Outward Bound

Outward Bound* (originally called The Tide) by Sutton Vane
Ritz Theatre†, New York
Rôle: Henry with Margalo Gillmore
Total Performances: 144
1/7/1924 - c. 5/1924

Seven passengers meet in the saloon bar of a ship as it sets sail from an unidentified English port. Socialite Mrs Cliveden-Banks is on her way to join her husband, a Colonel in the army; Mr Lingley has important business in Marseilles; charlady Mrs Midget is making her first passage by sea; Reverend William Duke is looking forward to a holiday, while Tom Prior intends to spend the journey in the ship’s saloon bar. Also on board are Henry and Ann, a young couple who seem anxious for the ship to leave port. But the travellers have more in common than they dare suspect. Out at sea, an eerie calm settles over the ship as Tom is the first to discover the fate which awaits his fellow passengers.

Outward Bound was one of the biggest West End and Broadway hits of the 1920s and was twice filmed. Its production at the Finborough Theatre in 2012 marked its first London run in more than fifty years.

*OCLC WorldCat Entry Outward Bound
ref: Outward Bound Wikipedia
ref: Eforgan, pp. xiv, 57-9, 80, 81 and Theatre and Film Work Index
ref: Howard, L. ed. with R. Howard, pp. 40, 41, 46-47
ref: Howard, L. R., pp. 86, 88-90, 92, 173
ref: Howard, R., Plays Index
ref: IBDb.com Leslie Howard Page
ref: IBDb.com Outward Bound
ref: Inafferrabile Leslie Howard, Theatre - Outward Bound • Includes cast information, reviews and photos
ref: New York Times Miscellaneous Notices
ref: New York Times Commentary 12/22/1923
ref: New York Times Review J. Corbin • "The Play" 01/08/1924
ref: New York Times • "The Spook Drama" 01/13/1924
ref: New York Times • "Who Is Sutton Vane?" 01/13/1924
†Ritz Theatre, 219 W. 48th St., New York, NY

Outward Bound was quite controversial at the time it was produced on Broadway sparking a great deal of correspondence to The New York Times. Here are some of the letters that appeared in the column, "In the Mailbag":

• 01/06/1924
• 02/10/1924
• 02/24/1924
• 03/02/1924
• 03/23/1924
• 06/15/1924

[Leslie Howard and Margalo Gillmore in Outward Bound]

[From left to right: Eugene Powers, Beryl Mercer (seated), Charlotte Granville,
Lyonel Watts, Alfred Lunt, Leslie Howard and Margalo Gillmore]

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