A Fool There Was

The US government dispatches John Schuyler (Edward Jose), a wealthy and respected middle-aged lawyer, on a diplomatic mission to England. His loving wife (Mabel Fremyear) and small daughter (Runa Hodges) are unable to accompany him. A heartless "vampire" (Theda Bara), who lives by seducing, exploiting, and discarding rich men, reads about Schuyler's appointment and books passage on the Gigantic, the same ocean liner that will carry Schuyler overseas. She is followed on board by her latest victim, young Parmalee (Victor Benoit), who threatens her with a gun, then weakens and shoots himself instead.

The vamp quickly casts her spell over Schuyler and two months later they are ensconced in an Italian resort. Eventually their liaison is reported in American gossip columns and becomes an open scandal. Stripped of his diplomatic post, shunned by all decent people, Schuyler tries to break with the vamp but finds himself hopelessly ensnared by her evil charms.

He returns to the states but not to his family. Instead he and his mistress take up residence in his town house. Six months later, despite the repeated efforts of his long-suffering wife and daughter to get him to return to the family fold, he is still enslaved by the temptress and has now become a total drunkard living in dissipated disgrace. The vamp has triumphed again.

A tall, pale, somewhat fleshy brunette, Theda Bara is unconvincing as a femme fatale--she's closer to cute than to captivating, particularly in a scene in which she appears to be having more trouble keeping the shoulder straps of her nightgown up than keeping her latest fool in line. Born Theodosia Goodman, the daughter of a Jewish tailor, in Cincinnati, Bara won overnight fame through the enormous success of this, her first picture, and its publicity campaign. Her movies made a fortune for producer William Fox, who concocted an exotic biographical background for his new star and who required by contract that she remain unmarried, shun Turkish baths, and appear in public only at night and heavily veiled. Although her career encompassed a variety of major roles including Juliet, Camille, Carmen, Salome, and Madame du Barry, the vast majority of the women she played were prototypical vamps and "Bara-cudas."

A FOOL THERE WAS is the kind of florid, luridly melodramatic silent movie that Sid Caesar and company used to spoof on TV. As such it could have been worse. Efficiently directed and pleasingly photographed, often in airy, warmly sunlit exteriors (there's a lovely tableau of the Schuyler family silently watching the sun set over the ocean), the film includes some arresting moments in its last act when the title character is going off the deep end. In these scenes, Edward Jose does not chew the scenery but he bats it around rather thoroughly.

The problem with A FOOL THERE WAS is not its mounting but its absurd plot, cliched characters, and dated theme. The silly intertitles tell it all: Innocence breakfasts (the Schuyler kid at table); "See what you made of me, and still you prosper, you hell cat!" (street tramp to vamp); and, of course, "Kiss me, my fool!" In fairness it should be pointed out that the film's final title is a good one: So some of him lived, but the most of him died. This announcement is illustrated with a striking shot of the triumphant vamp hovering over the totally debilitated Schuyler's supine body, blowing rose petals off his face.

For a few images like that one, for the perverse pleasure of witnessing a wicked woman winding up unrepentant and unpunished in an era still ruled by Victorianism, and for the opportunity to see Bara in her only surviving feature, A FOOL THERE WAS is definitely worth a look. (Violence.) leave a comment