The chirons at the beginning of 1930's "Outward Bound" tell us in aching detail how Sutton Vane's play took the London stage by storm. It subsequently was done on Broadway not once but twice (the second time was some years after this film), and the film uses three of the play's original cast: Leslie Howard, Beryl Mercer and Dudley Digges. The film was remade in 1944 as "Between Two Worlds" and the plot was changed slightly to reflect World War II.
"Outward Bound" is the story of several people on board ship, but none of them knows the reason for being there or where they're going. Finally they figure out that they are all dead and face the judgment of The Examiner (Digges) who arrives to tell them their fate. Heaven and hell are really the same place, it turns out, and those going to the less desirable place merely have some things to work on before heading upward. Two people, however, will not be leaving the ship - that's the suicide couple (Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Helen Chandler) who, like the purser, are "halfways" and must stay on the ship for eternity.
The film is very bizarre looking, in a good way, very foggy, with an amorphous skyline when the outside of the ship (a toy boat) is shown. The atmosphere is appropriately dark and eerie. The problem with "Outward Bound" is two-fold. The acting is melodramatic and very stagy; also, the actors don't have the talkie "rhythm" down yet, so they sound very stilted. Leslie Howard, who in the film takes the part played on stage by Alfred Lunt, gives no indication that he will become a great film star - his performance is for the stage and terribly hammy. Interestingly, both he and Fairbanks Jr. not long after this movie would give wonderful performances, Howard in "The Petrified Forest" and Fairbanks in "Love is a Racket." Fairbanks in particular had a remarkably modern acting technique, but not in "Outward Bound." Strangely enough, as with "Between Two Worlds," there is something compelling and sympathetic about most of these characters. Perhaps it's a fascination we have with the afterlife, but the story does hold together, and we do care what happens to the "good guys" on the ship. I admit to liking "Between Two Worlds" better, especially the suicide couple plot, which is better handled in the latter film.
"Outward Bound" today is an interesting artifact but worth seeing, especially if you can follow it up with "Between Two Worlds."
"Outward Bound" is the story of several people on board ship, but none of them knows the reason for being there or where they're going. Finally they figure out that they are all dead and face the judgment of The Examiner (Digges) who arrives to tell them their fate. Heaven and hell are really the same place, it turns out, and those going to the less desirable place merely have some things to work on before heading upward. Two people, however, will not be leaving the ship - that's the suicide couple (Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Helen Chandler) who, like the purser, are "halfways" and must stay on the ship for eternity.
The film is very bizarre looking, in a good way, very foggy, with an amorphous skyline when the outside of the ship (a toy boat) is shown. The atmosphere is appropriately dark and eerie. The problem with "Outward Bound" is two-fold. The acting is melodramatic and very stagy; also, the actors don't have the talkie "rhythm" down yet, so they sound very stilted. Leslie Howard, who in the film takes the part played on stage by Alfred Lunt, gives no indication that he will become a great film star - his performance is for the stage and terribly hammy. Interestingly, both he and Fairbanks Jr. not long after this movie would give wonderful performances, Howard in "The Petrified Forest" and Fairbanks in "Love is a Racket." Fairbanks in particular had a remarkably modern acting technique, but not in "Outward Bound." Strangely enough, as with "Between Two Worlds," there is something compelling and sympathetic about most of these characters. Perhaps it's a fascination we have with the afterlife, but the story does hold together, and we do care what happens to the "good guys" on the ship. I admit to liking "Between Two Worlds" better, especially the suicide couple plot, which is better handled in the latter film.
"Outward Bound" today is an interesting artifact but worth seeing, especially if you can follow it up with "Between Two Worlds."