I'll just skip the usual rambling about being busy, not having time to update the blog, being awfully sorry etc etc, and just cut to the chase: I have just finished an eight page analysis on a favorite high society comedy of mine, Cecil B. De Mille's Don't Change Your Husband (1919). Depending on how good my very British (read that word with British English, please) teacher thinks it is, I may include some part of it on the blog when I have gotten it back. I'll be back on tracks with the blog again soon, and until then: Enjoy the fabulous legs of a 19 year old Gloria Swanson!
Just a little pronouncement that I now have joined a fun little blog called Spiffy. Look at the left sidebar to see a photo of a ca four year old Lolita! The other co-bloggers are for the moment Kate, Casey, Sarah, Nicole and Elizabeth.
Oh, and don't you want that gorgeous Gloria Swanson knitted hat? There's a Spiffy giveaway going on, follow this link to read the rules.
I think Miss Swanson, Raquel Torres and Evelyn Brent agrees with me that it's a really fancy kind of hat.
I left you off where Gloria was denied to work with Cecil B. DeMille at Famous Players-Lasky, due to petty lawyers at Triangle. Gloria is between one crappy picture and another, not satisfied with her position.
Between pictures with Albert Parker I made a picture called Station Content with a director named Arthur Hoyt. It was quite poor, but a masterpiece compared with the picture I made after Secret Code. The new film was called Wife or Country. IN it I was not only successfully tricked into spying for the enemy, I also had to pay for my wrongdoing by swallowing a bottle of poison.
[...]
I had to grin and bear it for a week and a half of overacted, overdirected, overpatriotic nonsense. Where do I go from here? I thought to myself as I swallowed the bottle of poison and lightning Hopper screamed "Perfect! Cut!"
Swanson on Swanson (1980), p. 100
Gloria Swanson, 1919.
The following morning the studio manager called and asked if he could come to the house in an hour and talk to me. I couldn't imagine what he meant, so I told Bea [a friend] not to leave. When he arrived, it was to announce that Triangle was facing bankruptcy.
"Does that mean you're closing the studio?" I asked.
"The studio has two months more to exercise its option," he explained. "But Mr. Aitken and his brother thought that you might want to get out of your contract immediately. That's why I'm here."
"Oh, they did, did they? After what they did to me?"
"The truth of the matter is, Miss Swanson, Mr. De Mille still wants you. He's tried several times to borrow you. His office called again yesterday."
"Why didn't anybody tell me?"
"There was no reason to make you more unhappy than you already were. If you like, I'll call Famous Players for you right now."
I showed him to the telephone. In five minutes he reappeared, saying, "Mr. Goodstadt is waiting to talk to you."
Swanson on Swanson (1980), p. 100
Gloria Swanson, 1919.
"Good morning, Miss Swanson, " Mr. Goodstadt said. "I think you should come right over if you can. By the time you get here, I'll have a chance to talk to Mr. De Mille. I know he's most anxious to replace his leading lady - if you're available, that is. You might bring the gentleman from Triangle along if he has a copy of your contract with him. I'd like to look it over."
The studio manager and I had nothing more to say to each other as he drove me to Sunset and Vine. What a difference, I thought, between Triangle, where they shot an entire picture, with retakes, in ten days, and Mr. De Mille, who could stop in the middle of a costly picture and change leading ladies.
Mr. Goodstadt was waiting for us in his office. "I talked to Mr. De Mille," he said. "He's delighted you're available. You can come in tomorrow morning at seven. Hattie will be waiting for you to do your hair."
Swanson on Swanson (1980), p. 101
Read about Gloria's first day under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille in part three - coming up!
Gloria Swanson and Cecil B. DeMille in Sunset Boulevard (1950).
"The public, not I, made Gloria Swanson a star."
That is Cecil B. DeMille's comment on the well known fact that it he that made a star out of Gloria Swanson. Wikipedia delivers embarrassingly few facts on their great collaboration:
Swanson moved to California in 1916 to appear in Mack Sennett's Keystone comedies opposite Bobby Vernon, and in 1919 she signed with Paramount Pictures and worked often with Cecil B. DeMille, who turned her into a romantic lead in such films as Don't Change Your Husband, Male and Female, The Affairs of Anatol, and Why Change Your Wife?
Thank you for that one. No, if we want the golden years of Gloria Swanson's career described to us in a little more juicy way, I think Gloria herself is the best one to ask.
