1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:17,400 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Frying and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. Today we're 4 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,239 Speaker 1: going to talk about someone I love in history, which 5 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:23,040 Speaker 1: is Theda Bara, who is often referenced as the first 6 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:26,319 Speaker 1: sex symbol or the first celebrity to have an entire 7 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:30,640 Speaker 1: persona crafted by a PR team. Photos of her are 8 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:34,479 Speaker 1: pretty synonymous with the word vamp. I know. Tracy mentioned 9 00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: to me that she didn't have instant name recognition, but 10 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: the second she saw a picture, she's like, oh, that 11 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:44,159 Speaker 1: that person, And a hundred years later, pictures of her 12 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:49,479 Speaker 1: still have a certain mysterious appeal. But she was a 13 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: very different person I think that most people might know. 14 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:55,720 Speaker 1: And it always cracks me up a little when people 15 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 1: kind of model their look after her, and I'm like, yeah, 16 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:02,560 Speaker 1: but you know, she was actually pretty um So today 17 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: I thought it would be interesting to look at how 18 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:09,400 Speaker 1: this early film celebrity was basically created through careful planning 19 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:12,120 Speaker 1: by a PR team, and how the real woman was 20 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:14,880 Speaker 1: a whole lot different from that faux persona that they 21 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:18,040 Speaker 1: made up. You had to start with totally different name, 22 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:22,680 Speaker 1: She was born Theodosia Goodman in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 23 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:28,040 Speaker 1: twenty nine five. Her parents were Bernard Goodman and Pauline 24 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:33,040 Speaker 1: Louise Friends was Dick Cope. Bernard was originally from Horzella, 25 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:37,199 Speaker 1: Poland and worked as a tailor. Pauline's father was French, 26 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:40,400 Speaker 1: her mother was German, although she had been born and 27 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:42,959 Speaker 1: grew up in Switzerland and worked as a wig maker. 28 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:46,280 Speaker 1: Bernard and Pauline got married in eighteen eighty two, and 29 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: Theodosia was their first child. Then in eight they had 30 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: a son named Mark, and then in eighteen nine seven, 31 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:57,040 Speaker 1: Bernard and Pauline had another daughter named Esther, who would 32 00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: eventually go by Lorie. Theodosia was named after Aaron Burr's daughter, 33 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: who we have an episode on. Yeah, she's some versions 34 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: of her name. You'll see Burr as a middle name, 35 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: and I never was able to verify whether that was 36 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: true or maybe a little confused when people noted that 37 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: she was named for Theodosia, um Auto completed that middle 38 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: name right. Her childhood, though, was a pretty comfortable one. 39 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:26,919 Speaker 1: The good Men's lived in an affluent neighborhood, and Theodosia 40 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:29,960 Speaker 1: Mark and Laurie were all quite close. They had two 41 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 1: women who worked for them as house staff named Anna 42 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 1: Tuson egg and Ida day Birth and Theodosia loved to read, 43 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: and she would often opt to do that over any 44 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: other activity, but she was not a quiet, bookish child 45 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: because she could also be a handful. She frequently pilfered 46 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 1: her mother's closet to create elaborate dress up ensembles, and 47 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: she was prone to getting all dressed up in those 48 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: and then running away from home. She was so likely 49 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:58,080 Speaker 1: to run off when she was still quite small that 50 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 1: her parents had to have a new tall fence specially 51 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:05,919 Speaker 1: installed around their yard. As she grew up, Theodosia's love 52 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: for dress up evolved into a desire to stage tableau 53 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: that was a popular parlor entertainment at the time. She 54 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:17,480 Speaker 1: would recreate scene after scene and perform recitations to go 55 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:20,920 Speaker 1: with these scenes. There's no surprise this led her to 56 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: want to get involved in acting. Soon she was staging 57 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 1: her own productions in a neighbor's barn. She continued to 58 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 1: act as she grew into her teenage years. She read 59 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: everything she could about the actors of the day. She 60 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:38,960 Speaker 1: was really focused on this I find this very charming 61 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: as somebody who put on plays in the basement of 62 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 1: the family home. Oh yeah, Oh, I can't teachers into 63 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: letting me do full blown like multi act puppet shows 64 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: in elementary school. So um. It's interesting because she was 65 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 1: obsessed with the idea of actors and acting at a 66 00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:00,440 Speaker 1: time when like stage actors were really the thing, but 67 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:03,800 Speaker 1: there was some transition going onto film, and she apparently 68 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:09,040 Speaker 1: read like every article she could about everything they did 69 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:11,080 Speaker 1: in their day to day lives. Like she was that 70 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 1: kid that was like could tell you everything that like 71 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 1: any given actor of the day, like to eat, like 72 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:21,599 Speaker 1: to where she was that kid. Theodosia, who was known 73 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:25,160 Speaker 1: to her friends largely as Theo, attended Walnut Hills High 74 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:28,920 Speaker 1: School starting in eight She worked on the school paper 75 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 1: and she joined the drama club, and she was known 76 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:34,760 Speaker 1: always for her ambition to go into acting as a career. 77 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 1: After graduating high school in nineteen o three, she attended 78 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:42,599 Speaker 1: University of Cincinnati for two years, but at that point 79 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: she was starting to feel frustrated. Glee club, which she 80 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,240 Speaker 1: was a part of, did not offer her the theatrical 81 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:51,359 Speaker 1: outlet that she really longed for, and she frankly wanted 82 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:54,480 Speaker 1: more than she felt like Cincinnati had to offer, so 83 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: in nineteen o five, at the age of twenty, Theo 84 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 1: decided to pursue a career on the stage. In that effort, 85 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:04,400 Speaker 1: she moved to New York City, and her father was 86 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:08,320 Speaker 1: reportedly not pleased with any of this. Once she got 87 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 1: to New York, Theodosia changed her last name from Goodman 88 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 1: to her mother's maiden name of de Cape. She would 89 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:17,920 Speaker 1: later riff off of this name. She would change out 90 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:21,359 Speaker 1: the vowels, try out different variations. We know that she 91 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: lived in Greenwich Village in an apartment just off Washington Square, 92 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: but beyond that, we don't know a whole lot in 93 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 1: terms of the specifics of her first couple of years 94 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:34,479 Speaker 1: of New York. The first play she's documented is