The Vampire is an American silent film drama, directed by Robert G. Vignola, based on the 1897 eponymous poem by Rudyard Kipling. It stars Alice Hollister and Harry F. Millarde. It is generally considered the first recognized film depicting the vamp character, also known as femme fatale.John T. Soister, American Silent Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Feature Films, 1913-1929, McFarland, 2012, p.41Amber Butchart, The Fashion of Film, Hachette UK, 2016, p.100
Plot Tired of rural life, Harold moves to the city for a new job, where he meets a woman named Sybil. He becomes completely infatuated with her, neglecting his fiancée, Helen. In reality, Sybil is a vamp destined to ruin his life. After losing his job and falling into alcoholism, he is ultimately abandoned by her. Harold goes to the theatre planning to rob some wealthy person to fund his obsession with Sybil. While there, he attends a performance of the "Vampire Dance", a piece depicting a man dominated and eventually bitten to death by a beautiful woman. This chilling parallel awakens Harold to his own weakness, prompting him to seek redemption. At last, he reunites with Helen, who had desperately searched for him after his departure.
Cast Harry F. Millarde as Harold Marguerite Courtot as Helen Alice Hollister as Sybil the Vampire Henry Hallam as Martin Bert French and Alice Eis as the dancers Robert G. Vignola (uncredited)
Production
The Vampire was shot in Cliffside Park, New Jersey.Paolo Cherchi Usai, Silent Cinema: A Guide to Study, Research and Curatorship, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019, p.126
The highlight of the production is the presence of dancers Alice Eis and Bert French performing their "Vampire Dance", inspired by Philip Burne-Jones painting The Vampire (1897). A still of the performance recreates the exact features of the painting.James Card, Seductive cinema: the art of silent film, Knopf, 1994, p.183 "The Vampire Dance" was famous and controversial at the time in the American vaudeville circuit for its provocative poses, before it was documented as part of the film.
On February 20, 1913 the dancers scandalised authorities with their number "Le rouge et noir" and were arrested on obscenity charges the next day, later freed on $500 bail each.Andrew L. Erdman, Blue Vaudeville: Sex, Morals and the Mass Marketing of Amusement, 1895-1915, McFarland, 2015, p.120 Eis and French were paid $2,000 by the Kalem executives to immortalise the "Vampire Dance".Jonathan Rigby, American Gothic: Sixty Years of Horror Cinema, Reynolds & Hearn, 2007, p.21
Reception The New York Dramatic Mirror wrote: "The acting of Miss Hollister as the adventuress in handling the different situations with the hero stands out. The director has carried detail to a fine point and very artistically. Photography good."
The Moving Picture World stated: "It is well acted and in photography is, for the most part, above criticism."
Preservation status Previously considered to be a lost film, a print exists in the George Eastman Museum film archive. It is often cited as the oldest "vamp" movie in existence since earlier pictures, like the 1910 short film of the same name starring Margarita Fischer and produced by William Nicholas Selig, are considered lost.
See also Femme fatale Vampire films
References
External links