I, with the help of Gloria Swanson's wonderfully detailed autobiography Swanson on Swanson (1980), will do a special on the DeMille-Swanson part of the motion picture history. And I will start from the beginning.
It was a few years ago now that I read Gloria Swanson's autobiography. Imagine my delight when I found it in the public library! I am nowadays, however, the proud owner of a 1981 First Pocket Book printing of the creation. (Okay, I bought on Amazon.com last year for $1.99, but still - invaluable to me! And with shipment to Sweden the prize was $14.48, so I guess that adds up.) If you haven't read it yet and will, you will also want to own the book - it is irreplacable.
But now, let's get started!
Gloria Swanson, 1917.
Gloria's first rendez-vous with Cecil B. DeMille is written with words of awe.
The year is 1918 and Gloria works for a little film studio called Triangle, making silly films not worth mentioning. She's is waiting with much enthusiasm to hear what her next picture will be about, and with not so much interest in who is going to direct it, when she receives a phone call.
"Miss Swanson, please."
"This is Miss Swanson."
"Good morning, Miss Swanson. I'm Oscar Goodstadt, the casting director at Famous Players-Lasky and I'm calling on behalf of Cecil B. De Mille. Mr. De Mille would like to see you at your earliest convenience. Could you come in at three today? Miss Swanson?"
"Oh! Yes. Yes, I can."
Mr Goodstadt started to tell me how to get to the studio, but I said I knew where it was. Everybody knew where it was.It took up a whole block at Sunset and Vine. It was where Mary Pickford worked. And Douglas Fairbanks. And Almighty God himself, Cecil B. De Mille.
Swanson on Swanson (1980), p. 95
Cecil B. DeMille at his desk.
Oh, little Gloria - 18 years old, 5'1" (155 cm) tall, and has an oppointment of her own at Cecil B. DeMille's office - she must have had lots of guts! Now, enjoy DeMille appearing like a God in front of our little heroine.
Any notion I may have had of style or elegance evaporated the moment I was ushered into Mr. De Mille's paneled office. It was vast and somber, with tall stained-glass windows and deep polar-bear rugs. Light from the windows shone on ancient firearms and other weapons on the walls, and the elevated desk and chair resembled nothing so much as a throne. I felt like a peanut poised on teetering high heels.
When he stood up behind the desk, he seemed to tower. Not yet forty, he seemed ageless, magisterial. He wore his baldness like an expensive hat, as if it were out of the question for him to have hair like other men. A sprig of laurel maybe, but not ordinary hair. He was wearing gleaming boots and riding breeches that fit him like a glove. He came over and took my hand, led me to a large sofa and sat down beside me. and proceeded to look clear through me. He said that he had seen me in a little Sennett picture and had never forgotten me, and that at the moment he was preparing a picture in which he wanted to use me. He asked me what kind of contract I had at Triangle.
"I have no contract at all."
"Well, then, who represents you?"
"No one."
"You mean your parents handle your business affairs?"
"Oh, no, Mr. De Mille. I'm over eighteen. I'll be nineteen the twenty-seventh of March."
"Ah, Aries, of course," he said and smiled.
Swanson on Swanson (1980), p. 95-96
Cecil B. DeMille (second from the right) poses with Jessy L. Lasky, Adolph Zukor, Samuel Goldwyn and Albert Kaufman after the Famous Players-Lasky merger. Ca. 1916.
They both agree that since she hasn't any contract with Triangle, there will be no problem for him to use her for his next picture. Excited, Gloria Swanson leaves his office, after receiving a gentle tap on the shoulder of Mr. DeMille, and leaves for home. Two days later she receives a phone call from Triangle, they want her for another picture. She proudly says that she is going to work with Mr. DeMille now, she can't accept the job.
Thirty minutes later she receives another phone call, now from Mr. DeMille's secretary, wanting Gloria to come right away. She meets Mr. DeMille once again.
"Everything you told me turned out to be true," he said. "However, lawyers have a way of complicating things. Triangle's legal department has raised the possibility that even though you did not sign a contract with the studio, you did accept a raise in salary. They are contending that when you accepted the raise, you in effect agreed to a verbal contract. So it may still be possible you still belong to them. Were you over eighteen when you accepted the raise?"
