Between Two Worlds

[Hollis]

Good afternoon all,

I've just seen "Between Two Worlds" for the first time and wow! What a movie! I was actually moved to tears at the conclusion. It gives you plenty to think about, that's for sure. I tuned in just a few minutes after it began, so it wasn't until the end that I found out it was a Warner Brothers film but I wasn't really too surprised. It just looked like one from the get go and I didn't want to look it up at TCM or IMDb until after it was over to see if I was right. They seemed to have a unique style of filming. Would I be wrong in assuming that "Film Noir" was a specialty (as it were) of theirs? It seems that most of the movies I've seen that would fall into that genre were in fact, Warner Brothers productions. This was definitely not (to me at least) a "B" movie. Not with the cast they assembled. I can't wait to see it again. I wonder if it was a hit when it was released? It might be the best use of the allegory that I've ever seen. I'd really like to know what some of you think about it and whether or not you enjoyed it as much as I did.

As always,

Hollis

[moira finnie]

Hollis,
I like this movie too. Many people will compare it unfavorably to the 1930 Leslie Howard movie based on the author Sutton Vane's original story and play, called Outward Bound, (written just after WWI), but I think they both have their charms. TCM has even shown these films in tandem in the past.

First of all, there's the moving Korngold score, and the way that sound is used throughout the film, especially in that scene with the breaking glass.

I'm particularly fond of the Edmund Gwenn steward character, condemned to ride the ship forever, the brittle and yet fragile character Faye Emerson played as the glamour girl who's the mistress to the industrialist (George Coulouris), and a heartbreakingly young Eleanor Parker, but in the end it's John Garfield as the bitter young man with a wonderful future behind him and the splendid George Tobias, who is the heart of this movie for me.

The film seems to spend too much time on the Colouris character and the social snob Isobel Elsom, who are the two more tedious characters, and the production had a claustrophobic tension that didn't entirely pay off--but it has moments, thanks to some nifty actors.


John Garfield in "Between Two Worlds".

I just finished a pretty fair bio of Garfield by Larry Swindell and according to the author, the actor didn't think much of his work here, (which was interrupted by the sudden death of his 6 year old daughter from an allergic reaction). I think he was wrong. John Garfield had probably become too adept at playing the rebel on screen by this time and wanted greater challenges, and God knows, he had bigger problems than just a movie to deal with then, but his performance is quite touching at times. No doubt Sara Allgood had something to do with that, don't you think?


Here's a link to a TCM article about the film, if you are interested.

[Jezebel38]

Hi Hollis -

Don't you just get a tingling feeling all over when you get to view a great film like this for the first time? I know I do! Glad you got to see this today; I missed it but have seen it in the past. It is a very unusual film, with one of my favorites, John Garfield in the lead. Now, this movies is a remake of the 1930 film Outward Bound with Leaslie Howard, based upon the play of the same name. I've seen both versions, and as much as I am partial to early "talkies" and pre-codes, for me Between Two Worlds is the better film. It also includes a wonderful film score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, whom I have mentioned a few times recently on this board.


Hey Moira - you beat me in replying to Hollis by 3 minutes - I was still typing!

[knitwit45]

Moira,

Can't think of one movie that she was in, that wasn't enhanced by the wonderful Sara Allgood. I remember the first time I saw this movie and how it affected me for years. John Garfield just breaks your heart, doesn't he?

I just saw Isobel Elsom in a piece of fluff, "Seven Sweethearts" and she actually played a warm and sympathetic character. She is becoming another of my favorite character actresses. She certainly nailed the cold, heartless, and ultimately pathetic woman in Between Two Worlds

[Hollis]

Good afternoon all,

Thanks for all your replies. Yes, Jezebel, I do indeed get a special feeling when I "discover" a previously unseen movie. And it's almost always a good feeling. Funny how that works! Moira, I do think that Ms Allgood's performance was a splendid complement to John Garfield's, and I never saw it coming that she was in fact, his mother. Understated, I guess you'd call it and very sincerely played. You get the feeling that she was playing it from the heart and not just going through the motions. I absolutely love John Garfield and Sidney Greenstreet both. Both make my "Top Ten!" Would you know if they appeared together in any other films?

As always,

Hollis

[moira finnie]

Hollis,
According to IMDb, the only other film they appeared in together was the all star compendium Hollywood Canteen (1944), which the two actors were working on in between time on Between Two Worlds (1944). Those Warner Brothers knew how to get their money's worth out of their contract players, didn't they??

I share your affection for the two actors, since their styles are so contrasting. My favorite male partner for Garfield will probably always be Claude Rains. Mr. Garfield appeared on Broadway with Claude when the younger man was just starting out, and they appeared in Four Daughters (1938), (with JG's electric film debut role), then Daughters Courageous (1939), with both actors giving endearing performances as a pair of likable ne'er do wells, and a pastiche the WB put together using film from JG's first movie, Four Wives (1939), the interesting Juarez (1939)--interesting for Brian Aherne's role as Emperor Maximillian of Mexico, not for Claude's scene stealing as Louis Napoleon or John's Diaz, and a movie neither man wanted to make, They Made Me a Criminal (1939) and a good, underrated movie, Saturday's Children (1940).

