
A Fool There Was. 1915. USA. Directed by Frank Powell. Silent, with musical accompaniment. 78 min.
Screenplay by Roy L. McCardell, Powell, based on the poem “The Vampire,” by Rudyard Kipling, and the play A Fool There Was, by Porter Everson Brown. With Theda Bara, Edward José, Mabel Frenyear. Unscrupulous vamp Theda Bara, in a role she was born to play, lures a man away from his wife and child, ruins him, and then casts him aside for another victim. Promoted by Fox Films as an exotic sex symbol, Bara was introduced as the Egypt-born daughter of a European actress and sculptor. In truth, she was born Theodosia Goodman in Cincinnati, Ohio, and her father was an émigré tailor. Preserved by The Museum of Modern Art with support from the National Film Preservation Foundation/Park Service, the Film Foundation.