New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-10-15
On the Screen
Theda Bara in a Startling
cleopatra Presented at
the Lyric

No one can gainsay Theda Bsra's
Cleopatra, which William Fox presented
at the Lyric Theatre last night, for
who among those present ever had seen
the Siren of the Nile? The theatre was
packed last night and hundreds were
turned away, and while doubtless many
Of them came to scof, with one accord
they remained TO praise.
The picture is 90 big that one is com
pletely overwhelmed. IL seems as II
fortune must have been expended in
each scene which appears on the screen,
and the spectacle simply beggars de-
scription.
Deserts, camels, Egyptian pyramids,
temples, wonderful boats, huge battle
scenes. naval battles and pageants are
some of the things which have been
brought to the screen by this greatest
of all film spectacle plays. One feels
like a child attending a five-ring circus,
and lust as you are about to cry out,
stop, stop, while | eaten my breath"
there is a fve-minute lntermlsslon.
This enables every one TO talk over the
performance as far as it has gone, and
also TO crawl back over his nelghbor' s
knees after the curtain is up on the
second act, just as in q regular stage
production.
1t is quite useless 10 attempt any de-
scription of the settings. 1t seems as
if some one must have said to some
one else: Here is a fortune; now buy
up all the beautiful things there are
in the world and make them into a
picture" As for the story well,
Shakespeare, fiction ably handled by
Adrian Johnson, j. Gordon Edwards,
William Fox and Theda Bara, all con-
tribUted 10 the story.
There was no stint in anything, save
perhaps in Miss Bara's costumes. With
so much 10 choose from, she chose so
little. Her tastes are simple.
For instance, in her early scenes
with Pharon her costume consisted Of
two silver butter plates fastened on
with capillary attraction. At no time
in the performance did she wear less
than this. The young woman who sat
back Of us kept referring TO the star
as Thejar Barar. Her humor was so
unconscious, and we thought Of the
lines which say:
Geraldine is Farrar,
But Theda is Bara."
As a rule. when an actress elects to
appear on the screen with her raj
ment reduced 70 the least common de-
nominator she Immediately plunges
into the water and pretends that she
is Neptune's daughter, or something
But history says nothing of Cleo
patra's aquatic sports. 60 Miss Bara
dld not emulate her less courageous
sisters.
We know so little of the habits,
physiognomy and psychology of Cleo
patra that we would not presum to say
whether Miss Bsra's Interpretation was
good. bad or indifferent. This much
we do know, that the Fox production
is fawless in its setting magnificent
beyond compare, and that the perform
ance Of the star is at all times vastly
interesting. Never has Miss Bars
looked so regally beautiful, and il the
original Cleo was just half so lovely
as her prototype we do not blame An
tony for renouncing Rome and the
vastly uninteresting Octavia TO die in
her arms.
Thurston Hall is imposing as An
tony and Hendi de Vries is a good Dc
tavius Art Accord as Kephren and q J.
bert Roscoe as Pharon were both well
cast.
There was an eleventh-hour substi-
tuition in the feature picture at the
Rialto this week because some one ia
something to William $. Harris new
picture. "The Narrow Trail which
was 10 have been shown. But, truly,
IL is an in wind which blows no good
and in this case the silver lining came
in the form Of that delightful young
actor. Charles Ray. -.
A picture called "The Son. OF ms
Father" was chosen TO take the place
of the deleted Hart special, and II