having 95 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:37,840 Speaker 1: been cast in was the nine eight summer production of 96 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: The Devil. She was a minor character in that one. 97 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:43,680 Speaker 1: After that, There's another gap, and then she was part 98 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:47,240 Speaker 1: of the second string touring company for a musical called 99 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:50,520 Speaker 1: The Quaker Girl. She was paid twenty five dollars a 100 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:54,240 Speaker 1: week initially, although after some pretty bad reviews, her salary 101 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:56,880 Speaker 1: was reduced to eighteen dollars a week, and then she 102 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:00,839 Speaker 1: left the troop. Those reviews were quite scathing, things about 103 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:04,000 Speaker 1: how really abysmal her French accent was and how even 104 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 1: like a five year old wouldn't be confused or convinced 105 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 1: they were mean. THEO continued to pursue acting, and she 106 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:14,719 Speaker 1: kept taking parts in touring companies, but that was not 107 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:18,200 Speaker 1: at all to her liking life on the road. The 108 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:21,840 Speaker 1: tight quarters shared with other performers and the decidedly non 109 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:25,960 Speaker 1: luxurious accommodations were things that she would later describe as 110 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:30,839 Speaker 1: quote unpleasant associations. This was just not the acting career 111 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: she had envisioned. She left a touring company that was 112 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 1: running a farce called Just Like John in nineteen and 113 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:42,039 Speaker 1: at that point she went back to New York. Her mother, Pauline, 114 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:45,280 Speaker 1: and her teenage sister Laurie soon joined her there, and 115 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:49,080 Speaker 1: just as she was feeling her most frustrated and dejected 116 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:51,520 Speaker 1: over what seemed like a career that would never happen, 117 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:55,440 Speaker 1: another bad thing happened, which is that the apartment she 118 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:57,920 Speaker 1: shared with her mother and sister had a fire, and 119 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:01,320 Speaker 1: it basically was unlivable. It burned out. They were able 120 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 1: to get by thanks to insurance money, but there was 121 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:06,920 Speaker 1: this very real concern kind of looming over the whole thing, 122 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:10,200 Speaker 1: that Theodosia's dreams were just not going to work out. 123 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:14,040 Speaker 1: In late nineteen fourteen, Theo was approached by a man 124 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:16,440 Speaker 1: who asked her if she might want to try being 125 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:20,440 Speaker 1: in movies. The man who approached her was Frank Powell. 126 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:24,119 Speaker 1: Powell hailed from Ontario, Canada, and had become an actor 127 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:28,320 Speaker 1: himself before transitioning into the director's chair. He had worked 128 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: for path A Pictures before Fox lured him away from them, 129 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: and it was just before he started at Fox that 130 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:37,640 Speaker 1: he saw Theo and saw something in her that he 131 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: thought might be great for film. There's no record of 132 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 1: the specific place where the two of them had this 133 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: first conversation. This was, of course a time when the 134 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:50,600 Speaker 1: movie industry was in its infancy, but it already had 135 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 1: some established starts like Mary Pickford. A career in film 136 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: was not really something Theodosia had been pursuing. According to 137 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:02,080 Speaker 1: her later accounts of being discus covered, she saw herself 138 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 1: as a stage actress. She wanted Broadway, and she was 139 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:09,360 Speaker 1: not particularly interested in jumping into the still fairly new 140 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 1: medium of moving pictures. But at the same time, she 141 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,760 Speaker 1: had to acknowledge that her theater career was not exactly 142 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:20,800 Speaker 1: going gangbusters. She was also thirty, so she was starting 143 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 1: to hit the point where she was seen as too 144 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:26,920 Speaker 1: old for most of the lead roles that she wanted. Initially, 145 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:29,760 Speaker 1: she was curvy, and that figure had fallen out of favor. 146 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:34,319 Speaker 1: People were looking more for longer, leaner physique. So she 147 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 1: gambled and she took Fred Powell at his word on this. Yes, 148 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:40,680 Speaker 1: I want to talk about her as a curvy person 149 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:47,440 Speaker 1: in our behind the scenes. Yeah, because I really think 150 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 1: she looks quite thin and most of her pictures. But 151 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:53,199 Speaker 1: the first project that Frank Powell put the O in 152 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: was actually a film called The Stain, which he made 153 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: while he was still finishing up his contract at path A. 154 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:02,360 Speaker 1: The Nosha was cast in just a tiny roll. This 155 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:05,720 Speaker 1: was really her screen test. Powell made sure that she 156 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,280 Speaker 1: was positioned near the camera so that he could see 157 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 1: how she played on screen, and he was very pleased 158 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:14,880 Speaker 1: after that. William Fox, the head of the studio, also 159 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 1: reviewed the footage and liked it, and so sat down 160 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 1: with Theo for an interview. Both men thought that she 161 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:24,760 Speaker 1: was right for a very unusual and difficult to cast 162 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:27,400 Speaker 1: role they were working on, and they offered her a 163 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:29,800 Speaker 1: five year contract at the studio at a rate of 164 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 1: one hundred dollars per week. Theo negotiated that up to 165 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:36,920 Speaker 1: a hundred and fifty dollars per week before she signed, 166 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: and that is how an unknown landed a leading role 167 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:43,640 Speaker 1: in the upcoming project called A Fool There Was for 168 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:47,720 Speaker 1: Fox Film Company. The studio, though also knew this was 169 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:51,040 Speaker 1: a gamble. Theodosia's co star in the picture was Edward 170 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:54,520 Speaker 1: Jose who was a famous Broadway actor at the time, 171 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:58,839 Speaker 1: so casting this complete newcomer to film was something that 172 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:02,280 Speaker 1: William Fox, who the head of Fox Films, was concerned about. 173 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:07,320 Speaker 1: So the solution was to construct this really alluring persona 174 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:10,400 Speaker 1: for her, and her name had been the first to go. 175 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 1: She was going by Theodosia to cape or to cop It, or, 176 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,480 Speaker 1: as we said, many other variations she tried out. None 177 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:22,559 Speaker 1: of them were really singing, So after considering her nicknames 178 00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 1: of Theo and Teddy, which her family members also sometimes 179 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:30,640 Speaker 1: called her, they landed another nickname, Theta, and decided that 180 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:33,400 Speaker 1: was the one. And then for the last name, they 181 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:36,440 Speaker 1: wanted something far easier than any of the variations on 182 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:39,760 Speaker 1: to cop it or to cape, and her maternal grandfather 183 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:43,480 Speaker 1: had been named Francois Barang and that last name was 184 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 1: shortened to Bearra. Is it quick aside. You'll see different 185 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:48,960 Speaker 1: versions of how this played out. How much of it 186 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:52,960 Speaker 1: was her idea versus the studios, Which studio executives kept 187 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:56,559 Speaker 1: credit for which pieces, But I'm calling it a group 188 00:10:56,559 --> 00:11:00,280 Speaker 1: effort because there are so many different versions. So her 189 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:03,040 Speaker 1: name was figured out and rendered on that Fox contract. 