apartment that's shared by Parker and Arden.

We haven't seen support for the troops like this since World War II and unlikely to see it again in the foreseeable future. Apparently it was perfectly all right to take soldiers on leave into your home, a country that was founded on no quartering of troops in civilian dwellings just didn't press the point.

In fact Arden is having the time of her life boosting our Armed Forces morale. Reagan whom she's gone out with before rings her up as he's on leave. Arden has traded up from an army sergeant to a navy commander in Wayne Morris. What to do with Reagan? She palms him off on her friend Parker who is an aspiring actress to entertain Reagan.

It was a great break for both as the bulk of the film is the getting to know you and then love you dialog between the two of them. Reagan and Parker pair well together and Arden is her sharp and witty self. Eve's best scene is taking delight at the bad reviews a fellow actress got in a part that Arden was up for.

The Voice Of The Turtle is a product of its era. It's still entertaining, but it has more value today as a picture of an America long left behind.

I agree wholeheartedly with the many reviewers who found this a delightful romantic comedy,but must disagree strongly with the few who found the title inappropriate. It comes from Chapter 2 of The Song Of Songs, a highly erotic poem, and the particular passage celebrates the return of spring, the time of love. What could be more appropriate? As for the turtle, at the time of the King James translation of the Bible that meant turtle dove. The complete passage is:

For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in the land.

I think the passage is lovely, and an excellent source for the title, referring as it does to the return of spring to the heroine's heart.

A hopelessly outdated plot, a stupid title, and Ronald Reagan are not in the recipe book for a good movie. However, Elanor Parker gives such a neurotically endearing performance that this movie transcends its flaws. Parker looks like Donna Reed, but her quirky performance gives her character a Diane Keaton oddball quality that is quite charming. Reagan is better than usual and Eva Arden gives her standard supporting role.

"Ronald Reagan: Centennial Collection" (2011) is the most complete collection yet of Reagan's movies, but 2 more should be added.

His very first movie, in which he had only a tiny part as a radio interviewer trying to get time with a Hollywood movie star (and failing), was "Hollywood Hotel" (1937) starring Dick Powell, which movie was famous for the signature song "Hooray For Hollywood."

Reagan came to Hollywood in the middle 1930's after a short career as a radio announcer and sports broadcaster in Iowa after his graduation in 1932 from Eureka College in Illinois.

Radio was just coming into its own in the middle 1930's and was very interesting as a subject to movie audiences. People wanted to see what radio was about "behind the scenes." Many late 1930's Hollywood movies showed that, and sold a lot of tickets because of it.

Many "radio" movies were made in the late 1930's. Bob Hope's signature song title "Thanks For The Memory" was from a radio movie titled "The Big Broadcast Of 1938" and Hope himself became a Hollywood star only after he achieved radio stardom in the late 1930's.

Ronald Reagan was a former radio pro who got beginning actor work because of his radio experience. He could be useful for "radio movies," and was hired.

Hollywood film studios made many movies about the then glamorous radio business and the world of radio celebrities.

Reagan was a handsome, articulate young man who had studied dramatics in college (he majored in Sociology but participated in many school plays in lead roles), and actually had experience as a radio broadcaster.

The latter credential got him a contract with Warner Brothers, and his first role in "Hollywood Hotel" (1937) showed Reagan doing what he had done in Iowa....radio interviewing. His radio interview experience got him "in the door" to the world of Hollywood acting for big studios.

His "Hollywood Hotel" (1937) role (uncredited but important for any interested in his movie actor career) is important to include in any history of Reagan's movie actor work.

Reagan also starred in a movie re-make of one of Broadway's longest running plays, "The Voice Of The Turtle," (1947) which was a good movie well done, and re-released at a later time with the title "One For The Book."

Re-makes of important Broadway plays were often done in Hollywood over it's history, and most of the resulting movie were good...took advantage of good material easy to turn into a good movie.

"The Voice Of The Turtle" (1947) starring Ronald Reagan is an example of this, and should be included in any collection showing important movie work he did.

