Cleopatra (partially found drama film; 1917): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 21:55, 15 March 2016

Main actress Theda Bara in one of her "risque" outfits in the film.

Status: Lost

Cleopatra is a 1917 silent film starring Theda Bara. ^[1] This is one of her many silent-era films to be lost (only 4 are still known to exist). Of this two and a half hour long film, only 20 seconds have survived.

Many believe the film to be among the most elaborate and expensive of its time. The film is known for Bara's risque outfits, and some claim that her privates were exposed several times throughout the movie.^[2] This caused the film to be labeled as "obscene", and many church organizations tried obtaining copies of the film to destroy them. Historians and collectors scrambled to save as many copies as they could. The last known copies of the film were destroyed in a studio vault fire in the 1930's, and the film has never been seen in its entirety since.

No surviving footage other than the aforementioned twenty second clip is known to exist. It has fallen into a category with 1922 Stroheim Director's Cut of Greed as a "holy grail" amongst movie collectors.

Surviving Footage

The surviving 20 seconds.

References

↑ Wikipedia article Retrieved 15 Mar '16.
↑ Silent Era article Retrieved 15 Mar '16.

[1] Wikipedia article Retrieved 15 Mar '16.

[2] Silent Era article Retrieved 15 Mar '16.

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{#ev:youtube|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWn7L2pL5dI|320x240|right|The surviving 20 seconds.|frame}}
+{{InfoboxLost
-[[File:ThedaBara-Cleopatra.jpg|thumb|320px|One of Bara's "risque" outfits.]]
+|title=<center>Cleopatra (1917)</center>
-'''''Cleopatra '''''is a 1917 silent film starring Theda Bara. It is one of her many lost films (only 4 from her prolific film career in the silent era are still known to exist). Of this reportedly 2 and a half hour long film, only 20 seconds survive.
+|image=ThedaBara-Cleopatra.jpg
+|imagecaption=Main actress Theda Bara in one of her "risque" outfits in the film.
+|status=<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
+}}
-Many claim the film to be one of the most elaborate and expensive of its time. Without any remaining footage, nobody can really know for sure. The film is infamous for Bara's risque, nearly nude outfits (some claim that her privates were exposed several times throughout the movie). This caused the film to be labeled as "obscene" and church organizations all tried obtaining copies of the film to destroy them. Historians and collectors scrambled to save as many copies as they could. The last known few copies of the film were destroyed (like many classic films of the silent era) in a studio vault fire in the 1930s and the film has never been seen since.
+'''''Cleopatra '''''is a 1917 silent film starring Theda Bara. <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleopatra_(1917_film) Wikipedia article] Retrieved 15 Mar '16.</ref> This is one of her many silent-era films to be lost (only 4 are still known to exist). Of this two and a half hour long film, only 20 seconds have survived.
-Aside from the aforementioned 20 second fragment, no known surviving footage from the film exists. The film was called one of the best and most daring roles Bara took on. Bara was proud of her performance and really liked being able to show off her body. Just like the 1922 Stroheim Director's Cut of ''Greed'', this is viewed as another "holy grail" amongst movie collectors.
+Many believe the film to be among the most elaborate and expensive of its time. The film is known for Bara's risque outfits, and some claim that her privates were exposed several times throughout the movie.<ref>[http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/C/Cleopatra1917.html Silent Era article] Retrieved 15 Mar '16.</ref> This caused the film to be labeled as "obscene", and many church organizations tried obtaining copies of the film to destroy them. Historians and collectors scrambled to save as many copies as they could. The last known copies of the film were destroyed in a studio vault fire in the 1930's, and the film has never been seen in its entirety since.
+No surviving footage other than the aforementioned twenty second clip is known to exist. It has fallen into a category with 1922 Stroheim Director's Cut of ''Greed'' as a "holy grail" amongst movie collectors.
+==Surviving Footage==
+{{#ev:youtube|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWn7L2pL5dI|640x480|center|The surviving 20 seconds.|frame}}
+==References==
+<references/>
 [[Category:Lost films]]
 [[Category:Partially found media]]