Outward Bound

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 ****

The cast's dramatic performance style reflects that of serious stage dramas of the time. Over all, the feel of this movie is very "English" when compared to the crudely mannered World War II era remake.

I was swept up into the young couple's dilemma. The dramatic tension of this (the original) version, is so finely honed that I found myself sitting on the edge of my chair, nervously biting my nails, on the verge of tears. The 1930s was truly the golden age of movies.

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.

Although modern audiences will probably guess what is happening before the characters on the screen do, "Outward Bound" is still a pioneering film thematically, in the way it bends and breaks the reality of what we are seeing. Leslie Howard is a little too theatrical in his talkie debut, but Dudley Digges scores points by playing the Examiner in a quite unorthodox way. An intriguing movie from start to finish. *** out of 4.

After seeing "Between Two Worlds" the 1944 remake of this movie, it is safe to say that both have their own merits. This film, made early in the talkie era reflects the effects of transitioning to sound from silents. The acting is stagey, overdone and very overdramatic. The players seems ill at ease probably due to the presence of the microphone and also from the fact that some were stage actors where the exaggerated gesture was appropriate. The story, adapted from the stage play, looks like what it is....a stage play. But the cinematography is wonderful, light and dark clearly deliniated; shadows which give it a very eerie look. It has such a great story line....passengers on a ship going to Heaven or Hell without their knowledge....that it holds interest in spite of some of the emoting that takes place. Leslie Howard goes over the edge in the scene where he realizes what is happening and it borders on comedic. Frankly, he is just not very good in this part. John Garfield plays in much more realistically in the 1944 film. Montagu Love, as the business man of shady reputation can't hold a candle to the wonderful George Colouris who played that part in the remake. The less said about Doug Jr. and Helen Chandler as the young lovers the better. One has to remember that this is a very early movie and those of us who love early cinema are prepared for the mannered acting that was often seen during this time in movie history. It is worth seeing; in fact, see this one and then see the remake. You might like the remake better but give the original a chance. You may like it.