Beyond The Rocks (1922)

Beyond the Rocks
Director: Sam Wood
USA 1922
80 min


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.)

Three films with the Marx Brothers

At last I'm writing about my dear Marx Brothers! Possibly only one of many upcoming posts on the subject.

Me and my fabulous best friend Elenova had a Marx Brothers marathon today, watching three films in a row - Duck Soup (1933), A Night at the Opera (1935) and Go West (1940).
I must admit that I've seen each of this films almost a hundred times, but for my friend they were introduced today.
Don't you worry - I will teach her.

Duck Soup

Director: Leo McCarey
USA 1933
68 min

The legendary mirror scene with Groucho and Harpo.

Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) is named dictator over the corrupt Freedonia, and declares war on the neighbouring Sylvania for the heck of it, and the money of millionaire widow Mrs. Teasdale (played by the fabulous Margaret Dumont). The ambassador of Sylvania, Trentino (Louis Calhern) employs two spies, Chicolini and Pinky (Chico Marx and Harpo Marx), to find out any embarrassing secret about Firefly to turn his people against him. But his evil plans does not end there - he also hires a woman, Vera Marcal (Raquel Torres) to seduce Firefly, while Trentino himself aims to seduce Mrs. Teasdale.



Scene: Rufus T. Firefly charms (or what ever you could call it...?) Mrs. Teasdale, the scene beginning with a wonderful Hollywood musical parody.



You could say that this insane film is surrealism for the masses. It is a weird and unbelievably funny combination of Hollywood musical satire, satire of war, politics and affairs of the state, Harpo's brilliant mime, Chico's stupid and insanely funny italian and Groucho's inimitable puns and ad-libbing.
There's no structure in the film at all, but it is also one of the few films in history where that is something good. After this film (the last the Marx Brothers made for Paramount Pictures) they would sign up with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that would tone down the brothers' spontanious jokes and make them follow the script more. (Of course, no scripts ever could chain the Marx Brothers up from doing what suited them best at the time.)

Duck Soup is also the last movie with the fourth and youngest Marx Brother, Zeppo Marx. He would later leave the movie industry and become an inventor, starting up a company of his own, Marman Products. Among things he invented were a wristwatch which would sound an alarm if the patient went into cardiac arrest, and also his company invented clamping devices which were used in the first atomic bomb raids over Japan in 1945.

The final war scene, with all the brothers changing outfits.
Left to right: Chico, Zeppo, Groucho and Harpo.

Quotes:

Rufus T. Firefly: Remember, you're fighting for this woman's honour, which is probably more than she ever did.

Rufus T. Firefly: Forget? You ask me to forget? A Firefly never forgets. Why, my ancestors would rise from their graves, and I'd only have to bury them again. Nothing doing. I'm going back and clean the crackers out of my bed; I'm expecting company.

Chicolini: Well, you remember you gave us a picture of this man and said, 'Follow him?'
Ambassador Trentino: Oh, yes.
Chicolini: Well, we get on-a the job right away and in the one hour - even-a less than one hour...
Ambassador Trentino: Yes?
Chicolini: We lose-a the picture. That's-a pretty quick work, eh?

Rufus T. Firefly: Go, and never darken my towels again!

A Night at the Opera

Director: Sam Wood
USA 1935
96 min

Rosa (Carlisle) takes care of poor Tomasso (Harpo).

Otis B. Driftwood (Groucho) is employed, but is not very ambitious, to get widow millionaire Mrs. Claypool (surprisingly enough played by Margaret Dumont!) into society, but is more ambitious in charming her to get ahold of her money. When she expresses unsatisfaction with what he has (not) accomplished, Driftwood decides that the opera industry is the best for her. He soon gets involved with Fiorello (Chico) and Tomasso (Harpo), and the rising opera stars and love birds Rosa Castaldi (Kitty Carlisle) and Ricardo Baroni (Allan Jones).
However, the head of the New York Opera Company, Herman Gottlieb (Sig Ruman) and the evil opera pro Rodolfo Lasparri (Walter Woolf King) steps in their way, which demands extreme measures from the Marx Brothers to save their friends.


