Between Two Worlds and Outward Bound: Sailing for the Final Judgement Part Two

Warner Bros. remade Outward Bound in 1944 with a World War II theme, a different cast, a new title, and a full Erich Wolfgang Korngold score. Relatively inexperienced Edward A. Blatt directed.

Daniel Fuchs wrote the screenplay. He would also write Hollow Triumph (Eagle-Lion Films, 1948), a true film noir starring Paul Henreid in a dual role. Three new characters were added: Miss Maxine Russell (Faye Emerson), an actress traveling with newspaperman Tom Prior (now played by John Garfield), and Pete Musick (George Tobias), a merchant marine sailor. [The constantly working character actor is best known as Abner Kravitz in the long-running series Bewitched (ABC Television, 1964-1972). But he also appeared as John Garfield’s friend, Al Doyle, in Nobody Lives Forever (Warner Brothers, 1946). The following year, he switched studios to play Abu in Sinbad the Sailor (RKO Radio Pictures, 1947), where he was a loyal friend to Douglas Fairbanks Jr.’s magical title character.

There’s also Benjamin Cliveden-Banks (Gilbert Emery). Cliveden-Banks was a colonel in Outward Bound but did not appear because the character was already deceased. Mrs. Cliveden-Banks acquires a first name, Genevieve. Henry and Ann are married in this version and share the last name Bergner. In the original play and pre-code film, Henry is married but not to Ann. They decide to kill themselves out of desperation as the only way they can be together; we never learn their surnames. It’s much more poignant than the Bergners in Between Two Worlds (Warner Bros. 1944). Suicide stems from Henry’s inability to pay or to obtain an exit visa since he has now morphed into a concert pianist and a French Resistance wounded war soldier. Henry’s no Victor Laszlo, but the Casablanca (Warner Bros. 1942) connection is obvious and a liability. Ann chooses to join him in death because she cannot stop him from doing it. These changes only serve to weaken Between Two Worlds. Korngold’s opening music leads us to an onscreen title—A Port in England 1944—and the British Great White Fleet Ltd. Inside, waiting travelers mill around while wartime announcements waft over the loudspeakers. “Do not ask questions. Do not ask questions. You can be sure there is a good reason behind everything we ask you to do.” A sign warns, “Mum’s the word. The enemy wants to know, too!” As Tom Prior’s wartime incarnation, John Garfield sarcastically repeats, “Mum’s the word,” and tells his actress lady friend, “If the Germans want to know, they know.” Genevieve Cliveden-Banks is waiting next to her on the long wooden bench and wordlessly asks her spouse, Benjamin, to change places because Maxine irritates her. Comically, this places her side-by-side with Pete, the sailor, on holiday. Next to him is Reverend Duke, barely containing his pre-departure excitement. Down the line is happy Mrs. Midget, who offers sour Lingley a bun from her hamper, which makes him stand up, repulsed. He spies a soldier or steamship dispatcher and arrogantly demands to know the whereabouts of two of his “staff” members. Barely containing his distaste, the soldier Lester Matthews—an old friend from The Raven (Universal 1935)—enjoins Lingley, “Please sit down … sit down.” The pushy man threatens, “The chairman of this line is one of my most intimate friends.” The soldier has had it now, “Not for the duration, he isn’t.” Although it’s a small, uncredited role, Lester Matthews instantly sets a tone of authority and reason in contrast to George Coulouris’ obnoxious Lingley. (The actor was a busy Broadway and film actor, dependably embodying shady characters and villains. His only other genre credit would be in Blood From the Mummy’s Tomb (Hammer 1971.)

Now, Henry is at the ticket counter, trying to obtain an exit visa without any money or a reservation. (Victor Laszlo again.) The steamship clerk (uncredited Patrick O’Moore) feels bad for the musician and “real soldier.” Still, Lester Matthew’s soldier/dispatcher sums it up, “War,” and goes on to check in “Group F,” ushering them out to a taxi with a “dock permit.” An air raid accompanied by blaring horns gets everyone scurrying. Eleanor Parker’s Ann rushes in, frantically seeking her Henry, and tries to get in the taxi, but Lingley roughly pushes her out. As bombs fall, Lester Matthew’s soldier/dispatcher tells her to “take cover.”

