Van Johnson

Vera Miles

Emlyn Williams

Bernard Lee

Jean Kent

Moultrie Kelsall

Leo McKern

Geoffrey Keen

Jameson Clark

Rosalie Crutchley

Oliver Johnston

Vincent Winter

Anthony Newlands

Eira Heath

Hope Jackman

Ralph Truman

Joyce Heron

Henry Oscar

John Glyn-Jones

Thomas Baptiste

Michael Collins

Lynda King

Danny Green

Emma Young

Frank Atkinson

Jack Cardiff

Laurie Ridley

Fred Ryan

John R. Sloan

Douglas Gamley

Maxwell Setton

George Minter

Wilkie Cooper

Peter Thornton

Ernest Walter

Ken Adam

Len Shilton

William Hill

Kenneth Hyde

A.J. Cronin

Joan Smallwood

Neville Smallwood

Muir Mathieson

Frank Ernst

Charles Poulton

Ronnie Taylor

Ken Taylor

Kay Rawlings

Mystery

Beyond This Place

Georgefield Productions

United Kingdom

I like poodles!

Beyond This Place (AKA: Web of Evidence) is directed by Jack Cardiff and adapted to screenplay by Ken Taylor from the A.J. Cronin novel. It stars Van Johnson, Vera Miles, Emlyn Williams, Bernard Lee and Jean Kent. Music is by Douglas Gamley and cinematography by Wilkie Cooper.

Paul Mathry (Johnson) was evacuated from Liverpool to America during WWII. Twenty years later he is back in Liverpool believing his father had died a hero during the conflict. The reality is that his father, Patrick (Lee), has been serving a prison sentence for the murder of his pregnant mistress. But something doesn't seem right about the trial, so Paul does a little digging...

Not a great deal to get excited about here, it's a routine mystery - cum - thriller, that is based in Liverpool (not London as some reviewers elsewhere seem to think) but drafts in two American name actors to supposedly perk things up. It never really gets off the ground for dramatic impact, sending Johnson on a mission of truth and justice without ever really putting him in jeopardy. While his relationship with Miles' troubled Lena Anderson is a subplot of no consequence, as is her back story which is sad but isn't given any dramatic heft.

On the plus side is oodles of noirish atmosphere, various camera workings of substance and scene staging that lift proceedings. Night scenes are suitably cloaked with an air of unease, be it blinking pelican lights or spinning shadow lamps, Cardiff and Cooper get the most out of the meagre budget. Other sequences see a shot through distorted glass and one excellent one that has Kent framed in striped surroundings - while she is wearing a leopard skin coat, the contrast of which suits her character perfectly.

Value here for noir visualists, but instantly forgettable once the berserker finale has played itself out. 6/10

Tidbid: James Bond fans will note that it sees Lee and Geoffrey Keen together, they both would later feature in a number of Bond movies.

English

Web of Evidence