I nodded, trying to hold back the tears. Mr. De Mille put his arms around me. "These things happen," he said. "That's why we have a motion picture association. The Triangle attorneys will present their case to an impartial arbitrator selected by the association. His decision will be binding. We won't go to court about it. There isn't time. We'll just hope everything turns out all right. Whatever happens, thank you for coming over, Miss Swanson."
Swanson on Swanson (1980), p. 96-97
Gloria Swanson, 1918.
Things didn't work out all right. Within 48 hourse Gloria received the message that she belonged to Triangle, and could not work with Mr. DeMille. Gloria realized that she had to accept it, if she ever wanted to work in pictures again. The next morning she forced herself to sign her hateful contract without so much as reading a word of it.
So, this time was not her break-through, due to pitiful circumstances created by an obstinate little motion picture company. Read about Gloria Swanson kicking off her career in part two of The Cecil B. DeMille and Gloria Swanson union!
I stole this Q&A from Nicole at Classic Hollywood Nerd, and thought it would be fun to answer the questions too!
Who was the first actor/actress that you were first interested in?
Amazingly just the same as Nicole - James Dean. I quickly bought his three movies (on VHS! How long ago...), and watched them 'til the tapes were almost worn out. East of Eden (1955) was my favourite. James Dean was however quickly followed by Cary Grant. My first actress idol was Vivien Leigh, I believe. Of course I'd had pictures of Marilyn Monroe all over my walls for some time then, but it took a few years before I saw a movie with her in it. Shortly after James Dean and Cary Grant my obsession for the Marx Brothers began, when A Night at the Opera (1935) and A Day at the Races (1937) was shown on Swedish television.
My first movie icons - James Dean and Vivien Leigh.
How old were you when you really began watching old movies?
I began in the seventh grade, when I was 13. I borrowed Casablanca (1942) and Gone With the Wind (1939) on VHS from my grandfather. I saw them both with my mother, who thought I would love them. Thank you mother! She was so right.
What was the first old movie that caught your interest?
Casablanca! I fell in love with Humphrey Bogart immediately.
Who is currently your favourite actor?
A hard one. I'm currently more fascinated by the strong women of old Hollywood, but let me think... Oh yes. George Sanders as Addison DeWitt in All About Eve (1950)!
Who is currently your favourite actress?
That is even harder! I have to name three: Gloria Swanson, Bette Davis and Mary Pickford. (The strong women of old Hollywood, as I said!)
My current favourite Hollywood women - Swanson, Davies and Pickford.
What is your favourite old movie and why?
I can't possibly name one. It's like choosing your favourite parent or sibling. But I'll name some of my all time favourites:
Duck Soup (1933) - because it's the most ultimate, sick, twisted, "Marxy" Marx Brothers film ever. It is perfect. And just a bit over an hour long - perfect length!
All About Eve (1950) - because of the perfect script by Joseph L. Mankievicz, the double entendres, the perfect casting of every little supporting role and the intensity of the drama.
Sunset Blvd (1950) - because it's one of the greatest film noirs in motion picture history, has an innovative plot and unexpected developments of the characters, roots in reality and, as in All About Eve, has perfect actors and cameos.
Gone With the Wind (1939) - because the film keeps the viewer interested and absorbed by the story for almost four hours, great acting and drama, and the developement from a charming costume film to a war melodrama, and then over to final tragedy. Perfectly done.
How many old movies do you own?
Hrrrm. Like... eeeh... roughly about 200-250 DVD's. I'm a collector! And a very sick girl.
If you could go back in time and visit any actor/actress, who would it be?
Gloria Swanson! She could teach me everything about the life of a woman. I think she made all the mistakes she could, and then learned from all of them. She would be my mentor. And if I wanted to go back in time to meet an actor, I would probably choose Paul Newman in the 1950's or 1960's. And do very filthy stuff to him.
Give me that blue-eyed thing!
Who is one actor/actress that you want to know more about?
If I get interested in a person I always read about him/her. I'm manic, I always take the time. But if I would try to think of someone I don't know so much about... Maybe Rudolph Valentino. I don't know enough about him. Wikipedia, here I come!
What film could you watch over and over again?
Every time I get a cold or a fever I watch Gone With the Wind and feel sorry for myself, with a cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream and a warm blanket. I have no idea how many times I've seen that movie. And now I finally have the glorious 4-disc DVD-box! I sent for it from the USA to get the English version and not the Swedish one. I'm a nerd, I know. Also, today I saw All About Eve for the fourth time. The last three times were during a period of less than two weeks. And I would have no problem watching it again!
