Born Today October 30: Lori Bara

 

 

1897-1965

 

Lori Bara (seen above on the right), baby sister of famed vamp Theda, and occasional actress in her own right, was born on this day in Cincinnati as Esther Goodman.  She was in actuality only two years younger than her sister Theodosia, but many sources during her lifetime listed her birth year as 1903.  She appeared in two silent films in the 1920's, the first of which was in the Buster Keaton feature Seven Chances in 1925. She next appeared with Lon Chaney in MGM's romantic war comedy Tell It to the Marines in 1926. Both roles were tiny and went uncredited.  She was much happier as a writer and has two credits in the 1930's in the film industry as such.  One for the "pseudo-documentary" Samarang in 1933, filmed in Malaysia; and the other for the screenplay produced into Hate in Paradise in 1938. Both were directed by her husband Ward Wing. Archival footage of her from the Keaton film was used in the 1970 tribute film 4 Clowns, in homage to Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel, Charley Chase and Keaton (a film produced and released five years after her own death).  She passed away on the 4th of August of a heart ailment in Culver City at the age of 61; she outlived her far more famous sister by ten years. She is interred in the Main Mausoleum at Holy Cross Cemetery, which is also located in Culver City under the name "Lori De Coppet Bara" (the De Coppet was her's and Theda's mother's maiden name).  

 

[source: Bernard Johnson (Find A Grave)]

 

Find A Grave entry 

Born Today June 24: J. Gordon Edwards

1867-1925

Canadian born silent film director J. Gordon Edwards was born on this day in Montreal.  Like so many silent film pioneers, Edwards got his start in the theater; first as an actor, then as a director at the Suburban Garden Theater in St. Louis, Missouri.  He would go on to be Theda Bara's favorite director, whom he directed some 22 times.  He made his film debut in 1914, directing St. Elmo for Balboa Amusement.  He was then hired by Fox, where he was trusted with a good number of their largest budget films.  The first film that he made for them was The Celebrated Scandal in 1915, starring Betty Nansen.  He added writing to his list of accomplishments in 1915 with Blindness of Devotion.  He first directed Bara in 1916 in Under Two Flags (like so many Bara/Fox films, this film is lost); the film represents his only producer credit.  One of his most important films with Bara came in 1917 with the now also lost Cleopatra.  In 1921, he directed the huge epic The Queen Of Sheba, complete with a very elaborate chariot race (again, it is another lost Fox film)--the film represented one the largest budgets in the then hence-to history of the famed studio.  His last time in the directing chair came with It Is The Law in 1924.  Edwards died the following year in New York City from pneumonia on New Year's Eve (1925) at the age of 58.  He is buried in a very elaborate tomb resembling the Taj Majal in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.

For More:

IMDb

Wikipedia

Theda At A Costume Party! Happy Halloween Everyone!

This is a photo of Theda Bara with film director hubbie Charles Brabin many years after she quit acting at "fancy dress party," given by Basil Rathbone.  Here is the US, of course, we call it a costume party.  It wasn't held on Halloween however; the event took place on 19 April 1938.  Still great Halloween photo too!  Found on The She Devil live journal--no further information could be found on who took the photo.  Would be really cool if it was Rathbone himself!

Related To Vamps

This is actually a cigarettes case with the image of the most famous vamp of all time.  I don't smoke, but I would love to have one these.  My grandfather, who smoked himself into the grave would have loved it!  He was the biggest influence on me when it came to to silent film.  He was born in 1897 (he was a lot older to my grandmother!), it was he who introduced me to silent film as a very little girl.   He was also a professional photographer and artist.  This is just the sort of thing that I would have loved to give him on his birthday as a kid.  Since this is participation in the Countdown To Halloween post, I will share that his favorite Halloween costume was dressing up as Groucho Marx.

[Source:  I've tried to trace the the source of the photo and case and cannot locate a thing.]

My, My Theda!

