Fox Fire Left Only Three Theda Bara Films; Cincinnati Packed to Watch Them

A 1937 fire at Fox Studios destroyed 37 of the 40 films made by Theda Bara, leaving only three surviving prints of the Cincinnati-born silent movie star. On Saturday, Oct. 24, the Mariemont Theatre will show those remaining works to a sold-out crowd, an event that underscores how little of her career remains visible today.

Bara, born Theodosia Goodman in 1885, spent five years as a leading name in silent cinema. Studio publicists crafted a fictional persona for her, describing her as an Arab princess and claiming her name was an anagram for "Arab Death." Bara rejected that myth in her own words, identifying herself as "a nice Jewish girl from Cincinnati." She was the daughter of a Jewish tailor and a Swiss mother, raised at 823 Hutchins Ave. in Avondale.

Her filmography between 1914 and 1919 included titles such as The Stain, A Fool There Was, and Cleopatra. Nadya Ellerhorst, producer of the local PBS series The Art Show, described Bara as "truly a fascinating Cincinnati figure." Ellerhorst produced an eight-minute documentary, Theda Bara's Memoirs, which will also screen at the event.

The program pairs the documentary with a screening of A Fool There Was. A panel discussion follows, featuring Dr. Jennifer Glaser, a University of Cincinnati associate professor and Bara historian; Brian Powers, a historian with the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library; and Ellerhorst. The evening includes a costume contest timed to coincide with Halloween.

Those without tickets can access the documentary online, which has recorded 50,000 views on YouTube since May 2025. The film incorporates clips from four surviving or partially surviving works and examines a 450-page unpublished biography held in the University of Cincinnati Archives and Rare Book Library.

Bara's primary career ended in 1919, before she turned 35. She returned to the screen in 1925 for The Unchastened Woman and in 1926 for Madame Mystery. In 1921, she married director Charles Brabin. Xavier University acquired her former home in 1979 and used it for its Honors College before demolishing the Spanish-style structure in 2011. Bara died of abdominal cancer in Los Angeles in 1955 at age 69.