Silents Talk: Theda Bara

Craziness. When I started the Complete Filmography series the 3 vamps followed each other. Apparently via some odd serendipity they've done it again. First we heard Vilma, then naughty Nita, and now the infamous Theda. I have come to accept any pieces on the 3 will inevitably follow each other.

First up a shout out to nitrateville.com . Its where all the cool kids hang out, and they're really good at what they do. Several users have helped me try and track down this clip, but it was Rob Farr who finally found it. So thank you! He also found a very interesting clip of D.W. Griffith and Cecil B Demille from just a few shows later, so look for that to appear here shortly!

Theda never made a talkie. Theda was old. Okay that sounds mean but she was 29 when she started in 1914. She retired in 1926 making her 41. This radio clip is from 1936, making her 51 YEARS OLD. She was old. Deal with it.

Being old, and married to an asshole, she mostly retired and never really did anything. This is one of the rare radio appearances and she was not known to have appeared on stage either. She just retired. However what makes this all the more tragic is as you will here in this clip she claimed she'd be doing many more appearances and 'return to films'...in a bonafide talkie! Of it she said, "I just hope everyone will be as happy to see a Theda Bara picture as I am, the public has been very good to me in the past". So sad. Whatever plans she had fell through for whatever reasons. But at least we have this.

Please keep in mind much like Nita, Theda was old when she recorded this. Age may have affected her voice. I'm sure had she wanted she could have transitioned just fine...but in real roles not...vamp ones (51 year old vamps are wrong. You hear me Sex and the City ladies?) What I'm becoming amused with in hearing these old clips is the older these women (so far women, possibly men did as well) got the more regal they tried to become. Putting on some Shakespeare British sounding thing...even though they were all American (and mostly East Coast). Well Mary wasn't American...but she'd lived here long enough. WHY they did this I have no clue, but it is amusing.

Theda's Talkie Career

Theda never made a talkie. This is considered one of the only clips of her voice to survive. She said she would do many more radio appearances and was looking over talkie scripts but she never made one. This is all we have. Fuck you Charles Brabin.

Verdict: Talkie or Silent?

Again like Nita its hard to say as 1) She's not acting in this clip and 2) She's old as dirt and regal in it. Surely she could have pulled off a vampy styled voice aged 30 something. Just a little whisper with ill intent in it. That being said its extremely hard to judge how (age provided) her vamp would have transitioned to talkies. Unlike Nita she had a whole different type of vamp...a 'I am serious and I really am going to eat your soul' kinda thing...not taking the piss out of it.

Since time would not have stopped for her (and one must question if she could pull off other roles since we really just don't know) I'm gonna say Silents...she was just too old by the time talkies came round. HOWEVER had she been younger and STARTED in talkies I think she coulda pulled it off. But obviously that would have never happened, we don't have magic wands people.