Next stop on our tour of the movies of Christmas past is 1940, with A. Edward Sutherland’s supernatural oddity Beyond Tomorrow. This is a strange one, a film whose first half hour gives no indication of the mad, paranormal left turn the plot suddenly takes.
Things start out interesting enough, with shades of Trading Places, following three old rich guys – George (Harry Carey), Michael (Charles Winninge) and Allan (C. Aubrey Smith) who live together in a fusty old mansion. When their Christmas party guests all cancel on them they decide to run one of those zany social experiments that wealthy old farts in movies seem to adore, throwing three wallets out in the snow to see if anyone will be kind enough to return them. This ends up inadvertently bringing handsome Texan singer James (Richard Carlson) and selfless New Hampshire teacher Jean (Jean Parker) together.
Just as the happy couple plan to announce their engagement, disaster strikes, with the three old boys killed in a plane crash. The rest of the film then follows their three ghosts trying their hardest to keep the young lovers together after James’ successful music career threatens to drive them apart.
They definitely don’t make them like this anymore and this one feels a bit mad, like two or three very different films sort of Frankenstein-stitched together. Sutherland’s tale is high on the melodrama and full of bizarre, unexpected plot turns like a shooting that comes completely out of nowhere. Also, the ghostly overseers don’t really seem to do anything that affects the plot, which is weird.
It keeps you guessing as to what might happen next, but is also full of cute, appealing moments. James and Jean’s courtship is appealing and the film’s first half is fantastically wintery and full of festive cheer. It’s a pleasantly optimistic little movie with faith in the basic decency of the human spirit and a celebration of doing good deeds.
However, the message is a bit muddled, like the film is saying it’s impossible to find true fulfilment without some supernatural intervention. Still, it’s all quite poignant, reminding us that all the silly little choices we make can have a drastic effect on our destinies. The three old men seem like they’ve only really got each other and their jovial housekeeping staff for company and perhaps regret the decisions that brought them to their end.
There are some engaging visual effects, including see-through ghosts and disembodied spooky voices from the heavens. Sadly, though, it all gets pretty stodgy and dull, which is a surprising assessment for a film about ghosts and 1940s Texan pop singers.
Ultimately, it’s all rather forgettable, though worth a watch just to check out its idiosyncratic plot structure and twists. The more I think about it, this feels like a very daring film, something I find it hard to see anyone trying to make these days. I’m continuing to enjoy these old, forgotten flicks from a time before Hollywood seemed to settle on so many of the conventions and tropes we’re used to seeing rehashed endlessly nowadays. Films like Beyond Tomorrow have more tricks up their sleeves than I ever could have predicted. Jolly good.
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