A Fool There Was. 1915. Directed by Frank Powell.

(10/24/99)

I was surprised at how well-made this film was for 1915. The acting doesn't appearridiculous. It hold up. What I wonder is why audiences were so attracted to something like this. It is an exaggerated depiction of male fears: maybe it was popular with women because it showed a powerful female character, albeit a thoroughly destructive one.

I actually had a sense at one point of a group of high school students putting on a serious play that they don't fully understand.

Theda Bara was certainly attractive in some scenes, though it was hard to believe that the men would put up with her being quite so disagreeable. I think that a lot of her popularity was due to the character she created than herself per se. The one who really impressed me was Edward Jose as Schuyler. His growing dissipation was fascinating to watch. The film reminded me of Joseph Laosey's The Servant in that respect.

In Classics of the Silent Screen it mentions that many of the scenes were symbolic in intent. I would like to know more about that.

The Theda Bara charcter was called as "vampire" (later shortened to vamp) and I think that the film played up the vampire metaphor. Schuyler does seem like a vampire's victim and there is a scene of a window being thrown open and daylight pouring into the dark environment, an image later to be seen in vampire films.

I was shocked at the ending. I really expected Schuyler was going to be saved. Seeing a man in a prestigious position completely and utterly destroyed by a malevolent woman was pretty strong stuff to see. As an acknowledgment of female power this film pulled no punches.