190 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:05,080 Speaker 1: It was time to get to work and we will 191 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:17,360 Speaker 1: talk about that. After a quick sponsor break. In the 192 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:20,920 Speaker 1: autumn of nineteen, with the contract for Theta Barra in place, 193 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:24,160 Speaker 1: filming for a Fool there was could finally get underway. 194 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:27,600 Speaker 1: The picture was shot in part on location on the 195 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:30,360 Speaker 1: Florida coast at St. Augustine, and right out of the 196 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:34,679 Speaker 1: gate there were some interesting problems. The cast and crew 197 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:37,360 Speaker 1: for the film were sent down to the location along 198 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:41,280 Speaker 1: the Atlantic coast on a steamer that was a German 199 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:44,320 Speaker 1: steamer it was called the Essen. Because World War One 200 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:47,920 Speaker 1: was freshly underway, this raised some concern. They also were 201 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:51,280 Speaker 1: not flying a U. S flag, which apparently was part 202 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:54,640 Speaker 1: of the problem. The British Navy stopped them, and things 203 00:11:54,679 --> 00:11:58,920 Speaker 1: got more tricky because Theta's co star, Edward Jose answered 204 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:01,480 Speaker 1: questions that had been posed to him in German by 205 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:04,840 Speaker 1: also speaking German. He was fluent and that was just 206 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:07,800 Speaker 1: the natural way to do it. But this made the 207 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:10,800 Speaker 1: British utterly convinced that they had trapped a boat full, 208 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:14,200 Speaker 1: perhaps of spies or other operatives, and it took a 209 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:17,000 Speaker 1: lot of frantic explaining and finally a cable from the 210 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:20,240 Speaker 1: studio to get things smoothed over just so they could 211 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:23,280 Speaker 1: get to the shooting location. Even once they were on 212 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:26,800 Speaker 1: location and filming started, none of this project was the 213 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:31,120 Speaker 1: glamorous scenario that Theta had envisioned. There was a huge 214 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:33,680 Speaker 1: crowd of onlookers that had come to see a movie 215 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:36,760 Speaker 1: being made at the pier where she shot her first scene. 216 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:40,920 Speaker 1: The early makeup for film was not something that looked 217 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:43,240 Speaker 1: good in real life, so she felt like she was 218 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:46,880 Speaker 1: being gawcked at while also not feeling pretty at all. 219 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:51,079 Speaker 1: The whole thing was harrowing. Bar a later set of 220 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:53,959 Speaker 1: the moment quote, the whole world seemed to have turned 221 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:57,360 Speaker 1: into human eyes. I trembled, I shook, I all but 222 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:00,400 Speaker 1: died right there on the dock. She so had to 223 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:02,720 Speaker 1: wear a bathing suit in the film, and she was 224 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:06,240 Speaker 1: so mortified by that that she almost quit. She didn't 225 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:08,360 Speaker 1: need to be worried, though. Even though she wore this 226 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:11,360 Speaker 1: bathing suit for the shot, there were objections from the 227 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:15,520 Speaker 1: sensors and that led to that scene being cut out. Yeah, 228 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:17,600 Speaker 1: that was a time where there were places you could 229 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 1: still get arrested for wearing a bathing suit because it 230 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:26,760 Speaker 1: was seen as obscene. The entire transition into film acting 231 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:30,400 Speaker 1: was really incredibly stressful for theta She did not get 232 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:33,400 Speaker 1: to rehearse, and a lot of the earliest scenes she 233 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: shot are kind of extra pantomimey because of course these 234 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:39,640 Speaker 1: are all silent. You can watch the film online easily 235 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:43,240 Speaker 1: enough and see for yourself. Even after filming, there was 236 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:47,920 Speaker 1: more work and more than theta Bara had expected. As 237 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:50,560 Speaker 1: the film was being edited, Edward Jose got in a 238 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:54,240 Speaker 1: contract dispute with Fox, and he left the studio and 239 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:57,480 Speaker 1: refused to do any promotion. For a fool there was 240 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:01,400 Speaker 1: so suddenly this total newcome or was the only person 241 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,400 Speaker 1: they had to promote the film is one of its leads. 242 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:07,560 Speaker 1: The studio had already been working on ways to turn 243 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:11,120 Speaker 1: theta into a sensation, but now all the eggs had 244 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 1: to be in one basket, So the studio created a 245 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:18,880 Speaker 1: whole biography of her. Uh. They had actually been working 246 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:22,560 Speaker 1: on it while filming was going on, and the story 247 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:26,080 Speaker 1: they ended up with was a doozy and it was 248 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:30,920 Speaker 1: completely captivating to kind of everyone but for various reasons. 249 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:33,200 Speaker 1: But they also didn't know if this was going to 250 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:36,320 Speaker 1: work at first. This was such an outlandish tale and 251 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:39,480 Speaker 1: it was so overboard in so many ways as you 252 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:41,120 Speaker 1: were going to see because we'll walk you through it, 253 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:44,080 Speaker 1: that there was concerned that no one would buy it. 254 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:47,840 Speaker 1: It was just too sensational. So the PR department put 255 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:51,360 Speaker 1: together a press conference that was really a big stunt. 256 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:55,080 Speaker 1: So the framing of this bogus events was that it 257 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:58,240 Speaker 1: was for the first run of press before the premiere 258 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:00,800 Speaker 1: of A fool there was the studio was going to 259 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:04,120 Speaker 1: have an event in Chicago and invite us select group 260 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: of reporters. The team turned a hotel meeting room into 261 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 1: an Egyptian fantasy just to set the stage for the 262 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:14,840 Speaker 1: introduction of Theda Bara to the world. Al Selig and 263 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:18,960 Speaker 1: John Goldfrapp worked for the studio as its public relations team, 264 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:22,520 Speaker 1: and while mingling with the assembled reporters, they talked about 265 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:25,160 Speaker 1: how Barrow was the toast of Paris and what a 266 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:28,400 Speaker 1: fine she was, and how excited they were to be 267 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 1: debuting her talent in the US. Again, she had never 268 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:37,240 Speaker 1: even been to Paris. According to their story, which was 269 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:40,680 Speaker 1: presented to members of the press before the introduction of 270 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:45,200 Speaker 1: Fox's new thrilling talent, her mother was a French actress 271 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:48,680 Speaker 1: named Theta de Leze, and her father, Giuseppe Barra, was 272 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:53,120 Speaker 1: a sculptor from Italy. To give Theodosia's new persona an 273 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:57,720 Speaker 1: entirely new level of exoticism, she was born quote in 274 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:01,400 Speaker 1: the shadow of the Pyramids. This happened after her mother 275 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:05,440 Speaker 1: had met her father while touring in Egypt. Even the 276 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:09,520 Speaker 1: fake parent meet cute was sort of needlessly, in my opinion, dramatic. 