The Vamp In Classic Movies

[Timestamped list of films below]
Before the femme fatale, there was the vamp. This dangerous woman archetype in popular culture was inspired by a 1897 painting by Philip Burne-Jones entitled The Vampire, which later that year inspired a Rudyard Kipling poem of the same name, which would likewise inspire the 1909 stage play a Fool There Was. The vamp debuted onscreen in The Vampire (1913) (once thought lost, a copy is now owned by the George Eastman Museum), and was popularized by Theda Bara in the 1915 film adaptation A Fool There Was. In the silent age, the vamp represented a deadly, erotic threat. By mid-century, she was portrayed in Hollywood movies as an amusing artifact from from another time as the video will show.
The music refers to a dance called the vamp, but is nevertheless often associated with this dangerous female archetype.
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Music:
The Vamp (1919), Waldorf Astoria Singing Orchestra
archive.org/de...
Films/Vamps in Order of Appearance:
Yola d'Avril in Diplomaniacs (1933)
Theda Bara
Alice Hollister in The Vampire (1913)
Virginia Pearson
Valeska Suratt
Theda Bara
Musidora
Louise Glaum
Nita Naldi
Louise Glaum
Theda Bara
A Fool There Was (1915)(2)
00:00:35
Title card from The Wolf Woman (1916)
A Fool There Was (1915)
Musidora in Les Vampires (1915)
A Fool There Was (1915)(2)
Title card from The Wolf Woman (1916)
A Fool There Was (1915)
Nola Luxford in Girl Shy (1924)
00:01:01
A Fool There Was (1915)
Louise Glaum in The Wolf Woman (1916)
A Fool There Was (1915)
Musidora in Les Vampires (1915)
Louise Glaum in The Wolf Woman (1916)
Nola Luxford in Girl Shy (1924)
00:01:36
A Fool There Was (1915)(2)
Nola Luxford in Girl Shy (1924)
The Vampire, by Philip Burne-Jones
Louise Glaum with William Conklin in Sex (1920)
00:02:04
Theda Bara and Edward José in A Fool There Was (1915)
Valeska Suratt in The New York Peacock (1917)
Julie Newmar in Deep in My Heart (1954)
Judy Landon in Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Julie Newmar in Deep in My Heart (1954)
Ann Francis in Susan Slept Here (1954)
Julie Newmar in Deep in My Heart (1954)

[@LightningRound1st]

Theda Bara was the original Vamp for "A Fool There Was" a 1915 movie based on Rudyard Kipling's poem "The Vampyre." She was amazing. Her acting looks so affected today but it was actually based on an old school of acting that designated certain moves for specific emotions. In her prime, her fandom rivaled Chaplin and Pickford.
It is significant to mention that her movies saved Fox Studios from financial ruin--only to be unceremoniously tossed aside later. Her career also initiated the first PR team, something that became so ubiquitous thereafter. She is an important figure in Cinema history and deserves to be remembered as one of the Hollywood greats.

[@fernandarangelgoncalves1817]

I just love silent film Vamps. They were like rock stars but in the 1910's and 1920's.

[@maevependragon]

My muses...😍😍😍