Mariemont Theatre screens last three prints of Theda Bara

A sold-out audience at the Mariemont Theatre will view the only three surviving films of Theda Bara on Saturday, October 24. The scarcity of the material stems from a 1937 fire at Fox Studios, which destroyed the vast majority of her body of work. Bara, born Theodosia Goodman in Avondale, made 40 films between 1914 and 1919 before her career largely ended at age 35.

Bara’s rise to fame was engineered by studio publicists who crafted a fictional backstory, billing her as an Arab princess whose name was an anagram for "Arab Death." She became known as the original screen "vamp." In her own words, however, she was "a nice Jewish girl from Cincinnati." Born on July 29, 1885, to a Jewish tailor and a Swiss mother, she attended Walnut Hills High School and the University of Cincinnati before moving to New York City to act.

The Saturday program features the screening of A Fool There Was, one of the few remaining titles. Nadya Ellerhorst, producer of the eight-minute documentary Theda Bara's Memoirs, will also present that film. Ellerhorst described Bara as "truly a fascinating Cincinnati figure." The documentary includes excerpts from East Lynne, The Unchastened Woman, and Cleopatra. Since May 2025, the documentary has accumulated 50,000 views on YouTube after airing on Channels 48 and 16.

Following the screenings, a panel discussion will feature 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, will also participate. Ellerhorst will join them to discuss the actress’s legacy. The event includes a costume contest, timed to coincide with Halloween one week later.

The documentary details a 450-page typed, unpublished biography held in the University of Cincinnati Archives and Rare Book Library. Bara’s film career saw a brief resurgence in 1925 with The Unchastened Woman and in 1926 with Madame Mystery. She had married film director Charles Brabin in 1921.

Xavier University states it acquired Bara’s former home at Victory Parkway and Ledgewood Drive from a different owner in 1979. The university used the Spanish-style house as the "Villa" for its Honors College before demolishing it in 2011. Bara died of abdominal cancer in Los Angeles in 1955 at age 69.