| Beyond This Place | |
| Director: | Jack Cardiff |
| Producer: | Maxwell Setton John R. Sloan |
| Story: | A. J. Cronin |
| Starring: | Van Johnson Vera Miles Emlyn Williams Bernard Lee |
| Music: | Douglas Gamley |
| Cinematography: | Wilkie Cooper |
| Editing: | Ernest Walter |
| Distributor: | Renown Pictures |
| Runtime: | 90 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
Beyond This Place (released in the United States as Web of Evidence) is a 1959 British crime mystery film based on the 1950 novel of the same title by A. J. Cronin.[1] It was directed by Jack Cardiff and stars Van Johnson and Vera Miles.[2]
The opening credits roll over images of a father playing with his young son in a wood and sailing a toy yacht on a pond. We then jump to Liverpool during the Blitz in the Second World War. A woman (it is implied she is a prostitute) tells a man she is pregnant, then he goes home to see his wife and children. The police arrive at his door and ask what he knows of the murder of the prostitute.
The story jumps to 1959 and the man's son (Paul) is sailing back into Liverpool "to clear things up". He is shocked when a local shopkeeper tells him that Mr Oswald saved his father's life: "that is why he wasn't hanged... for the murder". He knows nothing of any of this.
He heads to the library and starts reading through old newspapers from 1941. Eventually he finds "Liverpool Girl Murdered: Man Questioned". He then finds an article linked "Man Charged". The librarian has to usher him out as the library closes.
When he eventually gets to the core of the story it appears that the police have covered the truth. But when he goes to see his father in prison at the point of release he is deeply disappointed in his character: he wants whisky and a prostitute as soon as possible. Paul says he is ashamed of him.[3]
But Paul is determined to help him, and the film ends on a hopeful note.