A Fool There Was

A Fool There Was is a 1915 Theda Bara movie. Today is the anniversary of the death in 1955 of Theda Bara (according to IMDB, though Wikipedia lists the date as 4/13), and this is one of the few of her films that has survived.

There is a Theda Bara tribute site here, photo galleries here, a short biography here and a short overview of her career here. FilmReference.com has a list of her films and lists some print resources. She has a Facebook page.

She was never in a "talkie".

The Vampire

by
Rudyard Kipling

A fool there was and he made his prayer
(Even as you and I!)
To a rag and a bone and a hank of hair
(We called her the woman who did not care),
But the fool he called her his lady fair
(Even as you and I!)

Oh the years we waste and the tears we waste
And the work of our head and hand,
Belong to the woman who did not know
(And now we know that she never could know)
And did not understand.

A fool there was and his goods he spent
(Even as you and I!)
Honor and faith and a sure intent
But a fool must follow his natural bent
(And it wasn't the least what the lady meant),
(Even as you and I!)

Oh the toil we lost and the spoil we lost
And the excellent things we planned,
Belong to the woman who didn't know why
(And now we know she never knew why)
And did not understand.

The fool we stripped to his foolish hide
(Even as you and I!)
Which she might have seen when she threw him aside --
(But it isn't on record the lady tried)
So some of him lived but the most of him died --
(Even as you and I!)

And it isn't the shame and it isn't the blame
That stings like a white hot brand.
It's coming to know that she never knew why
(Seeing at last she could never know why)
And never could understand.

2/19/2010: Ferdy on Films has a post on this movie as part of the Film Preservation Blogathon.