Fox Fire Erased Most of Theda Bara's Work, Leaving Just Three Films

The Mariemont Theatre sold out its October 24 screening to show the only three surviving films of silent screen star Theda Bara. A 1937 fire at Fox Studios destroyed the rest of her output, leaving just a fraction of her 40-picture career intact.

The program features the film A Fool There Was, one of the three prints that remain. It also includes Theda Bara's Memoirs, an eight-minute documentary produced and directed by Nadya Ellerhorst. Ellerhorst, a producer for The Art Show on WCET-TV and WPTD-TV, called Bara a fascinating Cincinnati figure.

A panel discussion follows the screenings. The group includes Dr. Jennifer Glaser, an associate professor at the University of Cincinnati and Bara historian. Brian Powers, a historian with the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library, and Ellerhorst also participate. The event concludes with a costume contest to mark the upcoming Halloween holiday.

Bara was born Theodosia Goodman on July 29, 1885, at 823 Hutchins Avenue in the Avondale neighborhood. Her father was a Jewish tailor and her mother was Swiss. She attended Walnut Hills High School and spent two years at the University of Cincinnati before moving to New York City to act. Studio publicists later billed her as an Arab princess, creating a fictional backstory that contrasted with her local roots.

Between 1914 and 1919, she made 40 films, including Cleopatra and Romeo and Juliet. Her career paused after 1919, though she returned to the screen in 1925 for The Unchastened Woman and in 1926 for Madame Mystery. The 1937 fire at Fox Studios claimed most of her earlier work, including The Stain and The Devil's Daughter.

Those without tickets can watch Theda Bara's Memoirs online. The documentary has drawn 50,000 views on YouTube since May 2025 and aired on Channels 48 and 16. It includes excerpts from A Fool There Was, East Lynne, The Unchastened Woman, and Cleopatra. The film also details a 450-page unpublished biography held in the University of Cincinnati Archives and Rare Book Library.

Bara married director Charles Brabin in 1921. Xavier University acquired her former home at Victory Parkway and Ledgewood Drive in 1979 and used it for its Honors College. The university demolished the Spanish-style house in 2011. Bara died of abdominal cancer in Los Angeles in 1955 at age 69.