Theda Bara: Vamp(ire) in Silent Horror Forum

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Theda Bara: Vamp(ire)

Author	Comment
Dr Acula	Theda Bara: Vamp(ire)	Lead	[-]
Feb 15 11 8:57 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I started another thread because of hearing something about Theda Bara, and now that I've been reading about her film output, it seems like she may have had a big influence on the image at least of the female film monster. She was apparently noted for having much dark make-up around her eyes, and was a "vamp" in the sense of draining men of their vitality, individuality and will. Maybe she is the cinematic genesis of the ghoul girl, with Theda's dark sensuality being the fertile earth that gave birth to the dark image of later female monsters like Morticia Addams, Luna the Vampire Girl, the Brides of Dracula in Bela's film, Vampira, Elvira, et all. She certainly took many stages photographs with images of death (skeletons, ravens) and ballyhoo surrounding her claimed her name be an anagram of "Arab Death". My other question: do any of her films have supernatural content? I'm mostly wondering about the following titles: - The Devil's Daughter (1914) - Sin (1915) - The Serpent (1915) - The Tiger Woman (1916) - The Rose of Blood (1917) - The Soul of Buddha (1917) - Salome (1918) - I'm assuming it at least has a beheading in it - The She Devil (1918) - Madame Mystery (1926)
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PhantomXCI		#1	[-]
Feb 15 11 10:06 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Theda Bara's "vamp" image overshadowed the fact that she was a very cultured woman, who loathed Hollywood, loved Broadway, and took much more pride in her screen portrayals of Juliet and Cleopatra than she did in her "Kiss me, you fool" roles. Her only genre film was THE DARLING OF PARIS (1917), an adaption of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame".
misspickford		#2	[-]
Feb 16 11 6:21 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Well shoot I had something all typed out and Yuku screwed me on it. I've written about Theda as a vamp before: http://perpetualflapper.blogspot.com/2009/02/1914-vamps-and-1921-shebas.html she wasn't the first, but much like Marilyn Monroe she defined the 'type'. She did break away from the vamp for a few films (Kathleen Mavourneen, Romeo and Juliet, etc) but it was more exception than the rule. Only about 3 of her full films still exist (http://www.forgetthetalkies.com/2010/06/could-we-ever-find-films-of-theda-bara.html), so its hard to define them without some in depth study, and even then we're still not getting the whole picture. I wouldn't call her films horror, but more in the vamp category...sexy horror? Supernatural they did tend to be. Soul of Buddha would be one. I highly recommend Eve Golden's "Vamp" bio. http://kissmemyfool.com/ThedaFilms.html has some summaries too. To go off Phantom I'll let this blow your mind: http://www.forgetthetalkies.com/2008/09/silents-talk-theda-bara.html She was a good Jewish girl at heart. But one heck of an actress!
Ted Newsom		#3	[-]
Feb 16 11 10:15 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I remember looking up either "vampires" or maybe just "movies" when I was a kid, and being struck by this picture of Bara. It does look pretty evocative of Morticia, Vampira, and the entire vampy family... even if she doesn't literally suck blood. Given that, I'd say we give Theda an honorary membership in the club, even if her on-screen characters were closer to Sharon Stone stuff than Barbara Shelley.
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Rick		#4	[-]
Feb 16 11 2:35 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I know DARLING OF PARIS is gone, but is there at least a photo somewhere of Glen White as Quasimodo? I just did about a 10 minute Google search and came up empty. Also, I seem to remember that at least one silent version of the Hugo story omitted the hunchback altogether, and -- I may have dreamed this -- was there a version in which the character Quasimodo appears but is not hunched or ugly but just a reg'lar homme?
PhantomXCI		#5	[-]
Feb 16 11 4:40 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	In DARLING OF PARIS, Quasimodo is a hunchback, but has no facial deformities. His hump is cured at the end by a scientist (maybe Claude Frollo, IIRC). So in that respect, the film isn't a straightforward version of the novel.
scotpens		#6	[-]
Feb 16 11 5:23 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	PhantomXCI wrote: In DARLING OF PARIS, Quasimodo is a hunchback, but has no facial deformities. His hump is cured at the end by a scientist (maybe Claude Frollo, IIRC). WHAT hump?
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