Cineanalyst "Between Two Worlds" is a preachy and simplistic moral fantasy film, but it's somewhat interesting, for me at least, to compare it to the film it's a remake of, "Outward Bound" (1930), both of which are based on the original play. I haven't seen the play and, of course, I didn't see it originally in the 1920s. Like the character Scrubby, I've sailed back and forth with these other characters in their (relatively) eternal afterlife of film, but I never knew them in life, or live theatre. And like the films' other suicides, Henry and Ann, we the spectators willingly enter this other world, but we don't belong.One thing I like about this 1944 remake compared to the 1930 adaptation is that it adds a theatrical act within the film, with the characters performing and being spectators. It's a play-within-a-play. Tom Prior leads the performance to reveal, in his snarky way, to his fellow passengers that they're all dead. Unlike in the 1930 film, which also had no scene like this, the passengers' deaths are no surprise to us spectators of the film. The film is adapted to the then-current WW2, with most of the passengers dying from an air raid and the suicides being given a partially new reason, as well, as resulting from Henry's trauma from the war. Apparently, because of the Hays Code, the young couple are now married, and Tom Prior doesn't actually do much drinking on screen.I'm fine with doing away with the surprise, which actually wasn't much of one in the 1930 film, either. I suspected as much before Leslie Howard's version of Tom Prior exposed it, but, then, I had the knowledge it was a Hollywood film, so the fantastic mystery wouldn't remain unresolved or obscure surrealism à la Luis Buñuel's "The Exterminating Angel" (1962), for instance. Classic Hollywood films such as "Outward Bound" and "Between Two Worlds" are too simple for that, and they're always resolved. Anyways, I wish this remake would've done away with the play's later surprise, too, involving the relationship of two of the passengers, because it felt tacked on and tacky in both films.Another improvement upon the 1930 version is the evolution of film style since the infancy of talkies from which "Outward Bound" failed to overcome. Thus, "Between Two Worlds" has a brisker pacing, with an average shot length of about 9 seconds compared to about 12.8 for "Outward Bound," despite the 1944 film also featuring several long tracking shots, the first of which references the 1930 film and the play's title on a sign. Another tracking shot I liked was the one involving a mirror, which Maxine--a character absent in the 1930 film and rather superfluous here--uses to examine herself in.Yet, "Between Two Worlds" remains almost as stage-bound as the former film. For most of it, we're stuck in ship rooms with lots of talking, regardless of the amount of editing and deliberate camera movement. Thus, a lot depends on the acting and the script, neither of which is especially divine here. John Garfield's Tom Prior is remade a journalist for the remake, which, I guess, is the reason for his barrage of rat-a-tat insults as though he's auditioning for "The Front Page" (1931) or "His Girl Friday" (1940). Meanwhile, Sydney Greenstreet turns in another airy yet dignified performance as the Examiner, which would've been just as appropriate had he been judging Humphrey Bogart in a noir setting.The 1930 film had more foggy and dreamlike atmosphere to it, including an obscured view of some kind of Heaven. The 1944 film, however, relies for atmosphere upon its score--another thing, as with most early talkies, missing from "Outward Bound." Fortunately, it's a rather good score.

Hitchcoc I always have trouble with this religious mumbo-jumbo. A group of people, killed by a German bomber, find themselves on board an ocean liner, seemingly alive. Two of them did not meet that fate but rather killed themselves. Of course, they are all white and don't know they are dead. They are bitter, mean spirited people. But the young pianist and his wife know the score. They weren't with the others when the ax fell. They are insufferable as are most of the others. There is a ridiculous, stereotypical priest who wants this pack of bandits, to pass time by playing games and other assorted activities. Eventually, Sydney Greenstreet shows up as "the Examiner." He decides who gets to go to heaven and the other place. There is much negotiating. Ultimately, old Sydney rejects his company orders and makes special cases. The whole thing is preachy and the dialogue stilted. I always like John Garfield, but even his antics got to me. The ending cheats us all.

clvlkenpo First saw this film as a child on Bill Kennedy at the movies in Detroit. I thought it was so cool at the time, and spooky. I loved the acting and many of the character actors I had recognized from so many other films of that era. And the ending was so great because I didn't see it coming and I was such a romantic that I couldn't stand that the two main characters would be apart since she had done nothing wrong but out of love for him. A great screenplay! Ever since I have always preferred films from the 30s and 40s over today's offerings. They always gave the actors time on screen to develop the characters and events. This film is one of the reasons I grew up loving movies!!

mrb1980 "Between Two Worlds" is a remake of "Outward Bound" (1930), about a group of people aboard a fog-shrouded and otherwise-empty ship, seemingly sailing to nowhere. Paul Henreid and Eleanor Parker are lovers, John Garfield is a brash reporter, George Coulouris is a pompous and wealthy English industrialist, Faye Emerson is a gold-digging party girl, and George Tobias is a modest sailor in the Merchant Marine. They are joined by a society couple, a matronly older woman, and a priest. Many of the people find themselves on the ship after their car was nearly bombed during a WWII air raid, while Parker and Henreid have just attempted suicide via gas in an apartment.The ship's steward is Scrubby (Edmund Gwenn), who quietly makes everyone feel at home. Parker and Henreid's characters discover that the ship's passengers are actually dead, and are awaiting judgment from a mysterious person called "The Examiner". All of the passengers soon find out the truth, and nervously await the arrival of The Examiner, who soon walks through the door—in the rotund, massive form of Sydney Greenstreet! Taking the deceased priest as a trainee, Greenstreet judges each person one by one, and sends them to their respective fates, depending on how honorably they had lived their lives. All are judged except Parker and Henreid, who find that because they committed suicide, they are doomed to sail on the ship forever. The movie ends with Parker searching the ship for Henreid, hearing the sound of breaking glass, and suddenly waking up with Henreid, both of them quite alive.This is quite a heavy message movie, and is kept interesting by the charisma of the cast. In particular, Garfield, Coulouris, Gwenn, Tobias, and Greenstreet turn in convincing and at times poignant performances. In contrast, Parker and Henreid just look frightened the whole time, begging to stay together, while Emerson is not given enough screen time. I really enjoy the movie as a glimpse at people who know they are dead and are about to be judged by the highest authority, with generally fine acting and an intelligent story. However, the contrived "happy" ending seems completely out of place, and I think it really ends the movie on a false note. Not classic 1940s Hollywood, but pretty good on its own terms.