Horrified, Ann sees a bomb take out the “Group F” taxi and its occupants. Henry’s not in the station, so Korngold’s “Ann Runs Home” track gets her there with its distraught strings. Henry is sitting in their apartment, listening to the “Next World Theme,” having blocked up all the windows and turned on the gas, sending them both to the ship bound for eternity. They are inside a large lounge room with a grand piano on a raised platform. Henry is drawn to it, and he can play again. (On her Facebook page, Paul Henreid’s daughter, Monika, confirms that it was Korngold at the piano for the actor in the “Rhapsody for Piano Forte,” and also that of all this composer’s film scores, Between Two Worlds was his personal favorite.) As the Bergners embrace, Henry exclaims, “This is what we wanted.” Ann tenderly says, “I’d rather be with you in the dark and cold … than by myself in the sunshine.” (Theme, “Henry and Ann.”) “Conversations” escort us to the next room presided over by celestial steward, Scrubby (here played by the man who would become a Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner for his Kris Kringle, Miracle on 34th Street (20th Century-Fox 1947), Edmund Gwenn. Between Two Worlds would be his only genre film until the memorable Dr. Harold Medford in Them! (Warner Brothers 1954).

The camera pans the room and eavesdrops on Reverend William Duke (Dennis King, actor and musical theater singer), who performs well as the conciliatory and confused clergyman. Between Two Worlds was his only role in horror, fantasy, or science fiction. He’s confiding feeling “odd, tired” to a sympathetic Mrs. Midget [Sara Allgood, who had recently been Mrs. Higgins in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 1941) and Ellen Bunting in The Lodger (20th Century Fox 1944). Ms. Allgood was a former Abbey Theatre actress with a brother who was a Catholic priest.]

Benjamin Cliveden-Banks is musing over Henry’s music. [He is Gilbert Emery, who had been occupied previously doing other genre characters. Sir Basil Humphrey, Dracula’s Daughter (Universal 1936), Gerald Pyncheon, The House of the Seven Gables (Universal 1939), and Dr. Walter Saunders, The Return of the Vampire (Universal 1943) with Bela Lugosi.] The piano only annoys his self-absorbed, shallow wife. (Isobel Elsom would go on to play Gene Tierney’s cold mother-in-law, Angelica Muir, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (20th Century Fox 1947) and have roles in several episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including Mrs. Tait in “The Diplomatic Corpse” (1957 with Peter Lorre and directed by Paul Henreid).

At the bar, Tom obliquely proposes marriage to Maxine, who thinks they should “break it off.” (Faye Emerson was a prolific stage, screen, and, finally, television actress. Between Two Worlds is her sole genre role.) (John Garfield came out of poverty and obscurity to become a major star whose career was lamentably cut short, but not before garnering several Oscar nominations and—sadly—being tormented by HUAC. It’s believed the trauma led to his early death at age 39. Between Two Worlds is the only opportunity to see him in a genre role.] George Coulouris’s overbearing Lingley shatters the scene and pounds in, accompanied by his theme, “Mr. Lingley,” barking at Edmund Gwenn’s patient Scrubby to send his staff to him. They’re not on board. Scrubby gently tries to explain that he won’t need them. “Who the devil are you to tell me what I need and don’t need!” Enjoying himself, Prior lets everyone know these are no ordinary staff members but bodyguards and hints at Lingley’s double dealings, “The enemy’s got nothing against you.” Lingley recognizes Prior as someone he fired for “drunkenness and incompetence,” but really for cabling “those muckraking pieces about me to America.” Lingley orders a brandy and huffs off to a banquette by the wall. Just as Reverend Duke and Mrs. Midget did, Prior feels strange, “My head is spinning like a yo-yo,” and goes to the deck to think.

Sensing an opportunity, Maxine primped at a mirror and sat down with the smoking and drinking Lingley. Overtaken by the same mood that the rest of Group F seems to be in, Miss Russell tells the questionable businessman that she “never really got any place on the stage or anywhere else for that matter.”

Henry is still playing the “Rhapsody for Piano Forte,” adoring Ann by his side. Pete Musick has been listening at the door and asks Henry not to stop on his account. “I take real enjoyment in good music,” Henry stops anyway.