[Vienna]

Yes, so good to see a new film and like it very much. I only saw BETWEEN TWO WORLDS for the first time recently and was very impressed.
The whole cast is superb and the supernatural plot is so inventive.
I wonder if Faye Emerson was expected to go further, I don't know her career but she was very good in this.
The one person I didn't recognise was Dennis King who came over very sympathetically - Dennis is remembered as a lovely singer in The Vagabond King.
I now have the 1930 version Outward Bound to watch. With Leslie Howard recreating his 1924 stage role, it should be interesting , as John Garfield I'm sure played the character very differently in 1944.

[JackFavell]

I actually like the later film better, as I guess everyone seems to, but I am still a big Leslie Howard fan. The two films are very different, kind of like comparing apples and oranges. I really like the Garfield take on his role, and it's one of my favorite Henreid roles. The more modern perspective from the vantage of WWII somehow works so well in this film, plus psychologically everything fits better than in the early version.

[moira finnie]

Another rarely seen good Faye Emerson role (it's also a very good film for us Rosemary DeCamp fans):

[youtube][/youtube]

[Vienna]

Many thanks for info on Faye Emerson

[Vienna]

The 1930 Outward Bound couldn't hold a candle to Between Two Worlds - in my opinion.
The 1940s script and cast far outshone the early talkie. I imagine Leslie Howard would have been impressive on stage but he seemed a tad over dramatic on the screen which is unusual for him. I did like Beryl Mercer as the old lady wanting to be with her son.

[Vienna]

Thanks so much, Moira . I enjoyed Danger Signal - had never even heard of it! Like Faye Emersen more and more. just a pity she made so few films. This film had shades of Mildred Pierce, with Zachary Scott romancing the young Mona Freeman.
Interesting and different role for Rosemary De Camp.
Just a shame about the trite ending.

[moira finnie]

I'm glad you liked Danger Signal (1945-Robert Florey), Vienna. It was one of the first movies that made me realize how interesting Emerson was as an actress, though her sudden, stark appearance in the scene near the end with her hair drawn back and her chastened manner in Between Two Worlds really was effective too. Oh, btw, I wouldn't be too hard on Leslie Howard's acting in Outward Bound (1930). It was his first movie (he made a few silent shorts too, but they are lost), and he is supposed to have hated his performance too.

Recently, I saw Faye Emerson's last film, which unveiled another aspect of her talent. It was an indie production made in New York called Guilty Bystander (1950-Joseph Lerner). It's a very grim but fascinating film noir without much plot but enormous atmosphere, the budget was clearly small, and I have not found any good prints of this, but the acting by the cast is terrific. Zachary Scott plays an alcoholic at a time when Scott's own life was unraveling, giving his acting here a poignancy and grittiness that he sometimes lacked in more polished productions. His character is a house dick in a flop house run by a slatternly Mary Boland (in her last film and boy, is she unforgettable). Emerson is an affecting and desperate character, whose excellent work in her few scenes indicates what should have been a much bigger career. Other supporting actors who stand out are the very good actor (and HUAC victim) J. Edward Bromberg, who plays a gangster with a bum ticker who is trying and failing to keep his choleric temper under wraps. There is also an interesting bit by an unrecognizable but strikingly attractive Kay Medford as a bar fly. This movie is currently on youtube:
[youtube][/youtube]

Apparently one reason why this actress didn't flourish may have been because Fay Emerson was much better known for her private life during her years in the spotlight, when she was also quite the social butterfly. She was married to FDR's son Elliot Roosevelt from 1944-1950 and later to the then-well known musician-conductor Skitch Henderson in the '50s. Emerson was also quite a tv pioneer, hosting The Faye Emerson Show in 1950 and showing up on numerous game shows later. She reportedly won some viewership by wearing daringly low cut outfits while swanning around the set in an animated (if rather artificial) fashion. You can see an example below. BTW, her small screen persona was supposed to have inspired the Dolores Gray character satirized in It's Always Fair Weather (1955).
[youtube][/youtube]

To return to her acting career as opposed to her celebrity, here's a lively Warner Brothers B movie she made in 1942 that is now in the public domain. Lady Gangster (1942) is a remake of the Stanwyck classic, Ladies They Talk About (1933), but the Emerson version is given a pulpy rhythm provided by director Robert Florey. No one can make one forget Babs in that pre-code doozie, but Emerson is fun here and the supporting cast includes some lively familiar faces, including Frank Wilcox, Ruth Ford, a lip-reading Dorothy Adams, a dark-haired William Hopper and some unknown guy named Gleason. Emerson's spark in her prison scenes in this movie made me wonder how she might have tackled one of the juicy roles in Caged (1950-John Cromwell)! Don't miss the prison visitor with the five o'clock shadow. My favorite line in the movie is spoken by Ruth Ford, a fellow convict (and future spouse of Zachary Scott)--"I'd play ball with anybody but Hitler to get outta this hole.":
[youtube][/youtube]

[Vienna]

Thanks so much,Moira for all the info on Faye. I recall now I saw Guilty Bystander last year but I guess Faye didn't make an impression. but I do remember how interesting it was to see Mary Boland in a completely different role- and so good too.
I'll certainly have a look at Lady Gangster.
You are probably right about Leslie Howard in Outward Bound. Film inexperience showed.and being an early talkie, the camera didn't do much moving.