Bette Davis and Gary Merrill in All About Eve. This picture is glorious - click on it for a higher resolution. Trivia: Davis and Merrill fell in love during the filming of All About Eve. Even though they both were married , they got divorced and married each other. They were married for ten years.
I've recently re-watched two of my favourite films from the 1950's - Sunset Blvd. and All About Eve, both from 1950. I saw a lot of similarities between them, both in the films themselves and the story behind them. I thought that they could do great in a post together.
Sunset Blvd. Director: Billy Wilder USA 1950 115 min
Characters: Joe Gillis - a B-move script writer and the narrator of the film. Norma Desmond - an isolated, forgotten silent movie queen. Max von Mayerling - Norma Desmond's butler and ex-husband. Betty Schaefer - a script reader wanting to become a successful script writer.
Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) is an aging silent moviestar, living in a gigantic mansion with her butler Max von Mayerling (Erich von Stroheim), isolated from the outside world. One day Joe Gillis (William Holden) finds himself stranded at Norma Desmond's driveway with a flat tire. The time couldn't have been better - Norma Desmond is planning a come-back to the audience she thinks is still waiting for her, and wants Gillis' help with the script. Gillis, full of unpaid debts, feels he has nothing to loose and moves in with Norma to become her toy boy. Soon though, he tires of the unadventurous luxuary in the mansion, and starts sneaking out at night to write a script with his best friend's fiancée Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olson), while Norma battles with her paranoia, jealousy and fear of aging.
Margo Channing - a successful theatre actress not longer in her golden years of youth. Eve Harrington - a theatre devotee, Margo's greatest admirer, who wants a career of her own. Addison DeWitt - an intelligent theatre columnist. Bill Sampson - director at the theatre and Margo's lover. Lloyd Richards - the theatre playwright. Karen Richards - the playwrights wife and Margo's best friend.
This film tells the story about the charming and secretely manipulative woman Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter), and how she found her way from being a nobody to become the most admired actress in the theatre world. The path she chooses to reach her goal makes it necessary for her to charm, cheat and use everyone in her way. Eve Harrington's way to the stars begins with her getting to meet her greatest theatre idol - Margo Channing (Bette Davis), a hardened, skeptical and articulate woman in her 40's, tiring of always getting parts playing 20. But that is something Eve soon shows willing to change.
So, the similarities are...?
Begins with the end.
The first likeness between Sunset Blvd. and All About Eve is noticed right from the beginning - both films begin their story by revealing the end. Both movies are also narrated. While Sunset Blvd. has exclusively one narrator, All About Eve shifts its narrating between the different characters, but dominated by Addison DeWitt.
The first scene in All About Eve takes place at the Sara Siddons Award, where the award for Best Actress is just going to be presented. We hear the voice of Addison DeWitt (played with great bravura by George Sanders), who presents the characters, starting with himself ("My name is Addison DeWitt. My native habitat is the theater. In it I toil not, neither do I spin. I am a critic and commentator. I am essential to the theatre."). Margo Channing is introduced to us with the following words:
Margo Channing is a star of the theater. She made her first stage appearance at the age of four in Midsummer Night's Dream. She played a fairy and entered, quite unexpectedly, stark naked. She has been a star ever since. Margo is a great star, a true star. She never was or will be anything less or anything else.
After that we are introduced to Karen (Celeste Holm making a wonderful performance), the playwright Lloyd Richards (Hugh Marlowe) and director and Bill Sampson (Gary Merrill). And last, but not least, Miss Eve Harrington, receiving the award, with all the earlier mentioned skeptically glancing toward her.
Sunset Blvd. begins with a corpse in a Hollywood moviestar's pool. Policemen and photographers surround the body, which we get to see both from above the surface and from an upwards angle, under the water. The man had been shot three times - twice in the chest and once in the back. The narrator, Joe Gillis, informs us that it is he who lies in the pool:
The poor dope - he always wanted a pool. Well, in the end, he got himself a pool.
Gillis begins to tell us the story about how a B-movie script writer ended up dead in a movie star's pool.
Comeback parts.
Another similarity concerns the leading actresses, who both made great and successful comebacks with their parts in All About Eve and Sunset Blvd.