277 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:13,440 Speaker 1: According to it, Deleas had found the sculptor wandering and 278 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:17,320 Speaker 1: lost in the sands of Egypt, disoriented and having abandoned 279 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:21,520 Speaker 1: everything he had as he wandered the desert. G Seppe 280 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:23,800 Speaker 1: was saved by delease and they fell in love, and 281 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 1: they lived in a tent near the Sphinx. So if 282 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:32,200 Speaker 1: this sounds ridiculous. Braced yourselves because this story went even further. 283 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:37,240 Speaker 1: There was a foolish account of Theta's early life in 284 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:40,400 Speaker 1: the desert, with dialogue written as though it had been 285 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:45,400 Speaker 1: captured by the actor. Wistfully remembering her childhood, describing their 286 00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:49,240 Speaker 1: tent home as quote like the Garden of Eden, she 287 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,160 Speaker 1: described how her mother had taught her about acting while 288 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:56,080 Speaker 1: her father had educated her in art, and after describing 289 00:16:56,120 --> 00:17:00,640 Speaker 1: this early, totally fictional homeschooling, she would end with quote 290 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:04,280 Speaker 1: and through the instruction of both, I learned the Symphony 291 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: of the Soul. When Theta was still a child. According 292 00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:11,440 Speaker 1: to this story, her parents moved from Egypt to Paris. 293 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:15,000 Speaker 1: And just for clarity, this is not her saying these things. 294 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:19,600 Speaker 1: These are pressed people claiming these quotes were from It 295 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:24,160 Speaker 1: was all very ridiculous. According to the studio story, Bara 296 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:27,880 Speaker 1: performed with all of the noteworthy theatrical companies of Paris, 297 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:32,000 Speaker 1: including with actor Jane Hodding at the Grandagno which we 298 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:36,119 Speaker 1: have an entire episode on the Gymnas and the Antoine 299 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:40,600 Speaker 1: Selling and Goldfrapp just gushed to the attending members of 300 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:44,200 Speaker 1: the press that Theota had this massive following in Paris 301 00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:47,320 Speaker 1: and that she had been discovered there by Frank Powell. 302 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 1: Since this press event took place in January of nineteen fifteen, 303 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:55,480 Speaker 1: it offered the Fox pr team and opportunity to use 304 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:59,000 Speaker 1: the events of World War One to further elaborate on 305 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:03,480 Speaker 1: Baras arrive in the United States. When Germany had declared 306 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:06,840 Speaker 1: war on Russia, France, and Belgium in August of nineteen 307 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:10,520 Speaker 1: four Powell had quickly moved to escape Paris, and he 308 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:14,719 Speaker 1: took this newly discovered talent with him. After all of 309 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:19,840 Speaker 1: this incredibly thrilling exposition to explain to reporters just who 310 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 1: exactly they were about to meet, this velvet curtain was 311 00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:27,880 Speaker 1: opened and there sat the enthralling Theda Bara, making her 312 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:31,399 Speaker 1: debut to the world. She was seated on a chaise 313 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:34,840 Speaker 1: lounge that was covered in tiger skins, and her incredibly 314 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:37,560 Speaker 1: pale skin and jet black hair made her look like 315 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:41,080 Speaker 1: she came from another country or culture, but also a 316 00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:44,679 Speaker 1: little bit otherworldly in a more mystical sense, right in 317 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:47,879 Speaker 1: line with this vampiric character she was playing. In a 318 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:51,399 Speaker 1: fool there was although this was a pressor, there was 319 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:54,359 Speaker 1: no Q and a session. Theda Bara gave a series 320 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:57,720 Speaker 1: of statements for reporters to quote, and these statements were very, 321 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:01,880 Speaker 1: very well worded, more more than one might anticipate from 322 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:05,479 Speaker 1: an actor who had only just moved to the United 323 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:09,680 Speaker 1: States and supposedly didn't grow up speaking English. That did 324 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:13,919 Speaker 1: not seem to trouble the attendees, though THETA said things like, quote, 325 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:17,440 Speaker 1: I hope I have succeeded in depicting the complex emotions 326 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:22,240 Speaker 1: of this woman as vividly as they have appealed to me. Ah. 327 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:25,080 Speaker 1: But there was this whole double angle being played by 328 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:28,840 Speaker 1: Selling and Goldfrapp in all of this. Once Theda had 329 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:32,040 Speaker 1: given all of these statements, the press conference ended and 330 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:36,679 Speaker 1: the room was cleared. However, one carefully selected reporter was 331 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:40,119 Speaker 1: allowed to stay like just under the guys, like they 332 00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:42,879 Speaker 1: didn't rush her out, and that was Luella Parsons, who 333 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:45,360 Speaker 1: of course would go on to become a very famous 334 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:49,080 Speaker 1: Hollywood gossip columnist. But that day, when she was still 335 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:51,800 Speaker 1: a Cub reporter, they kind of picked her because she 336 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:55,520 Speaker 1: was green, and she got to witness Theota barrow whipping 337 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:58,199 Speaker 1: off all of the heavy velvets and furs and veils 338 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:00,000 Speaker 1: that she had been wearing as part of this act 339 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:02,879 Speaker 1: and running to a window to throw it open, and 340 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:05,719 Speaker 1: dropping the accent she had been using throughout the presser 341 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:11,400 Speaker 1: as she groaned, give me air. This is a genius 342 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:14,520 Speaker 1: move on the part of Fox's PR team. Sell again. 343 00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:16,960 Speaker 1: Gold Wrapp knew that a lot of the old school 344 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:19,919 Speaker 1: reporters in the room would never buy this whole yarn 345 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:25,800 Speaker 1: they had spun regarding Barre's backstory. Some reporters even recognized 346 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:29,199 Speaker 1: her as Theodosia to cop it from her days in 347 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:33,040 Speaker 1: the theater, but simultaneously ensuring that world would get out 348 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:36,240 Speaker 1: that this was all in act, they kept Theota's name 349 00:20:36,359 --> 00:20:40,680 Speaker 1: in the papers. Some papers ran straight stories that relayed 350 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:43,680 Speaker 1: the outlandish details they've been told that day as though 351 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:47,240 Speaker 1: they were fact, while others mocked the papers that did that, 352 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:51,280 Speaker 1: And yet others wrote pieces pondering what the truth really was. 353 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:55,160 Speaker 1: So she became a celebrity before anyone even saw her film. 354 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:59,879 Speaker 1: So smart, so manipulative, but so smart. As an aside, 355 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:03,720 Speaker 1: this type of revising and rewriting of a person's life 356 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:06,679 Speaker 1: to create essentially a new character that they played as 357 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:10,480 Speaker 1: their public persona was actually pretty common. It was a 358 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:14,120 Speaker 1: very successful way to drum up public interest in stars 359 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: and consequently to drive box office numbers up. But it 360 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:22,199 Speaker 1: was also done obviously with zero consideration or awareness of 361 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:26,080 Speaker 1: things like cultural appropriation. We mentioned earlier that this was 362 00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:29,280 Speaker 1: really a play on like this penchant for exoticism that 363 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:32,119 Speaker 1: people had, where they really were not thinking about cultures 364 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:35,040 Speaker 1: as anything but kind of things they could pick and 365 00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:38,320 Speaker 1: choose from as points of interest. And just as Theta 366 00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:42,520 Speaker 1: Borrow was allegedly a blend of French and Arab characteristics 367 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:46,000 Speaker 1: as plucked not from reality but from the imaginations of 368 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:50,560 Speaker 1: studio executives, a lot of other actors had that same transformation. 