J. Gordon Edwards Movies

Believe it or not, this 1915 American version of Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina was the second full-length treatment of the story; the first was filmed in Russia in 1914. Produced by the fledgling Fox Film Corporation, this Anna Karenina starred Danish actress Betty Nansen in the title role. Despite its relatively brief 5-reel running time, the film was a fairly lucid retelling of the aristocratic Anna's disastrous extramarital affair with the dashing Count Vronsky. The familiar dramatic setpieces, including Anna's climactic suicide, were not nearly as fascinating to watch as an extended "location" sequence in which Anna and the Count were seen enjoying a skiing expedition. Anna Karenina would of course be remade several times, most memorably by Greta Garbo in 1936 and Vivien Leigh in 1947. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

By 1917, Theda Bara had become one of the screen's biggest stars, and her fans had long been suggesting that she portray ancient Egypt's famed queen. So Bara's studio, Fox, shipped her out to Los Angeles for this spectacular production (all of her prior films had been shot on the East Coast). Bara did extensive research on the role, and she knew that Cleopatra was a cunning political leader; the studio, of course, played up the sex angle, so she comes across as a woman who, if she didn't sleep her way to the top, at least slept her way through the top. She first seduces Caesar (Fritz Leiber), then after his assassination, she turns her adversary Pharon (Albert Roscoe) into a lover. Finally, Marc Antony (Thurston Hall) tries to conquer Cleopatra but instead is conquered by her charms. Even marriage to Octavia (Genevieve Blinn) can't keep him from joining his destiny with the Queen of the Nile. It turns out to be his downfall, as Octavia's brother Octavius (Henri de Vries) opposes and defeats him, and he is forced to kill himself. Instead of using the dagger like Antony, Cleopatra prefers the drama of being bitten by a poisonous snake. The studio's publicity department had a field day with the promotion for this picture -- this was when they came up with the brilliant insight that the name "Theda Bara" was an anagram for "Arab Death." Bara herself went along with the fun, first claiming to be the reincarnation of a daughter of Seti, high priest of the pharaohs, and then insisting that in a past life she was Cleopatra herself. Years later, long after the end of her career, she gleefully admitted it was all a wonderful joke. Unfortunately, the film itself, which ran over two hours and was one of the top box office draws of 1917, has apparently been lost. This is especially tragic, since still photos of the elaborate sets and shockingly bare costumes only serve to heighten curiosity about this motion picture. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

In this melodrama, the usually virile William Farnum was cast against type as a violinist who is devoted to his sister. Pierre Fournel (Farnum) and his sister Gabrielle (Betty Milburn) are residents of a Quebec village. Gabrielle is married to Rouget (Rowland G. Edwards), a ne'er-do-well who is merely taking advantage of her. Kathleen Noyes, a New York society girl (Gladys Coburn), comes to the village and is entranced by Fournel's violin playing. Her fiancé Rupert Blake (Robert Cain) is furiously jealous, and plots with Rouget to destroy Fournel's reputation. When he travels to New York, Fournel learns that Rouget isn't married to Gabrielle after all. In addition, Fournel is falsely accused of theft. He clears up the charge, then goes to Quebec and gives Rouget a sound thrashing (finally showing some of that Farnum feistiness). Rouget reforms and does right by Gabrielle. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Richard Hall (William Farnum) is a successful author and businessman, but his wife Alice (Alice Fleming) is more interested in her opera career than she is in their marriage. This causes more than a little friction and it culminates in Hall attacking her manager and killing him in a struggle. Hall receives a life sentence, but is paroled after 22 years. A broken ex-con, he looks for charity and one home he approaches happens to belong to the fiancé of his daughter, Grace (Evelyn Greeley). When he finds this out, he tries to go away so he won't disgrace her. His suspicious actions cause him to be arrested and he begs to be sent back to prison. Eventually, though, he pulls himself together and reunites with his daughter and her new husband. The neglectful Alice, meanwhile, has been disowned by Grace and is left to her career. Although a star for many years, by 1921 William Farnum wasn't keeping up with the times and his acting style and make-up were glaringly old-fashioned. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

In this western, William Farnum plays yet another Zane Grey character. Duane Steele (Farnum) is a Texas Ranger who is determined to get the outlaws out of his part of the Lone Star state for good. Right off, he comes across some cattle rustlers, who are manhandling a young lady named Ray (Louise Lovely). Steele rescues her, and her father (Charles Clary) gratefully offers him a job on his ranch. Since this will put him close to the outlaw camp (not to mention Ray), Steele accepts. He proceeds to round up the outlaws, dead or alive -- all but one. Leader Cyrus Longstreth eludes his grasp until Steele finally figures out that he is Ray's father, the grateful ranch owner. But the truth is that Longstreth is tired of the rustling business and his henchmen have been forcing him to remain with the gang. Ultimately the dilemma is solved to everyone's satisfaction -- except, of course, the rustlers. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Theda Bara couldn't have gotten any farther away from her vamp roles than the part of Juliet in this silent adaptation of Shakespeare's most romantic play. But she makes a good job of it (considering her archaic acting style) and performs with a passion that Beverly Bayne lacked in the Metro Pictures version of Romeo and Juliet, which was released at the same time. Bayne's Romeo, Francis X. Bushman, however, was far and away better than Harry Hilliard, Bara's leading man. Hilliard, a musical comedy star of the stage, was chosen for the role because of his likeness to Bushman and left movies the year after his film debut. Fox, the studio responsible for this version of Romeo and Juliet, tried to one-up the original author by modifying the death scene -- here, Juliet wakes up on the bier and finds Romeo still alive. They have a final scene together before he dies of the poison he has swallowed. Then, she kills herself. Rewriting Shakespeare was a questionable pursuit, at best. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