Musick, thinking they are nervous because of the war, tells them he was “torpedoed three times” and survived due to his ho-ho-kus, a lucky charm that he displays. The Bergners are about to tell him the truth when Scrubby comes in to announce dinner. The sailor leaves after asking the steward to talk to Henry and Ann. Scrubby explains that the Bergners are different because they decided to end their lives, but he warns that the others “have to find out for themselves.” They are disconcerted and think the rest should be told. Ann wants to know where they’re going, and Scrubby tells them Heaven and Hell, again and again, as in Outward Bound, “They’re the same place.” (Once more, the odd theology made it into Between Two Worlds even with 1940s active censorship.)

Korngold moves us on deck with “The World at War” and “Tom and Mrs. Midget.” The sweet lady charms away Tom’s disquiet, and he takes her down to dinner. Ann doesn’t want Henry to help Scrubby. There’s always the fear of being separated. The Bergners kiss; Maxine startles them apart. She tries to be cynical but admits, “I’m just a sucker for the real thing when I see it.” After the actress leaves, the couple decides she won’t harm them, but they are unsure about the others. Then they, too, go to dinner.

Cut to a long dining table, similar to those seen at banquets or weddings. Sailor Pete is at the center, asking his companions to toast to his wife and new baby. Nobody does, and Benjamin cutely says, “Didn’t go so well, did it?”

Musick drones on and on about his family, and the others talk among themselves. The Reverend Duke arrives late, pleased to be on his way to the “Annual Convention of Ministers” and a “new beginning.” Overwhelmed, Korngold rushes Ann out (“Ann’s Anguish”), Henry follows, but so does Lingley (“Lingley’s Proposition”), offering Henry 500 pounds and a gun to be his bodyguard on board. Henry sees Scrubby nodding in the background and reluctantly accepts it while the clever steward maneuvers Lingley inside for coffee. Henry and Ann discuss how they are different because they committed suicide. Prior, on the stairs behind them, overhears this, and suddenly, all his suspicions fall into place. The Bergners worry about Tom being a loose cannon, and they are right, as he can barely contain himself, breaking in on Mrs. Midget being verbally abused by Genevieve and Lingley. He ridicules the haughty woman, rubbing it in that the ship is “unrestricted.” (John Garfield was Jewish, so this scene might have had personal meaning for him.) Mrs. Cliveden-Banks marches off to her room. Emboldened by new knowledge, Tom harasses Lingley until he also leaves (Theme, “Mr. Lingley”), then goes over to Sailor Pete, Reverend Duke, and Benjamin, sitting together at a round table. He prompts them into participating in one of his marked card tricks after displaying a deft air shuffle, then finally goes off himself, having caused a fair amount of chaos.

Seeing Maxine on deck (“Maxine and Lingley”), the war profiteer more or less suggests she become his mistress so that she can have all the material things she longs for. “I need you. I want you.” Tom shows up, applauding, effectively stopping the clinch. Lingley and his “Mr. Lingley” theme threaten, “I’ll break your back for good!” Maxine asks Tom not to “spoil” it for her. Prior can’t help himself and fervently kisses her. The deluded woman says he’s “crazy,” but Tom rightly counters, “Fool!”

Still caring about Maxine, the encounter upsets him, and he goes back inside only to be prevailed upon by sailor Pete and Duke to be the entertainment with his “sleight of hand.” Tom requires a double Scotch to listen to their plans. They keep up the onslaught. Scrubby tries to diffuse the tension, and Henry chimes in with, “Be careful!” This gets Tom’s back up, and he taunts Henry, ultimately committing to be the star attraction at the evening’s entertainment. He promises “the bitter glamor of the heavenly panorama …"

The composer forces everyone back into the main lounge with “The Greatest Show of a Lifetime.” Group F is seated—the organizers—and Duke—on a small couch, and Mrs. Midget between them. Significantly, Mrs. Cliveden-Banks is alone on a settee large enough for two. Maxine, Benjamin, and Lingley are in separate chairs. Henry and Ann are apprehensively perched on a loveseat. Prior starts to work the room, mingling with the group, just like a nightclub magician. Terrified, Henry tries to stop him quietly, but instead, Tom pretends the pianist has volunteered, removes the 500 pounds from Henry’s suit jacket, asks Pete to verify the bills, and places them in a glass bowl on the piano.

