Gehetzt und gejagt

This is another of those cold war thrillers with manhunts in the ruins of Berlin, this one from the year before the Berlin wall was put up. For some reason this one has been neglected and almost ignored, presumed to be outdated and totally overshadowed by the earlier masterpieces by Carol Reed ("The Third Man", "The Man Between"), "The Big Lift" 1948 and others, but this is actually in line with them and not much worse although more modern. Eva Bartok makes a fully convincing character torn between east and west, between her loyalties to her background and family in Dresden and her love for an American in West Berlin - the scenes from the night clubs in West Berlin are almost sarcastically reminiscent of the much earlier very decadent Berlin of the 20s and 30s - little seems to have changed since then. The insights in Eastern Germany and Dresden are also very revealing as not much different from the Nazi days - Eva Bartok's aristocratic family villa has been taken over by a former Nazi Gauleiter now in the service of DDR.

Richard Greene looks curiously much like Tom Hanks,and his character is even similar to most Hanks characters. It's an interesting film, Marius Goring as the doctor also torn asunder by his duties and loyalties and weakness for Eva is perhaps the most interesting character. The final tunnel chase is all too reminiscent of the final hunt in "The Third Man" but totally different.

Excellent period film set immediately before the construction of the Berlin wall. Karin finds herself grappling many dilemmas after finding herself back behind the iron curtain after the fight she is a stewardess on lands in Eastern Germany. The film gives a feel of the despair of living in a totalitarian regime. The highlight in my opinion was the chace across what appears to be many miles of buildings that were bombed out in the second world war. Although the film is for entertainment it is also historic. The roles are well played. The viewer will find themselves rooting for the characters. 8/10.

BEYOND THE CURTAIN is a Cold War thriller that absolutely pales in comparison to that classic of the genre, THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE WORLD, although it does contain a mildly similar, behind-the-curtain type plot. But where SPY excelled, BEYOND THE CURTAIN merely plods along endlessly until a fitfully exciting climax. I'll give this film credit where it's due, however; the early scenes with the plane diversion are quite suspenseful and hide what was obviously a low budget. The ever middle aged-looking Richard Greene (SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST) is the solid - or perhaps that should be stolid - hero who gets involved in the life of Eva Bartok (BLOOD AND BLACK LACE), a stewardess with family living in East Germany.

Once the action shifts behind the Iron Curtain it really should be suspenseful and exciting, but instead it just sort of plods along for a little. Don't get me wrong, it's not exactly bottom of the barrel stuff, it's just not particularly exciting. I notice that this film was put out by the unheard-of 'Welbeck Film Distributors' - something to do with the notorious Harry Alan Towers perchance? At least BEYOND THE CURTAIN picks up towards the climax, set in some disused tunnels, which at least has the suspense and action missing elsewhere. Marius Goring (THE CASE OF THE FRIGHTENED LADY) is a good choice for the antagonist although Bartok ends up grating on the nerves throughout with her incessant screaming and stupid behaviour. As Cold War thrillers go, though, BEYOND THE CURTAIN is only average entertainment.

The plot was rather confusing, and we're introduced to characters that seem like they'll be major but are only in one or two scenes, it's not a short film but seems to get very little done.

However, acting wise it's not bad at all; Richard Greene is fun as always and Eva Bartok puts up a surprisingly admirable performance as the stewardess. It's really a very bizarre film with a good exciting ending but really no substance to hold up the film. The characters are bland apart from the two leads and the plot really fails quite badly.

4/10: Difficult to enjoy, technically bad but has some fun parts.

The passenger plane that Richard Greene is piloting strays out of the air corridor from Berlin. The plane is forced down by Russians. When local authorities let the plane and passengers continue on their way, Eva Bartok, the stewardess and Greene's fiancee, is held as a German national and sent to Dresden in East Germany. Greene determines to go underground and get her out.

There are some good actors in this Cold War thriller shot entirely in England: not only the leads, but Marius Goring as an old friend of Miss Bartok's who is now working for The Authorities. In all, though, this is a mediocre effort, with its roots deep in cinema, from the days when innocent civilians were trying to escape from Germany during the First World War. Eric Cross' camerawork is competent but undistinguished and it looks like the production was shot for speed and not excellence; a couple of American characters do not bother to maintain their accents.