The Voice of the Turtle

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.

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 !!

"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.

this comment is being written on June 11, 2004--in which the nation pays homage to Ronald Reagen, who died six days ago. The post office and government buildings are closed, flags are at half mast, and the media are playing and replaying footage of Mr. Reagen.

Turner Classic Movies offers its tribute: a 1947 film that starred Reagen, first released as "The Voice of the Turtle" (original play title) then re-released as "One for the Book." Neither title really did much for the movie.

However, the film itself contains one of Reagen's best performances, right there with his impressive dramatic turn in "King's Row." In this case, the role calls for a pretty light hearted chap--a service man--and one who isn't particularly gifted in any area and doesn't make any bones about it.

It's a good role for Ronnie, and with the support of the enormously talented Eleanor Parker as love interest--and the always spiffy work of comedienne Eve Arden--Reagen manages to come out looking quite well.

Yet who would have thought, watching this film, that an entire nation would be declaring a day in his honor? Goes to show, one shouldn't underestimate the potential power of actors, especially those who manage to stick to "nice guy" roles throughout their career.

Irving Rapper directs this fluffy romantic farce with flair, and the viewer's rewarded with a most amusing diversion.