“Beyond the Rocks” as reviewed on, May 8, 1922 in The Los Angeles Daily Times, from the column titled, Flash by Grace Kingsley

New Glyn Story
Valentino and Swanson Lure

“Valentino’s vogue, Elinor’s eros and Gloria’s gowns, that’s the blessed triumvirate which seems to be entirely failure proof. They’re on again at Grauman’s Rialto. Valentino and Gloria are appearing in Elinor Glyn’s Beyond the Rocks which opened yesterday to tremendous business.

Beyond the Rocks will not, I fear, be beyond the rhetorical rocks of the critics. The story is commonplace and might have been written by any trotty two shoes of the scenario department.

On the other hand it is without the special Glyn tang; it’s a denogged egg-nogg. Rudy Valentino kisses with the meter on. In short it’s quite entirely censor-proof and any girl may safety take her mother to see it. The story is as romantic as a Bertha M. Clay yarn. It concerns the eternal triangle. A beautiful young girl marries an old millionaire. Then she meets Rudy and its all off with husband, Josiah. But they battle nobly against love and the most Rudy accomplishes is a chaste kiss on his lady’s fingertips. Husband Josiah is invited to go to Egypt to excavate mummies but Gloria begs him not to go. So he says he won’t.

But a catty lady plays a trick on the lover and transposes the letter which Gloria mails to her lover and sweetheart, and hubby then learns how he really stands with his wife. This part of the story is nicely handled with the lover going to the husband in manly fashion and handing him over his letter. There are no wild heroics.

Husband decides to go to Egypt and Gloria in her sorrow romantically turns to her lover and they decide to chase husband to Egypt. They arrive just in time to see him killed by a Bedouin raid then its all sweetness and light for the lovers. This opus in servant girl literature ends with the sub-title, “The only thing eternal and divine in this old world is love that beautifies.”

Rudolph Valentino is as irresistibly as fascinating as ever and does noble work. Gloria Swanson does good work and suffers in about 500 beautiful gowns. A very fine bit of acting is done by Robert Balder who makes the character of the fat old husband a quite irresistible combination of the comedy and pathos of life. The remainder of the cast is entirely capable…
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Another piece in the same edition:

"Gloria Swanson is appearing in the production “Beyond the Rocks” from the story by Elinor Glyn at Grauman’s Rialto. The picture had its premiere at the theater last Friday and is apparently destined for great popular success. But Beyond the Rocks is a worthy successor to “The Great Moment” is the confidant assertion of all that have seen it. The same star, Gloria Swanson is seen in both. The story is by the author of “The Great Moment” and Sam Wood, who directed the Great moment also directed beyond the Rocks.

In addition to these parallel advantages, the latter picture features the presence of Rudolph Valentino who ascent to stardom has been as rapid as it has been secure".