For the holiday season you can turn to TCM for the usual Miracle on 34th Street and It’s a Wonderful Life, which are fabulous films, but there is another option that it also interesting. The film in question is Beyond Tomorrow (also known as Beyond Christmas). It is a 1940’s winter film starring Harry Carey, Aubrey Smith, and Charles Winninger. The film is about three wealthy but lonely heads of an engineering firm inviting strangers, through a bet, to dinner on Christmas Eve, but only two show up. The three heads are the grouchy George Vale Melton, played by Harry Carey, the patriotic British gentlemen, Allan Chadwick, played by Aubrey Smith, and the cheerful Michael O’Brien, played by Charles Winninger.
The two people to come in are a young man from Texas named James, played by Richard Carlson, and a young woman from New Hampshire named Jean, played by Jean Parker. After meeting the two young people, the three are quite happy for a couple months. However, a plane accident occurs where the three men die. Afterwards their ghosts remain to watch over the young couple that marry and try to stay with each other through all of the rough spots in their relationship. Can these three ghosts help them through these rough spots and keep them together?
When recommending an older holiday film, most people take reviews like this with a grain of salt. Considering the fact that everyone pretty much watches the same handful of films and wants something new, there really isn’t a lot out there that is new. Most people are dubious at the idea of an old black and white film since they know that, for the most point, once you’ve seen one Christmas film you’ve seen them all (except of course for the great The Nightmare Before Christmas or the films said at the beginning). However, this film does offer some original and interesting things.
For one thing, the chemistry between Melton, Chadwick, and O’Brien throughout the film is great. The three are able to work off each other quite well that it makes you want to sit and talk to them yourself. Even when they die and become ghosts they are interesting to watch as they react to what is happening to the young couple. The set design, lighting, and effects are also very well thought out for what is needed. Each set has been given great thought in who was going to be in them. The lighting is especially shown off when the three men die and we see the mansion they all met in becoming slightly darker.
It should be noted that the three men are being taken away to the afterlife, one at a time, as the proceedings occur. Instead of overloading on each man’s fate, they’re subtle and the actors help to build up what is happening to them. This makes what could have been regular special effects and makes them something worth seeing. However, this isn’t a perfect film.
You might have noticed that James and Jean were not mentioned much until now; this is because there isn’t much to these characters. While the actors playing them do a good job, they aren’t really given much to do. James is a pretty boy from Texas who has the voice of an angel, which leads to some trouble when he gets famous with his voice. Jean has it worse as she only has being from New Hampshire and working at a children’s hospital for character traits (which should be noted, we only see once or twice). One can say that, since this was made in the 1940’s, that these two are a product of their time. This might work but it doesn’t change the fact that the story focuses on these two primarily for the second half of the story.
Also the film turns into a completely different film after the three men die. After they die, it turns into “a young person corrupted by the industry” story people have seen hundreds of times. This involves James, and his great voice, having to work a lot at the radio station that he works for and letting his eventual success go to his head. This can turn some people but, as noted before, we get cuts to the three men talking to each other about the situations.
Overall, this film deserves at least a once over for something new for the holiday season. Yes, the film is a product of the 40’s and a major holiday so it follows some major clichés of the time. However, the three men are a major draw for the film and are a delight to watch. There is also the effects and sets that make this film interesting to watch and fun to see. Also this film is in the public domain and can be watched on YouTube for absolutely nothing.