''Beyond the Time Barrier'' is a 1960 American

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstel ...

. It was released in September 1960 on a double bill with '' The Angry Red Planet''.Warren, Bill (1986). "Keep Watching The Skies Volume 2". McFarland & Co., Inc. . Page 730 It starred

Robert Clarke Robert Irby Clarke (June 1, 1920 – June 11, 2005) was an American actor best known for his cult classic science fiction films of the 1950s. Early life Clarke was born and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He decided at an early age that h ...

(who also served as producer) and directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. Ulmer's wife Shirley acted as a script editor while their daughter Arianne Arden appeared as a Russian pilot. It was one of two low budget sci-fi films shot back-to-back in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

by Ulmer (the other being ''

The Amazing Transparent Man ''The Amazing Transparent Man'' is a 1960 American science fiction thriller B-movie starring Marguerite Chapman in her final feature film. The plot follows an insane ex–U.S. Army major who uses an escaped criminal to steal materials to improve ...

'', released earlier that year). The combined filming schedule for both films was only two weeks.

Plot

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

Major Bill Allison flies the X-80 experimental aircraft to

sub-orbital spaceflight A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it will not complete one orbital re ...

successfully, though he loses radio contact. When Major Allison returns to the airbase, it appears abandoned, old and deserted. Mystified, he sees a futuristic city on the horizon and heads for it. The major is rendered unconscious and captured. When Allison wakes, he finds himself in a

dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

n underground city known as the Citadel. Unnerved by his captors' refusal to speak with him, Allison initially reacts hostilely, but he eventually calms down and is brought to their leader, the Supreme. The Supreme explains that he and his second-in-command, the Captain, are the only two residents of the Citadel who are able to speak or hear. The rest of the inhabitants, including the Supreme's granddaughter Trirene, are

deaf-mute Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was either deaf and used sign language or both deaf and could not speak. The term continues to be used to refer to deaf people who cannot speak an oral language or have som ...

s, and everyone except possibly Trirene is sterile. A telepath, Trirene reads Allison's thoughts and indicates to the Supreme that she believes him not to be a spy, as the Captain suspects. The Captain sends Allison to be imprisoned with a group of bald and violent

mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It ...

s who are determined to kill everyone in the Citadel. As the mutants attack him, Allison overpowers one and demands answers. They claim to be the survivors of a "cosmic plague", and they blame the residents of the Citadel for their problems. The Captain releases Allison and explains that Trirene has convinced the Supreme that he is not an enemy. Sensing his confusion, Trirene shows him historical photographs that help explain the Citadel's history, and at his urging, leads him to the "scapes", two scientists and a Russian woman officer. After disabling surveillance devices, the scientists explain that Allison has traveled through time to the year 2024. Nuclear weapons testing damaged the Earth's atmosphere, letting through dangerous

cosmic rays Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our ...

in 1971, resulting in the cosmic plague. Those who fled underground to the Citadel were still afflicted. Although they were not as badly afflicted as those who stayed above ground, there have been no births in twenty years. The 'scapes themselves are also accidental time travelers: Russian Captain Markova comes from 1973, and General Kruse and Professor Bourman arrived from colonies on other planets in 1994. Markova explains that the Supreme needs Allison to try to repopulate their society with Trirene's help. The scientists warn Allison not to trust the Citadel. As the Captain arrives to re-enable the security device, he in turn warns Allison not to trust the scientists. As Trirene and Allison spend more time together, they fall in love. Although initially reluctant, Allison joins the 'scapes in a plan to turn Trirene against her people so that he can return to the past and try to change history. Markova sets the mutants free to attack the residents. She then demands that she accompany Allison, not Trirene, and to 1973, not 1960. Kruse and Bourman arrive, and Kruse shoots Markova for her treachery. Then Bourman knocks out Kruse, explaining that Kruse was planning to hijack the aircraft. Bourman, however, also intends to use the X-80 to return to his own time. As Allison and Bourman struggle over Kruse's pistol, a stray bullet kills Trirene before Allison can overcome Bourman. Allison takes Trirene's body to the Supreme, who is distraught over both his granddaughter's death and the doom of his people, now that the last fertile person has died. The Supreme directs Allison toward a secret passage out, persuaded by Allison that there is always hope. Returned to his own time, Allison recounts his fantastic adventure in a recorded debriefing. As high-ranking officials visit Allison in the hospital, he is revealed to have aged drastically and is now an elderly man. Allison frantically warns them of the future events, and one of them says that they have a lot to think about.

