A Fool There Was (1915)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Frank Powell

Writers:

Rudyard Kipling (poem)
Porter Emerson Browne (play)

Release Date:

January 1915 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A married diplomat falls hopelessly under the spell of a predatory woman.

Plot Keywords:

Child | Vamp | Daughter | Loss Of Father | Grudge

Cast

Runa Hodges	...	The Child
Mabel Frenyear	...	Kate Schuyler (Fool's wife)
Edward José	...	The Husband, John Schuyler
May Allison	...	The Wife's Sister
Clifford Bruce	...	The Friend, Tom
Theda Bara	...	The Vampire
Victor Benoit	...	One of Her Victims, Reginal Parmalee
Frank Powell	...	The Doctor (as Frank Fowell)
Minna Gale	...	The Doctor's Fiancee

Runtime:

67 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

UK:R

Filming Locations:

Fox/Willat Studio, Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA

Company:

William Fox Vaudeville Company

Trivia:

One of only a handful of Theda Bara films that still exist, the others being The Unchastened Woman (1925), The Stain (1914), East Lynne (1916), and two short comedies she made for Hal Roach in the mid-1920s.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the "sunset of happiness" shot, the ocean waves are going in reverse, showing the film has been run backwards.

Quotes:

Second Victim: [to Parmalee] Look what she as done to me. Look what she's doing to you!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Why Be Good? Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema (2007)

Edwardian morality play - barely competent

The only value this film has for film historians is the presence of an icon (Theda Bara as Vamp). Oddly she looks rather old and unattractive and displays little acting ability. The film is a relatively short morality play about an utterly immoral woman, deliberately planning to ruin the life of a happily married and successful man due to a social snub from his wife. Production value are barely competent - at times quite boring and predictable and hard to sit through. Not recommended.