Okay did the actress end up in heaven or in hell?
What about the reporter and his mother?
Those are the only two who confused me.
I think it was left up to the viewer to make up their own minds. These people had a chance to make good even after death (there was still hope for them) therefore I believe they went to some sort of half-way house.
shareWell, in the movie, they said heaven and hell were the same place, basically, it just depended on how they lived their life on earth. Because the rich society lady had no real friends on earth, she wouldn't have any in the afterlife, thus making it hell, whereas her husband, who was very loyal, now has loyal friends in the afterlife, thus making it heaven for him. It seemed to me that the reporter and the actress died with their fates still in the balance, so they still have the chance to tip the scales either way. Hope that's helpful.
I'll just tag on a short promo for my book, I'm an author and also a lover of old movies. The book is titled The Grace Project, and I'm BJ Worth.
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I just saw this great little film last night on TCM and added it to my short list of all-time favorites! I'd really like to see the original film that this was a remake of, and I plan to Tivo a wishlist for it, OUTWARD BOUND (1930).
My take on the judgement part with the Examiner is that each person knows what s/he needs to work on in order to improve and knows the areas of self that must be atoned for which leads one into a personal heaven or hellish place.
My take on the actress was what I seem to recall the Examiner saying, "You've muddied yourself. and, There's hope" in response to what the actress acknowledges she did wrong or missed on in her life and wanted to work through--which leads me to think that she went to a lower heaven or higher hell since the word 'muddied' seems to denote some dirt to have to wash off--IOW something to atone for.
As for the mother and son, quite a good story twist! Anyway, my take is that one person's hell is another person's heaven. The mother exclaimed that she knew it was heaven for her since it was her last wish to atone to her son by seeing him one more time, and maybe even taking care of him. As such, her wish came true as it was more important to her as her idea of heaven than to go to the little cottage by the sea with a garden. So to be with her son and take care of him was even more of a heavenly experience in her mind than the cottage.
I certainly think this wonderful film could be reissued or redone today and it would be very timely, and should be seen by many.
>>I'd really like to see the original film that this was a remake of, and I plan to Tivo a wishlist for it, OUTWARD BOUND (1930).
I've seen it and it is excellent. I really do prefer that cast to this one. Helen Chandler in particular was so dreamy. I loved her sweet, gentle voice.
I think the actress and the reporter were borderline cases: they could go to either heaven or hell. In the end, it appears they both make make the right choices and will eventually work their way to heaven.
In the case of all the other characters, it is quite clear where they are going.
I got the feeling that the mother and son ended up in the little cottage with the garden by the sea...they both gave up for each other, and he in a sense granted her wish.
shareI would think as long as there no pain (like in Hell) it wouldn't be too bad, but I think after the first 1000 years or so it would get very very boring.
Anyway is it possible to go insane in the afterlife?
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It might. I'm reminded of the Twilight Zone episode "A Nice Place to Visit" about a cheap street criminal who is shot by the police and ends up in a world where anything and everything is his for the asking, courtesy an immense manservant, Pip. The hood figures he somehow made it to heaven. It's only later that he finds he's going insane from boredom and discovers he isn't in heaven-- at all.
I just wonder how Mr. Lingley would handle it, stripped of everything but the clothes on his back, doomed to be a pauper and a vagabond for eternity. I think he'd go crazy to some degree.
"An Archer is known by his aim, not by his arrows."
-Li Chen-Sung (Richard Loo) The Outer Limits
My take on the judgement part with the Examiner is that each person knows what s/he needs to work on in order to improve and knows the areas of self that must be atoned for which leads one into a personal heaven or hellish place.
My take on the actress was what I seem to recall the Examiner saying, "You've muddied yourself. and, There's hope" in response to what the actress acknowledges she did wrong or missed on in her life and wanted to work through--which leads me to think that she went to a lower heaven or higher hell since the word 'muddied' seems to denote some dirt to have to wash off--IOW something to atone for.
As for the mother and son, quite a good story twist! Anyway, my take is that one person's hell is another person's heaven. The mother exclaimed that she knew it was heaven for her since it was her last wish to atone to her son by seeing him one more time, and maybe even taking care of him. As such, her wish came true as it was more important to her as her idea of heaven than to go to the little cottage by the sea with a garden. So to be with her son and take care of him was even more of a heavenly experience in her mind than the cottage.
I certainly think this wonderful film could be reissued or redone today and it would be very timely, and should be seen by many.
I agree with all the points mentioned above and would only add that the dialogue touches on penitence and purgatory -- two relevant concepts here. There are some, such as the wealthy matron, who won't even acknowledge they've done wrong, whereas the actress and the journalist do. There is the suggestion of redemption through contrition and perhaps a degree of suffering, but as the Greenstreet character says, there is hope.