Scene: Otis B. Driftwood (Groucho) and Fiorello (Chico) discusses the contract clauses.



As in all Marx Brothers films, the plot is not the important - it is just an excuse to let the brothers fool around. And they do just that, in a surprisingly controlled way with a very tasteful romantic sidestory, in A Night at the Opera. A lot of immortal scenes is found here: the contract scene, the crowded cabin scene, the Alone-duet, the aviator-impostor scene and last but not least the tearing of the whole Il Trovatore opera in the final scene.

The famous crowded cabin scene.

Quotes:

Otis B. Driftwood: You're willing to pay him a thousand dollars a night just for singing? Why, you can get a phonograph record of Minnie the Moocher for 75 cents. And for a buck and a quarter, you can get Minnie.

Mrs. Claypool: I've been sitting right here since seven o'clock.
Otis B. Driftwood: Yes, with your back to me. When I invite a woman to dinner I expect her to look at my face. That's the price she has to pay.

Otis B. Driftwood: Do they allow tipping on the boat?
Steward: Yes, sir.
Otis B. Driftwood: Have you got two fives?
Steward: Yes, sir!
Otis B. Driftwood: Well, then you won't need the ten cents I was gonna give you.

Mrs. Claypool: Get off that bed. What would people say?
Otis B. Driftwood: They'd probably say you're a very lucky woman.

Go West (1940)

Director: Edward Buzzell
USA 1940
80 min

The Marx Brothers as gold diggers in The Wild West.

Groucho plays the embezzler S. Quentin Quale, who is heading west to find his fortune. On the train station he meets two brothers, also embezzlers; Joe and Rusty Panello (Chico and Harpo). They trick Quale off his money, and soon they are situated in the Wild West. (Quale of course finds his own way there too, but not as convenient.)
Along the way, Joe and Rusty loans an old miner named Dan Wilson ten dollars so he can start anew, and for collateral he leaves them the deed to his property Dead Man's Gulch.
Unknowingly the son of his old time rival, Terry Turner (who also is in love with his daughter, Eva) has contacted the railroad to arrange for them to buy Dead Man's Gulch for their new railroad. That would make the old man rich, hopefully making him positive of Terry and letting him marry his granddaughter.
But of course, there's an evil man in the story, who also wants to get over the deed to Dead Man's Gulch. The villain is saloon owner Red Baxter (played by Robert Barrat), who succeeds in tricking Joe and Rusty out of the deed. The Marx Heroes has to make everything right again! In there own way, naturally.


Scene: Joe Panello (Chico) plays the piano in his fabulously unique style, even using an apple as an instrument!



The Marx Brothers feel obvious in the Wild West, with their ugly tricks, bizarre humour and clumsy fights. The only bad thing about this film is the above-all-expectations silly love story between Eva Wilson (Diana Lewis) and Terry Turner (John Carroll). If you don't want to fast-forward through them - keep a bucket close to you. You might want to puke. You really miss Margaret Dumont in this film.
On the funny side, however, the Marx Brothers are in their best element. I think there are more double entendres and sexual insinuations in this film than in the other Marx films together. Take for example when Quale walks in to a bar, sees a lady and exclaims:

- Lulubelle, it's you! I didn't recognize you standing up.

And the train ride in the end of the movie is unforgettable. - Timber!

Rusty Panello (Harpo) plays an improvised harp for the Indians.

Quotes:

S. Quentin Quale: You love your brother, don't you?
Joseph Panello: No, but I'm used to him.

[Chico suggests telephoning for help]
S. Quentin Quale: Telephone? This is 1870. Don Ameche hasn't invented the telephone yet!

S. Quentin Quale: I give you my solemn word as an embezzler I'll be back in ten minutes.

S. Quentin Quale: Didn't we meet at Monte Carlo the night you blew your brains out?

Joseph Panello: My father-a shot the Indians in eighteen forty-two
S. Quentin Quale: Oh, he should-a shot the stork-a, when the stork-a brought-a you.

S. Quentin Quale: Time wounds all heels.

[Indicating a gag around the train engineer's mouth]
S. Quentin Quale: Didya know this is the best gag in the picture?