Released: June 29, 1950
Director: William A. Wellman
*****
It's a fascinating theological premise in The Next Voice You Hear: what if the voice of God told people around the world how he wanted them to live? If that voice spoke in the appropriate language for each country at the same exact time, would we believe there was a higher being in the universe? If he made it rain or performed small miracles, what would that prove to the people?
I dare say if this happened today, the world would come to a standstill, followed by a holy war unlike anything we've seen before. But on the heels of World War II, with the world a smaller and less hostile place, this singular voice stops everyone in their tracks and makes them reexamine their lives. For Joe Smith, billed as "an American" in the credits, he slows down his life, keeps his temper in check and remembers to love everyone. Hokey and cheesy idea, certainly. But one worth remembering.
See, this film isn't as much about the people inhabiting the world as it is about what the audience can do in their own world to live life "God's way." Yes, it is preachy in a lot of different ways, especially when Joe makes nice with Aunt Ethel and the culmination of the film in the church, but it's a wholesome-type of preachiness, where families are still families without any cares in the world outside of getting to work on time and getting the dishes done. It's all rather inoffensive and, dare I say it, enlightening.
The idea is, anyway. The actual film and characters don't get much of a workout. Each camera set up is by the numbers with nothing to stand out to the audience. On the flip side of that, though, the camera never does call attention to itself. And the characters are flimsy plot devices, designed to get us from Point A to Point B without much fuss. They do. Even the most out of place segments-like the moment directly after the rains begin-is rooted in family and faith. It's not revolutionary, but maybe it should be.