Gloria Swanson belonged to those who made the step from silent to talking pictures in the late 1920's, but still her career declined a bit into the 1930's. From 1934 she didn't appear on screen (apart from one film she made 1941), but instead she used her time to politics and art. When Mae West, Pola Negri and Mary Pickford all had declined the role of Norma Desmond, however, Gloria Swanson received the offer. She accepted, and there it was - the part she would be most remembered for in movie history.
Bette Davis was one of the most celebrated actresses in the 1930's, but a bit into the 1940's even her career began to fail. Her films became flops, and she was on great bit on her way to be all forgotten. When Darryl F. Zanuck (the producer to All About Eve) wanted someone to play the role of Margo Channing it was out of the question that Bette Davis could play her. (They couldn't stand each other, going as far back as 1941 when Davis walked out on her post as president of The Motion Picture Academy.) He had visualized Marlene Dietrich in the leading role, and director Joseph L. Mankievicz hoped for Claudette Colbert, whom they eventually settled for. Unfortunaly (or fortunately), Colbert suffered a raptured disc while filming Three Came Home (1950), and had to decline. Bette Davis stepped into the part, saved her career and did an immortal performance as the aging diva Margo Channing.
Both Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson were believed to actually more or less be their characters. Gloria Swanson wanting a comeback, Bette Davis bitter about getting old. But to quote Gloria Swanson:
It's amazing to find that so many people, who I thought really knew me, could have thought that Sunset Blvd. was autobiographical. I've got nobody floating in my swimming pool.
And I guess that goes for Bette Davis too. After all, it demands quite a lot of self perspective to appear on screen with no make up, tape in her hair and a thick layer of some strange moist in her face. A lot of people also thought that Margo Channing was based on actress Tallulah Bankhead (which it wasn't), but it was that rumour who made Bankhead say following about Bette Davis:
Don't think I don't know who's been spreading gossip about me . . . After all the nice things I've said about that hag. When I get hold of her, I'll tear out every hair of her mustache!
Older women falling for younger men and aging paranoia.
One of the main themes in both of the films is the trouble of successful women getting older. Both Margo Channing and Norma Desmond falls for a younger man and are plagued with the knowing that women are no longer seen as attractive when they passed the 30-mark, while men on the other hand always have the charm of the grey temples. In short, oth the leading female characters in the films are worried deeply that their men soon will be tired and leave them for a younger woman.
Immortal quotes.
Sunset Blvd:
Joe Gillis: You're Norma Desmond. You used to be in silent pictures. You used to be big. Norma Desmond: I am big. It's the pictures that got small.
Norma Desmond: All right, Mr DeMille, I'm ready for my close up.
All About Eve:
Margo Channing: Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!
Birdie: All of a sudden she's playing Hamlet's mother.
Perfect cast. (Left to right: George Sanders, Gary Merrill, Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm, Hugh Marlowe, William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Nancy Olson, Erich von Stroheim.)
Down to the smallest supporting roles, both of these films have been perfectly cast. All characters symbolize something, and if you had taken away any character (feel free to choose anyone) the film wouldn't be as great as it is. Notable in All About Eve is Marilyn Monroe in one of her first screen appearances as Miss Casswell. See film clip:
Of course, there are also a lot of differences between the films and their characters. For example Margo Channing is a quite normal (?) woman in a crisis, while Norma Desmond is a mental fuck-up. Also, Sunset Blvd. has a darker shimmer over it (being a classic film noir) than All About Eve. Even though either of the films endings can be seen as simply sad or happy, there is at least some hope left for the viewer when THE END hits the screen after watching All About Eve. But I don't find it particularly interesting to discuss the differences between two entirely different movies, the similarities interest me far more. But of course, I am open for discussion.
Scene: Bette Davis in her best element in a fabulous scene you will never be able to forget.
Scene: Joe Gillis and Norma Desmond in their first encounter. Brilliant.
Academy Awards
It may seem strange that neither Bette Davis nor Gloria Swanson won the Oscar for Best Actress, but that it instead went to Judy Holiday for Born Yesterday (1950). I'm sure Judy was a real darling, but her part in that film is not even near the immortality Margo Channing and Norma Desmond have reached. The theory behind the whole thing is that when Anne Baxter saw to it that she would be nominated for Best Actress and not Best Actress in Supporting Role, she caused the votes to split so that they weren't enough for either of them to win the award. How awful.
