[1] Structured as a B film, the production did not engage any stars who would receive billing above the title, relying instead on a quartet of veteran character actors, Charles Winninger, Maria Ouspenskaya, C. Aubrey Smith and Harry Carey, second-tier young leads Richard Carlson and Jean Parker as well as "other woman" Helen Vinson, a minor lead/second lead actress during the early- and mid-1930s, here approaching the end of her career.

Engineers George Melton and Allan Chadwick work furiously to complete a design on time, even though it is Christmas Eve.

[3] The three old men then go home to the mansion they share with Madame Tanya, an elderly countess dispossessed by the Russian Revolution, for a dinner with prestigious guests.

He assures her it is perfectly safe, but Madame Tanya's premonition proves tragically correct when their aircraft crashes in a storm, killing all three.

She had been wanting to replace her aging partner; she and her manager, Phil Hubert, offer James a starring role in her new show.

Michael begs him to repent before it is too late, but George refuses to be a hypocrite and walks away amid thunder and lightning into the darkness.

When Michael is called, he refuses to leave James, although a voice tells him each person is summoned only once and that he will be doomed to roam the Earth forever if he turns it down.

James dies on the operating table with his spirit greeted by Michael who then intercedes on his behalf, pleading with a "voice from above", for a second chance for the young man.

Although Beyond Tomorrow was considered a "Christmas Carol" and had some redeeming features including its talented cast of character actors, reviewer Bosley Crowther of The New York Times felt that the plot let the film down.