369 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:55,120 Speaker 1: For example, Josephine M. Workman, a young woman from California, 370 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:58,840 Speaker 1: was re christened as Princess Mona Dark Feather by Bison 371 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:03,840 Speaker 1: Motion Pictures. While Workman's paternal grandmother was House Pueblo, it 372 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:07,240 Speaker 1: does not appear that any real cultural connection was ever 373 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:12,040 Speaker 1: integrated into that fictional persona of Dark Feather, although Workman 374 00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:14,800 Speaker 1: became the go to choice when a film needed to 375 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:18,760 Speaker 1: fill Native American roles for women. This is just one example, 376 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:22,440 Speaker 1: but there are so many similar stories in early film history. 377 00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:25,480 Speaker 1: So while Theta Borrow was one of the biggest stars 378 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:28,400 Speaker 1: to have such a transformation, she was really not an 379 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:32,760 Speaker 1: outlier in the least. The title card for bars debut 380 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 1: film reads William Fox presents a fool There was a 381 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:41,359 Speaker 1: psychological drama by Porter Emerson Brown, And then the next 382 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:45,320 Speaker 1: card features a poem that reads, a fool there was, 383 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:48,600 Speaker 1: and he made his prayer even as you and I 384 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:51,080 Speaker 1: to a rag and a bone and a hank of hair. 385 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:53,960 Speaker 1: We called her the woman who did not care, but 386 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:58,120 Speaker 1: the fool. He called her his lady fair, even as 387 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:01,160 Speaker 1: you and I. So that the author is not mentioned, 388 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:03,960 Speaker 1: that poem is the opening of a piece also called 389 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:07,000 Speaker 1: The Vampire, which was written by Rudyard Kipling. It was 390 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:09,639 Speaker 1: quite famous at the time, and that poem was written 391 00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:12,159 Speaker 1: to a company a painting that had been made by 392 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:16,480 Speaker 1: Kipling's cousin, Philip Burne Jones, which was also called The Vampire. 393 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:20,480 Speaker 1: The painting, which was inspired by bram Stoker's Dracula, shows 394 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:22,840 Speaker 1: a dark haired woman sitting on the edge of a bed, 395 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:26,560 Speaker 1: leaning over a man who appears unconscious with his limbs 396 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:30,159 Speaker 1: splayed out, and that painting led to the poem, and 397 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:32,680 Speaker 1: then led to a play and a book by Porter 398 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:36,760 Speaker 1: Emerson Brown, and then to the screenplay and the cast 399 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:40,000 Speaker 1: is introduced one by one in the opening credits at 400 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:45,439 Speaker 1: a pace that most modern viewers would find almost confusingly slow. 401 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:49,479 Speaker 1: I know, I've watched a couple of very old films 402 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:54,720 Speaker 1: lately where I've been like, man' this is taking so long. Yes, 403 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:59,720 Speaker 1: it's like, uh, they introduced the fool and Jose's character 404 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:03,240 Speaker 1: and then it's like a full minute behalf of his character, 405 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:06,679 Speaker 1: like on a boat waving. That's seems a little a 406 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:10,800 Speaker 1: little pokey by our usual editing today. Yeah. So, Miss 407 00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:15,439 Speaker 1: Theoto Bara is introduced as the Vampire in her first shot, 408 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:17,600 Speaker 1: the one that was so challenging for her to film. 409 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:21,320 Speaker 1: She's wearing a striking outfit consisting of a black blouse 410 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:25,159 Speaker 1: and a dramatic striped skirt and an angled hat. She's 411 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 1: paler than anyone else in the film. But though her 412 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:31,719 Speaker 1: character is called the Vampire, and based on that description 413 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:35,359 Speaker 1: that Tracy just gave, it might seem that she was 414 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:39,000 Speaker 1: being portrayed as an actual vampire. And though her victim 415 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:42,200 Speaker 1: goes just as mad as Renfield, this is not an 416 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:46,359 Speaker 1: actual vampire tale. Rather, it is the story of a 417 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:50,800 Speaker 1: woman who is so powerfully attractive and so void of 418 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 1: compassion or morality that she drains men dry before moving 419 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:58,920 Speaker 1: on to the next to illustrate just how cold her 420 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:02,040 Speaker 1: character is. In one scene, a former lover she has 421 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:05,760 Speaker 1: recently left shows up where she is and dies by 422 00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:08,800 Speaker 1: suicide in front of her. That actual death is not 423 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:12,560 Speaker 1: shown on screen. The film cuts abruptly, and then it's 424 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:16,439 Speaker 1: followed by a scene where two men are discussing how 425 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:19,560 Speaker 1: the woman laughed demonically when this young man took his life. 426 00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:22,960 Speaker 1: The main plot of the film features a character who's 427 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:25,880 Speaker 1: a lawyer and a diplomat who has known both as 428 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:29,320 Speaker 1: the Full and by his character's named John Skyler, who's 429 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:33,439 Speaker 1: a good family man until he's lured away by the vampire, 430 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:37,000 Speaker 1: who steals him from his family in a calculated scheme. 431 00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:41,000 Speaker 1: Skyler has chosen to be envoy to Great Britain, and 432 00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:43,840 Speaker 1: his wife was set to go with him until her 433 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:48,119 Speaker 1: sister became ill in an accident. The successful man was 434 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:52,800 Speaker 1: now traveling alone. When the vampire reads at this important 435 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:56,520 Speaker 1: trip being undertaken by an important man, she arranges the 436 00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:59,439 Speaker 1: sail on the same ship, and that's where she draws 437 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:04,000 Speaker 1: him in. So the audience doesn't actually see anything especially 438 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:07,480 Speaker 1: sexual here, although for a time, there's some flirting that 439 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:12,840 Speaker 1: was probably borderline scandalous at the time. Instead, after the 440 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:15,679 Speaker 1: two of them meet, the film jumps forward two months 441 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:18,400 Speaker 1: in time to see them living as a couple in Europe, 442 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:21,880 Speaker 1: and the plot plays out from there, with Skylar's dutiful 443 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:26,320 Speaker 1: wife learning of this affair and Skylar very visibly losing 444 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:30,560 