Berlino est passaporto falso

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.

This is one of those films where the heroes are all very stiff upper lip and the villains are cold and mysterious, certainly a movie of the cold war period.

When an American plane gets drawn off course because of bad weather it mistakenly flies into East German air space, it's forced to land and the people are taken off the plane. When the authorities let the plane leave the stewardess Karin (Eva Bartok) is detained as she is an East German. She is taken home to live with her mother, whilst this is happening her fiancee Jim (Richard Greene) has arrived in Berlin to bring her back. This could be dangerous as she is being watched by Hans (Marius Goring), who works for the Stasi (the East German secret police). With the help of Linda (Andree Melly) Karin and Jim find her brother Peter (who the police are after) and start their escape to the West.

It all sounds more exciting than it actually is but it's got a great cast, especially Melly in a small role.

Able journeyman director Compton Bennett reveals some considerable cinematic flair by nimbly orchestrating a goodly number of pulse-poundingly exciting scenes in his intense, competently made, consistently gripping 1960s thriller 'Beyond The Curtain'. Fortuitously working from an effectively lean, unfussy text by Bennett, Charles B. Blair and John Cresswell the pacey, frequently dark thriller finds beautiful, latterly emancipated East German-born Karin (Eva Bartok) in a fraught, emotionally complex dilemma, being recaptured by the conspicuously ominous East German police, as due to turbulence her flight was forced to fatefully cross Russian airspace.

Working for an American airline offers poor Karin no immunity, so her handsome fiancé pilot Richard Greene, desperate to be reunited with his beloved bride-to-be must heroically contrive a daring, increasingly dangerous plot to get her back into his loving, tweed-covered arms! Ostensibly a 'get the good German out of the zealous totalitarian clutches of the DDR' potboiler, but is entertainingly performed with exceptional brio by a wonderful cast, with a deliciously duplicitous turn by mean Marius Goring as the traitorous, deeply conflicted Doctor Hans. It must also be strongly noted that plainly talented D.o.P Eric Cross seems most adept at composing crepuscular, doom-laden night shots. 'Beyond The Curtain' comes very highly recommended as some splendidly rousing cold war-era entertainment!

Hammer Films fans might like to know that the delightful Andree 'Brides of Dracula' Melly is no less scintillating as the courageous anti-communist Linda.

I must have watched a different version of the film than some others on here. Richard Greene wasn't flying the aircraft in the one I saw. Also the film I watched was very suspenseful and full of menace in places with believable characters and location (in the main). All in all a good entertaining film well worth seeing.

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.