Taking one bill, he sets the whole 500 pounds on fire, backed up by Korngold’s homage to “The Magic Fire Music,” Wagner, Richard (Der Ring des Nibelungen 1875), delighting the still oblivious Pete Musick, Mrs. Midget, and Benjamin Cliveden-Banks, who applaud. In his concern over the 500 pounds burned, Lingley steps onto the stage. Pleased that the show is going so well, Pete obligingly hustles Henry off the stage, but not before Prior relieves him of Lingley’s gun. Its owner is petrified because he knows it has real bullets. In horror, Group F watches Tom shoot Lingley, who falls to his knees but instantly realizes there’s no wound, no blood. Prior returns the weapon to the incredulous man and makes his point, “The fact is, we’re all dead. All of us dead people.” Nobody believes this; Pete and Mrs. Midget even laugh. Plaintively, Duke questions Henry, who says, “It’s all a mistake.” Then, Korngold walks Scrubby in with “Confirmation,” “They might as well know now.” Duke and Maxine are heartbroken, but Pete is angry. Raging at how unfair it is to him, he throws his cherished good luck charm across the room. Lingley explodes (Theme, “Mr. Lingley”), “We must do something.”

No one agrees with him. Scrubby, supported by “Judgement Day is Coming,” drops another bomb when he mentions “the examination.” This gets everyone’s attention, but Mrs. Midget grasps it first, inquiring about an examiner who will ask questions. She also tells Maxine to change into something more modest. Still smarting from the blow, Miss Russell defiantly swears not to see him and runs out, accompanied by “Maxine’s Theme.” Once again, Mrs. Midget understands and wants to pray, “Please, your Reverence, if you will.” The clergyman repeats the Outward Bound, “Gentle Jesus …” prayer at her further urging.

The composer leads us to the inevitable, “Preparations,” even as Henry and Ann’s “Love Theme” intrudes. Henry must help Scrubby set up, which scares Ann. He starts to regret that they took their lives. Ann reminds him that she wants to be with him. Insincerely, Lingley makes nice and offers to be the Group F spokesman. Only Genevieve Cliveden-Banks thinks this is a good idea. The Reverend William Duke labels it “Undignified, unholy rubbish.” His pitch is stopped dead with Korngold’s “The Examiner arrives,” along with the ship’s bell tolling three times.

Then, “Fear—Entrance of the Examiner.” The Reverend Tim Thompson [Sydney Greenstreet was initially a stage actor who emerged in films at 61. Between Two Worlds was his only genre film. He was incisively perfect in every role he played but is always remembered for his Kasper Gutman, The Maltese Falcon (Warner Bros. 1941) and Casablanca (Warner Bros. 1942) as Signor Ferrari with Paul Henreid, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Peter Lorre, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, and Dooley Wilson.]

Thompson greets Duke warmly, addressing him as “Bunny” (Bunny was Colonel Cliveden-Bank’s nickname in Outward Bound) and reveals that he is the Examiner. Duke is transported and thanks God when his former colleague assures him he will still have his beloved pastoral work. Duke stays with him during the remaining examinations.

“The Nazi Collaborator” accompanies Lingley barging in on the two clergymen. Thompson has no time for this. “Go away.” Again, three times. Lingley sits down, but Thompson orders Scrubby to take him to the launch because his trial is over. He is guilty of being “Lingley of Lingley Limited.” Defiant still, he tries to intimidate the Examiner, boasting that he had everything he wanted for 30 years, no matter the cost. Resolutely, Thompson says, “Thirty seconds. 30 minutes. The flickering of an eyelash.” Still negotiating, Lingley references Maxine, but Thompson is firm on this. “No, you won’t have her because here, my son, you can’t buy anything.” A dejected Lingley accompanies Scrubby and boards the launch by himself.

