Outward Bound

Outward Bound (1930)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Helen Chandler play lovers who commit suicide and then find themselves on an ocean liner with various other characters. None of them are quite sure where the boat is going but soon they learn that they're all dead and heading to Heaven or Hell. This film was based on a well known play, which was suppose to have been very good but it doesn't translate to the screen very well. The film opens up with over a minute of notes from the studio asking people not to laugh at the story and to take it seriously so you have to wonder if the studio itself was worried about the movie. The film is all dialogue, which naturally could kill the film and it partially does. The dialogue whenever the characters are just sitting around talking about typical things is quite boring and doesn't contain anything interesting. Whenever the people are talking about life and death then it comes to life somewhat but the film eventually goes on way too long. There are a few nice twists at the end but the actual ending is a letdown but I'm not sure if it was changed from the original play. Fairbanks Jr., and Chandler deliver fine performances as does the rest of the cast including Leslie Howard as a drunk. The film was later remade as Between Two Worlds with John Garfield.

A group of assorted persons find themselves on a ship bound for no conceivable destination. Little do they know, that they are all dead and sailing towards judgment in this evocative and moving psychological drama about life and death.

The script-which was based off a broadway play-is very well done. The final results are still stagey and the whole movie seems to take place in one room, but because of the brisk pace and timeless themes of life, death, and what happens after you die there is never a dull or slow moment in the movie. It's dramatization of life after death is mesmerizing and still holds up after all these years. This is Leslie Howard's (Gone with the Wind) first American film, he acted in the stage version of this film, so his acting tends to be on the melodramatic side. Of the young couple, Helen Chandler (Dracula) gives the better performance. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. brings down Chandler's tragic intensity and the young couple story line with his over-the-top performance. As for the rest of the cast, some performances are better than others, but no performance gets too melodramatic to the point where it's distracting from the great story or the eerie, almost scary, atmosphere. I saw this movie on TCM recently and I noticed that it is not available on DVD or VHS and I think that's a real shame. Overall: a very thought-provoking, atmospheric, early-talkie drama. Would be great for rainy days. Beryl Mercer (Public Enemy), Lyonal Watts, Alison Akipworth, and Slec B. Francis also star.

*** out of ****

Massive stage hit was an early talkie starring Leslie Howard as a man who finds himself on a ship that is "outward bound." Stunning dialog and beautiful cinematography help this allegorical tale of passengers stranded onboard a mysterious ship. A huge stage hit in London and New York, Outward Bound was am ambitious talkie for 1930 and features some wonderful performances (a bit stagy, but wonderful) from Howard as well as the great and underrated Alison Skipworth. Also good are Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Beryl Mercer, Helen Chandler, Alec P. Francis, Dudley Digges, and Montagu Love. Lyonel Watts is a bit much as the vicar. This was remade in the late 40s as Between Two Worlds, starring John Garfield and Eleanor Parker.

Leslie Howard always seemed to be wasted in blah film roles and its nice to see him here in a worthy role. And Skipworth is a total delight in any film you can catch her in...... Here she plays a most unusual part, and plays it beautifully. All her little hmmms and gutteral sounds add fathoms to the dialog. And note her first name is misspelled in the opening credits.

The story of the man who wrote Outward Bound is probably more interesting than the play itself if that's possible. Sutton Vane was an actor who joined the army at the outbreak of World War I and was invalided out due to a bad case of shell-shock. The horrible memory of the war stayed with him even though he tried to go back to performing.

The play Outward Bound was written by Vane as a catharsis, his own message about how differently people view life at the moment of judgment. Vane could not interest any of the mainstream producers in London to back his play, he raised the money and produced it himself. It struck a chord with post World War I audiences in first the United Kingdom and then in America.

When Warner Brothers got the rights to the play they were lucky indeed to get several of the original cast from Broadway to repeat their roles for the screen. Leslie Howard, Lyonel Watts, Dudley Digges and Beryl Mercer did these parts on Broadway in 1924 when the play ran for 144 performances.

Several people find themselves on board a most mysterious ship which seems to be continually traveling in fog and only one crewman, a steward is on duty. It turns out that only a young couple, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and Helen Chandler, seem to know what's happening. They're all dead and the ship is heading towards a meeting with the Great Examiner who will determine their fates.

Why they and steward Alec B. Francis are the only ones of the passengers that knows what's happening and what happens to each one you'll have to see the film for. Outward Bound with a message that's less Christian centered might very well find an audience today. Unless you believe that their are similar ships carrying people from an Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist, etc. cultures to their fates which the author by no means excludes.

Though melodramatic in spots, Outward Bound is still a haunting film about people on the brink of eternity.

One film is a mesmerising surreal experience whereas the other is an unbelievable overacted ridiculous compilation of cliches. Surprisingly it's OUTWARD BOUND that's the better film.

Despite what some people have said, OUTWARD BOUND is nothing like a filmed stage play. It is hampered by being made using Warner's cumbersome restrictive Vitaphone system but apart from that it has a fantastically atmospheric almost dreamlike quality which is exactly what such a story needs.

BETWEEN TWO WORLDS' style is just wrong for this type of picture. Yes it's filmed better, the story and characters are more fully developed but by trying to make it realistic, normal and natural, the premise comes across as ridiculous. For this to work, it can't be realistic, it can only be credible within a mysterious dreamworld where everyone is acting really weirdly - like they do in the original.

The acting in the older film is purposefully strange - after all they've just discovered that they're dead. Considering that it was his first film, Leslie Howard is superb and strangely believable as the tortured, troubled soul. John Garfield playing the same role in the remake however seems to think he's in a New York gangster flick and his cynical 1940s hard-boiled reporter is one of the most clichéd performances I've ever seen. That's the other problem with the 'new' version: everyone is a stereotypical caricature. The baddies are over the top nasty, the lovers are sickeningly sweet and as for the 'comedy vicar'! Worst of all is Sara Allgood as a dear little old Irish lady - I feel sorry for Garfield - eternity in the fires of hell almost seem preferable to having to live with her for ever.

It's understandable why the story had to be changed for the remake. Attitudes had changed hugely since the 1920s so it would not have made sense for the 1940s young couple to kill themselves for the same reason as their earlier incarnations. Being made in the middle of the Second World War again influenced that film's mood. Death then was a familiar visitor to us then so one can understand the over sentimental approach which was particularly appealing to a war ravaged world.

Although OUTWARD BOUND is more interesting with its moody, slightly stoned feel, the somewhat hammy remake has one significant advantage - the perpetually lacklustre Helen Chandler is replaced by Eleanor Parker. Not only is she a million times better as an actress, she is stunningly beautiful and a pretty face really does make an imperfect film more watchable.

The theme of ferrying the dead through the final judgment to the afterlife was actually done much better in the excellent BBC tv show, LIFE ON MARS / ASHES TO ASHES but nevertheless it's fascinating to see how such a theme was presented in the past.