Voice Of The Turtle (1947), later released with a different name: "One For The Book", is a very well presented movie with great actor work from stars Ronald Reagan and Eleanor Parker, assisted by Eve Arden, three talented movie stars of the middle 20th Century.

The movie is especially interesting and worthwhile because it showcases one of the biggest Broadway (NYC NY USA) stage hits of the middle 1940's, written by John Van Druten....the show played on the Broadway stage non-stop from 1943 through 1947.....5 years.

One of those stage play titles one sees when "Longest Running Plays Ever Produced" lists are provided in stage play history books.

Most of the show takes place in a single one bedroom apt. (the romantic female lead's NYC upper East Side Manhattan digs) with half a dozen departures for short periods to NYC places young, handsome singles of those 1940's times were part of....

chic French restaurants where meals started with Vichisois (cold Leek Soup) and ended with Crepe Suzettes (ultra thin pancakes doused with Grand Marnier orange flavored brandy made up and served table-side by a tuxedoed waiter with a charming smile and foreign accent).....

empty theater stages where new plays auditioned new hopeful actresses...

NYC elegant night clubs with live orchestras and well dressed, mannerly patrons, all good dancers....

The whole show is worth seeing for many reasons, but one is that an entire culture and way of life now long gone, and with it civility, manners, etiquette, and genuine social charm.....is depicted for all to see, marvel at, and lament the passing of.

A well done 2004 video documentary titled Broadway The Golden Age interviews NYC actors of fame who worked during the 1940's through the 1970's and recalled how it all went, what it all was about, and most especially decried the fact what they had all be part of was now (in 2004 and after) gone forever, and not replaced by better performing art and memorable, human stagecraft.

Voice Of The Turtle (1947) shows in movie form what the stage-play presented to theater goers (I write this in 2012, and if a 20 year old attended the first 1943 presentations in NYC of this show, he or she would be 88 this year!).

I join many others in cheering this wonderful and forgotten play and movie, worth getting, worth seeing.

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Written by Tex Allen, SAG-AFTRA movie actor. Visit WWW.IMDb.Me/TexAllen for more information about Tex Allen.

Tex Allen's email address is TexAllen@Rocketmail.Com.

See Tex Allen Movie Credits, Biography, and 2012 photos at WWW.IMDb.Me/TexAllen. See other Tex Allen written movie reviews....almost 100 titles.... at: "http://imdb.com/user/ur15279309/comments" (paste this address into your URL Browser)

Just dreadful, and all that Max Steiner Mickey Mouse music that Warners always used to telegraph comedy. Van Druten was definitely a writer of his place and time, and doesn't translate very well. Anyone seen "Old Acquaintance" lately? But Ronald Reagan? Wayne Morris? Eleanor Parker, dripping inexperience, Eve Arden, dripping faux archness, Kent Smith, just dripping. Apparently this was a hot property, having played a zillion Broadway stage performances, but then, I suspect, a lot of things were hot properties during the war years; then again, Margaret Sullavan could give any piece of dreck magic. So Warners must have paid a good price for it, then cast it with subpar contract performers, on the cheap, to even costs out, I suppose, gave it their standard heavy handed '40's comedy wrappings, and other than as a relic, and a not very good one, to satisfy one's curiosity, it is unwatchable after one viewing.

I find The Voice of the Turtle (One For the Book) to be one of the most endearing movies of all time, perhaps even more so than The Petrified Forest with young Bette Davis. Despite its colorless and unimaginative title, I find it most exhilarating for at least two reasons: 1. Eleanor Parker's charmingly seductive role constantly reminds one of a playful kitten forever running around after a ball of wool. 2. The excellent humorous scenes and dialogues continue unabated throughout the movie to the very end. I shall never get tired of watching this movie again and again.

