''Beyond the Curtain'' is a 1960 British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

written and directed by

Compton Bennett Herbert William Compton Bennett (15 January 1900 – 11 August 1974), better known as Compton Bennett, was an England, English film director, writer and producer. He is perhaps best known for directing the 1945 film ''The Seventh Veil'' and the ...

, and starring

Richard Greene Richard Marius Joseph Greene (25 August 1918 – 1 June 1985) was a noted English film and television actor. A matinée idol who appeared in more than 40 films, he was perhaps best known for the lead role in the long-running British TV series '' ...

and

Eva Bartok Éva Márta Szőke Ivanovics (18 June 19271 August 1998), known professionally as Eva Bartok, was a Hungarian-British actress. She began acting in films in 1950 and her last credited appearance was in 1966. She acted in more than 40 American, ...

Plot

A refugee from

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

finds herself trapped in her home city of

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

when a plane she is travelling on between

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

is forced down. She is used by the

Stasi The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the Intelligence agency, state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990. The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maint ...

, who want her to help them to find her dissident brother.

Cast

as Captain Jim Kyle *

as Karin von Seefeldt *

Marius Goring Marius Re Goring, (23 May 191230 September 1998) was a British stage and screen actor. He is best remembered for the four films he made with Powell & Pressburger, particularly as Conductor 71 in '' A Matter of Life and Death'' and as Julian Cr ...

as Hans Körtner *

Lucie Mannheim Lucie Mannheim (30 April 1899 – 17 July 1976) was a German singer and actress. Life and career Mannheim was born in Köpenick, Berlin, where she studied drama and quickly became a popular figure appearing on stage in plays and musicals. Among ...

as Frau von Seefeldt * Andree Melly as Linda *

George Mikell George Mikell (born Jurgis Mikelaitis; 4 April 1929 – 12 May 2020) was a Lithuanian-Australian actor and writer best known for his performances as Schutzstaffel (SS) officers in '' The Guns of Navarone'' (1961) and '' The Great Escape'' (196 ...

as Pieter von Seefeldt *

John Welsh John Welsh may refer to: *John Welsh of Ayr (1568–1622), religious leader *John Welsh of Irongray, religious leader *John Welsh (actor) (1904–1985), Irish actor *John Welsh (Australian footballer) (born 1938), Australian rules football player f ...

as Turner *

Denis Shaw Denis Shaw (7 February 1921 – 28 February 1971) was a British character actor specialising in slimy villains. Born in Dulwich as Douglas Findlay Shaw, he was a rotund man, with dark, wavy hair and slanty eyes. This appearance meant he would ...

as Krumm *

Annette Carell Annette Karen Carell (variously Carrell; born Anneliese Erlanger; 7 January 1926 – 20 October 1967) was a German-born American actress of stage, screen, and television who lived in the United States and Britain at various stages of her career. ...

as Governor * Gaylord Cavallaro as Twining *

Leonard Sachs Leonard Meyer Sachs (26 September 1909 – 15 June 1990) was a South African-born British actor. Life and career Sachs was born in the town of Roodepoort, in the then Transvaal Colony, present day South Africa. He was Jewish. He emigrated to ...

as Waiter *

Brian Wilde Brian George Wilde (13 June 1927 – 20 March 2008) was an English actor, best known for his roles in television comedy, most notably Mr Barrowclough in '' Porridge'' and Walter "Foggy" Dewhurst in ''Last of the Summer Wine''. His lugubrious ...

as Bill Seddon *

Steve Plytas Phokion Stavros Plytas, known professionally as Steve Plytas (9 January 1913 – 27 December 1994), was a Greek film and television actor based in the United Kingdom. His stage work included West End appearances in Tennessee Williams' ''The Nig ...

as Zimmerman *

Guy Kingsley Poynter Guy Kingsley Poynter, also known as Guy Kingsley (3 September 1915 – 6 September 1983), was an American actor. Poynter is best remembered for his part as 'Doctor Daniel "Doc" Matthews' in the 1950s radio series '' Journey into Space''. He appe ...

as Captain Law *

André Mikhelson André Mikhelson was a Russian actor, in mostly British films. He was born in Moscow, in 1903. Selected filmography * ''The Gambler and the Lady'' (1952) - El Greco (uncredited) * ''Desperate Moment'' (1953) - Polizei Inspector * '' Star of My N ...

as Russian Colonel

External links

* 1960 films 1960 drama films British aviation films British drama films 1960s English-language films Films directed by Compton Bennett Cold War films Films critical of communism Films about the Berlin Wall Films set in East Germany 1960s British films {{1960s-UK-film-stub