CLEOPATRA (1917) Theda Bara Vintage Enhanced Photo LOST SILENT FILM
Item History & Price
This is a vintage original 6.75 x 9.25 in. US single-weight glossy photograph from the lost silent film drama/romance, CLEOPATRA, released in 1917 by the Fox Film Corporation and directed by J. Gordon Edwards. Based on H. Rider Haggard's 1889 novel, “Cleopatra, ” andthe plays "Cleopatre" by Émile Moreau and VictorienSardou and “Antony and Cleopatra” by William Shakespeare, Theda Bara stars in her most famous role of ...Cleopatra, the fabulous queen of Egypt, and theepic romances between her and the greatest men of Rome, Julius Caesar (Fritz Leiber) andAntony (Thurston Hall).
The image features an interior close shot of Cleopatra (Theda Bara) wearing one of the many elaborate costumes created for this film which includes a jeweled head-piece, straps on her shoulders, and bracelets around her upper arms as she gazes directly at the viewer. This vintage original photograph features the original large Fox Film Corporation rubber stamp credit on the verso in blue ink. It was actually used for publicity purposes by a newspaper in what appears to be the late 1960's and early 1970's and features four small newspaper clipping of this actual photograph affixed to the verso. Since it was used by a newspaper, it has been enhanced with light gray/silver ink in the upper background area; portions of her face have been enhanced, her figure has been outlined in with various colors, and her image is framed inside a black greasepaint border.
Trimmed from 8x10 in., this vintage original photograph is in very good condition with a small chip on the bottom left corner; random signs of wear along the edges; and light waviness from where the newspaper clippings were affixed to the verso. Cleopatra is a lost silent film and is on the American Film Institute's "Lost Films" list. The last two known prints were destroyed in fires at the Foxstudios and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Approximately 40 seconds of footage has beenpreserved, as a few feet of this filmwere turned over to the George Eastman House by a private collector. Cleopatra was one of the most elaborate Hollywood filmsever produced up to that time, with particularly lavish sets and costumes.According to the studio, the film cost $500, 000 (equivalent to around$9.78 million today) to make and employed 2, 000 people behind the scenes. Bara appeared in a variety of costumes, some quite risqué. The film was agreat success at the time. The picture was filmed on the Dominquez slough justoutside Long Beach, California. The throne prop used in the film ended up, years later, in the possession of Leon Schlesinger Productions; itsdisposition after the acquisition of that company by Warner Bros. isunknown. The film contains the largest number of costume changes byone performer (50) in any silent film. Coincidentally, the largest number ofcostume changes by a single performer in any film was Elizabeth Taylor's65 in Cleopatra (1963). Even though a print of the film didnot exist, this was the version that 20th Century-Fox was inspired to remake in1958, the result being Cleopatra (1963)starring Elizabeth Taylor. Producer Walter Wanger was handed aparched script of the original film and told to update it and immediately gointo production.Filmmaker and film historian Phillip Dye isreconstructing Cleopatra on video, titled Lost Cleopatra, editing together still picture montages combined with the surviving film clip.The script is based on the original scenario with modifications based onresearch into censorship reports, reviews of the film and synopses from periodmagazines. Dye screened the film at the Hollywood Heritage Museum onFebruary 8, 2017.