Speaker 1: his vitality and losing everything in his life, his job, 445 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:34,280 Speaker 1: his family, et cetera. Unable to tear himself away from 446 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:38,040 Speaker 1: the vampire, he has shown drinking more and more heavily 447 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:41,159 Speaker 1: until he is barely recognizable as the man from the 448 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:45,159 Speaker 1: beginning of the sixty five minute picture. Sita is cool 449 00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:49,160 Speaker 1: and glamorous throughout the picture, even as she does progressively 450 00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:53,480 Speaker 1: uglier and uglier things. And her large eyes were rimmed 451 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:55,760 Speaker 1: with a halo of coal, and this was a look 452 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:59,480 Speaker 1: that became her trademarks throughout her career. And for all 453 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:03,040 Speaker 1: of this she was dressed exquisitely. We'll talk about the 454 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:06,560 Speaker 1: public and critical reception to the film and theta after 455 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:08,920 Speaker 1: we hear from the sponsors that keep stuff you missed 456 00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:21,400 Speaker 1: in history class going. When a Fool There Was was released, 457 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:27,480 Speaker 1: audiences loved Theda Bara. She intrigued them, She scared them, 458 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:30,879 Speaker 1: She enthralled them. It seems just as her character, the 459 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:35,640 Speaker 1: vampire had enthralled John Schuyler and critics were also very 460 00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:40,080 Speaker 1: enthusiastic about this newcomer. The film was called bold and 461 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:42,919 Speaker 1: relentless by the New York Dramatic Mirror, and The New 462 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:45,680 Speaker 1: York Morning Telegraph wrote of Theda Bara that she had 463 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:49,600 Speaker 1: created quote the most revolting but fascinating character that has 464 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:54,120 Speaker 1: appeared upon the screen for some time. Another paper touted 465 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: ahead of its run of the film, quote, it is 466 00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:59,359 Speaker 1: said that her seductive beauty gives to the role a 467 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:03,360 Speaker 1: realism that is powerful to the extreme. She already had 468 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:06,240 Speaker 1: a degree of celebrity in the weeks leading up to 469 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:08,679 Speaker 1: the film's release, but once it was out, she was 470 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:14,000 Speaker 1: undeniably famous. The film also saved Fox Film Studio, which 471 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:16,439 Speaker 1: went from hosting a debt at the end of fiscal 472 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:20,520 Speaker 1: year nineteen fourteen to making several million dollars in nineteen 473 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:23,720 Speaker 1: fifteen and then clearing the year with more than half 474 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:27,760 Speaker 1: a million after expenses. Not everyone, we should point out, 475 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:30,320 Speaker 1: loved this new style of screen star, and there were 476 00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:34,080 Speaker 1: definitely some complaints to the National Board of censorship about 477 00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:37,119 Speaker 1: this powerful woman who was using sexuality as a weapon. 478 00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:40,760 Speaker 1: There were also complaints about some of her very revealing 479 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:44,320 Speaker 1: costumes and subsequent pictures. That's something that seems a little 480 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:47,120 Speaker 1: bit funny given out trepidations she was to wear a 481 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:49,760 Speaker 1: bathing suit in her first film. If you go looking 482 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:51,720 Speaker 1: for photos of her online, there are some that are 483 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:56,400 Speaker 1: incredibly revealing. Um. And then there were also people who 484 00:28:56,480 --> 00:29:00,200 Speaker 1: just could not really separate film from reality and leave 485 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:03,640 Speaker 1: she was actually a professional home wrecker that had just 486 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:07,080 Speaker 1: you know, been using her natural abilities to be caught 487 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:09,680 Speaker 1: on film rather than being a very good actress. And 488 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:12,960 Speaker 1: after she received a letter to that effect from one viewer, 489 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:15,240 Speaker 1: she wrote back that if she were that type of woman, 490 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:17,840 Speaker 1: she would not have to work as an actor. She 491 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:21,080 Speaker 1: also told the press quote, the vampire that I play 492 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:25,040 Speaker 1: is the vengeance of my sex upon its exploiters. You see, 493 00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:27,480 Speaker 1: I have the face of the vampire, but the heart 494 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:31,720 Speaker 1: of a feminist. Theta start in forty films over the 495 00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:37,440 Speaker 1: next four years, which is incredible to me. This included 496 00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:44,040 Speaker 1: salom A, Cleopatra, Sin, the Serpent, and Destruction, among many others. 497 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:47,240 Speaker 1: Her specialty became the so called vamp role, which was 498 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:49,920 Speaker 1: a woman who would lead men to their ruin. That's 499 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:52,520 Speaker 1: still how the word is used today, and it was 500 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:56,160 Speaker 1: really Theta Bara who gave rise to that use. The 501 00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:59,040 Speaker 1: first known use of a noun describing such a woman 502 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:01,880 Speaker 1: was in ninet team, so that just was right in 503 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:06,440 Speaker 1: line with Bara's career. The pr team at Fox continued 504 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:09,280 Speaker 1: to feed stories about her to the press to maintain 505 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:13,240 Speaker 1: the mystique of the character of Theta Bara. For example, 506 00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:15,920 Speaker 1: they planted a story that her name was an anagram 507 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:21,280 Speaker 1: for the words Arab death. This kind of sensationalism sometimes 508 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:24,240 Speaker 1: clashed with her real life, which was actually quite stable 509 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:28,640 Speaker 1: and pretty conventional. As her fortunes had improved, her brother 510 00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:31,280 Speaker 1: Mark moved to New York to live with Theda Lori 511 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:34,680 Speaker 1: and their mother Pauline. Their father, Bernard, stayed behind in 512 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:38,680 Speaker 1: Cincinnati to keep the tailor business going. But the problem 513 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:41,120 Speaker 1: here was that the studio couldn't have pressed you any 514 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:44,400 Speaker 1: interviews at Theta's apartment. It was not nearly dramatic enough. 515 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:47,400 Speaker 1: No one, they thought, wanted to see the devil woman 516 00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:50,440 Speaker 1: of the screen surrounded by her loving, close knit family 517 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:54,960 Speaker 1: in a tastefully decorated apartment in Los Angeles, Though, the 518 00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:57,440 Speaker 1: studio arrived for her to have a house on West 519 00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:01,000 Speaker 1: Adams Boulevard, which was decorated in a style to match 520 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:05,320 Speaker 1: her concocted persona. She allegedly hated that house and sold 521 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:08,480 Speaker 1: it as soon as she could. Yeah. She was no fool, though, 522 00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:11,920 Speaker 1: and she played the part when she gave interviews. When 523 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:15,320 Speaker 1: a reporter visited the set of Carmen during filming, Bara 524 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:18,800 Speaker 1: allegedly went full bore in a scene that involved a 525 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:22,200 Speaker 1: fight with another actress, causing a nurse to have to 526 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:25,360 Speaker 1: attend to the co star. It's not clear if this 527 00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:29,200 Speaker 1: conflict was staged for the press. The reporter asked questions 528 00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:32,720 Speaker 1: about Bara's past, and the actor replied, quote, I live 529 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:35,479 Speaker 1: under the shadow of a tragedy. I want to forget it, 530 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:38,440 Speaker 1: and I want the world I once knew to forget it. 531 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:41,360 Speaker 1: That is the reason I wish the to Barra to 532 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:46,080 Speaker 1: be unknown save for her pictures. Having learned every tick 533 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:48,560 Speaker 1: in the book from Fox pr she told the same 534 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:53,520 Speaker 1: reporter quote, it is predicted I shall die Ino. She's 535 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:58,880 Speaker 1: very good at doing her her uh public persona. She 536 00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:03,440 Speaker 1: did not die inwo but in nine her contract with 537 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:07,440 Speaker 1: Fox ended and amid rumors that negotiations were going quite poorly. 