Expert: Mel - 7/27/2005

Question
Hi, I get a recuring memory which is driving me nuts.  When I was a kid my mum used to sit and watch old movies with me, one I remember vaguely and it really left an impression and I want to see it again, but this is all I can remember.

Black and White 40's film,a man and woman on a boat. Seem to remember someone in it saying, "When you hear the sound of breaking glass, that means someone has comitted suicide"  Turns out the boat is going to heaven or hell and these people don't even know they are dead.  I get the feeling they comitted suicide and are on their way to hell or limbo or something.

Have I dreamed this? My mum can't remember it.  I can see it vividly in my mind, but I must only have been 8 or 9 when I saw it. thats nearly 30 years ago!!  PLEASE PLEASE TELL ME I'M NOT GOING MAD!!

Answer
Hello Laura,

"Several people are killed in a London air raid. They each awake aboard a strange ship which will deliver each of them either to heaven or hell. Their lives and stories are revealed as they individually begin to realise where they are."

That film was "BETWEEN TWO WORLDS". Starring John Garfield, Paul Henreid, Sydney Greenstreet and Eleanor Parker, it was made by Warner Bros in 1944. It was quite a long film for its day, running for 1 hour 52 minutes.

I only ever saw it once myself, many years ago now, but I would love to see it again.

Incidentally, it was a remake of a 1923 silent film called "Homeward Bound".

Glad to be of help. Cheers......Mel.