If Ronald Reagan weren't in The Voice of the Turtle, I don't know whether I would have thought it so cute. It has one of those "propriety above all else" screenplays from the 1940s that was probably written specifically to pass the Production Code. And Eleanor Parker was once again "slumming it" by acting in a light romantic comedy instead of utilizing her great dramatic talents. But Ronald Reagan is extremely cute, and so the rest of the movie is, too.

The plot involves a sex scandal - of the 1940s variety. Reagan has a date with Eleanor's loose friend, Eve Arden. When Eve gets a better offer (how can that be?), she stands him up and Eleanor goes out with him instead. He's a soldier on leave, and all the hotels are full. So, after quite a bit of debating the propriety of the situation, Eleanor agrees to let him sleep on her couch for the weekend. But what will the neighbors think? When they see him leaving her apartment in the morning, still buttoning his coat, they're bound to think "the worst".

Yes, it's dated, but in my opinion, it's still pretty cute. Sometimes a time capsule is fun to watch, even though we don't have the same moral standards (or the same Production Code to make our films pretend we have the same moral standards) as eighty years ago. But, there are two good-looking people who get to fall in love with each other over the course of forty-eight hours, and who have to resist sharing a bed even though they're sleeping under the same roof - so what's not to like? On a side-note, if you've seen some famous outtakes of old movies, this one has been frequently featured: In one scene, Reagan has to zip up Eleanor's dress, and it took several hilarious takes to get it right!

Ronald Reagan (he's Bill) and Eleanor Parker (she's Sally) are very unsteady in this "comedy/drama" about a soldier and an actress falling in love when circumstances force him to spend the night with her (notorious New York hotels during wartime, you know). Eve Arden (she's Olive) walks away with the acting honors.

Mr. Reagan doesn't portray the temptation or love very well.; he does have a good comic scene, moving very smoothly as he hides out in the kitchen from advancing Ms. Arden (who also has her sights on Reagan). Ms. Parker unevenly attempts to add some dimension to her role, with varying success; watch how she takes a sip out of drinks to even them out (I guess).

Particularly, watch for the scene where Reagan has to help Parker out of her dress - and imagine what Rock Hudson and Doris Day would have done with the comic overtones obviously intended in the script. That scene serves as good review. Oh, and sometimes it looks like Reagan can't believe her hair, either! "The Voice of the Turtle" aka "One for the Book" is worth a little look.

**** The Voice of the Turtle (1947) Irving Rapper ~ Eleanor Parker, Ronald Reagan, Eve Arden

John Van Druten opens up his play in brilliant fashion for the screen by introducing a number of interesting characters. The film is romantic comedy at its best and it is shameful that this charming movie is not on tape or DVD and is not better known. Ronald Reagan is at his affable best and Eve Arden excels as always; the supporting cast includes Wayne Morris (in real life a true war hero), Kent Smith and John Emory. The real delight, however, is the performance of Eleanor Parker. To put it simply, she is completely captivating! Doug McClelland, in his book ELEANOR PARKER:WOMAN OF A THOUSAND FACES, is right on target when he comments on her versatility and her dazzling range as an actress of unsurpassed gifts. VOICE OF THE TURTLE is a complete delight no matter how many times it is viewed.

A charming WWII romantic comedy with a likable cast and some witty lines by the great Eve Arden. A "feel-good" movie about taking a second chance on love, and one of Ronald Reagan's best performances. If you enjoy all those Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan movies, you'll love "The Voice of the Turtle."

