Audience Member
Although the movie is not my style, I am glad that it was restored and people can enjoy it.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
01/25/23
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Audience Member
Another recently discovered and restored silent picture. There are a few scenes that are beyond restoration and the chemically disintegrating film becomes visible in splotches. There is an informative Dutch documentary about the restoration on the DVD. Evidently it was not the norm for two stars of such magnitude to co-star in a film at this time, but Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino did for this romance. This movie was also based on an Elinor Glyn novel. Theodora Fitzgerald (Swanson) is pushed to marry an old millionaire by her step-sisters so the family will be financially comfortable. Her father (Francis) says she can refuse, but for his sake she agrees to marry Josiah Brown (Bolder). From their small seaside English town Josiah and Theodora travel to the mountains in Switzerland and fancy hotels in Paris. Fate keeps throwing Theodora and Lord Hector Bracondale (Valentino) together since Theodora's new husband is not a young or active man. This is the sort of trashy story that Glyn wrote, the young couple fall in love, but in order for them to be together, she must be unfaithful to her marriage. A handful of other supporting characters make appearances and these wealthy society people hop around Europe without much concern. The scenery and lifestyle are intriguing to observe nevertheless. Later in the plot a jealous woman switches letters that Theodora writes to Josiah and Hector. With their secret found out, Josiah decides to make the dangerous trip to Northern Africa for an archeological expedition. Theodora, her father, and Hector rush to try to find Josiah before it is too late. Romantic intrigue played between two worldwide celebrities of their day caused this movie to be a big success.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/01/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Lost for over 70 years, and the only film starring Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino together, "Beyond The Rocks" was one of those legendary movies that people had to only imagine for a long time. But since it is now possible to see, it might seem a little bland compared to other love stories. This is not an effects or gimmicky silent movie, but one that goes for emotional resonance. And not with the flailing arms or overreacting sort of way. The subtleness of Valentino's style is unmistakable. It's a huge loss that he didn't live to further his career into talkies.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/18/23
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Audience Member
One of the best rediscovered silent movies. Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino make a great pair in this classic!
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/22/23
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Audience Member
Only Important For Its Stars
Once again, we are dealing with a Lost Film. However, unlike most of the ones we've dealt with, this film was found in a more or less complete state. Yes, the title cards on the print were in Dutch, but that's easy enough to fix. And by the look of it, not much effort was put into the job; I could have made more authentic-looking ones myself with the right equipment. It's also clear that this wasn't the original score. Indeed, large amounts of it remind me of the soft jazz station that I listened to off and on for several years in the late '80s and early '90s. There were only a few minutes wherein it seemed the composer was actually trying to work with the material he had. Still, this was probably one of those movies on a lot of people's dream lists of lost films to be found somewhere. It must have been very satisfying to the person who found it. Indeed, I'm grateful, too, because this held a certain place in movie history, an intersection of two of the great silent stars who were only in one movie together.
The lovely but impoverished Theodora Fitzgerald (Gloria Swanson) has been raised to put her father's wishes above hers in family loyalty. Therefore, even though she meets the dashing and wealthy Lord Hector Bracondale (Rudolph Valentino) when he rescues her from being lost at sea, she is convinced that he will never marry her--because poor--and so she obeys her father's wishes and marries the wealthy but elderly Josiah Brown (Robert Bolder). Alas, she encounters Lord Bracondale again, this time by falling off a cliff and being rescued by him. (Theodora is a bit danger-prone.) They fall in love, but she believes they must be stronger than their love. She is married, remember, and leaving her husband would ruin pretty much everyone concerned one way or another. At first, they believe that they can still see one another and just imagine what can never be. However, they are unable to resist their desires.
Oh, yes. This is a melodrama. In fact, I kind of feel the need to throw in some more adjectives. Most of them would relate to our two stars, Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino. Now, as it happens, I don't think I've ever seen a Valentino film before, and the only Gloria Swanson film I'm certain I've seen is [i]Sunset Blvd.[/i] Which doesn't count. However, the pair of them were well known for the drama they attracted onscreen and off. Rudolph Valentino's death was one of the biggest pop culture events of the '20s, and Gloria Swanson . . . well. The Kennedys could tell you about her, though they'd really rather not. The pairing of the two of them couldn't help being a melodrama, and it was not, alas, all that likely to be good. Indeed, the only reason I'm giving the movie a positive review is that it's an interesting moment in film history. Two great stars, if not necessarily great actors, in a movie together.
The movie itself, though, isn't much. I mean, with that setup, they could have gone a lot of places. However, it really strikes me that this is what Roger calls an Idiot Plot, one where everyone's issues would have been solved if two of the characters had just had a conversation. To be sure, Theodora couldn't know that. But somehow, she got it into her head that the only way to save her family from some unnamed fate, presumably bitter poverty, is to marry Josiah. I'm not inclined to believe that. I think that, if she had talked to Josiah about her feelings toward him in the first five minutes of the film, before she married him, the rest of the movie wouldn't have happened. Or maybe if she had talked to Hector after he rescued her and maybe seen if he was interested in her or not. But no, everyone assumed he couldn't be interested in a poor woman, so she married the man from a humble background. Who turns out to be a much nicer person than he could have been, had this been a different movie.
The other thing which kind of got me, and this tells you a lot about me as well as about the movie, is the names. They're Victorian melodrama names. Elinor Glyn, who wrote the original novel, pioneered the field of modern erotica aimed at women, but the names remind me more of L. M. Montgomery. Inasmuch as they remind me of the names Anne, Diana, and the others come up with for their own characters when Anne and company were schoolgirls. Gertrude Astor plays a character named Morella Winmarleigh. I don't remember anything about the character--I think she's an impoverished noblewoman who hopes to ensnare Hector--but I can perfectly imagine Ruby Gillis giving a character that name. Honestly, I can picture the girls' having written the plot as well, though they would not have made Josiah Brown kindly--and he never would have had that last name, of course.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/12/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A lost film in the annuls of history, Beyond the Rocks was found, restored, and subtitled for the enjoyment of the masses. Sadly, my enjoyment was quelmed by the lackluster equivalent to my wildest fantasies. I do give creedence in every aspect that I can: the loss of sound, the loss in quality over the last 90 years, the overacting, the extravagant costuming, and the difference in movies today. I can forgive all of these things, look past them, and survey the quality of the actual film. Those things said, it was bad. It was gruesome. Written by shockster Elinor Glyn and directed by De Mille protege Sam Wood, the plot was shamelessly boring. I do give kudos to the angle of her deep devotion to her rich, ugly husband though she was in love with the aristocratic Valentino, who she shared magically dramatic chemistry with. Still, Swanson's future work is filled with much more intelligent films.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/11/23
Full Review
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