The Examiner crosses the first name off his list and invites Duke to “help me with this bunch.” Then, he sets his sights on Henry, instructing him to come with him. Henry says he won’t, but Scrubby and Ann encourage him to go to the next room, where the Examiner has Henry sit down at the end of the table as Korngold presents us to “Mrs. Cliveden-Banks.” She asks for a villa with a pink roof and a dining room that can seat at least 30. Thompson tells her it will be a castle, not a villa. There’s a catch. “No one can ever come to see you.” True to form, she laments, “What’s the good of possessions if you can’t show them to anybody?” Duke backs her up when she suggests that the Examiner has confused her with somebody else. Then he hits her with, “There were many opportunities, many men,” and the humiliations that loyal Benjamin had to endure. She tries to convince Thompson that Benjamin “never knew.” Right on cue, Benjamin himself enters with, “I always knew, Genevieve … you see, my dear, that love I had is gone, vanished.” Recognizing defeat, Mrs. Cliveden-Banks bluffs, “I’m just as pleased.” Being assured of her castle, she trills frothy goodbyes but pivots at the door, eyes leveled at the Examiner like dueling pistols. “You swine.” Korngold contrasts this with the “Benjamin” theme. Thompson tells him his friends are waiting for him. “Chums … old friends, good companions.”

Prior, “What about me?” Thompson starts to see him, but then talks to Maxine Russell, dressed in a modest black dress with pulled-back hair and no makeup. “I’m tired. I want to go.” Tom tells her not to give in. She kisses him very gently, “Oh, Tommy.” She wants to start again. The Examiner is encouraged, “There’s hope here.” Maxine leaves very quietly.

Prior bets “Double or nothing” with Thompson. If he loses, he’ll follow orders. If he wins? “Death as I wanted. Blank. Finished. Nothing.” The card face-off doesn’t turn out for Prior: “You can’t get by with tricks here.” The Examiner says he must go on without his usual games. “Now and for the rest of time, you’ll face the truth. I don’t know what or who can help you.” Mrs. Midget enters “The Journalist's Mother” and offers her help. Tom wonders why she’s always around. “I want to help you.” She’d “look after” him, be a housekeeper of sorts. Prior objects, “I’m not worth it,” but is won over when Mrs. Midget forsakes a lovely little cottage by the sea with geraniums and roses just to look after Tom Prior. She claims it’ll be “cheery.” He agrees and beckons her out. The Examiner says what we’ve guessed all along, “Goodbye, Mrs. Prior.” She is distraught, begging the three men not to reveal the truth to Tom. They won’t. Her son calls to her, and she leaves with anticipation, “Heaven.”

Pete is last. As before, he is bitter. “Why did I have to die?” Thompson reminds him that he fought the “evil enemy.” Fair enough in wartime, but then almost absurdly, Thompson consoles, promising an eventual family reunion. He will see his wife, Connie, and the baby again because the Examiner tells him, “Everyone winds up here sooner or later.” Here is convincing proof that adding this character was a terrible idea. Sailor Pete is supposed to be happy that his wife and baby will die someday, so he’ll see them again. He should rejoice that he gave his life for a noble cause. The whole premise is awkwardly engineered to fit in with the war fervor. George Tobias was a likable, capable character actor, but nobody could save this role because it didn’t belong in the movie. It trivializes the subject matter. In any case, Pete Musick leaves thinking about “those hot dogs on Coney Island,” backed by Korngold’s beatific strings and soft bells.

The Examiner crosses off the last names in his small notebook and wants to leave. Duke is surprised that he has forgotten about the young couple. Thompson addresses Henry directly, “There’s no judging to be done for you. You took matters into your own hands, didn’t you?” Since Ann died for Henry’s sake, she will go ashore with Thompson and Duke to “a beautiful Heaven.” Scrubby tells Henry that he committed suicide, too, and sailing back and forth forever is their punishment. Henry is sad but races out to his wife, “We can’t be together, Ann.” Ann can’t be dissuaded. “Whatever happens to him must happen to me.” Thompson accepts this as final and starts to depart with Duke. Scrubby begs, “Won’t you help her somehow?” He reminds the Examiner that he’s never complained and has always done his job. The answer? “Good man, Scrubby.”

