utgard14 Recently deceased people board a ship that's headed for the afterlife. Warner Bros. remake of Outward Bound, updated to WW2. Entertaining melodrama with an excellent cast that includes John Garfield, Paul Henreid, Eleanor Parker, Sydney Greenstreet, Faye Emerson, George Tobias, George Coulouris, and Edmund Gwenn. Most of the Henreid/Parker scenes are overwrought. Romance by way of panic attack. The Garfield stuff is better. He monologues a lot but it's certainly not a dull performance. Greenstreet and Gwenn are, as always, terrific. Tobias plays another of his genial proletariat roles. Coulouris is a scene stealer as the villain "Lingley of Lingley Limited!" Negatives are the aforementioned melodramatic romance, as well as a staginess throughout the film, and a score that doesn't know when to butt out.

vincentlynch-moonoi This mostly forgotten little film is VERY good. It tells of several people during World War II who are blown up while preparing to sail from Europe to America, and although they don't realize they are then dead, they still board a "ship", but the destination is heaven or hell or whatever comes once one passes (what comes is not made entirely clear, although it seems as if one continues to live a similar "life" with restrictions...and not on earth).I have only 2 criticisms. First, the sets here are quite cheap. You just have to get past that. And, the final 3 minutes have some corny dialog, although the manner in which it ends (just not the dialog) is quite good.The cast here is excellent. John Garfield is at his cocky best as a newspaper man, and one of the first to learn that the group is dead; it really works for his persona on the big screen. Paul Henreid plays a role where he (and Eleanor Parker) are in a different boat (so to speak) -- they are suicides. Henreid was, in my view, a somewhat limited actor -- great is certain types of roles, but not very flexible. Henreid works well here. Eleanor Parker is also very good. Sydney Greenstreet is excellent as the power who decides what will happen to each individual. But this is not your typical Greenstreet role. Here, despite his power, his character is rather benevolent in his demeanor, and it works well for Greenstreet. Edmund Gwenn plays the one member of the crew on the "ship"; it's a good role for him, and a bit of a surprise in the plot. George Tobias, a character actor with seemingly one type, plays it well here. Faye Emerson is here in a good role as a slightly less than upright woman, but here, too, is another plot surprise. It's very nice to see a long-time character actress -- Sara Allgood as Mrs. Midget -- get a more solid role than was usual; she really was quite good. The other members of the cast do their jobs well.It's not exaggerating too much to say that this movie is nearly profound. Unless you have an absolutely cut and dried viewpoint about what happens after death, this will probably get you thinking about things like heaven or hell or a mere change in station (but not quality of "existence"). While it's not one of the better known Warner Brothers films of 1944, in my view it is deserving of much more attention than it has gotten. I don't give many "8" ratings, so I recommend this film.

gamay9 The John Garfield character is buried beside his mother. My burial plot is waiting beside my mother. It's a scary thought but I know I will die.This film makes one 'think,' unless you one is an atheist. Contrary to the IMDb synopsis, not all the 'passengers' go immediately to Heaven or Hell. The couple, Eleanor Parker and Paul Henreid, were never killed in the raid. Edmund Gywnn continues to go on as an 'angel.' What is the most thought-provoking is that one must live with his past; my stance is that we all have regrets about our past. According to the Bible, only one person lived without sin and He did not live on earth long enough to sin. Some say He sinned with Mary Magdalene. I say 'baloney' because there is no God, no Heaven, no Hell and no Father, Son and Holy Ghost. There is no life everafter.

robertguttman "Between Two Worlds" is one of the best examples of one of the rarest of move genres, a fantasy for grown-ups. I can't think of many other successful examples of this sort of thing off hand beyond, perhaps, Powell and Pressburger's "A Matter of Life and Death". By "adult" I do not, of course, mean that there is anything off-color or X-rated about the film. On the contrary, it's pretty tame by today's standards. This film is simply a fantasy for adults in the sense that it was not for or about children or adolescents. A small, ill-assorted group of people find themselves together at night on a fog-shrouded passenger ship with no other passengers, and no crew save for a single steward. Two of the passengers, who are slightly apart from the others, have committed suicide and are aware that they are dead. The others know nothing. The steward, who knows what is going on, caters to the passengers wishes and pretends that everything is normal.The film is very well done, with a first-rate cast of the sort of character actors they simply can't assemble anymore, wonderfully atmospheric sets, and set against an excellent Korngold musical score. I understand there was an earlier version with Leslie Howard, called "Outward Bound". I've never seen it, but it would be interesting to see it and compare it with this version.