Banned to "protect both the young and the unintelligent spectators"

Theda Bara and Warner Oland in Destruction (1915)

Theda Bara, Mabel Frenyear, and Edward José in A Fool There Was (1915)

Theda Bara and Wyndham Standing in The Unchastened Woman (1925)

Theda Bara and Walter P. Lewis in The Eternal Sappho (1916)

James Cooley in The Eternal Sappho (1916)

Theda Bara and Warner Oland in The Eternal Sappho (1916)

Theda Bara

James Cooley

Walter P. Lewis

Alphonse Daudet

Mary Murillo

From Alphonse Daudet&apos;s 1884 novel comes a variation: A scheme by a beautiful vamp to marry a wealthy young man fails, and the woman returns to her former lover, a sculptor. She is shocked to discover he has committed suicide, and ...

Bertram Bracken

The Eternal Sappho

Banned to &quot;protect both the young and the unintelligent spectators&quot;

As with most of Theda Bara&apos;s work, The Eternal Sapho is unfortunately a lost film. A controversial drama in its day, Bara plays a notorious vamp whose plans for her married lover go awry. Filled with scenes of &quot;impropriety&quot;, it was reported in Moving Picture World (1916) that the Minneapolis Board of Censors banned this film to &quot;protect both the young and the unintelligent spectators&quot; (p.1733). Of note, Theda Bara&apos;s skirts which were described as &quot;commercially exaggerated&quot; – and though I&apos;m not quite sure what that means, other objectionable scenes included drunkenness, and a married man&apos;s clandestine affair – Oh my! Though they admittedly stated that &quot;No really intelligent person is likely to be led astray by this film&quot;, a Cincinnati theatre manager was &quot;taken from his bed at midnight&apos; (p.1727) and placed under arrest based on a warrant that charged him with exhibiting Sapho without the eliminations ordered by the Ohio Board of Censors.

As with most of Theda Bara's work, The Eternal Sapho is unfortunately a lost film. A controversial drama in its day, Bara plays a notorious vamp whose plans for her married lover go awry. Filled with scenes of "impropriety", it was reported in Moving Picture World (1916) that the Minneapolis Board of Censors banned this film to "protect both the young and the unintelligent spectators" (p.1733). Of note, Theda Bara's skirts which were described as "commercially exaggerated" – and though I'm not quite sure what that means, other objectionable scenes included drunkenness, and a married man's clandestine affair – Oh my! Though they admittedly stated that "No really intelligent person is likely to be led astray by this film", a Cincinnati theatre manager was "taken from his bed at midnight' (p.1727) and placed under arrest based on a warrant that charged him with exhibiting Sapho without the eliminations ordered by the Ohio Board of Censors.

From Alphonse Daudet's 1884 novel comes a variation: A scheme by a beautiful vamp to marry a wealthy young man fails, and the woman returns to her former lover, a sculptor. She is shocked to discover he has committed suicide, and the tragedy catapults her into insanity.

bappamtv

The Eternal Sappho

🎭 Top Cast

🎬 Technical Specs

🏷️ Keywords

🎯 Categories

⭐ Featured Review

💡 Did You Know?

🎬 More Like This

📖 Synopsis