Cleopatra 1917 Theda Bara

[ThedaLove]

Hi I am new around here and I haven't properly introduced myself...I probably ought to lurk more before posting...but...eek! Can't stop my fingers!

Does anyone know where a complete copy of Cleopatra, starring Theda Bara, might be hiding? Perhaps in a vault in a hidden theatre? Maybe in a pyramid?
I know I sound like a lunatic....but it drives me crazy that I cannot view more of the few stills I've seen of this movie in various places...
I wish I had a tardis ... a time machine....

Am I even in the right place?

Edit: I do see I am probably in the wrong place, as this forum focuses primarily on the 30's & 40's.
*~*However, if anyone has any info or can steer me in another direction, I'd be most grateful.
Thank you so much!

Thanks for reading.

ThedaLove​

 

[mike]

this is as lost as lost can be sadly!

Although good timing in mentioning this because a completely unrelated 1912 version of Cleopatra is screening on TCM this weekend! click me

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Films of that era were shot on a stock of nitrate. That highly flammable stock not only burned quickly and cleanly, it also tended to deteriorate swiftly. Time has not been good to Theda Bara's film career. Of some forty productions only about three remain. The rest have burned to ash. Reportedly, only a few seconds of 'Cleopatra' remains on some copy somewhere! Incredible isn't it, when you think of art that has lasted, in some cases thousands of years, that early films have turned to dust - as if they never even existed.

It always reminds me of the scene from the original 'Time Machine', where Rod Taylor swipes his hands across the books in the library and the disintegrate to powder. That unfortunately is the fate of much of motion pictures early days.

-dixon cannon

 

[LizzieMaine]

The negatives and prints of most of Theda's films are known to have been destroyed on July 9, 1937 during a disastrous fire at the Fox film vault in Little Ferry, New Jersey -- one of the worst nitrate fires in film history. The majority of Fox's silent product was lost in this fire. Some films have resurfaced since then in the form of random prints found overseas or in museum or private collections, but most of them, alas, are gone for good.

It's especially tragic in the case of Theda Bara, because it was her enormous popularity in the mid-to-late teens that put William Fox and his studio on the Hollywood map. The Fox entertainment/media empire as it exists today is a direct descendant of that success.

 

[ThedaLove]

this is as lost as lost can be sadly!

Although good timing in mentioning this because a completely unrelated 1912 version of Cleopatra is screening on TCM this weekend! click me

Thank you sooo much, mike! How truly sad the footage is lost...
I appreciate the heads up on TCM... :eusa_clap Now to see whether or not we get the channel sigh...

Thank you, Dixon Cannon & LizzieMaine, for your erudite replies. How truly sad...
​

LizzieMaine:

The Fox entertainment/media empire as it exists today is a direct descendant of that success.

as well as ironic...



Dixie Cannon:

Reportedly, only a few seconds of 'Cleopatra' remains on some copy somewhere!

Where?! I am going hunting... Anybody wanna join?

Incredible isn't it, when you think of art that has lasted, in some cases thousands of years, that early films have turned to dust - as if they never even existed.

:weeps: at the Irony ... We are immortalizing people like Theda...

xxx​

 

[LizzieMaine]

I believe George Eastman House in Rochester has the footage from Cleopatra. I haven't actually seen it, but from descriptions of those who have, it's two very brief shots of Theda Bara alone on the set of Cleopatra, wearing a unique pointy-bosomed costume and looking from side to side. There's disagreement on whether this is actual footage from the film, or scraps of a costume test -- but either way, it's the only known moving images related to the film...

 

[The Wolf]

Welcome here, Thedalove.

LizzieMaine, once again you prove yourself invaluable.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[ThedaLove]

I believe George Eastman House in Rochester has the footage from Cleopatra. I haven't actually seen it, but from descriptions of those who have, it's two very brief shots of Theda Bara alone on the set of Cleopatra, wearing a unique pointy-bosomed costume and looking from side to side. There's disagreement on whether this is actual footage from the film, or scraps of a costume test -- but either way, it's the only known moving images related to the film...

oooh...what I wouldn't give to see those....I *am* in the *state* of NY, but nowhere near Rochester...



"those who have..."

!!! How do I become one of those???

Thanks for your reply, LizzieMaine.

