Between Two Worlds (1944)

Several people are killed in a London air raid. They each awake aboard a strange ship which will deliver each of them either to heaven or hell. Their lives and stories are revealed as they ... See full summary »

Director:

Edward A. Blatt

Writers:

Daniel Fuchs (screenplay), Sutton Vane (play)

Stars:

John Garfield, Paul Henreid, Sydney Greenstreet

Cast

Complete credited 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 Maxine Russell
Sara Allgood	...	Mrs. Midget
Dennis King	...	Reverend William Duke
Isobel Elsom	...	Genevieve Cliveden-Banks
Gilbert Emery	...	Benjamin Cliveden-Banks

Storyline

Several people are killed in a London air raid. They each awake aboard a strange ship which will deliver each of them either to heaven or hell. Their lives and stories are revealed as they individually begin to realize where they are.

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Plot Keywords:

air raid | ship | explosion | reverend | examiner | 

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Genres:

Mystery | Drama | Fantasy | Adventure | Action

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 May 1944 (USA)

Also Known As:

Entre Dois Mundos

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The play "Outward Bound" opened on Broadway in New York City, New York, USA on 7 January 1924 and closed in May 1924 after 144 performances. The opening night cast included Dudley Digges, Leslie Howard, J.M. Kerrigan, Alfred Lunt and Beryl Mercer. There was one Broadway revival in 1938, directed by Otto Preminger.

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Quotes

Tom Prior: I read a great epitaph once, I'm gonna steal it for myself.
Scrubby: Sir?
Tom Prior: Here lies Prior, died a bachelor. Wifeless. Childless. Wish his father'd died the same.

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Connections

Version of ITV Television Playhouse: Outward Bound (1956)

User Reviews

Overall, MUCH superior to its original version

This is a remake of the 1930 early-talkie "Outward Bound", which was based on the hit 1925 stage play. This version updates the period from the 1920's to the 1940's, and incorporates WW II elements into the story---a totally unnecessary tactic; the original play was quite good on its own and didn't need to have topical elements awkwardly sandwiched in. In fact,one of its strengths was that the entire unworldly experience seemed to take place in an unspecified time.

But this film has a very realistic beginning to it, and a war-related incident sets the plot in motion. The film's only serious blunder---though one that does not fatally affect it----is that we are tipped off as to what is really going on much too early in the film, in comparison to the 1930 film version, in which the characters realized their true situation at the same time as the audience did.

Aside from those objections, though, this is one of the few remakes which tops the original in nearly every department. Without exception, the actors in this version outdo the stiff, primitive early-talkie performances of their predecessors, and this may well be the only film in which Paul Henreid, normally not the most charismatic actor, gives a finer performance than the then-awkward Douglas Fairbanks,Jr. did in the same role in the 1930 film.

Especially outstanding are Edmund Gwenn as the ship's steward, Isobel Elsom as a rich, elderly, bitchy woman, Sydney Greenstreet as a mysterious character whose identity will not be revealed here, and Sara Allgood in one of the most sensitive performances of her career (she acts rings around Beryl Mercer from the 1930 version). George Coulouris, a reliable villain in those days (he was Orson Welles' nasty guardian in "Citizen Kane") is sinister and pompous as a greedy tycoon. And John Garfield is excellent in the Leslie Howard role, altered some to fit Garfield's tough, bitter on-screen persona rather than Howard's ultra-sophisticated, debonair one. (Garfield,though,does not go as berserk when he finds out the truth as Howard so hilariously did in the 1930 version.)

Although much of the dialogue in the first half has been changed and perhaps made slightly less "literary", the second half,which features Sydney Greensteet, is quite faithful to the earlier film and the stage play. Erich Wolfgang Korngold's music runs through nearly every scene, and, although verging toward the bombastic and melodramatic at times, lends plenty of atmosphere to the story.

One unfortunate aspect is that the photography in this version never becomes as eerie as that in the 1930 version, with its striking light and darkness effects. But none of these faults should keep you away from this film, which deserves far better than its relative obscurity in comparison to the other great Warner Bros. classics as well as other films dealing with the afterlife.