In this Theda Bara spectacular, she plays one of history's most notorious vamps. Salome, a favorite of the Roman court, uses her feminine wiles to get anything she wants. The only man who doesn't fall for her tricks is John the Baptist (Albert Roscoe, who played the part clean-shaven). Salome wreaks havoc in the court until a banquet King Herod (G. Raymond Nye) holds for the captains of his army. John the Baptist is being held prisoner at the palace and Salome once again tries to make him succumb to her. When he turns a cold shoulder, she angrily leaves and offers to dance for Herod as long as he rewards her with anything she wants. He agrees and she dances. When she is done she asks for the head of John the Baptist. Even though Herod is horrified by this request, he accedes to her demand and his head is brought out on a platter. Salome kisses the dead man's lips and a monstrous storm rises up. Herod, believing that this is a sign from the God preached by John the Baptist, has Salome put to death. This was Bara's biggest release since Cleopatra, released a year earlier. Its sets were elaborate (although apparently not historically correct) and her costumes impressive. It was the star's last hurrah before her career began its downslide. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

After being made into a stage play by Wright Lorimer and Arnold Reeves, the Old Testament story of David was adapted for the screen. Director J. Gordon Edwards spent over a year in Palestine, Jerusalem and Egypt filming, with a primarily Italian cast. Unfortunately all this effort was in vain, as there were too many title cards and not enough thrills. In addition, it had heavy competition due to the concurrent release of Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments. The only name familiar to Americans was actress Violet Mersereau, who starred as Princess Michal. When Saul, the first king of Judea (Guido Trento) disobeys the Lord's command and begins preparing too early to battle the Philistines, the Prophet Samuel (Adriano Bocanera) tells him he will lose his throne. Samuel selects David (Nerio Bernardi) to become king and all of Saul's attempts to get rid of him are in vain. David slays Goliath (Samuel Balestra) and battles the Philistines victoriously. Saul and his son Jonathan (Ferrucio Biancini) are war casualties, and David is proclaimed king. For his wife, he takes Michal, Saul's daughter. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

You'd never know it from the title, but The Darling of Paris was a film version of Victor Hugo's Hunchback of Notre Dame. The titular hunchback (played by the forgotten Glen White) is downplayed in favor of gypsy dancing girl Esmerelda, here played by movie vamp Theda Bara. Esmerelda essential innocence and naivety were probably beyond the range of Bara, but audiences in 1917 would have lined up to see the star in a movie adaptation of the Los Angeles City Directory. The spectacular elements of the story were adeptly handled by director J. Gordon Edwards, who later helmed Theda Bara's successor Betty Blythe in The Queen of Sheba. Like all of Edwards' films (and most of Bara's), The Darling of Paris no longer exists. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Theda Bara does her usual vamp turn in this picture, but this time she's a vamp who turns out to have a heart of gold. Her character, Blanchette DuMonde, is known as "the wickedest woman in Paris," and because of this sordid reputation, she is not allowed to serve as a nurse during World War I. So she becomes an Apache dancer instead. A young sculptor is taken with Blanchette and would like her to pose for a statue, but her latest sugar daddy (Eugene Ormonde) won't allow it. Sadly, the sculptor goes to war and comes back home blinded. Meanwhile, Blanchette has dumped her sugar daddy for a ruffian, but she leaves him for the blinded sculptor and is happy taking care of him. Both her ex-boyfriends track her down, and she kills the ruffian. The sugar daddy winds up taking credit for the murder after being upbraided by the blind man, who tells him, "You only saw Blanchette's body. It took a man without eyes to see her soul." The Light was a success after a year's worth of failures for Bara, and it brought life back to her limping career. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

It is easy to imagine Theda Bara playing the lead in this Fox Biblical epic, especially since its credited director is J. Gordon Edwards, who manned the megaphone for many of Bara's films. But by 1920, Bara had pretty much left films (she would only make two more pictures during the 1920s), and Betty Blythe, who also became known for her exotic vehicles, played the lead. Blythe, however, did not exude the unbridled sexuality that Bara did -- something that trade paper Moving Picture World saw as a plus: the fact that "there is never a suggestion of the vamp in one of her poses or gestures," it noted, would keep the bluenoses from complaining about her skimpy costumes. And there is much bare flesh to be had in this picture. When the Queen of Sheba kills her mate, the wicked King (George Siegmann), her people are grateful. She pays a visit to the court of King Solomon (Fritz Leiber) and wins a chariot race for him. Solomon falls in love with her, and the night before she leaves she visits him in his private quarters. The result of this meeting is a child, which the Queen's people accept as the son of the dead King. When the boy (Pat Moore) is four, she sends him to visit Solomon, who is happy to see him. His brother (G. Raymond Nye), however, is not so thrilled -- he believes that Solomon plans to make the boy heir to his throne. He attempts to overthrow the King, and the Queen, realizing that her son is in danger, takes her army to help Solomon. Once the King's foes are vanquished, the Queen tells Solomon good-bye, and returns home with her son. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Celebrated Danish actress Betty Nansen starred in this modernized version of Sardou's 1887 drama La Tosca. Some of the names are changed, but the basic story, about a woman who agrees to sleep with a duplicitous police official in exchange for her lover's life, remained unchanged. Well photographed, the film relied heavily upon long, languorous dissolves and dreamy flashback sequences. In addition, star Nansen was evenly matched by Arthur Hoops in the role of her rebellious lover Scarpia. Perhaps not as memorable as Puccini's operatic version of La Tosca, Song of Hate was nonetheless quite well received upon its original release; alas, like all of director J. Gordon Edwards' films, this 6-reel Fox production no longer exists. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi