Outward Bound
About Outward Bound
Henry and Ann, who mean to die together and are worried about their dog, wake among strangers on a dark ship in the fog, with no crew but the steward Scrubby. Tom Prior realizes he is shut in with his old boss, Mr. Lingley, and that a curious woman, Mrs. Midget, is his mother, though he does not know it. The passengers work out that they are dead and due to be judged by an Examiner, Thompson, while Scrubby is condemned to sail forever because he killed himself. Henry and Ann have not fully crossed: their dog breaks a window, Henry wakes from the gas, Ann revives when he calls, and neighbors take them off in an ambulance.
Cast & crew
More about Outward Bound
Robert Milton directed J. Grubb Alexander's adaptation of Sutton Vane's 1923 play. Hal Mohr photographed it, Ralph Dawson edited, and Ernö Rapée wrote the music. Warner Bros. released it on 29 November 1930.
Themes
Background
Vane's play had been a hit in London and New York before Warner Bros. filmed it.
Audiences
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. said the film gave him the creeps and that, as a prestige picture, it never made a cent.
Look
Hal Mohr photographed the fogbound ship and the dark salon where the passengers wait for Thompson.
Music
Ernö Rapée wrote the music.
Preservation
A complete print survives and is held in the Library of Congress collection. It has been shown on Turner Classic Movies.
Notes
- Leslie Howard plays Tom Prior. On stage, at the Ritz Theatre in New York from 7 January to 10 May 1924, Howard had played Henry, and Alfred Lunt had played Tom. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. takes Henry in the film. Helen Chandler plays Ann.
- Dudley Digges, Beryl Mercer, and Lyonel Watts repeat their stage roles, as Thompson, Mrs. Midget, and the Reverend William Duke. Alison Skipworth plays Mrs. Cliveden-Banks. Alec B. Francis plays Scrubby. Montagu Love plays Lingley.
- The National Board of Review placed it among its Top Ten Films.
- It was remade, with changes, as Between Two Worlds (1944).
Awards
- National Board of Review Top Ten Films
Scenes
- The passengers realize there is no crew and that they are already dead.
- Thompson the Examiner comes aboard and sorts them.
- The dog breaks the window, and Henry calls Ann back from the gas.
Influenced by
- Sutton Vane's play Outward Bound (1923)
Influenced
- Between Two Worlds (1944)
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Outward Bound (1930).webm)
