The Washington times., 1917-11-19
THEDA BARA SCORES
AS CLEOPATRA" IN
VIVID FILM DRAMA.

Theda Bara scores q triumph in the
film drama, Cleopatra" produced in
Washington for the first time at the
Belasco last night.
William Fox, the producer, has sur
rounded the star with a capable cast
OF principals, and the picture is
superbIy mounted. It is a picture Of
old Egypt, the Egypt OF the Greek,
the Roman, the Ptolemy-true to the
story Of antiquity and rich in splen-
dors OF revelry unbounded and un-
bridled.
Especially noteworthy are the
desert scenes, with the Sphinx and
the Pyramids looming in the back
ground. Then there is the naval bat
tie between the fleets OF Octavius ana
those of Mark Antony and Cleopatra
on Actium, which stirred the nrst-
nighters with Its rapid action.
The play opens with Caesar In the
ascendancy on his quest to conquer
the world for Rome. Defiant Of the
invaders mighty armies, Cleopatra
decides to conquer the conqueror not
with her armies but with her wiles.
Army Of 5000 Men.
In the scene in which Cleopatra
>Aees from her palace at Alexandria,
and, surrounded by her army. awaits
word from the Roman conqueror,
there are used more than 5000 men.
with them are 1000 horses and
camels, and a vast city Of multi-col-
ored tents, pitched in the shadow Of
the pyramids.
1t required a small army of work
men and artisans to erect, under the
rays of the hot southern California
sun on the edge OF the Majave desert,
one Of the greatest 'sets" ever made.
TO give the. proper atmosphere to
the photographing Of the sphinx and
the scene, three pyramids. thirty-eight
feet high and nfty-two feet across the
base, were constructed.
Again, it took 5000 human beings
in brilliant garb to populate the
huge and vivid Egyptian palace which
rose in q few days in q place formerly
q scene of utter desolation and a
habitat OF only wild duck and jack
rabbits.
Out of the broad expanse Of water
less small craft built in ancient
fashion, with huge biilowy salls and
painted oars, each with Its individual
crew. For the royal barge alone
that OF Cleopatra, magnsicently dec
GRATED with banners and carvings
$50 men were needed-far more than
the crew Of = modern torpedo de-
stroyer.
Over 1000 people are used IN the
scenes in Rome. the settings of which
took weeks to construct Although
the actual filming was only a days
work. the cost for II came well around
$15, 900.
ExeeIIenee Of Types.
The most remarkable feature OF the
extra business, the makers Of the
film say, was the excellence of the
type to be obtained in California.
Romans, Egyptians. Nubians, Greeks,
Persians-they were all at hand just
az you want them.
In many instances Mexicans are
used in the picture for Egyptians,
fair-haired Americans for Romans,
and real negroes for the Egyptian
slaves. The Nubian types are really OF
startling stature. Other nationaIitIes
and races were adapted with astonish.
ing ease to the needs of the feature.
The meeting OF Cleopatra and An
tony at Tarsus was a social affair OF
no small dimensions. The willy Queen
knew well what she was doing-her
aim was TO impress, not only the
iuxury-loving Antony, but to dazzle
the eyes OF his large retInue of gen.
erals and to have reports of her
beauty. wealth and generosity freely
circulated among the soldiers of the
Roman 1egions. She knew that a hun
dred tongues were better than one
when IL was a question OF spreading
the fame OF Egypt over the Mediter-
ranean.
Supporting Miss Bara are Dorothy
Drake as CHAIRMAN; Genevieve Blinn,
as Octavia; Dell Duncan, as Iras;
Fritz Leiber, as Caesar; Thurston
Hall, as Antony; Albert Roscoe, as
Pharon; Merschel Mayall, as Ven
tidius:, Henri de Vries. as octavius.
and Art Accord, as Kephren.