Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Helllins It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

MarieGabrielle Gloria Swanson looks lovely and young here as Theodora, an ingénue with no money who marries businessman Josiah Brown so she may help her dear father. For the era, the film is remarkably effective, the rice throwing scene as she departs, to go to Europe with her new husband. Even while black and white and digitally restored yet bruised film, the visuals are quite interesting.Rudolph Valentino as Lord Bracondale is quite attractive. It is subtle, he meets her through the Tyrolean honeymoon, the smell of narcissus on her handkerchief reminds him of.....something....Of course all is above board and nothing happens for quite some that is untoward.What is lovely about this film is the visual sense of eroticism and romance. We do not see this today. It is subtle, no screaming, psycho-drama or histrionics. It is, in a sense the way some real romance and infidelity may be played out. Theodora loves Lord Bracondale but remains faithful to elderly and infirm duffer Josiah Brown.Eventually we see Josiah financing a safari to Algeria as he chooses to do so to rid his wife of the stigma of being married to an older, less virile man. He acquires a small legion of Algerian soldiers on an archaeological mission, but there is danger and Theodora decides to follow him.There are some innovative scenes of the Algerian desert and an archaeological site which several explorers note was a "torture site for an unfaithful woman, as from the Bible". It is stark and desolate desert, evoking barren emotions, barren marriage.I found this film charming and visual. Romantic comedies today are saccharine and trite. While some of the cinematography is rudimentary it far surpasses what passes for romantic interlude today.Please watch and Gloria Swanson looks lovely. 8/10.

FerdinandVonGalitzien At this silent point, it is not necessary to explain who were Dame Gloria Swanson and Herr Rudolph Valentino, two silent icons both well known and recognizable for anyone interested in the silent era or even afterwards. Both silent stars worked together in only one film, "Beyond The Rocks" directed by Herr Sam Wood during the silent year of 1922. It was considered lost for many decades until miraculously a nitrate emerged from darkness and was carefully restored by suitable curators at the "Filmmuseum". Obviously the interest in watching such an important silent couple in that film was enormous after so many years, but this German count finds the film's artistic merits noteworthy as well.The words elegance and discretion best describe the tone of the film.It is the story of a larger than life love between Dame Theodora Fitzgerald ( Gloria Swanson ) and Lord Hector Bracondale ( Rudolph Valentino ). Theodora is married to Captain Fitzgerald ( Alec B. Francis ) but it's a matter of economics not love as the match was a way of giving financial support to her family, namely her father and her two older sisters.The passion Lord Hector and Theodora feel for each other is depicted in a well mannered, discreet but at the same time, passionate way; a restricted love that must be suffered in silence in order to avoid a scandal and consequently put at risk the financial support of Dame Fitzgerald's family. This is a hidden love that must wait for better times in order to be consummated.Such restrained passion is due to decency and the social convention that such affairs not be public; after all adultery is a delicate subject for couples from all social classes, not to mention that 80 years ago it was even more complicated to depict adultery on the silent screen due to censorship. Immoral conduct although older than recorded history and practiced for centuries, cannot be justified even in an artistic way according to the censors of that day.So Herr Sam Wood's direction is perfect; he maintains the slow tempo and the frustrations "in crescendo" of such inappropriate love sufferings of the couple. This gives the film the perfect mood, sometimes stilted but at the same time lovely and decadent, helped by the convincing performances of both silent stars, glamorous Dame Swanson and charming Her Valentino.Sometimes, watching the film, this Herr Von was on the verge of losing his temper and said out loud at the Schloss screen: "both of you are young, handsome and rich, so what are you waiting for to commit adultery, for Gott's sake??!!"…, a logical aristocratic reaction. Fortunately Dame Fitzgerald and Herr Bracondale knew pretty well that it is much better to suppress basic aristocratic instincts and wait and suffer properly in order to finally get their longed for reward, or as they say in the film, wait until they have "passed the rocks and be finally in the safe waters beyond".And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must drink a cocktail on the rocks.Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/

jerryuppington (Contains possible spoilers)I just loved this movie. Part of the excitement is watching a resurrected film, lost after over 80 years. It's like finding buried treasure.This movie, however, would interest almost everybody, except experts who're jaded by years of cinematic criticism. Some points:1. Swanson and Valentino are both beautiful to look at; Valentino is miscast, however. Swanson ages in concert with the screenplay, while Valentino doesn't; he photographs too young next to Swanson, especially in the later parts of the movie.2. The costumes will make you wonder. Some are ridiculously elaborate. This is high regalia 20s-style. I wonder if they'd even be possible to make today? This is the best movie I've ever seen for parading 20s fashion.3. Performances are subtle, nuanced, and believable throughout.4. All the various stages of nitrate composition are evident here--first, the blurring, then the "freckles", then the "moldy cheese" look, then, finally, the disappearance of the image. On the other hand, some of the scenes are so crystal clear that you can see the details on the costumes. If you want to learn about nitrate decomposition, this film is a good teacher.5. Swanson's tango dance, and the dress that was" talked about for a year", did not survive nitrate decomposition. Contrary to many reviewers' opinions, stills exist for the tango dance. The dress in question is probably the one she wears on stage, for less than a minute, during the pageant sequence. Unfortunately, because it's a long shot, we don't get to see it in any great detail.6. The modern soundtrack is often off-putting, but during the second decomposing sequence (during the pageant), the somber, dramatic, heart-beating tune matches the action on the screen, while at the same time, dramatically draws attention to the decomposition itself. Was this purposeful? It's as if the composer was saying,"Listen, you fools! These films are disappearing. Just watch this sequence and see for yourself!"7. While the plot is ridiculous today, it was the norm in 20s society. Elinor Glyn sold millions of books. What entertainment do we have today, that will be laughed at 80 years from now? (Rap music is a possibility.) It's too easy to look at films like this through the lens of today's sensibilities, and lose perspective.8. About four minutes of film is missing; it's easy to pick out where, because the plot continuity reveals it.9. Close attention to the sets will reveal that the same room, redecorated several ways, is used several times. For example, Valentino's library, and Swanson's husband's library, in the scenes after the pageant where the letters have been switched, is the same room redecorated.For all these reasons, see the movie. If you're not enthralled by something in the film, you're jaded. All the rest of us little folks will love it--it's just plain fun.

Ron in LA Romantic melodrama starring Gloria Swanson as the devoted daughter to a cash-strapped captain. Swanson agrees to marriage with a fat, old, social-climbing grocery tycoon, but on her disappointing honeymoon she falls in love with a young British aristocrat (Rudolph Valentino). The powerhouse combination of director Sam Wood with arguably the two best actors in the romantic silent melodrama genre delivers an engaging and touching story.How you react to any film depends on your expectations, so it seems that people seeing all the hype about the significance of the recent reclamation of the film were expecting too much. Going in with no expectations, I was enthralled by how really touching an old-fashioned love story can be when the characters do virtually nothing more than exchange glances and graze each other's hands. The attention to detail in the wardrobe, the exotic locations, and the dreamy depiction of British aristocracy in the early 20th Century, make this a must-see for fans of the genre.