Main Cast: Leslie Howard, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Beryl Mercer, Dudley Digges, Helen Chandler, Alec B. Francis
Release Year: 1930
Country: US
Run Time: 82 minutes
Plot
This unusual supernatural drama, based on a 1924 Broadway stage hit, concerns a disparate group of people who find themselves sailing to an unknown destination on a ship constantly shrouded in fog. Tom Prior (Leslie Howard) discovers that he's travelling with his ex-boss Mr. Lingley (Montagu Love); Mrs. Cliveden-Banks (Alice Skipworth) chats with the steward Scrubby (Alec B. Francis); Mrs. Midget (Beryl Mercer) is curious about how her son is doing; and a young couple, Henry (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) and Ann (Helen Chandler), wonder if they'll be together forever. In time, the passengers slowly realize what's going on -- they're in limbo between this life and the next, and Thompson (Dudley Digges), the "examiner," is determining what will happen with them in the next world, except for Henry and Ann, who unsuccessfully committed suicide and now hover between life and death. Outward Bound was later remade as Between Two Worlds, and again as The Flight that Disappeared. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
A disparate group of passengers find themselves aboard a darkened, fog-enshrouded crewless boat, sailing to an unknown destination. Their stories are revealed one by one. Tom Prior, a prodigal son, discovers that he's travelling with his ex-boss Mr. Lingley, a captain of industry; Tom's mother, Mrs. Midget, whose identity the son does not know, is curious about how her son is doing; Mrs. Cliveden-Banks, an affected socialite, chats with the steward Scrubby; Rev. William Duke, a clergyman, is keen about his missionary work in the London slums; and a young couple, Henry and Ann, who are facing an impossible love affair and find they cannot live without each other, wonder if they'll be together forever.
In time, the passengers slowly realize what's going on -- the one thing they have in common is that they are all dead, and they are on their way to either heaven or hell; during the course of the trip they will be judged. Arriving at their destination, they sit awaiting judgment by Thompson, the "examiner". He will determine what sort of punishment or reward they receive in the next world.
But Henry and Ann, who unsuccessfully committed suicide and now hover in a sort of limbo between life and death, have not quite crossed over yet. Scrubby, the ship's steward, has already been condemned to sail the ship for eternity, having successfully committed suicide. Henry is eventually saved from asphyxiation by his dog breaking a window pane; he calls to Ann, she revives, and together they are rescued by an ambulance.
