Theda Bara is a bit of a mystery to us modern viewers. Most of her films are now lost and the handful of surviving bits aren't her best work. With the little we have of her its hard to grasp the fact that she was just as famous as Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin during the 10s. And it wasn't just film popularity: she defined the ''vamp'' which still lives on today.
Silent film stars never seemed to be satisfied with the 'type' they eventually found themselves identified as. Mary Pickford, who was known for little girl roles, longed to play serious dramatic grown ups...maybe even sexy ones! Valentino, known for his 'Sheik-y' goodness, longed to play roles in which his talent would overshadow his looks (admittedly this is hard to imagine as he is so ungodly gorgeous, think when he played the elder sheik in Son of the Sheik). Mabel Normand played a comedic Cinderella types, yet she also longed to be taken seriously or at the very least in a more glamorous way. So very few stars ever made 'the change'. Two do come to mind however: Douglas Fairbanks (the all American boy to adventurer) and Gloria Swanson (the new Mabel Normand to a serious glamorous sex pot).
Theda Bara had what one could consider an easy 'type'. She was THE vamp, the sexy woman who destroyed men for fun and barely wore enough clothing to keep warm. When Theda took on that role she was almost 30, and very much hungry for some kind of fame or recognition. Little did she know that's all she would ever be known for.
After picking a few fights with FOX Theda won a few 'non vamp' roles for herself (The Two Orphans, Under Two Flags, etc). However her fans refused to accept her that way, and she was soon forced in to more money making vamp roles.
By 1918 even Theda's vamp movies were starting to lose business. What with the war and all vamps were becoming passe, how many more films could one make with the same basic plot? The films were admittedly becoming cheaper and cheaper, and Theda was growing tired of it. She became a bit of a diva, arriving late on set and such. Her contract would be up for renewal soon and she was sure she could either get a mighty raise or leave for a better studio. However things didn't work out that way.
With the vamp movies doing mediocre business, and knowing she would need a hit to go out on, Theda tried one last time to escape that damn vamp ''type''. She chose Kathleen Mavourneen. The title might not mean much to us now but it definitely showed what Theda wanted. Kathleen Mavourneen (Mavourneen is an Irish endearment, means My Beloved) was a popular song, poem, play, and flicker (1906) about a sweet little Irish girl. Theda's storyline would have been perfect for Mary's trapped 'type': Kathleen is a sweet early 19th century Irish girl engaged to her honest humble neighbor Terrence O Moore. Eventually she's kidnapped by an evil rich Squire of Tralee who makes her marry him by force. It turns out to be all a dream and she and Terrence end up happily ever after. Theda wanted to show she wasn't just the vamp, she could be America's Sweetheart too!
My apologies for picture quality but its all I could find. Unable to judge by acting ability I find it hard to IMAGINE Theda as anything other then the vamp. That was her look, its her image, its what makes her an icon to this day. Theda with little girl curls and a little dress nearing 40 years old is just...weird. Wouldn't it be odd if we could still see this picture? Would it be any good or would it be like when Mary tried to escape her little girl and made Kiki?
Theda was thrilled with the film and was certain it would be a hit. FOX denied her salary negotiations and she happily let it go...surely once Kathleen Mavourneen was released she could have any studio she wanted...right? Well...not quite.
Filming wrapped, Theda went to work on La Belle Russe, and early publicity began. So far so good, people were interested to see her in this new role despite her declining ticket sales (it is of note La Belle Russe was another vamp movie). Kathleen Mavourneen was released, a few good reviews trickled in, and then everything went to hell.
Theda was born Jewish, and how observant she was is unknown. However it wouldn't have mattered, in this era there was still some strong antisemitism...some of which it would take until the second world war to do away with. Oddly enough most studio heads were Jewish, and even Douglas Fairbanks had Jewish roots (his father came from a Jewish family). Ironically there had also been a strong history against Irish (NINA) in the US which had just subsided. You would think they would have learned there lesson but apparently not.
The Friends of Irish Freedom and The Central Council of Irish Associations were upset that the film portrayed Irish poverty (I guess they had never seen a Pickford film...that's okay she was Irish blood she could get away with it!) To prove they were being petty they also overlooked the fact that castles and the middle class had been portrayed in the film as well. Other Irish and Catholic groups were extremely upset a 'jewess' was portraying an Irish girl...these lovely people rolled stink bombs down theatre aisles during Kathleen Mavourneen screenings.
In San Francisco 2 Catholic priests demanded cuts be made. What these cuts were we do not know, but the newly censored version was all that was shown in that area. Didn't help: there were more protests, riots that caused $3,000 worth of damage ($30,000 in todays dollars), and injured several women. It wasn't just limited to San Francisco: protests and riots broke out across the country during screenings...and eventually Kathleen Mavourneen was pulled. Several tins of the film were returned to distributors unopened. Thanks to the antisemitic protests/riots Theda Bara's career was all but dead. It didnt matter if she had played it well or if the story was any good...she was Jewish and thus she just could NOT play an Irish girl.
She finished La Belle Russe, and one more vamp picture The Lure of Ambition, before her contract was up. She tried other studios but no one would have her, all they could see her playing was a vamp. And they had younger prettier more modern vamps for that (Nita Naldi would take the reigns in 1922). Besides after the Kathleen Mavourneen fiasco how could Theda play anything other then a vamp? They just couldn't see it. Which is a shame because surely there were character roles or motherly types she could have taken on, perhaps in the talkie era. I guess we can be thankful for what is basically her one last go, "The Unchastened Woman" (which does still exist).
One ''good'' thing came out of Kathleen Mavourneen: it was the film she met her future husband Charles Brabin on (he directed it and her last few FOX films). She married him, he told her he didn't want her to stay in film, and besides no one had a place for her anyways. She made a few more attempts in the lates 20s, but in essence Kathleen Mavourneen ended her career.
2 comments:
It's acting, people! You're supposed to play all different kinds of roles! *shakes head* Theda deserved so much better.
On a completely off-topic note...I don't have a drop of Irish blood in me, but I used to call my ex-bf "mhuirnin". *grins*
Ah. Hala, you're talking about my girl!
I think part of Theda's problem was that, save for Raoul Walsh, she never had what you'd call a 'top-flight' director (Brabin makes it just barely because of "Ben-Hur," but since he was pulled off it, I wouldn't include him). I think someone with a lighter touch who could tone down her more hammy tendencies - King Vidor, perhaps, or even Mickey Neilan - might have been able to extend her career a little longer.
But then consider - she was turning out a movie every seven weeks! It's amazing that ANY of them turned out to be good, being cranked out at that rate of speed.
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