“A Fool There Was originally produced in 1915 starring the actress Theda Bara in the vampire roll; but as the view of women changed in society, to say nothing of popular culture, the producers in the early Hollywood dream-factory decided to re-stage the production with a racier woman in the lead – a “flapper-vampire”, if you will. The reviewer was sympathetic as to the need for a new adaptation but pointed out that the actress who was re-cast in the Theda Bara roll, Estelle Taylor (1894 — 1958), left the audiences wanting. It was also pointed out that “the censorship menace hangs heavy over A Fool There Was“.
In 1919 Theda Bara wrote an article for Vanity Fair in which she swore off ever playing a vampire again; click here to read it.
