Beyond the Rocks
About Beyond the Rocks
Theodora Fitzgerald's half-sisters push her to marry the rich, older Josiah Brown so the family can live. Off Dorset she falls into the sea and Lord Hector Bracondale pulls her out. She marries Josiah anyway. On the Alpine honeymoon Bracondale turns up, and he hauls her off a cliff when she slips on a climb with the widow Jane McBride. In Paris they admit they love each other. She will not leave Josiah. At his sister's estate, Morella Winmarleigh switches Theodora's letter to Bracondale with a rejection meant for Brown. Josiah accuses Bracondale, then pays for Sir Lionel Grey's African expedition and dies on it. Theodora and Bracondale are left together.
Cast & crew
More about Beyond the Rocks
Sam Wood directed Jack Cunningham's script from Elinor Glyn's 1906 novel. Jesse L. Lasky produced it for Famous Players-Lasky. Alfred Gilks photographed it. Paramount released it on May 7, 1922. Gloria Swanson plays Theodora. Rudolph Valentino, billed as Rodolph, plays Bracondale. Robert Bolder is Josiah Brown. Alec B. Francis is Captain Fitzgerald.
Themes
Making
The Alpine fall and the Dorset rescue are studio work shot in Los Angeles, not on those coasts.
Reviews
Photoplay called it a Glyn story of "true love, baronial halls, and the treacherous Alps," with Gloria's makeup "whiter than the snow."
Look
Alfred Gilks photographed the Los Angeles production, including the cliff rescue and the letter mix-up.
Preservation
Found in the Netherlands in 2003 and restored by the Filmmuseum in 2005. A copy is on the Internet Archive as silent-beyond-the-rocks.
Notes
- Gertrude Astor plays Morella, the woman who switches the letters. Mabel Van Buren plays Jane McBride. June Elvidge plays Lady Anningford.
- A nitrate print turned up in 2003 in the Netherlands, in the Joop van Liempd collection deposited at Eye Filmmuseum in 2000.
- The Netherlands Filmmuseum restored it in 2005 with Haghefilm. Milestone Film & Video issued a DVD in 2006. Eye Film Player began streaming it in 2020.
- Wikipedia notes an 80-minute 2005 version and a 76-minute DVD cut.
- Photoplay wrote that it was "written, supervised, and dominated" by Glyn, "a little unreal and hectic," and that people who wanted Valentino and Swanson would not be disappointed.
Scenes
- Bracondale pulls Theodora from the sea off Dorset.
- Morella swaps the love letter and the rejection.
- Josiah dies on the African expedition he paid for.
Influenced by
- Elinor Glyn's novel Beyond the Rocks (1906)
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-beyond-the-rocks)
- Milestone Film & Video DVD (2006)
- Eye Film Player
