Beyond the Time Barrier
| Beyond the Time Barrier | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Edgar G. Ulmer |
| Produced by | Robert Clarke |
| Screenplay by | Arthur C. Pierce |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Darrell Calker |
| Cinematography | Meredith M. Nicholson |
| Edited by | Jack Ruggiero |
| Distributed by | American International Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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75 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $125,000 |
Beyond the Time Barrier is a 1960 American Cold War-era black and white time travel science fiction film filmed in Texas in ten days. It starred and was produced by Robert Clarke 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.
U.S. Air Force test pilot Major Bill Allison flies the X-80 experimental aircraft to sub-orbital spaceflight successfully, though losing radio contact in flight. When Major Allison returns to the airbase it appears abandoned, old and deserted. Mystified, he sees a futuristic city on the horizon and heads toward it. The major is rendered unconscious and captured.
When Allison wakes, he finds himself in a dystopian 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-mutes, 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 a bald and violent mutants 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 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.
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