Anyway, All About Eve ended up with the six Oscars:
Best Actor in Supporting Role, George Sanders
Best Director, Joseph L. Mankievicz
Best Picture
Best Writing, Screenplay, Joseph L. Mankievicz
Best Costume Design Black and White
Best Sound, Recording
Sunset Blvd won three Oscars:
Best Writing, Story and Screenplay, Billy Wilder
Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White
A film adaptation of the Elinor Glyn novel (author of It, filmed with Clara Bow in 1927, and Three Weeks), directed by Sam Wood (director of the Marx Brothers movies A Night at the Opera from 1935 and A Day at the Races from 1937). Elinor Glyn accompanied at the shooting of the film. For most of the 20th century this film was thought to be lost, but was found 2003 in a private collection in the Netherlands. (A short and fascinating documentary of the restoration is included later on in this post.)
It was great news when this film finally was found since it contained two of the greatest star of that era, the only time they acted together on screen - Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino. The film begins with a young girl, Theodora Fitzgerald (Swanson), who falls out from a rowing boat. A handsome, rich young man, Lord Hector Bracondale (Valentino), sees her from his boat and quickly jumps into the water to her rescue.
Lord Bracondale jumps for Theodora's rescue.
Theodora give Lord Bracondale a narcissus flower.
Theodora's half-sisters wants her to get married to a rich man.
The dramatic incident is soon over, and Theodora thanks her hero by giving him a narcissus flower. They say goodbye and Theodora follows her father home. While at home Theodoras half sisters convinces her that she has to get married soon, to a rich man who can restore their lost family fortune. Not wanting to hurt her father, she acts when an opportunity comes - a rich old man, Josiah Brown (Robert Bolder), proposes to her and she accepts. They go away for their honeymoon, spending it in "a quaint inn, high in the snow-clad Alps".
The scent of narcissus brings the youth together.
However, fate seems to want Theodora and Lord Bracondale to get together ones again. It happens that Lord Bracondale, his mother and his fiancée spend their holiday at the same place at the same time. In the dining room, a waiter finds a lost handkerchief next to Lord Bracondales table, and asks the company if it belongs to them. It doesn't but Lord Bracondale recognizes the perfume, even though he at first can't replace it. However, the handkerchief finds its rightful owner. Lord Bracondale follows it with his eyes, but since Theodora sits with her back to him, a bell doesn't ring.
Theodora recognizes her hero.
The next morning, Theodora and her lady friend Jane McBride (Mabel Van Buren) go mountain climbing. In an attempt to take a picture of her friend, Theodora takes one too many steps back, and falls over the cliff. From a distance, Lord Bracondale happens to see the woman hanging in a rope around her waist, fainted. He quickly runs for her rescue, again, and ends upp at a cliff alone with Theodora while the other in the company go back for help. All alone on that cliff together, recognizing each other, forbidden feelings start to grow.
For a start Theodora enjoys Lord Bracondales company, but when she no longer can control her feelings she gets scared. She made a vow when marrying Josiah Brown, that she fears she is going to break. She decides that she and Lord Bracondale must never see each other again. But even if not fate wanted otherwise, Lord Bracondale surely wouldn't give up the love of his life that easy.
I can't express how grateful I am for the restoring of Beyond the Rocks, which in my meaning is an immortal classic for every silent era devotee to see. The cast is brilliant, and Valentino (who I always thought was a little androgynous) in this picture is extremely handsome, if not even smoking hot! (But I guess I'm not a normal woman, either.) I understand the panic among his devoted fans when he died. At two occasions there are historical retrospects (or perhaps the characters imaginations and fantasies running a little wild); one takes place in the 18th century, and the other in Ancient Egypt. They add a little humour and glamour into the movie, and even though they might be a little odd, they are not in the least negative in any way.
See this film if you get a hold of it. A romantic drama with Swanson and Valentino can't be missed!
Quotes:
[to Lord Hector Bracondale] Theodora Fitzgerald: Fate seems to send you to me when I most need you, Lord Bracondale.
[when smelling a narcissus] Lord Hector Bracondale: I shall always associate this wonderful perfume with you.
Theodora Fitzgerald: I could never live under the shadow of my broken word!
Lord Hector Bracondale: Darling, we have passed the rocks and here are the safe waters beyond.
Documentary: The restoration of Beyond the Rocks.
Below: A picture from the filming of Beyond the Rocks, with a yawning Gloria Swanson to the left, Valentino with the script, author Elinor Glyn with the big hat and director Sam Wood to the right. (Click for a larger picture.)
