1915 > USA > Directed by Frank Powell

With Theda Bara, Edward Jose

Featuring a breakthrough performance by Theda Bara, one of America's most famous silent film stars, A Fool There Was is just one of two surviving films starring Bara, even though she made 40. The film launched the career of pioneer producer William Fox and the Fox Film Corporation, and established a new archetype: "the vamp," a woman who uses her charms to seduce men and then ruins their lives. A landmark in early American cinema, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2015. This recent restoration will be accompanied live by a score for chamber ensemble by Dr. Philip C. Carli. Print courtesy The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Cosponsored with the CCA and the Wharton Studio Museum.

*Preserved by The Museum of Modern Art with support from the National Film Preservation Foundation/National Park Service and The Film Foundation. 

1 hr 18 min