Jesus—I’m not going to be listed as “cause of death” or anything?
Remember, there’s no such thing as bad publicity! Just hope the coroner manages to spell your name right.
The story so far:
It is common knowledge that the George Eastman House in beautiful Rochester, NY possesses “a few feet” of the 1917 Theda Bara film “Cleopatra”, which has been otherwise lost since fires in the late 1930’s-early 1940’s destroyed the prints in the possession of Fox Studios and the Museum of Modern Art. It is also common knowledge that the footage was donated by author Anthony Slide.
What isn’t known is how long the footage is, which is of real importance, as “a few feet” could mean anything from my armspan to a whole reel.
The George Eastman House won’t respond to anyone (even biographers of Theda Bara), and no one knows how to contact Anthony Slide.
. . . and “facts” that are “common knowledge” often fall apart when held up to the light of day. I don’t know anyone who has actually seen the Mystery Footage.
As an aside, what happened to the Silents Majority web site? There’s a placeholder card where the site used to be.
I know the lady who was running it was having some personal issues that may have caused her to either discontinue it or put it on hold. You might try Silents Are Golden (no relation to me!) and check out this page of other silent-film links, too.
Ahh, thank you.
An update:
The Governor decided to be a hero, and e-mailed the Curator of the Motion Picture Collection of the George Eastman House to ask if the George Eastman House had any prints of “Cleopatra”.
Wish me luck.
Off track a bit, but what financial circumstances was Theda Bara in when she died? And was she any relation to the Burr family? (I know Burr had some illegitimate descendants [and it was rumored that he had a child with his daughter Theodosia whom he gave up for adoption, but that’s probably totally a rumor], but I was wondering because of her full name.)
I’m writing a novel in which the heroine’s grandmother is named Theda because her own mother was mesmerized by A FOOL THERE WAS. (The character is based in part on my mother who was named for a much more obscure silent film star she never saw a picture of until the I’net.)
She was named after Theodosia Burr, but was no relation: her father’s family (Goodman) were German Jews; her mother’s family (Barranger/De Coppet) were Swiss/French.
Theda was in a very good place when she died, financially and socially: she married director Charles Brabin in 1920 and they stayed happily married; both saved their money and by the time Theda died in 1955, age 69, she was a world traveler and one of Hollywood’s most popular hostesses and gourmet cooks. A sex symbol with a long, happy life!
By the way, who was your mother named for?
My mother was named for Blanche Sweet . My grandmother thought she was the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen.
Blanche Sweet, obscure?
Oh, well, I guess I’m hardly the one to ask that; I dragged a dozen Dopers off to see Florence LaBadie’s grave . . .
An update:
The curator responded to my e-mail, asking for more information about what version of “Cleopatra” I was looking for. I responded, and I’m now waiting for a reply.
I wait with bated breath. When I was writing about Theda, in 1994/5, whoever was curator then evaded my questions like Jodie Foster being interviewed by The Advocate.
Did you deal with a man named Jared Case?
Just received an e-mail from Eve, revealing that two shots of around 15 seconds in length were dicovered in the hands of a private collector by people making a documentary on Theda Bara.
They will be used in said documentary.
Yeah yeah yeah good good good.
So did Eve say when SHE will be rediscovered and make like Dolly and get back to where she once belonged?