Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Movies

Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Best / Worst of the Decade

Wide Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Limited Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Beyond the Rocks (re-release)

EMAILPRINTMilestone Film & Video

Beyond the Rocks (re-release) reviews
xx
5.5 User Score:

Movie Info

Genre(s): Classic  |  Drama

Written by: Jack Cunningham
Elinor Glyn (novel)

Directed by: Sam Wood

Release Date:
Theatrical: January 13, 2006

Running Time: 81 minutes, B/w

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Gloria Swanson, Rudolph Valentino, Edythe Chapman, Alec B. Francis, Robert Bolder, Gertrude Astor, Mabel Van Buren, and Helen Dunbar

Milestone is proud to be releasing around the world, Beyond the Rocks, the recently rediscovered silent romance starring film legends Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino. Long considered one of the great "lost" films from the Hollywood golden age. (Milestone Films)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

70

The New York Times Dana Stevens

The faces of the stars glow with life, which makes you all the more grateful that this, their only film together, has come back.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 5.5 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Dan N, gave it a6:
[***SPOILERS***] "Beyond the Rocks" (1922) is an amiable love story between Theodora (Gloria Swanson) and a British lord, Hector (Rudolph Valentino). Theo is pressured by her family into marrying an older man, Josiah Brown (Robert Bolder), for his money. She is reluctant, but once married to him she determines to be a loyal wife. On a vacation trip to the alps, Theo slips while climbing a steep precipice. Lord Bracondale (Valentino) saves her life, and they fall in love. Theo continues to be faithful to Josiah, but before long the elderly millionaire begins to suspect his wife's affections towards Bracondale. When a malicious rival (Gertrude Astor) purposely redirects a letter meant for Hector and sends it to Josiah instead, Josiah's darkest suspicions are confirmed. Rather than rail against his rival, Josiah sacrifices himself by going on a suicidal exploring mission to North Africa, risking -- even courting -- death so that his wife can be happy with her true love. He is killed by bandits, and Theodora mourns him. After a suitable mourning period, Theo and Bracondale come together and pursue their love. "Beyond the Rocks" was long thought to be a "lost" film, until a print of it was found in 2003, in a private collection in the Netherlands. We are told that up to $200,000 was spent in preserving it and making it available for public screenings. It is now also available on DVD. While the preservation efforts are admirable, nevertheless the film still contains numerous scratches and artifacts, the sort of thing that -- in a still picture -- could be fixed by an application such as Photoshop. There are also some segments that are almost completely decomposed, and they are distracting... especially since there was so much pre-release publicity about this picture, and what a great find it is. I'm told that a complete restoration of "Beyond the Rocks" could cost as much as half a million dollars, and that there is no economic incentive to spend that for a 1922 silent movie that only a few thousand fans would seek out. I'm not a socialist, but I think that instead of spending billions of dollars on wars halfway around the world, the U.S.A. could spend a half million on restoring a treasure like "Beyond the Rocks." God knows, our government is spending a lot more than that, on far less worthy projects. Dan N.

Sandra R. gave it a5:
ALthough it was nice to see this film preserved for posterity, I would not recommend it to anyone as a fine example of silent film. The plot is frivilous and the music FAR too comtemporary for the era. Not to mention the sound effects which did not add to the film but actually tended to distract from it. Despite the restoration, there were several parts which are still very badly damaged. I would not call this a GREAT film, but it is a part of our American film heritage and for that reason alone, it is good to know it can now be viewed forever.

Popular on CBS sites: College Signing Day | Olympics | Lost | iPhone | Cell Phones | Video Game Reviews | Free Music

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use