ThedaLove
xxx

btw...I do not know that I belong on this forum...??
I'm more stuck in the 20's than any other era right now (with heavy leanings toward 1967-1971) I do lust over Besame lipstick ( & other products, which I await...fallout from "that sale"... )
Your thread on Red Lipsticks caused the sad state of my bank acct.
​

 

[LizzieMaine]

We have plenty of twenties folk here -- so do stick around. Our emphasis tends to fall anywhere between the world wars, so there's plenty of room for twenties talk.

The "Cleopatra" clips turn up in a 2006 documentary about Theda B. called "The Woman With The Hungry Eyes." A company called Timeline Films owns the distribution rights, and it did get a limited theatrical release --but as yet it's not been released on DVD. Only a matter time before that happens, though, so keep an eye out.

 

[ThedaLove]

We have plenty of twenties folk here -- so do stick around. Our emphasis tends to fall anywhere between the world wars, so there's plenty of room for twenties talk.

Thank you SO MUCH, LizzieMaine.​

[The "Cleopatra" clips turn up in a 2006 documentary about Theda B. called "The Woman With The Hungry Eyes." A company called Timeline Films owns the distribution rights, and it did get a limited theatrical release --but as yet it's not been released on DVD. Only a matter time before that happens, though, so keep an eye out.

LizzieMaine, you're an angel! Thanks for this info, as well as the previous info.
Yes, my eyes are open as wide as can be for "The Woman With the Hungry Eyes"....
​

Also,
Thank you so much to "The Wolf" for your welcome,
& to all of you who have welcomed me with your replies.

I need to lurk more & get a better understanding of how this forum works. I regularly post to a forum which uses similar software/format, but here is a bit different..."Here" is an utterly fabulous place....Rich with Knowledge and Creativity...

I think I could be glued here all Day, if it weren't for naughty Life interfering all the time...

Later I'll seek out where a few more 20's folk hang out...but
not to dismiss any of you, who are so very kind to this new girl in town!

x~ThedaLove~X​

 

[Kassia]

Welcome aboard ThedaBara..
Theda is one of my favs too but purely from a belly dance angle...
It's ironic that my Mother turned her name into an action when i was a kid!
When i was little and being overly dramatic she'd say, oh stop being such a Theda Bara!! Of course we'd all laugh and i still had to do what ever she wanted me too...
Imagine me with my hand on my forehead saying, i can not possible clean up my room today! Or some such thing...
So many years later with the advent of the internet i was able to find out exactly who Theda Bara was... Whoohooo what a gal.. I was pround that my mother choose her as a role model.. Hahahaha....
And then some years after that i took up middle eastern dance and just love the costumes i have seen from the movie Cleopatra.. Altho Claudette Colbert had some great cosumes too..
Another thing to aspire too!!!
I go love the art deco or is it nouveaus style too...

 

[Kassia]

Ohhh i did find this tho on amazon.ca


A Fool There Was
http://www.amazon.ca/Fool-There-Was...ef=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1220637060&sr=8-2

 

[mike]

Incredible isn't it, when you think of art that has lasted, in some cases thousands of years, that early films have turned to dust - as if they never even existed.
-dixon cannon

You should have seen the amazing in-camera effects and glass matte effects the ancient egyptians were doing in film! Sadly the motion pictures made in 2700 BC were gone waaaay before even the 1st Intermediate Period! They had faces back then!

Not to mention the news reels documenting the Second Pyramid War for the folks back home...

 

[Mike in Seattle]

You should have seen the amazing in-camera effects and glass matte effects the ancient Egyptians were doing in film! Sadly the motion pictures made in 2700 BC were gone waaaay before even the 1st Intermediate Period! They had faces back then!

Not to mention the news reels documenting the Second Pyramid War for the folks back home...

But alas, they were all filmed on that infamous papyrus hieroglyphic film stock that was even more fragile than silver nitrate stock...

But one can always cross their fingers and hold out hope that some day, some vault or museum or the like is going to find a long-believed lost film. There was just one such case posted here on the Lounge in the last few months - something found in Argentina the details of which escape me at the moment.

 

[ThedaLove]

Welcome aboard ThedaBara..

Thank you! ​

Theda is one of my favs too but purely from a belly dance angle...
It's ironic that my Mother turned her name into an action when i was a kid!
When i was little and being overly dramatic she'd say, oh stop being such a Theda Bara!! Of course we'd all laugh and i still had to do what ever she wanted me too...
Imagine me with my hand on my forehead saying, i can not possible clean up my room today! Or some such thing...

