Product Details

• Actors: James Whitmore, Nancy Davis, Gary Gray, Lillian Bronson, Art Smith
• Directors: William A. Wellman
• Writers: Charles Schnee, George Sumner Albee
• Producers: Dore Schary
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Warner)
• VHS Release Date: December 23, 1993
• Run Time: 83 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301972228
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,568 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nostalgic, Comforting, and Somehow Believable., March 23, 2005

By 

OAKSHAMAN "oakshaman" (Algoma, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Next Voice You Hear [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This little film is really a remarkable artifact from 1950. There is an innocence to it that you couldn't recreate today. It manages to use a controversial theme like the voice of God manifesting over the radiowaves of the world over a six day period, yet there is no real partisan sense of controversy. You accept that it is really the voice of God. Moreover, there is no dogma attached- no mention of specific scriptures, or even specific prophets- just God speaking plainly for himself to the average man and woman. The message itself is no profound, radical, Last Days revelation- just a simple one of kindness, goodness, and love. Given the chaotic times that the world had just passed through, it makes sense that the message would be a calming and reassuring one. Any panic it causes in the story seems to be the result of the personal guilt and misunderstanding of the listeners.

The secondary significance to this film is the perfect picture it paints of the its time. This was five years after the end of the war. The G.I.'s and defense workers were just beginning to settle into domesticity after some wild and scary times. Suburbia was just coming into existance. Nor was this a time of complacent prosperity- the average Joe was a factory worker that was under pressure to just get by. There are also all of the little things of typical American life- bowling with friends, listening to the radio (no television for the masses, yet), starters on the floorboards of cars, a husband going out for cigarettes (and asking his pregnant wife if she would like him to get her a pack....)

Whitmore is perfect as Mr. Average Joe (Joe Smith, actually)- and is likeable and believable. Nowadays most people would classify him as a lower class, factory-working loser- but then he was Mr. Average American- the salt of the earth. His wife, Nancy Davis (Nancy Reagan) is the perfect stay at home, hard working, housewife (not yet a negative stereotype.) The son is as clean-cut an example of the all-American boy as you could wish. And yet, together, they never come across as phoney or contrived. Infact, they come across as far more real than the vast majority of families today.

You never actually hear the actual voice of God, but this is for the best. An actual voice would have been a distraction and a let down compared to what the viewer can picture in his own mind and heart. Afterall, that is where God has always spoken to the little guy all down through the ages.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fear vs. Faith, August 14, 2000

By 

Ronald Robinson (Memphis, Tennessee USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Next Voice You Hear [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I first saw this film when I was about 10 years old on television. I never forgot it or the impact it had on me at the time. I remember it being suspenseful, even scary. I did not see it again until I was an adult. It still has impact. The movie actually raised questions of faith and fear. I am a counselor in a rehab for adolescent males and have used the movie in a spirituality group. It really made for an excellent discussion. A good film that holds it own however you view it: spiritual, fantasy, or suspense.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Subtle, effective, interesting., August 21, 2005

By 

R. Christenson "SpaceComics.com" (Pine, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Next Voice You Hear [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The Next Voice You Hear shows a typical small American family's reaction to a subtle worldwide miracle. The title refers to the voice of God, miraculously broadcast worldwide via AM radio. At the time the film was made, few people had television yet, but almost everyone in the world had access to a radio. The story is told from the point of view of the Smith family, played by James Whitmore (Face of Fire, The Shawshank Redemption), Nancy Davis Reagan (Donovan's Brain, Hellcats of the Navy), and Gary Gray (Rachel And The Stranger). At first they, along with everyone else, think it's a hoax. But the miracle is repeated for six nights.

You might think you wouldn't be interested in The Next Voice You Hear if you're not religious. But to me it's more like a Twilight Zone episode. Almost like the Cleavers or the Andersons plunged into the twilight zone. The film is effective because it's subtle; they don't hit you over the head with religion. You, the viewer, never hear the voice of God, only His words repeated by characters and radio announcers.

The acting is very good, directing and production values competent. I think the script could have been a little better, but it keeps your interest throughout.

Chet Huntley, who was later co-anchor of NBC news with David Brinkley, performed the voice of the radio announcer.