Beyond the Curtain

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Beyond the Curtain
Beyond the Curtain FilmPoster.jpeg
Directed by Compton Bennett
Written byCompton Bennett
Charles F. Blair
John Cresswell
Produced byJohn Martin
Starring Richard Greene
Eva Bartok
Marius Goring
Lucie Mannheim
Cinematography Eric Cross
Music byKenneth Pakeman
Release date
  • April 1960 (1960-04)
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Beyond the Curtain is a 1960 British drama film written and directed by Compton Bennett, and starring Richard Greene and Eva Bartok. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Plot

A refugee from East Germany finds herself trapped in her home city of Dresden when a plane she is travelling on between Berlin and West Germany is forced down. She is used by the Stasi, who want her to help them to find her dissident brother.

Cast

Production

It was the first British feature film from producer John Martin, who had a strong record in documentaries. It was made in association with the companies of Sydney Box. Filming began in September 1959. [4] [5]

Reception

Critical reception

Kinematograph Weekly wrote "The picture creates little emotional impact Or excitement during the first half, but, although human interest remains flabby, its climax, staged among the rubble and ruins of the Reichschancellery, thrills." [6]

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "This inept melodrama creates little impact or excitement during the first half, and its later attempts at suspense belong to the early days of the serial. Human interest remains flabby throughout, Eva Bartok's strident and hysterical performance being just about what the woefully unconvincing script deserves, and only Eric Cross's photography, and a dash of surface action, rise above the generally tepid level." [7]

Box office

In May 1960 Kinematograph Weekly reported the film "a very ordinary adventure melodrama, has been helped over many a stile by reissue Campbell's Kingdom (Rank—British). The latter is, of course, first-class." [8]

References

  1. ↑ "Beyond the Curtain". British Film Institute. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  2. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (27 June 2025). "Forgotten British Film Studios: The Rank Organisation, 1959". Filmink. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  3. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (4 July 2025). "Forgotten British Film Studios: The Rank Organisation, 1960". Filmink. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  4. ↑ "British production". Kinematograph Weekly. 10 September 1959. p. 19.
  5. ↑ "Your films". Kinematograph Weekly. 1 October 1959. p. 21.
  6. ↑ "Beyond the Curtain". Kinematograph Weekly. 21 April 1960. p. 16.
  7. ↑ "Beyond the Curtain". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 27 (312): 82. 1 January 1960. ProQuest   1305823028.
  8. ↑ "Your films". Kinematograph Weekly. 26 May 1960. p. 34.


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