Ooh...how fantastically adorable! My parents tell me I was quite the little Drama Queen, myself,
when I was a wee one.
​

So many years later with the advent of the internet i was able to find out exactly who Theda Bara was... Whoohooo what a gal.. I was pround that my mother choose her as a role model.. Hahahaha....
And then some years after that i took up middle eastern dance and just love the costumes i have seen from the movie Cleopatra.. Altho Claudette Colbert had some great cosumes too..
Another thing to aspire too!!!

How cool your mom appreciated Theda. My grandma (now 96 & going strong!) used to see her films as a little girl! I soo wish I had a tardis (of Doctor Who fame....British hubby introduced me to this Time Travel Marvel...I desperately need one of these, if anyone knows where to find one? I *will* be your best friend.

Middle Eastern dance is beautiful...I hope to discover your dancing photos as i browse these Golden posts... Fedora Lounge strikes me as a Treasure Box; I have been waiting for hours to be able to get back on here & look around.

I need to see Claudette Colbert's costumes. I am in love with dressing up...
I suppose alot of people here like dressing up....This looks like my kind of place! :eusa_clap

I go love the art deco or is it nouveaus style too...

Oooh....so do I...so - do - I.... !

xxxThedaLoveooo​

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[ThedaLove]

Ohhh i did find this tho on amazon.ca

A Fool There Was
http://www.amazon.ca/Fool-There-Was...ef=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1220637060&sr=8-2

Yes! Thank You! This movie is amazing! I've watched it about 6 times in 3 weeks. Highly recommended! The Unchastened Woman is another. I've also seen a 20-minute long piece called 45 Minutes from Hollywood, where she is shown (but not enough!)

A Fool There Was and The Unchastened Woman are incredible!
Sadly, these are two of the first old movies I've seen , other than the original
Wuthering Heights, probably my favorite movie of all time...as well as my favorite novel, (seeing Emily Bronte's home was awesome), & my favorite song, by one beautiful lady, Kate Bush...(Kate is our Muse & one of my greatest Inspirations).

I talk too much. I guess you've noticed.

Good Night & Peace

xxxThedaLovexxx​

 

[ThedaLove]

this is as lost as lost can be sadly!

Although good timing in mentioning this because a completely unrelated 1912 version of Cleopatra is screening on TCM this weekend! click me

Yes, we do get TCM! However, in a search for a listing of Cleopatra (1912) I come up with nothing (a 4-yr-old screaming in the background, jangling my nerves, is not helping me concentrate.)

I will take another look a bit later (hope not to miss it)

Mike, if you know what time, which Day, please let us know? Thank You so much!

xxxThedaLovexxx
​

 

[mike]

Yes, we do get TCM! However, in a search for a listing of Cleopatra (1912) I come up with nothing (a 4-yr-old screaming in the background, jangling my nerves, is not helping me concentrate.)

I will take another look a bit later (hope not to miss it)

Mike, if you know what time, which Day, please let us know? Thank You so much!

xxxThedaLovexxx
​

it's this sunday night I believe!

 

[ThedaLove]

it's this sunday night I believe!

Thank You! Thank You! Yes, I just checked...At the MidNight Hour !! xxx
Hope your Day is beautiful!

xxThedaLovexx​

 

[Miss 1929]

Welcome aboard ThedaBara..
Theda is one of my favs too but purely from a belly dance angle...
It's ironic that my Mother turned her name into an action when i was a kid!
When i was little and being overly dramatic she'd say, oh stop being such a Theda Bara!! Of course we'd all laugh and i still had to do what ever she wanted me too...
Imagine me with my hand on my forehead saying, i can not possible clean up my room today! Or some such thing...
So many years later with the advent of the internet i was able to find out exactly who Theda Bara was... Whoohooo what a gal.. I was pround that my mother choose her as a role model.. Hahahaha....
And then some years after that i took up middle eastern dance and just love the costumes i have seen from the movie Cleopatra.. Altho Claudette Colbert had some great cosumes too..
Another thing to aspire too!!!
I go love the art deco or is it nouveaus style too...

I got "Sara Heartburn" as a child...

And I think you mean Art Deco, if you like the 20s and 30s, Nouveau is more fin de seicle and teens.

Of course Deco has two different major movements too - the zig zag geometric Moderne, and the Streamlined Moderne which is all about speed and fluidity. The term Art Deco was invented in the 60s as a catch all for both the N=Modernes styles between the wars. Nuf said.

Lots of 20s and early 30s peeps here!

Here's a little primer on the three styles, all doorways:

Nouveau:

Moderne (early Art Deco):

Streamline Moderne: