Director A. Edward Sutherland's "Beyond Tomorrow" is a fantasy romance melodrama with a Christmas setting. This heavy-handed pabulum about second chances and voices from Heaven that can be influenced by grieving mothers is for folks who crave happy endings. Predictable, dull, and tear-stained with sketchy characters and contrived situations, this modest movie probably appealed to misty-eyed romantics during its initial release.
Three eccentric business partners in their sixties who are idle widowers decide on a whim to enliven their lives with a bit of Christmas cheer. They slip $10 into separate wallets with their business cards and throw them out of their window of their New York City mansion into the street. The idea is that nobody is a stranger on Christmas Eve. The cynical member of the trio, George Melton (Harry Carey of "Angel and the Badman"), argues that nobody will return their wallets. The optimistic one, Michael O'Brien (Charles Winninger of "Destry Rides Again"), contends that someone will bring back the wallets. O'Brien challenges Melton to a wager with the loser buying dinner at their club if any of the wallets are returned. Meantime, the last member of the threesome, Allan Chadwick (C. Aubrey Smith of "Trader Horn"), watches his two companions with genuine amusement while he puffs on his pipe. They fling their wallets into the snow-swept evening on the sidewalk. One recipient gives her $10 to a chauffeur, while the remaining two show-up to return the loot. The first one is a woebegone Texan in a Stetson, James Houston (Richard Carlson of "The Howards of Virginia"), whose western drawl is as thick as his boots are threadbare, but he can warble his heart out given the chance. The second is a young lady, Jean Lawrence (Jean Parker of "Zenobia"), and she grills Chadwick about the contents of the wallet. You see, poor old Chadwick suffers from terrible vision, but O'Brien helps him out. These three old gents and the young couple are joined for supper by an expatriate Russian aristocratic dame, Madam Tanya (Maria Ouspenskaya of "The Wolf Man"), who is happy that she is no longer oppressed by her once abundant wealth. They have a blast, and later the trio of entrepreneurs catches a plane to attend to their business affairs. Madam Tanya senses that they won't get off the plane, and they don't, dying in a mountain crash. They show up at their old haunt, but now they are really haunting it as ghosts. None of them experiences any former pains and they can see through each other. The last to hear about their tragic disaster are the happy, carefree, young couple.
Miraculously, Madam Tanya knows what she must do. She takes the young couple into the library and presents with an envelope containing bonds that the trio entrusted to them. While this is transpiring, a newspaperman interviews the couple about the three engineers and the story falls into the hands of a radio station whose manager invites the duo to their studios. Jean wants Jimmy to go to the interview because she is certain that his singing will land them in the big time. Madam Tanya asks them to stick around in the mansion so that the butler and she will have someone to take care of since the trio has died. Jimmy auditions at WRC Radio and they schedule him to sing that evening. While he is at WRC, he runs into a celebrity singer Arlene Terry (Helen Vinson of "Broadway Bill") who is a little older than he is. Naturally, impressionable Jimmy is impressed with the lady. Not only does she like what she sees when they meet but she also urges him to phone her when he sings on the air. Terry and her producer Phil Hubert (Rod La Rocque of "The Shadow Strikes") both approve of his warbling, and they sign him up to join their show. Jimmy reaps so much success that he no longer makes time to spend with Jean, and their romance grows languishes as they grow apart from each other.
Melton moves on into thunder and lightning, and later Chadwick joins his son David (William Bakewell) in their dream of dreams India. This leaves the unhappy O'Brien behind. O'Brien is sad now because Jimmy has taken up with Terry and forgotten about Jean. Another vocalist, Jace Taylor (James Bush of "Hangmen Also Die!"), who once shared the spotlight with Terry before he turned into a drunken, struggles to patch up their relationship, but Terry wants nothing to do with him. Instead, she wants to spend some time relaxing with Jimmy. O'Brien's ghost tries to get Jimmy to reunite with Jean, but the grasping Terry sidetracks Jimmy and he drives off with her in a convertible into the country. O'Brien catches a ride in the backseat and then he notices headlights following them and whisks off to the other car. He discovers that Jace is steering the other car and has a revolver with him. While Jace has the attendant fuel up his jalopy at the gas station, he goes for a drink. Jimmy and Terry are dining in a restaurant when they are recognized by the band leader. About that time, Jace staggers in, brandishes his revolver, and shoots them both. Terry dies immediately while Jimmy makes it to the operating table at the hospital. Heaven shines down on O'Brien and summons him for the last time. O'Brien cannot stand the thought of leaving Jimmy behind until the young man joins him. Heaven comes back for O'Brien because his long-suffering mom intervened on his behalf. O'Brien entreats Heaven to give Jimmy another chance. Jean hears the good news that Jimmy survived surgery. O'Brien is further gladdened by the appearance of Melton who has repented and joins his old friend as they march toward the celestial lights.
"Beyond Tomorrow" would like us to believe that Jimmy and Jean got the chance to share their dreams.
Three eccentric business partners in their sixties who are idle widowers decide on a whim to enliven their lives with a bit of Christmas cheer. They slip $10 into separate wallets with their business cards and throw them out of their window of their New York City mansion into the street. The idea is that nobody is a stranger on Christmas Eve. The cynical member of the trio, George Melton (Harry Carey of "Angel and the Badman"), argues that nobody will return their wallets. The optimistic one, Michael O'Brien (Charles Winninger of "Destry Rides Again"), contends that someone will bring back the wallets. O'Brien challenges Melton to a wager with the loser buying dinner at their club if any of the wallets are returned. Meantime, the last member of the threesome, Allan Chadwick (C. Aubrey Smith of "Trader Horn"), watches his two companions with genuine amusement while he puffs on his pipe. They fling their wallets into the snow-swept evening on the sidewalk. One recipient gives her $10 to a chauffeur, while the remaining two show-up to return the loot. The first one is a woebegone Texan in a Stetson, James Houston (Richard Carlson of "The Howards of Virginia"), whose western drawl is as thick as his boots are threadbare, but he can warble his heart out given the chance. The second is a young lady, Jean Lawrence (Jean Parker of "Zenobia"), and she grills Chadwick about the contents of the wallet. You see, poor old Chadwick suffers from terrible vision, but O'Brien helps him out. These three old gents and the young couple are joined for supper by an expatriate Russian aristocratic dame, Madam Tanya (Maria Ouspenskaya of "The Wolf Man"), who is happy that she is no longer oppressed by her once abundant wealth. They have a blast, and later the trio of entrepreneurs catches a plane to attend to their business affairs. Madam Tanya senses that they won't get off the plane, and they don't, dying in a mountain crash. They show up at their old haunt, but now they are really haunting it as ghosts. None of them experiences any former pains and they can see through each other. The last to hear about their tragic disaster are the happy, carefree, young couple.
Miraculously, Madam Tanya knows what she must do. She takes the young couple into the library and presents with an envelope containing bonds that the trio entrusted to them. While this is transpiring, a newspaperman interviews the couple about the three engineers and the story falls into the hands of a radio station whose manager invites the duo to their studios. Jean wants Jimmy to go to the interview because she is certain that his singing will land them in the big time. Madam Tanya asks them to stick around in the mansion so that the butler and she will have someone to take care of since the trio has died. Jimmy auditions at WRC Radio and they schedule him to sing that evening. While he is at WRC, he runs into a celebrity singer Arlene Terry (Helen Vinson of "Broadway Bill") who is a little older than he is. Naturally, impressionable Jimmy is impressed with the lady. Not only does she like what she sees when they meet but she also urges him to phone her when he sings on the air. Terry and her producer Phil Hubert (Rod La Rocque of "The Shadow Strikes") both approve of his warbling, and they sign him up to join their show. Jimmy reaps so much success that he no longer makes time to spend with Jean, and their romance grows languishes as they grow apart from each other.
Melton moves on into thunder and lightning, and later Chadwick joins his son David (William Bakewell) in their dream of dreams India. This leaves the unhappy O'Brien behind. O'Brien is sad now because Jimmy has taken up with Terry and forgotten about Jean. Another vocalist, Jace Taylor (James Bush of "Hangmen Also Die!"), who once shared the spotlight with Terry before he turned into a drunken, struggles to patch up their relationship, but Terry wants nothing to do with him. Instead, she wants to spend some time relaxing with Jimmy. O'Brien's ghost tries to get Jimmy to reunite with Jean, but the grasping Terry sidetracks Jimmy and he drives off with her in a convertible into the country. O'Brien catches a ride in the backseat and then he notices headlights following them and whisks off to the other car. He discovers that Jace is steering the other car and has a revolver with him. While Jace has the attendant fuel up his jalopy at the gas station, he goes for a drink. Jimmy and Terry are dining in a restaurant when they are recognized by the band leader. About that time, Jace staggers in, brandishes his revolver, and shoots them both. Terry dies immediately while Jimmy makes it to the operating table at the hospital. Heaven shines down on O'Brien and summons him for the last time. O'Brien cannot stand the thought of leaving Jimmy behind until the young man joins him. Heaven comes back for O'Brien because his long-suffering mom intervened on his behalf. O'Brien entreats Heaven to give Jimmy another chance. Jean hears the good news that Jimmy survived surgery. O'Brien is further gladdened by the appearance of Melton who has repented and joins his old friend as they march toward the celestial lights.
"Beyond Tomorrow" would like us to believe that Jimmy and Jean got the chance to share their dreams.