The clergymen go ashore, and Scrubby rejoins Henry and Ann. Korngold’s not done yet, as we hear “The Sound of Breaking Glass” and “The Second Sound of Breaking Glass.” Ann doesn’t listen to it. Henry wanders off to play. Scrubby senses trouble and keeps urging Ann to go to her husband. She’s not worried but joins him. Henry is distracted by the breaking glass and wanders to the deck, disappearing. Scrubby sadly says, “He lives again.” “The Pianist’s Wife Begs to be Reunited with Him.” The agitato strings get Ann moving, “It’s Ann. Just tell me where you are, darling … this is too cruel … I love you so much.” She starts spinning, and then we see the gramophone record in their apartment, also spinning. Henry is on the floor, sluggish. He sees the broken window and Ann lying motionless on the bed. “You can’t leave me now…come back to me!” Ann wakes up. “We’re alive, Ann. We’re alive.” They kiss. Underneath, the “Next World Theme” swells, leading us to our final sight of the ship’s deck and “The End.” [Between Two Worlds would be the first of two genre films for both actors. Eleanor Parker as Aunt Danny in Eye of the Cat (Universal 1969). Paul Henreid playing the Cardinal in Exorcist II: The Heretic (Warner Bros. 1977.)]

Opinions are divided on which film is the better one. There’s no question that Outward Bound is more faithful to the play, even with the many revisions and deletions. Between Two Worlds introduces three new characters, with the actors doing their best, but none truly belong in this movie if the goal is to stay true to the vision of Sutton Vane. We do not need to meet Tom Prior’s girlfriend. It’s explained that she “chucked” him, and the novelization even shows us how she did it. Maxine Russell distracts from focusing on Tom Prior and changes Lindley’s character. It’s another part for an excellent, underrated actress, but it adds nothing of substance to the film.

We’re never supposed to see Benjamin Cliveden-Banks. He passed away before we saw his wife. Why was it necessary to have him there? To watch her bossing him around? After the first time, it’s too much. The acting is fine and very suitable for the screenplay as it’s written, but it’s better to concentrate on her. Giving her a name is one thing, but returning a deceased husband is another. By far, the most problematic addition is merchant marine sailor Pete Musick. It’s not George Tobias’ fault, as he plays the hand he’s been given. However, the character ultimately comes across as annoying. Why did screenwriter Daniel Fuchs have his sailor rhapsodizing about hot dogs after he’s just realized that his wife and child will have to die before he sees them?

To be fair to the 1944 film, censorship didn’t allow for the freedom enjoyed by the 1930 film. Henry and Ann had to be married. Scrubby can’t call people who commit suicide halfways. Tom Prior’s drunkenness was toned down. Unfortunately, the changes made for a blander concept, particularly in terms of the motivations behind Henry and Ann's decision to kill themselves. While amusing, the Casablanca references are a contrived device to link this film to its iconic predecessor. Why was the Bunny nickname handed over to Duke? It's related to Benjamin Cliveden-Banks and inappropriate for Reverend Duke. Another disagreement is over the Erich Wolfgang Korngold score.

No one would say that his music is not sumptuous. Scores can be too evocative, even overscored as this one is. It deflects us from the plot and characters, insisting we pay attention. Film music should be complementary. We shouldn’t have to cringe practically every time the leading lady breathes because the music will move with her. Not every character requires a theme to flesh it out. The actors are supposed to do that. And not every situation needs a theme, either. Begging his pardon, but in this case, it seems that Erich Wolfgang Korngold allowed his fondness for the music to carry him away. Outward Bound avoids all this by using only sound effects and music for the main credits, River Idyll, and the closing. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but it lends the 1930 film a dreamlike quality that Between Two Worlds lacks.

The 1944 film cannot rightly be called a remake. It’s a revision, almost a salute to the play. Screenwriter Fuchs created his own story, to a certain extent. The wartime overlays are heavy-handed but typical of the time. Outward Bound is mystical and metaphysical. The characters are not tied to their physical beings. As Scrubby says, we can easily believe they are “quite dead,” heading for Eternity. In Between Two Worlds, even after Prior’s big reveal, the characters all seem alive. It’s enjoyable enough, but 1930 audiences would not accept it as being adapted from the same play.