Cast

as Maj. William Allison * Darlene Tompkins as Princess Trirene * Arianne Arden as Capt. Markova *

Vladimir Sokoloff Vladimir Aleksandrovich Sokoloff (russian: Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Соколо́в; December 26, 1889 – February 15, 1962) was a Russian-American character actor of stage and screen. After studying theatre in Moscow, ...

as The Supreme * Stephen Bekassy as Gen. Karl Kruse *

John van Dreelen John van Dreelen (born Jacques Theodore van Drielen Gimberg; 5 May 1922 – 4 September 1992) was a Dutch actor, who frequently performed on television from the 1960s to the 1980s. Early years Van Dreelen was born in Amsterdam, the son of Dutc ...

as Dr. Bourman * Red Morgan as Captain * Ken Knox as Col. Marty Martin * Don Flournoy as Mutant * Tom Ravick as Mutant * Neil Fletcher as Air Force Chief * Jack Herman as Dr. Richman * William Shapard as Gen. York * James Altgens as Secretary Lloyd Patterson * John Loughney as Gen. Lamont * Russell Marker as Col. Curtis

Production

Producer

was exhausted from directing and acting in his production, ''

The Hideous Sun Demon ''The Hideous Sun Demon'' (sometimes billed as ''The Sun Demon'', or in the UK as ''Blood on His Lips'') is a 1958 American science fiction horror film produced, directed, and cowritten by Robert Clarke, who also starred in the title role. It als ...

'', and sought a director for this film. He had previously worked with Edgar G. Ulmer on ''

The Man from Planet X ''The Man from Planet X'' is a 1951 independently made American black-and-white science fiction horror film, produced by Jack Pollexfen and Aubrey Wisberg, directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, that stars Robert Clarke, Margaret Field, and William Sch ...

'' and respected him. Clarke's funds originated in Texas, and the backers stipulated that the film be shot there, where motion picture unions had no influence. Clarke filmed in the Texas Centennial Exhibition Fair Park buildings. He secured cooperation from the US Air Force and

Texas Air National Guard The Texas Air National Guard (TX ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Texas, United States of America. It is, along with the Texas Army National Guard, an element of the Texas National Guard. No element of the Texas Air National Guard is ...

allowing him to film at

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...

Carswell Air Force Base Carswell Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force (USAF) base, located northwest of Fort Worth, Texas. For most of its operational lifetime, the base's mission was to train and support heavy strategic bombing groups and wings. Carswe ...

and the abandoned Marine Corps Air Station Eagle Mountain Lake. He obtained and used film footage of an

F-102 The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was an American interceptor aircraft designed and manufactured by Convair. Built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Force's air defenses in the late 1950s, it entered service in 1956. Its main purpo ...

Delta Dagger standing in for the test plane. The film's action sequences used Air Force weapons,

M1 carbine The M1 carbine (formally the United States Carbine, Caliber .30, M1) is a lightweight semi-automatic carbine that was a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The M1 carbine was produced ...

s and

M1911A1 The M1911 (Colt 1911 or Colt Government) is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. The pistol's formal U.S. military designation as of 1940 was ''Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911'' for the ...

pistols, with the actors taking care not to fire the weapons directly at one another. The film's

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

was ''The Last Barrier''. Production designer

Ernst Fegté Ernst Fegté (28 September 1900 – 15 December 1976) was a German art director. He was active in the American cinema from the 1920s to the 1970s, he was the art director or production designer on more than 75 feature films. He worked at Par ...

employed a triangular motif for the futuristic sets that were filmed in the vacant showground buildings. Surplus parachutes were hung in the background to muffle echoes. Clarke chose Darlene Tompkins over several contenders for the mute and

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws ...

Trirene, including

Yvette Mimieux Yvette Carmen Mimieux (January 8, 1942 – January 18, 2022) was an American film and television actress. Her breakout role was in '' The Time Machine'' (1960). She was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards during her acting career. Early li ...

(who appeared in ''

The Time Machine ''The Time Machine'' is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895. The work is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle or device to travel purposely and selectively for ...

'') and

Leslie Parrish Leslie Parrish (born Marjorie Hellen; March 13, 1935) is an American actress, activist, environmentalist, writer, and producer. She worked under her birth name for six years, changing it in 1959. Early life As a child, Parrish lived in Massachu ...