Born Today October 3: Warner Oland

1879-1938

Born Johan Verner Öhlund in Nyby, Sweden (a tiny little place at the time), his family immigrated to the U.S. in 1892.  After finishing school, he went straight to Broadway, where he worked through most of his 20's. He relocated to California in the early 1910's. It was at this time that he took the stage name Warner Oland, although he was affectionately known by his nickname "Jack," which no doubt derived from his birth name of Johan. He first worked on the stage there, while making attempts to break into the film industry, which he finally did in 1912 a two part, two reel film entitled Pilgrim's Progress.  From there on out he went on to have an extremely successful career in Hollywood films.  In the case of actors who are not specialist on the stage, such as he was, he was able to make the transition to silent film and back again to speaking parts when talkies came along.  He had a major role in the legendary early talkie The Jazz Singer in 1927.  He became somewhat of a specialist in "yellow face" (similar term to the more well known "black face," but in this case it means playing Asian--this took much longer to be frowned on in Hollywood and still a sore topic of debate and conversation today) due to turn as Fu Manchu.  As a result of this he landed the role of Charlie Chan in 1931, a character that had formerly been played by actual Asian actors.  This lead to a slew Chan movies that proved financially lucrative for Fox; unfortunately for them this came to an abrupt end. He lived in Southborough, Ma. as his primary residence for many years with his wife Edith in a very old well preserved farmhouse there, despite his Hollywood career.  He and his wife became involved in a bitter divorce after 30 years of marriage based on finances (filed by her) in 1937-1938, with a settlement finally coming favoring his wife on the day he set sail for Europe (she had, apparently, endured years of serious alcohol and some undisclosed "mental problems" on his behalf--the nature of which Fox kept under serious wraps due the the Chan character).  What is known is that he intended to return to his mother's home in Sweden; some sort of reconciliation deal was made with Edith (she must have genuinely cared for him) and then he contracted a very serious case bronchial pneumonia, and was transported to a hospital Stockholm, it was discovered by Swedish doctors that he was also suffering from emphysema, but who knows for how long.  He passed away on 6 August 1938 at the age of 57.  His wife had his remains cremated and transported back the Massachusetts for burial in the Southborough Rural Cemetery.  He seems to have been a extremely talented and rather tragic figure.  For his Chan roles, he is said to have took time to time to learn "Chinese." (that may or may not be true). If even half the stories of what he is reported to have said or done are true, it seems he suffered from some sort of schizophrenia.  On one occasion close to his departure from the US, he walked off a set and didn't return, he was apparently over-heard telling a studio executive that the set was possessed by voodoo, and he feared that he would get pneumonia.  Ironic in a way, since that is what he ultimately died of; but it was probably the on-set of the emphysema that was really troubling him (I'm not even going to get into the miniature schnauzers!).  He is buried in the Southborough Rural Cemetery in Southborough, MA.  Since this is the Countdown To Halloween it is worth noting that in the silent era he starred opposite the great Vamp herself Theda Bara in the 1915 Sin, and also appeared in "yellow-face" in the 1935 Werewolf Of London.  Let's hope he has found peace. 

With Theda

The Next Studio Innovation: Glass Ceilings

Interior of a very early glass ceiling studio

When you need lighting--what better way to get it than from the sun?  While the very first studio, Edison's Black Maria, was covered completely in tar paper and had more in common with early photographic rooms in the 1830's than it did with what we would think of as a film production studio, it quickly became clear (literally) that as films got longer in length, a better source of lighting was required and artificial light was not really an option given the technology of the day (the Black Maria did actually have a roof that could be opened to the sun).  Glass ceilings were the solution.  As they evolved some studios were eventually made entirely of glass plates. And thus became known as "greenhouse studios."

Back lot of a studio in Fort Lee NJ after 1915.  Not the multiple large glass plated buildings.

As the studio systems and company began their permanent westward migration out to California, many of these massive structures left behind on the east coast were then converted into storage space for early films (note:  early Hollywood had some glass paneled studios of their own in the early days).  This proved to be disastrous for FOX, when in 1937 the nitrate film stored a New Jersey facility spontaneously caught fire and burned almost the entire FOX silent catalog (almost all of Theda Bara vamp films for them went up in flames), the fire also claimed the life of one person, and severely injured two more (anyone who has seen Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, is familiar with the extreme flammability of nitrate film!).

Kinda Spooky!  The very first Universal studio under construction on Main Street in Fort Lee, NJ.  It's easy to see where the glass paneling is meant to go.

Classic Silent Poster

A Fool There Was (1915)

A Fool There Was (1915)

I cannot say how utterly tickled I am to be able to post this very early feature in it's entirety!  This is an early example of the femme fatale "vampire," or "vamp" film, and one of the only surviving Theda Bara vamp films out there.  So many of her films were incinerated 1937 Fox Film Fire, including the legendary film The Vamp (1920).  So this is a treat for me!  Happy Halloween Season!!

A Theda Bara Tribute

I ran across this on the web and thought it would make a fitting Halloween post.  It is well done, and Bara has been a favorite of mine since childhood as well!