538 00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:10,440 Speaker 1: The decision was made that it would not be renewed. 539 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:13,160 Speaker 1: You will see that reported as her decision or their decision, 540 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:17,080 Speaker 1: probably both. She did take a role in a stage 541 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:20,360 Speaker 1: play in nineteen twenty called The Blue Flame, which opened 542 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:22,880 Speaker 1: on Broadway in March of that year, but that play 543 00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:26,760 Speaker 1: was very, very hokey, and it had flopped. Reviews of 544 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:30,440 Speaker 1: her performance were brutal. Critic Lewis Reid wrote that her 545 00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:33,840 Speaker 1: performance was quote not really worth fifteen minutes of time, 546 00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:37,040 Speaker 1: and said the play was quote the most terrible play 547 00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:40,120 Speaker 1: within the memory of the writer. This play was not 548 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:43,200 Speaker 1: a comedy, but people started going just to laugh at it, 549 00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:48,040 Speaker 1: which felt terrible for everyone involved. Theta never managed to 550 00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:50,760 Speaker 1: have the theatrical career that she had always dreamed of. 551 00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:56,080 Speaker 1: In one Theta married English director Charles Braven in secret. 552 00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:59,640 Speaker 1: They did not even publicly acknowledge the marriage for months. 553 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:03,080 Speaker 1: They went to Canada for their honeymoon. They fell in 554 00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:06,520 Speaker 1: love with Nova Scotia, and later on they bought land there. 555 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:09,320 Speaker 1: Theta had been in the middle of a vaudeville tour 556 00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:11,640 Speaker 1: when the two of them snuck away for the wedding 557 00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:13,840 Speaker 1: and then she did not sign up for another one. 558 00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:17,040 Speaker 1: Charles and Theta did not always mesh when it came 559 00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:20,440 Speaker 1: to their careers. Charles did not think that Theata should 560 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:24,080 Speaker 1: keep working, and he also hated attending public events with her. 561 00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:27,160 Speaker 1: But they did seem to have a pretty good understanding 562 00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:29,840 Speaker 1: of one another, and they respected one another's needs and 563 00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:34,200 Speaker 1: their established careers. Often they would spend weeks at a 564 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:37,120 Speaker 1: time apart as one or the other traveled or worked, 565 00:33:37,400 --> 00:33:40,160 Speaker 1: and then they would come back together and live quite happily, 566 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:42,080 Speaker 1: and that was a system that seemed to work really, 567 00:33:42,080 --> 00:33:45,600 Speaker 1: really well for their dynamic. After the honeymoon, Theto was 568 00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:47,520 Speaker 1: ready to get back to work, but she had a 569 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:51,600 Speaker 1: hard time finding roles without a studio contract, and with 570 00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:55,160 Speaker 1: the heyday of her Vamp persona having passed in favor 571 00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:58,120 Speaker 1: of more conventional screen stars, bar I just couldn't get 572 00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:03,040 Speaker 1: a gig. Finally, after several false starts on other projects, 573 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:08,720 Speaker 1: she made The Unchastened Woman, but the comedy drama about 574 00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:12,560 Speaker 1: married life didn't do very well in n s. The 575 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:16,000 Speaker 1: made her last film, which was Madam Mystery. This was 576 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:20,000 Speaker 1: a short directed by Richard Wallace and Stan Laurel. Theoto 577 00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:22,799 Speaker 1: was actually quite good at comedy, it turned out, and 578 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:26,160 Speaker 1: producer how Roach wanted her for more in a series, 579 00:34:26,280 --> 00:34:29,560 Speaker 1: but Charles didn't like the To doing these films, and 580 00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:31,839 Speaker 1: she didn't like it when she saw it. So that 581 00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:36,160 Speaker 1: was that. With the contract canceled, Theto was officially retired 582 00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:39,040 Speaker 1: from acting, although she did a couple of radio plays 583 00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:43,120 Speaker 1: in the nineteen thirties. You can still find Madam Mystery 584 00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:46,319 Speaker 1: to watch online and see for yourself. She's got pretty 585 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:49,040 Speaker 1: good comedic timing. It's kind of a pity to me 586 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:52,439 Speaker 1: that she didn't like it, because I I can only 587 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:55,040 Speaker 1: assume after having done a bunch of dramatic stuff, it 588 00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:58,000 Speaker 1: just didn't feel right for her to see herself doing 589 00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:01,640 Speaker 1: silly things. But she's quite good. You can also find 590 00:35:01,680 --> 00:35:04,960 Speaker 1: a Fool there was online easy to watch. However, beyond 591 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:07,239 Speaker 1: that you're going to run into some problems because most 592 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:09,800 Speaker 1: of her films are lost. That's due to a fire 593 00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:13,719 Speaker 1: at the Fox Film vault in seven. Compared to most 594 00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:17,680 Speaker 1: celebrities of her time, Theta's private life was pretty uneventful. 595 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:21,839 Speaker 1: She never had any affair scandals, never any public mishaps 596 00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:24,560 Speaker 1: where she drank too much and did something embarrassing. She 597 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:28,320 Speaker 1: didn't blow all of her fortune. She was financially stable 598 00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:31,879 Speaker 1: her entire life after her fame sort of tapered out. 599 00:35:32,520 --> 00:35:35,640 Speaker 1: She seemed to love her husband and they seemed genuinely 600 00:35:35,719 --> 00:35:38,719 Speaker 1: pretty happy together, even though others found their periods of 601 00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:43,440 Speaker 1: separation unconventional. After her retirement, she did as she pleased. 602 00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:46,560 Speaker 1: She traveled, sometimes with Charles, sometimes with her mother and 603 00:35:46,600 --> 00:35:49,560 Speaker 1: her siblings. Yeah, there's not a lot of info about 604 00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:52,839 Speaker 1: her retirement life because she was just kind of chill. 605 00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:58,080 Speaker 1: And then she passed on April seven. She died of 606 00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:02,319 Speaker 1: stomach cancer. Charles two years later. To sum up the 607 00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:06,600 Speaker 1: incredibly powerful allure of Theda Bara and not how much 608 00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:09,760 Speaker 1: of it really was just great acting skill, Holly wanted 609 00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:12,480 Speaker 1: to close with a quote from Luella Parsons, which she 610 00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:16,520 Speaker 1: wrote in late nineteen fifteen, when Theta's fame was really cemented. 