. Ulmer selected his daughter Arianne for the role of Captain Alicia Markova, whose name came from the ballerina of the same name. Ulmer choreographed the daughter's movements similar to a ballet dance as she loosened her

flight suit A flight suit is a full-body garment, worn while flying aircraft such as military airplanes, gliders and helicopters. These suits are generally made to keep the wearer warm, as well as being practical (plenty of pockets), and durable (includi ...

. When giving her speech inciting the mutants to revolt in a Soviet uprising, Arianne deliberately used voice inflections similar to

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage ...

reciting the St. Crispin's Day Speech from ''

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

''. American International Pictures (AIP) added footage to the mutant uprising sequence from their film '' Journey to the Lost City''. One mutant was played by the screenwriter Arthur C. Pierce. Pierce was involved in the production and worked as an assistant editor. Tompkins recalled that the actors portraying the mutants, whose makeup was created by Jack Pierce, taught her how to play

cribbage Cribbage, or crib, is a card game, traditionally for two players, that involves playing and grouping cards in combinations which gain points. It can be adapted for three or four players. Cribbage has several distinctive features: the cribbag ...

on the set while in costume.Lisanti, Tom ''Science Fiction Confidential'' McFarland, p.300 Tompkins was asked to do a nude swimming scene for overseas release. She refused and swimming scenes were done by a body double. When filming her swimming in a flesh colored bathing suit, the crew used the motel swimming pool where they were staying; their night filming was disrupted by a fire that broke out at the motel. Former football player

Boyd Morgan Boyd may refer to: Places Canada * Boyd Conservation Area, a conservation area located northwest of Toronto, Ontario * Boyd Lake (disambiguation) United States * Boyd County (disambiguation) * Boyd, Indiana * Boyd, Iowa * Boyd, Kansas * ...

performed stunts and played the Captain of the Guard.

Darrell Calker Darrell Wallace Calker (February 18, 1905 – February 20, 1964) was an American composer and arranger who worked on films and animated cartoons. Early life and education Calker was born in Washington, D.C. to Morris H. and Lugenia E. (Lily) Walla ...

, the music chief of

Walter Lantz Walter Lantz (April 27, 1899 – March 22, 1994) was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker. Biography Early years and start in animation Lant ...

's cartoons, composed an effective film score. AIP's

James H. Nicholson James Harvey Nicholson (September 14, 1916 – December 10, 1972) was an American film producer. He is best known as the co-founder, with Samuel Z. Arkoff, of American International Pictures. Early life Nicholson was born on September 14, 1 ...

was keen on releasing the film based on his teenage daughters' recommendation after screening the film. AIP partner Samuel Z. Arkoff, asked Clarke what he wanted to do with the film. Clarke said he wanted to produce several films for AIP, but Arkoff said AIP didn't use contract producers. Clarke found a similar, but newer and inexperienced film company called Pacific International Pictures (PIP) or Miller-Consolidated Pictures who were keen on working with Clarke and releasing his films. However, PIP went bankrupt and AIP was able to purchase two of Clarke's films held by PIP for no more than the laboratory costs. The films were released under the AIP banner. AIP exploited MGM's publicity for ''

'' by releasing their film a month before MGMs. Clarke was paid only his acting salary. As Miller Consolidate Films went into bankruptcy,

American International Pictures American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...

(AIP) released the film in September, 1960 on a double bill with '' The Angry Red Planet'' It was theatrically released in some areas on a double bill with ''

'', another Ulmer-directed film made by Miller but picked up by AIP for the lab costs.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, a

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

, reports that 60% of five surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 4.56/10.

Dave Kehr David Kehr (born 1953) is an American museum curator and film critic. For many years a critic at the '' Chicago Reader'' and the ''Chicago Tribune,'' he later wrote a weekly column for ''The New York Times'' on DVD releases. He later became a ...

of the ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by ...

'' wrote, "Even on this despairing level of fly-by-night filmmaking, Ulmer's treatment remains resolutely personal, and the film, though visually slack, emerges as something terse, resourceful, and expressively icy."

J. Hoberman James Lewis Hoberman (born March 14, 1949) is an American film critic, journalist, author and academic. He began working at '' The Village Voice'' in the 1970s, became a full-time staff writer in 1983, and was the newspaper's senior film critic ...

of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'' wrote that it "suggests an impoverished remake of the 1924 Soviet constructivist space opera ''

Aelita ''Aelita'' (russian: Аэли́та, ), also known as ''Aelita: Queen of Mars'', is a 1924 Soviet silent science fiction film directed by Yakov Protazanov and produced at the Mezhrabpom-Rus film studio. It was based on Alexei Tolstoy's 1923 ...

''".

References

External links