Like has been said with film adaptations of stage plays, there has never been any bias against early talkies when films were transitioning from the silent era into sound. Just like there has also been no bias against very early films, actually love a lot of 30s-60s films and try to appreciate films of all decades and genres. 'Outward Bound' is based on an interesting play and stars Leslie Howard as a character that sounded ideal for him on paper and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
'Outward Bound' didn't really work for me sadly, while just being a smidge above being a failure. It is definitely worth watching for curiosity value and is not an awful film. It just felt very static, very creaky, lacked momentum and even most of the cast are not on good form, which as one can tell from personal experience 'Outward Bound' was quite a difficult watch while still trying to appreciate it and judge it for its time and what it was aiming for.
There are certainly good things about 'Outward Bound'. Alison Skipworth and especially Dudley Digges (the latter being perhaps the best thing about the film and one of the few actors to not overact) give good performances. There is some nice acting from Howard early on.
Although the film didn't really blow me away visually, the costuming is elegant as is some of the eloquent dialogue.
However, on the most part 'Outward Bound' is visually quite static, with very basic photography that further adds to the over-claustrophobic feel. It is also rather creaky dramatically and has too much of an under-rehearsed filmed play quality, the badly sagging momentum and indifferent direction contributing heavily to that.
Some parts came over as repetitive and the over-wordy title cards weren't really needed. What majorly condemns 'Outward Bound' is most of the acting, with Skipworth and Digges being the exceptions. The worst offenders being Fairbanks Jr and Helen Chandler, both of whom but especially Chandler quite laughably bad, and sadly even Howard also gets far too melodramatic in the second half.
In summation, tried to take it for what it was but didn't do much for me. Sorry. 4/10
'Outward Bound' didn't really work for me sadly, while just being a smidge above being a failure. It is definitely worth watching for curiosity value and is not an awful film. It just felt very static, very creaky, lacked momentum and even most of the cast are not on good form, which as one can tell from personal experience 'Outward Bound' was quite a difficult watch while still trying to appreciate it and judge it for its time and what it was aiming for.
There are certainly good things about 'Outward Bound'. Alison Skipworth and especially Dudley Digges (the latter being perhaps the best thing about the film and one of the few actors to not overact) give good performances. There is some nice acting from Howard early on.
Although the film didn't really blow me away visually, the costuming is elegant as is some of the eloquent dialogue.
However, on the most part 'Outward Bound' is visually quite static, with very basic photography that further adds to the over-claustrophobic feel. It is also rather creaky dramatically and has too much of an under-rehearsed filmed play quality, the badly sagging momentum and indifferent direction contributing heavily to that.
Some parts came over as repetitive and the over-wordy title cards weren't really needed. What majorly condemns 'Outward Bound' is most of the acting, with Skipworth and Digges being the exceptions. The worst offenders being Fairbanks Jr and Helen Chandler, both of whom but especially Chandler quite laughably bad, and sadly even Howard also gets far too melodramatic in the second half.
In summation, tried to take it for what it was but didn't do much for me. Sorry. 4/10