Tastes in acting are so personal that comparing ability is usually not helpful or appreciated. But which actors illuminate their characters best? Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Helen Chandler completely embody Henry and Ann, fitting the original descriptions in the play, and are age-appropriate. When they made Between Two Worlds, Paul Henreid was 14 years older than Eleanor Parker. He was 36, and she was 22. (They are a supportive couple. Paul Henreid has a sensitive quality, and Eleanor Parker is radiant, but that 14-year age difference remains.) Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. was 21, and Helen Chandler was 22. The slight age difference works because Ann sometimes seems to be mothering Henry. When they arrive on board, he asks her why she treats him “like a child.” Despite this, we know these two would be lost without each other.

“When used as a literary term, Liebestod (from German Liebe, love, and Tod, death) refers to the theme of erotic death or 'love death,' meaning the two lovers' consummation of their love in death or after death.”

From the Google search entry for “Liebestod.”

All four actors are beautiful, but Henry and Ann also have a spiritual connection. Paul Henreid and Eleanor Parker appear more physically intimate. (I'm not saying that’s bad, but it doesn’t suit the ethereal subject either.) Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Helen Chandler do not even kiss in the film, but they are wholly connected throughout, which makes Henry's disappearance at the end even more upsetting.

Leslie Howard and John Garfield. There is no contest, although Garfield delivers a robust and watchable performance. Leslie Howard’s Tom Prior is cynical, but his core goodness is evident. He tries to help when Lingley has a heart attack. He apologizes to Duke for going along with Mrs. Cliveden-Banks’ rude treatment. He’s sociable with Scrubby. We don’t wholly trust John Garfield’s Tom Prior. He’s not as kind to Mrs. Midget as he could be, and we don’t know what he will do with the overheard information that they’re all dead. He fits Daniel Fuchs’ Prior but not Sutton Vane’s.

Montagu Love and George Coulouris as Mr. Lingley. They both have their merits, but the war profiteer facet in the 1944 film doesn’t work with the Vane play. War is not a theme in Outward Bound. Between Two Worlds is suffused with it. (The Mr. Lingley of Between Two Worlds seems more in the mold of George Bernard Shaw's munitions manufacturer Andrew Undershaft in Major Barbara, rather than a Nazi sympathizer. These immoral men want to be on the winning side, and they don't care which one.) Poor George Coulouris is also saddled with the scary “Mr. Lingley” theme and a love interest that clouds the issue. They’re both obnoxious, unpleasant, and dishonest, but Montagu Love is more believable as a businessman who wants a second chance he won’t give anyone else.

Alison Skipworth and Isobel Elsom as Mrs. Cliveden-Banks. Both are insufferable snobs, but Ms. Skipworth translates Sutton Vane’s woman right off the page. Every little gesture of her voice, body language, and facial expressions is precisely correct. She is also a lot of fun, which Sutton Vane occasionally allows us to see. Isobel Elsom is so serious, more of a dead weight. It’s not her fault that she has to order poor Benjamin around, but she has a manner about her rather than going by instinct.

Beryl Mercer and Sara Allgood as Mrs. Midget. It’s a tie. Both actresses shine with the charwoman’s goodness, consideration for others, and love for her son. Both are heartbreaking, funny, and spiritual.

Alec B. Francis and Edmund Gwenn as Scrubby. It is a tie, although Alec B. Francis is more wraith-like. He’s also consistently polite, which the steward has to be. Edmund Gwenn is polite but always has negative emotions seething under the surface, which is fascinating to watch, but not as focused as Alec B. Francis. You do love them both. Edmund Gwenn didn’t get the same poetic dialogue, which is a shame, as it would have been interesting to see what he did with it.

Dudley Digges and Sydney Greenstreet as Thomson/Thompson. Tie. Dudley Digges didn’t have to cope with the wartime themes that Sydney Greenstreet had to wrestle with, so he could be more complimentary with the concept of an otherworldly judge who hadn’t lost all his ties to earth. Sydney Greenstreet’s Thompson always seems like a living judge rather than one from the afterworld, but it doesn’t matter because the actor is so enjoyable, even just crossing off names from a list. Both actors deliver tough love convincingly.

