Beyond the Law

Railroad detective Tim Weston takes an interest in Helen Glenn and agrees to try to clear her father, John Glenn, an ex-convict accused of murder and robbery. As Weston follows leads and questions witnesses, things go wrong fast and the man who was pursuing answers finds himself the target of danger. Loyalties are tested, secrets surface, and the straightforward case turns messy as alliances shift. The story keeps its focus on the investigation and character tensions without resolving every implication, and the film itself is now considered lost, so modern viewers rely on summaries and cast lists to piece together its plot.

Directed by D. Ross Lederman and scripted from material by Harold Shumate, the picture was released in 1934. The cast is led by Tim McCoy as Tim Weston with Shirley Grey as Helen Glenn, supported by Addison Richards, Harry C. Bradley, and Douglas Cosgrove.

Box office records for this release aren't well documented, which is common for many films of the era. There's no reliable published gross or studio accounting widely available, so its commercial reach remains unclear.

As a lost film, Beyond the Law attracts interest from film historians and collectors who study early crime dramas and 1930s studio output. Its status adds a layer of mystery, and the presence of Tim McCoy, a screen presence from the period, gives it some pedigree in genre histories even if no prints are known to survive.

Contemporary reviews are scarce and modern audience ratings show no recorded votes on some databases, leaving critical consensus hard to pin down. The material centers on themes of justice, reputation, and the clash between legal procedure and personal loyalty, with a lean, procedural edge typical of early crime dramas that emphasize action and moral choices.