Vamp, Vamp, Vamp: A Celebration of the Silent Femme Fatale

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BettyLouSpence
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Vamp, Vamp, Vamp: A Celebration of the Silent Femme Fatale

Post by BettyLouSpence »

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Vamp, Vamp, Vamp:
A Celebration of the Silent Femme Fatale

:star: :star: :star:
Hello, all! We've been way overdue for another watch-fest, and our theme for this go-around is... the vamp!

For the next five weeks, we'll be honing in on five different silent actresses best known for their roles as temptresses and femme fatales. Some you may have already seen in action, and others you may have not. We'll watch one film each where they are in a major role, and hopefully remedy that :)

Now, let's meet the vamps!

Theda Bara
(1885 - 1955)

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Though arguably the most famous vamp of them all, her filmography is plagued by dozens of lost titles. In fact, of the 43 films she in which she acted, only six exist in their entirety: her first film The Stain (1914), A Fool There Was (1915), East Lynne (1916), The Unchastened Woman (1925), and two Hal Roach two-reelers, Madame Mystery and 45 Minutes From Hollywood (1926). We'll be watching her in A Fool There Was (1915).

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Betty Blythe
(1893 - 1972)

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The Queen of Sheba (1921) is to Betty Blythe what Cleopatra (1917) is to Theda Bara: a lost silent epic known only by numerous tantalizing stills featuring grand sets and scandalous outfits, and serving as the "holy grail" of its star. Unfortunately, Betty's surviving filmography is nearly as scant as Theda's, but luckily we have one film of hers available to watch on YouTube: She (1925).

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Nita Naldi
(1894 - 1961)

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Nita Naldi is one of the quintessential vamps of the silent era, becoming forever associated with the role after starring in Blood and Sand (1922) with Rudolph Valentino and Lila Lee. It was her first pairing with Valentino, and she would make two more films with him, A Sainted Devil (1924) and Cobra (1925). For this watch-fest we'll be watching Blood and Sand.

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Lya de Putti
(1897 - 1931)

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The Hungarian Lya de Putti is best known for her role in Variety (1925) with Emil Jannings. She arrived in Hollywood in early 1926 and starred in The Sorrows of Satan that year, directed by D.W. Griffith, though she left Hollywood for England three years later in 1929, starring in the part-talkie The Informer. She died in 1931 after suffering from pneumonia following a bout of pleurisy. We'll be watching her in Variety.

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Barbara La Marr
(1896 - 1926)

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Barbara La Marr had her breakout roles in two Douglas Fairbanks films, The Nut (1921) and The Three Musketeers (1922), reportedly after being told by Mary Pickford that she was too beautiful to be behind a camera. Besides a supporting part in Souls For Sale (1923), Barbara's most famous role was in the Rex Ingram directed The Prisoner of Zenda (1922), starring Lewis Stone and Ingram's wife Alice Terry, as well as Ramon Novarro. Like Lya de Putti, Barbara died young: in 1926 she passed away from complications of tuberculosis and nephritis, and had been suffering from severe health issues for the past two years. We'll be watching her in The Prisoner of Zenda.

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Here are all the films and their YouTube links. These should all have scores. If there is any sort of issue with these links, please let me know. Films currently being watched will have red titles and a larger bold font. We'll have roughly a week to watch each film, and we can discuss them whenever we want in this thread. Remember to use spoiler tags!

A Fool There Was (1915)
1 hr 6 m; Aug 31 - Sep 7
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P5iKJKZfk0c

She (1925)
1 hr 34 m; Sep 7 - Sep 14
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7a5W3X69vxc

Blood and Sand (1922)
1 hr 48 m; Sep 14 - Sep 21
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=catnNrUlEHQ

The Prisoner of Zenda (1922)
1 hr 53 m; Sep 21 - Sep 28
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uQBd_3eCKyQ

Variety (1925)
1 hr 41 m; Sep 28 - Oct 5
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=83WLUYKM79E

Happy viewing!
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Last edited by BettyLouSpence on Sun Sep 27, 2020 11:11 pm, edited 5 times in total.
"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."
~ Cicero, Letters to Friends, Book IX Letter IV

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Kitty
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Re: Vamp, Vamp, Vamp: A Celebration of the Silent Femme Fatale

Post by Kitty »

If only you could have seen my BIG smile when I saw that you'd created another event and the even BIGGER smile when I saw that it was a vamp theme. I'm so excited. Yay!
Actual clip of my joy:
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You trying to tell me you didn't hear that shriek? That was something trying to get out of its premature grave, and I don't want to be here when it does. - Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

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BettyLouSpence
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Re: Vamp, Vamp, Vamp: A Celebration of the Silent Femme Fatale

Post by BettyLouSpence »

Knowing that I was able to put a smile on your face puts a smile on mine! :D
"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."
~ Cicero, Letters to Friends, Book IX Letter IV

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donnie
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Re: Vamp, Vamp, Vamp: A Celebration of the Silent Femme Fatale

Post by donnie »

Well, all right! Cool! :db: This is going to be lots of fun. :D You did a fabulous job of setting it up.

