LOST VALENTINO FILM FOUND

For almost a full century film historians were searching for a 1922 film that now has been found in The Netherlands. It is the only silent screen film starring both superstars Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino. The film is called ‘Beyond the rocks'. Although the film is still in quite good condition, the classical melodrama will be restored and will get a second première somewhere this year. In ‘Beyond the rocks' Valentino plays a count who saves Swanson, the daughter of a rich father, a few times from precarious situations.

According to specialists there must have been dozens of American copies, but they became throwaway products after the film stopped playing in the cinemas. This was normal practice at the time. 70% of the of the movies from the silent screen period was lost in this way. In 2000 the first part of the movie was found in the collection of a Dutch film collector. Since he was afraid of burglars he divided the film over a few different depots. The search through 2000 film reels took a few years and at the end of 2003 the last missing part of the Dutch copy was found. more features

April 19, 2004