611 00:36:17,239 --> 00:36:20,680 Speaker 1: Her hair is like the serpent's locks of Medusa. Her 612 00:36:20,719 --> 00:36:23,960 Speaker 1: eyes have the cruel cunning of Lucretia Borgia, till now 613 00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:27,400 Speaker 1: held up as the world's wickedest woman. Her mouth is 614 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:30,920 Speaker 1: the mouth of the sinister scheming Delilah, and her hands 615 00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:34,560 Speaker 1: are those of the blood bathing Elizabeth Bathory, who slaughtered 616 00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:37,000 Speaker 1: young girls that she might bathe in their life blood 617 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:40,720 Speaker 1: and so retain her beauty. Can it be that fate 618 00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:44,440 Speaker 1: has reincarnated in Theda Bara the souls of these monsters 619 00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:49,319 Speaker 1: of medieval times? Scientists have questioned this most extraordinary of 620 00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:53,200 Speaker 1: women to secure fresh evidence to support their half proved 621 00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:57,759 Speaker 1: laws of transmigration of souls, but the result has only 622 00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:00,320 Speaker 1: been to prove that though Ms Vera is grey eist 623 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:03,759 Speaker 1: delineator of evil types on the stage or screen today, 624 00:37:04,120 --> 00:37:07,280 Speaker 1: she is in real life a sweet, wholesome woman who 625 00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:11,400 Speaker 1: detests the abnormal. I love that quote so much. When 626 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:13,719 Speaker 1: I stumbled across it, I was like, there's no way, 627 00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:17,560 Speaker 1: this isn't how this episode lands. Um It's It's a 628 00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:20,480 Speaker 1: great way to sum up exactly what was going on there, 629 00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:23,560 Speaker 1: because people did call her the wickedest woman alive, and 630 00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:26,640 Speaker 1: the studio, of course, wanted to keep all of that going. 631 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:30,160 Speaker 1: She's a fun one. Do you have listener mail to 632 00:37:30,160 --> 00:37:34,120 Speaker 1: take us out? I do. I'm so enjoying the fact 633 00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:37,600 Speaker 1: that so many people are writing us about microwaves and cookies. 634 00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:39,960 Speaker 1: We've gotten a lot of microwaves and a lot of 635 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:43,320 Speaker 1: cookie emails, and this one is the combo of the two. 636 00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:48,480 Speaker 1: This is from our listener Jennifer, who writes Dear Holly 637 00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:50,520 Speaker 1: and Tracy. Like many, I have listened to the show 638 00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:53,759 Speaker 1: for years and often find myself searching for past episodes 639 00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:55,440 Speaker 1: if I want to know more about something I'd come 640 00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:58,600 Speaker 1: across in real life. I just listened to your episode 641 00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:01,040 Speaker 1: on the history of microwaves and chocolate chip cookies, and 642 00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:04,720 Speaker 1: it reminded me of when I was thirteen. My family 643 00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:06,920 Speaker 1: and I moved into a house without a stove and 644 00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:09,759 Speaker 1: went about a month before we had one. As the 645 00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:13,360 Speaker 1: oldest of four children, this was a challenge. My parents 646 00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:15,480 Speaker 1: bought a hot plate, but at the time we also 647 00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:18,360 Speaker 1: found cake mixes designed to be cooked in the microwave 648 00:38:18,680 --> 00:38:21,520 Speaker 1: in special plastic baking pans that were included in the 649 00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:25,680 Speaker 1: box along with the mix. Being curious children, we decided 650 00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:27,719 Speaker 1: to see what else we could cook in the microwave, 651 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:30,439 Speaker 1: and guess what. My brother figured out how to make 652 00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:34,600 Speaker 1: chocolate chip cookies. He reduced the butter in the recipe 653 00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:37,880 Speaker 1: and somehow it worked. They weren't the texture we know 654 00:38:38,080 --> 00:38:40,560 Speaker 1: as oven baked cookies, but to the four of us kids, 655 00:38:40,600 --> 00:38:43,040 Speaker 1: we did not care. We just cared that it meant 656 00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:45,360 Speaker 1: our mom couldn't yell at us for eating raw cookie 657 00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:48,560 Speaker 1: dough since technically it was cooked, if a bit wet 658 00:38:48,600 --> 00:38:52,120 Speaker 1: and chewy. Hearing this episode with both the microwave and 659 00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:55,160 Speaker 1: cookies reminded me of that fond memory. So thank you. 660 00:38:55,680 --> 00:38:58,000 Speaker 1: My husband swears our six month old will have her 661 00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:00,480 Speaker 1: PhD in history since I often list in with her 662 00:39:00,520 --> 00:39:03,520 Speaker 1: in the car or while cleaning house. I also want 663 00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:05,200 Speaker 1: to thank you for the effort you make to correctly 664 00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:08,320 Speaker 1: pronounce names and places in foreign languages. We have friends 665 00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:10,040 Speaker 1: from all over the world, and to someone who is 666 00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:12,399 Speaker 1: not a native English speaker, they often remark on how 667 00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:15,160 Speaker 1: respectful they find it when people make the extra effort 668 00:39:15,200 --> 00:39:17,439 Speaker 1: to correctly pronounce something. I hope you'll have a great 669 00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:19,840 Speaker 1: rest of your week whenever this may reach you, and 670 00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:22,000 Speaker 1: I look forward to the many different topics you will 671 00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:25,520 Speaker 1: cover next. As a sidebar, we mess up pronunciations all 672 00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:27,759 Speaker 1: the time. We know because people tell us, but we 673 00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:32,120 Speaker 1: are always trying our best. It is never because we 674 00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:36,920 Speaker 1: just didn't try. We just cavalierier like I don't care, no, 675 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:40,200 Speaker 1: But I love this because it's the perfect combination of 676 00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:45,359 Speaker 1: microwaving and cookies. I too have been known to pop 677 00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:47,799 Speaker 1: a little dough in the microwave because I just want 678 00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:53,040 Speaker 1: warm in addition to sweet. And it's delicious because when 679 00:39:53,040 --> 00:39:57,320 Speaker 1: you're uh, you know, hitting like your sugar junkie moment, 680 00:39:57,440 --> 00:40:01,239 Speaker 1: you really don't care. Yeah, I don't anyway, I don't know. 681 00:40:01,360 --> 00:40:04,040 Speaker 1: I'm discerning. It kind of made me think about when 682 00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:06,680 Speaker 1: I was in massage school. I think that's come up 683 00:40:06,680 --> 00:40:09,080 Speaker 1: a couple of times on the show. Lately. I was 684 00:40:09,120 --> 00:40:12,880 Speaker 1: staying in this cabin that belonged to family friends, and 685 00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:14,600 Speaker 1: I was only there a couple of days a week, 686 00:40:14,680 --> 00:40:17,880 Speaker 1: but my options for cooking were a hot plate and 687 00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:21,680 Speaker 1: a microwave, and also there were bears, so I couldn't 688 00:40:21,760 --> 00:40:27,040 Speaker 1: leave anything uh that might attract bears to bash through 689 00:40:27,200 --> 00:40:31,000 Speaker 1: the tour into the thing. It was a very particular 690 00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:35,120 Speaker 1: style of food that I hate while I was there. Yeah, yeah, 691 00:40:35,719 --> 00:40:37,600 Speaker 1: if you would like to write to us and shared 692 00:40:37,680 --> 00:40:40,600 Speaker 1: the many recipes you perhaps invented for the microwave as 693 00:40:40,600 --> 00:40:45,240 Speaker 1: a child, listen, this is how we got that amazing 694 00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:48,080 Speaker 1: meat loaf recipe. I'm down for it. Everybody sent us 695 00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:50,720 Speaker 1: your weird cookie recipes. I feel like I've just doomed 696 00:40:50,800 --> 00:40:53,560 Speaker 1: us to an avalanche. But that's great, best kind. If 697 00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:55,000 Speaker 1: you would like to write to us, you can do 698 00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:58,120 Speaker 1: so at History podcast at iHeart radio dot com. You 699 00:40:58,160 --> 00:41:01,880 Speaker 1: can also find us on any social media platform as 700 00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:05,000 Speaker 1: Missed in History And if you have not subscribed to 701 00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:07,160 Speaker 1: the show, you can do that right this minute if 702 00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:09,759 Speaker 1: you want. Wherever you are listening the I heart radio 703 00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:12,200 Speaker 1: app or any other podcast listener, you can just subscribe 704 00:41:12,280 --> 00:41:15,319 Speaker 1: right there. We hope you do, and uh, we'll see 705 00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:23,240 Speaker 1: you next time around. Stuff you Missed in History Class 706 00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:26,359 Speaker 1: is a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts 707 00:41:26,400 --> 00:41:28,759 Speaker 1: from I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 708 00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:32,040 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.