Although a major star in the 1910s, Theda Bara—known as “The Vamp”—was largely neglected until the 1990s, when her fame began to resurface. Since then, there have been biographies, documentaries and other works that have brought the silent film actress back into the spotlight, including a painstaking stills reconstruction of her lost epic Cleopatra.
This is a complete examination of Bara’s more than 40 films, as well as her theater and radio appearances, down to the smallest detail. With the vast majority of Bara’s films considered lost, it is a particularly valuable resource for fans and scholars, and includes information about each film’s genesis, director, plot, censorship problems, and critical and public reactions. Also included is a biographical overview, with many illuminating anecdotes.

Roy Liebman, formerly a librarian and film bibliographer at California State University, works at the Los Angeles Public Library. He is the author of several reference books on the cinema, published by McFarland. A book reviewer for Library Journal and Magill Online Reviews, he lives in California.

Roy Liebman
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 218
Bibliographic Info: 20 photos, appendix, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2023
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8725-4
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5002-9
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vi
Preface 1
Introduction 3
Theda Bara: The Life and Legend 7
The Feature Films 28
The Short Subjects 165
Archival Appearances: Film and Television 170
Onstage 186
Miscellany 194
Appendix: Film Censorship in the Mid–1910s 203
Bibliography 205
Index 209