| Outward Bound | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Written by | Sutton Vane |
| Date premiered | September 27, 1923 |
| Place premiered | Everyman Theatre, London |
| Original language | English |
| Setting | On board ship, the present |
Outward Bound is a 1923 play written by Sutton Vane.
| Outward Bound | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Written by | Sutton Vane |
| Date premiered | September 27, 1923 |
| Place premiered | Everyman Theatre, London |
| Original language | English |
| Setting | On board ship, the present |
Outward Bound is a 1923 play written by Sutton Vane.
A group of seven passengers meet in the lounge of an ocean liner at sea and realise that they have no idea why they are there, or where they are bound. Each of them eventually discovers that they are dead, and that they have to face judgment from an Examiner, who will determine whether they are to go to Heaven or Hell.
Producers stayed away from such an unusual combination of fantasy and drama, so Vane staged it himself, painting his own backdrops and building his own sets, at a reported cost of $600. The play proved to be a huge success, becoming the hit of the 1923 London season, transferring from the small Everyman Cinema in Hampstead to the West End.
|
|
Such was the initial response to Outward Bound that theatrical producer William Harris Jr. purchased the American rights before the play even opened in the West End. [1] Directed by Robert Milton, [2] the Broadway production premiered January 7, 1924, at the Ritz Theatre, running for 144 performances until May 1924. [3] The original Broadcast cast is recorded at the Internet Broadway Database: [3]
There were London revivals in 1926, 1928 and 1940. In the last of these, the original player of Scrubby, the Charon-like barman, was played by its creator, Stanley Lathbury, with Cathleen Nesbitt, Sarah Churchill, Louise Hampton, Terence De Marney and Anthony Hawtrey. [4]
The play was revived on Broadway at the Playhouse Theatre, from 22 December 1938 to 22 July 1939, running for 255 performances. This production was directed by Otto Preminger, and featured Laurette Taylor, Helen Chandler, and Vincent Price.
The play was revived in London at the Finborough Theatre in 2012, with a cast comprising David Brett, Natalie Walter, Tom Davey, Nicholas Karimi, Carmen Rodriguez, Paul Westwood, Ursula Mohan, Derek Howard and Martin Wimbush. [5]
Vane wrote a novelization of his play, Outward Bound: A Novel, published in 1929. [6]
A film adaptation titled Outward Bound (1930) was produced by Warner Bros. The studio engaged Robert Milton, director of the Broadway production, to direct the motion picture. Dudley Digges, Beryl Mercer and Lyonel Watts reprised their Broadway roles; Leslie Howard, who had played Henry in the stage production, starred in the role that had been played by Alfred Lunt. [2]
The film was remade as Between Two Worlds (1944), with some changes reflecting World War II. John Garfield, Paul Henreid, Sydney Greenstreet, and Eleanor Parker starred.
Alfred David Lunt was an American actor and director, best known for his long stage partnership with his wife, Lynn Fontanne, from the 1920s to 1960, co-starring in Broadway and West End productions. After their marriage, they nearly always appeared together. They became known as "the Lunts" and were celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic.
Lynn Fontanne was an English actress. After early success in supporting roles in the West End, she met the American actor Alfred Lunt, whom she married in 1922 and with whom she co-starred in Broadway and West End productions over the next four decades. They became known as "The Lunts", and were celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Women is a 1936 American play, a comedy of manners by Clare Boothe Luce. The cast includes women only.
Entertaining Mr Sloane is a three-act play written in 1963 by the English playwright Joe Orton. It was first produced in London at the New Arts Theatre on 6 May 1964 and transferred to the West End's Wyndham's Theatre on 29 June 1964.
Helen Chandler was an American film and theater actress, best known for playing Mina Seward in the 1931 horror film Dracula.
Dudley Sutton was an English actor. Active in radio, stage, film and television, he was arguably best known for his role of Tinker Dill in the BBC Television drama series Lovejoy.
Stop the World – I Want to Get Off is a 1961 musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley.
Between Two Worlds is a 1944 American World War II fantasy drama film starring John Garfield, Paul Henreid, Sydney Greenstreet, and Eleanor Parker. It is a remake of the film Outward Bound (1930), itself based on the 1923 play Outward Bound by Sutton Vane. It is not, as is sometimes claimed, a remake of Fritz Lang's Destiny.
Robert Edeson was an American film and stage actor of the silent era and a vaudeville performer.
Joseph Michael Kerrigan was an Irish actor.
Dudley Digges was an Irish stage actor, director, and producer as well as a film actor. Although he gained his initial theatre training and acting experience in Ireland, the vast majority of Digges' career was spent in the United States, where over the span of 43 years he worked in hundreds of stage productions and performed in over 50 films.
Berkeley Square is a play in three acts by John L. Balderston which tells the story of a young American who is transported back to London in the time of the American Revolution and meets his ancestors. The plot is loosely based on Henry James' posthumous 1917 novel The Sense of the Past.
Aren't We All? is a comic play by Frederick Lonsdale.
The First Year is a 1932 American pre-Code film based on a 1920 play of the same name that originally ran on Broadway at the Little Theatre. The play was written by Frank Craven and produced by John Golden. It closed in 1922 after 760 performances.
Blues in the Night is a 1980s musical revue conceived by Sheldon Epps. It was produced by Mitchell Maxwell, Alan J. Schuster, Fred H. Krones and M Squared Entertainment, Inc., and Joshua Silver.
Outward Bound is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film based on the 1923 hit play of the same name by Sutton Vane. It stars Leslie Howard, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Helen Chandler, Beryl Mercer, Montagu Love, Alison Skipworth, Alec B. Francis, and Dudley Digges. The film was later remade, with some changes, as Between Two Worlds (1944).
Outward Bound is an international network of non-profit organizations which runs adventure and wilderness education programs.
Sutton Vane was a British playwright best known work for Outward Bound (1923), which was filmed twice and was still being performed eight decades after its premiere.
Terence Arthur De Marney was a British film, stage, radio and television actor, as well as theatre director and writer.
Beryl Mercer was a Spanish-born American actress of stage and screen who was based in the United States.