Lyonel Watts and Dennis King as the Reverend William Duke. Tie. The actors portray the clergyman's bewilderment, fear, confusion, and piousness. Lyonel Watt's somewhat stammered line readings do have a unique charm. Dennis King speaks with a singer's resonance. Both are appealing.

The directors, Robert Milton and Edward A. Blatt, are equally good, although Robert Milton does more exciting things with camera angles. He mostly avoids treating Outward Bound as a filmed play to his credit. It's poetry. Between Two Worlds is prose.

J. Grubb Alexander had a sure, reliable hand in trimming excess while retaining all the beauty. Most of the time, Daniel Fuchs disregarded the source material. It’s a legitimate way to work, but hard to justify when a film is supposed to be based on a play.

The films deserve to be better known. Outward Bound has not even been commercially released, which the Warner Archive Collection or Kino Video should consider doing. Both are absorbing and stand up to multiple viewings. People watching them should also try to read the play, as it is easily accessible. Outward Bound is more supernatural and spiritual. Between Two Worlds is terra firma. My vote is with Sutton Vane.

OUTWARD BOUND (1930)

CREDITS: Director: Robert Milton, Ray Enright (uncredited); Screenplay: J. Grubb Alexander; Based on: Outward Bound by Sutton Vane, 1923 play; Cinematography: Hal Mohr: Film Editor; Ralph Dawson; Music: Erno Rapee (General Music Director); Louis Silvers (Conductor); Emil Gerstenberger (Orchestrator, Uncredited); Costume Design: Earl Luick; Assistant Director: Gordon Hollingstead; Sound: Glenn Rominger; Special Effects: Fred Jackson; Released November 29, 1930, by Universal Pictures, 83 minutes

CAST: Leslie Howard…Tom Prior, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr…Henry; Helen Chandler…Ann, Beryl Mercer…Mrs. Midget, Dudley Digges…Thomson, Alec B. Francis…Scrubby, Montagu Love…Mr. Lingley, Lyonel Watts…Reverend William Duke, Alison Skipworth…Mrs. Cliveden-Banks, Walter Kingsford…The Policeman (uncredited), Bunny Beatty…Girl With White Dog…(uncredited), Tempe Pigott…First Gossip (uncredited), Daisy Belmore…Second Gossip (uncredited), Nora Cecil…Third Gossip (uncredited).

BETWEEN TWO WORLDS (1944)

CREDITS: Director: Edward A. Blatt; Screenplay: Daniel Fuchs; Based on: Outward Bound by Sutton Vane, 1923 play; Music: Erich Wolfgang Korngold; Cinematography: Carl E. Guthrie; Film Editor: Rudi Fehr; Art Direction: Hugh Reticker; Set Decoration: Jack McConaghy; Costume Design: Leah Rhodes; Makeup Artist: Perc Westmore; Assistant Director: Elmer Decker (uncredited); Sound: Clare A. Riggs: Costume Jeweller: Eugene Joseff (uncredited); Musical Director: Leo F. Forbstein; Conductor: Erich Wolfgang Korngold (uncredited); Orchestrator…Simon Bucharoff (uncredited); Dialogue Director: Frederick De Cordova; Released May 20, 1944 by Warner Brothers, 112 minutes.

CAST: John Garfield…Tom Prior, Paul Henreid…Henry Bergner, Sydney Greenstreet…Reverend Tim Thompson, Eleanor Parker…Ann Bergner, Edmund Gwenn…Scrubby, George Tobias…Pete Musick, George Coulouris…Mr. Lingley, Faye Emerson…Miss Russell, Sara Allgood…Mrs. Midget, Dennis King…Reverend William Duke, Isobel Elsom…Genevieve Cliveden-Banks, Gilbert Emery…Benjamin Cliveden-Banks, Lester Matthews…Steamship Dispatcher (uncredited), Patrick O’Moore…Steamship Clerk (uncredited).

MUSIC: References to Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s music themes.

SCRUBBY (EDMUND GWENN) WELCOMES THE EXAMINER (SYDNEY GREENSTREET) WHO IS ABOUT TO PASS JUDGMENT ON THE SEATED VOYAGERS.

PAUL HENREID AND ELEANOR PARKER, OUR LOVERS