The Next Voice You Hear… ** (1950, James Whitmore, Nancy Reagan, Gary Gray) – Classic Movie Review 6713

In director William A Wellman’s comforting, unusual 1950 drama The Next Voice You Hear…, the voice of God is broadcast on the radio across the globe over a week, and it has a deep effect on the lives of ordinary men and women in their ordinary US town.

James Whitmore and Nancy Davis star as happy average parents with one son (Gary Gray), whose hearing of God’s voice changes their lives. Whitmore plays Joe Smith, American, who lives in suburban LA and works at an aircraft plant and Davis plays his wife, Mrs Mary Smith.

Based on a story by George Sumner Albee, this is a well-meaning but simple-minded, sentimental religious themed parable for Americans in the Fifties, with little but curiosity and nostalgia value to recommend it today, apart perhaps from Whitmore’s star performance and the pleasant presence of Nancy Davis (later Reagan) as the female lead. Gray as the son and Lillian Bronson as Aunt Ethel are both notable.

Also in the cast are Lillian Bronson, Jeff Corey, Art Smith, Tom D’Andrea, George Chandler, Billy Bletcher, Frankie Darro, Frank Gerstle, Thomas Browne Henry, Marjorie Hoshelle, Douglas Kennedy, Donald Kerr, Milton R Corey Sr, Jim Hayward, Rush Williams, William Vedder, Tommy Myers, Louis Merrill and Sherry Jackson.

The Next Voice You Hear… is directed by William A Wellman, runs 83 minutes, is made and released by MGM, is written by Charles Schnee, based on a story by George Sumner Albee, is shot in black and white by William C Mellor, is produced by Dore Schary, is scored by David Raskin, and designed by Cedric Gibbons and Eddie Imazu.

The voice of God is not heard in the movie, as the broadcasts are omitted and only the consequences are seen.

Along with Ben-Hur (1959), the MGM lion is not shown roaring at the start of the opening credits, because of their religious themes.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6713

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