It's a movie from a different era - and one of the appeals of it is the somewhat innocent "risque-ness" involved with the story, if that makes any sense. Bill (Ronald Reagan) shows up in New York on leave from the Army during the War, and expects to spend a fun weekend with Olive (Eve Arden.) But Olive gets what she thinks is a better offer and ditches Bill, leaving him to spend his time with Olive's friend Sally (Eleanor Parker.) Well, you can see where this is going. A lot of this seems very innocent - and even naive. And, yet, at the same time also surprisingly risque for a movie from this era. Sally has an ex-beau who has pajamas at her apartment. She and the beau had an earlier conversation about when it was appropriate for women (although not men) to "make love." What were those two up to, I wonder? Sally invites Bill (who she's just met) to stay in her apartment when he can't find a hotel room. And yet this is also surprisingly innocent. Bill and Sally are in separate rooms; Bill is really afraid that Olive will find out; at one point Bill and Sally share a glass of milk! There was something appealing in all of that. It was also, at times, mildly amusing. The way Sally takes her bed down at night. The scene (fairly commonplace) where Bill and Sally are speaking in the market with older women obviously misunderstanding what they mean - and the looks they give! The scene where Sally's dress accidentally falls off while Bill tries to fix the zipper was amusing, and Reagan displayed a pretty good facility for slapstick comedy in the last 15 -20 minutes when Olive comes to the apartment and neither Sally nor Bill want her to know he's there.

This is adapted from a stage play - and I didn't think it was a great adaptation. Stage plays and movies are different beasts, and this still felt in many ways to me like a stage play. It's also entirely predictable. There's never a moment in it when you doubt how this is all going to end up. The performances from the three leads were all right, but not spectacular, and while Parker and Reagan were both fine, I for one didn't really sense any particular spark between them.

This is a pleasant, mildly amusing movie that I'm sure didn't set the world on fire. For those who think of Reagan mostly as a politician and former US President, it's a decent look at his work as an actor, in which he displays some ability, but, frankly, it also shows why he was primarily a B-actor. (4/10)

Unlike other reviewers here I'll start out by saying that I love Ronald Reagan, and I voted for Ronald Reagan in 1984. Prior to his presidency I was a democrat. Since several reviewers had to clarify, needlessly, that they were democrats or didn't support RR I decided to start the review by stating that I did!

Secondly, the time period wasn't ambiguous or around 1947 as another reviewer wrote. The film starts out by saying it was Christmas of 1944. Then later in the film it's Spring, of 1945.

I adore this movie. Eleanor Parker was adorable (yes, her hair was too stiff and somewhat silly looking), Ronald Reagan was charming and wonderful, and Eve Arden, as always, was a hoot. I generally don't enjoy many films about "the theatre" as they are often too full of inside jokes or annoying, hammy characters. The Voice of the Turtle was the exception. It was delightful from beginning to end and I love the soundtrack. 10 stars!

A product of its time, indeed. This was a play and it has fairly good reviews, but I find it a bit annoying. I liked Eve Arden, playing the Eve Arden role!....Ronald Reagan is ok. Eleanor Parker wears the stiffest, most absurd wig, never a hair moves. And she speaks in a high, breathless little voice, like an innocent widdle girl. Another war time movie about the housing/apartment shortage! Must have been a big deal back then, there have been other movies about it.

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 !!

This is a brilliant film. For those who don't like old films let me say this could be set any time even today and be as relevant. Right from the very first time I saw the very first scene in the restaurant I was hooked, as I momentarily thought maybe this has been made recently and they've made it look old by turning it to black and white. That's how much I thought the dialogue was so modern. Okay they didn't go all out with the sexual language but was still very forward for the times. All together it comes together very well without being too Schmaltzy and unrealistic as romcoms were especially back then and sometimes even more so now. Even though I've never been a fan of Ronald Reagan both theatrically and politically he is fine in this as is the star and especially Eve Arden who's always brilliant. Do yourself a favour and watch if you can find it.

This movie is the way romantic comedy should be. Eleanor Parker is brilliant. The war time setting reminds us the fight is to keep love and family at the forefront. This movie made me a fan of hers. I've watched it many times, and it never gets old. Even if I don't watch it as much as I used to. One of Ronald Reagan's best performances. Eve Arden shows why she's revered as a comedic actress. Wayne Morris was put to better use later in Westerns. Kent Smith makes the most of his limited screen time. What's great about the film is its innocence. It's more wholesome than the stage version. Thank you Hayes Code. Hollywood declined without it. This movie shows how romance should be, and there's ample laughs, too. Great use of the telephone, too.