Fool There Was, A
Kino (1915)
Drama, silent
In Collection
#4818
0*
Seen ItYes
738329024123
  6.0
1 hr 7 mins USA / English
DVD  Region 1   NR
May Allison The Wife's Sister
Theda Bara The Vampire
Victor Benoit One of Her Victims
Clifford Bruce The Friend
Mabel Frenyear Kate Schuyler
Minna Gale The Doctor's Fiancee
Runa Hodges The Child
Frank Powell The Doctor
Edward Jose The Husband
Creighton Hale Bit Part
Director
Frank Powell
Producer William Fox
Writer Frank Powell
Rudyard Kipling
Porter Emerson Browne
Roy L. McCardell

Watching this today is akin to taking a trip in a time machine. That is, to a time when a snub or a peccadillo had serious social consequences, when an exposed ankle was suggestive and daring, and when the presence of an assertive, sexualized vamp had power to shock us.

Sadly, however, this scores low on the scale of cinematic value; whatever luster it once had isn't evident today.

The story itself is a simple, if lurid, morality play, and nothing more. The intertitles are designed to lead us to the inevitable "see what happens!" conclusion. Nowadays, we expect a bit of irony, a degree of ambivalence.

Likewise with the cinematography...all quite straightforward storytelling, with no narrative games. The filter color changes don't denote anything. In short, this is a depleted asset.
Edition Details
Release Date 4/2/2002
Packaging Keep Case
Screen Ratio Fullscreen (4:3)
Audio Tracks SIL [English]
Layers Single Side, Single Layer
No. of Disks/Tapes 1

Features
Complete Text of Rudyard Kipling's poem "The Vampire." Scrapbook of Photographs and Text