These will be interesting discoveries for me because the only one I've seen is A Fool There Was—and I love that one, and look forward to rewatching and discussing it (especially as there is a cryptic thing or two in the plot I've never been able to figure out.) AND—this link has the wonderful Phil Carli piano score which enhances the film so beautifully.

Bravo, Betty! :)

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donnie
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Re: Vamp, Vamp, Vamp: A Celebration of the Silent Femme Fatale

Post by donnie »

Okay, I've re-watched A Fool There Was. My notes:
► Show Spoiler

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Kitty
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Re: Vamp, Vamp, Vamp: A Celebration of the Silent Femme Fatale

Post by Kitty »

I watched A Fool There Was, and boy, was there ever!
► Show Spoiler
You trying to tell me you didn't hear that shriek? That was something trying to get out of its premature grave, and I don't want to be here when it does. - Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

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donnie
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Re: Vamp, Vamp, Vamp: A Celebration of the Silent Femme Fatale

Post by donnie »

► Show Spoiler
Last edited by donnie on Mon Sep 07, 2020 9:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Vamp, Vamp, Vamp: A Celebration of the Silent Femme Fatale

Post by BettyLouSpence »

I was finally able to sit down and watch this. My thoughts below:
► Show Spoiler
Bonus: here is the Rudyard Kipling poem The Vampire. The film was based on a 1909 Broadway production, also called A Fool There Was, its title originating from the poem. Excerpts appear throughout the film.

https://poets.org/poem/vampire-0#
"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."
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donnie
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Re: Vamp, Vamp, Vamp: A Celebration of the Silent Femme Fatale

Post by donnie »

BettyLouSpence wrote:
Mon Sep 07, 2020 9:42 pm
I was finally able to sit down and watch this. My thoughts below:
Replies:
► Show Spoiler
BettyLouSpence wrote:
Mon Sep 07, 2020 9:42 pm
Bonus: here is the Rudyard Kipling poem The Vampire. The film was based on a 1909 Broadway production, also called A Fool There Was, its title originating from the poem. Excerpts appear throughout the film.

https://poets.org/poem/vampire-0#
Thanks for the poem link. I didn’t exactly understand the bits and pieces in the film—and I still don’t really understand it too much when put together as a whole. Odd poem.

Is the speaker of the poem talking about a wanton seductress? Could the repeated “Even as you or I” seem to give a hint that he may be talking about something broader?—unless the speaker and reader are understood to be victims of femme fatales themselves, also—which would seem a little odd... And …”he made his prayer…/To a rag and a bone and a hank of hair…” —? Strange description. (Sounds more like a voodoo doll.)

And what is it exactly that the woman is incapable of knowing? And how is it that "we" now know that she never could have known?

Any interpretive help for me on this? :)

Edit: Maybe I better check and see if I asked Fritzi about this. :lol:

Another edit: Kitty, I'll be glad when this thread turns over to page 2. Everytime I scroll past that laughing pig thing, it grosses me out. :shock: :)

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Re: Vamp, Vamp, Vamp: A Celebration of the Silent Femme Fatale

Post by BettyLouSpence »

donnie wrote:
Mon Sep 07, 2020 10:26 pm
Yes! I dig that. I see exactly what you are talking about. There’s some kind of atmosphere there that does transport you back to the feel of the time and place… Now you mention it, that kind of lighting in general has always struck me when I’ve seen it in films of this era. It seems to bring a "you are there" heightened reality somehow to the scene.
Glad to know I'm not alone in that regard! Something about the natural lighting and how it falls on the faces, I think.
Any interpretive help for me on this? :)
I took the "even as you or I" to mean "like you and me (would)". I'm not sure what it was that the lady didn't know and didn't understand... maybe she didn't know why anyone would waste their years and tears, and work with their head and hands, and couldn't understand living honorably?

Btw, this is the painting that inspired Kipling's poem. The Vampire (1896) by Philip Burne-Jones (also Kipling's cousin). Looks just like Theda!

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Another edit: Kitty, I'll be glad when this thread turns over to page 2. Everytime I scroll past that laughing pig thing, it grosses me out. :shock: :)
:lol:
"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."
~ Cicero, Letters to Friends, Book IX Letter IV

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