When Men Desire (1919) E-31-47 G. Raymond Nye, Theda Bara, Fleming Ward and Edward Elkas "When Men Desire" Theda Bara Plays Beautiful American Girl Saved from Hun by Airmen. Reviewed by Hanford C. Judson. THERE is a striking and dramatic climax in the new Fox picture, "When Men Desire." Theda Bara, as Marie Lohr, the heroine, a beautiful American girl, after an ably constructed train of circumstances, is at length in the hands of a most unscrupulous German official. Outside the locked door German officers are smiling. In a secret cabinet, Lola, a German spy, who has just received a passport to Switzerland, sits laughing. Now we are givena flash of the sky and see five American aeroplanes in battle formation sailing over. The official is atartled by the crash of falling bombs at the railroad station and on the street, but he doesn't desist from his effort to overpower the beautiful girl. At the critical moment the palace is hit. The plot is clear and entertaining. Theda Bara has a role that fits per perectly and wears many striking costumes. She is well supported by an excellent cast, and able direction is apparent in the scene building and in the handling of the story. It is six reels in length. Cast. Marie Lohr Theda Bara Robert Fleming Ward Von Rohn G. Raymond Nye Elsie Henner Florence Martin Lola Maude Hill Marie's German Uncle Edward Elkus Story by E. Lloyd Sheldon and J. Searle Dawley. The Story. Marie, an American girl, is with her German uncle in Strassburg when the war breaks out, and is in love with the American Secretary of legation. The head of the German secret service, von Rohn, wants her. America declares war and whenwhen all the other Americans leave, she is kept "for a few days" on a pretext, and through the next few months has a struggle toescape the wiles and the violences of this unspeakable character. She gets into his power when she unwisely asks for a passport so that a friend of hers, the wife of a wounded German soldier, might go to her husband. This other woman, by the way, is desired by one of the lesser officers. Marie gets her wish, but finds herself locked in von Rohn's cabinet and exposed to his violent embraces. She is saved for the moment by bombs thrown by American aviators. She takes the passport of a German woman spy, who lids dead on the floor after the bombing, and gets as far as the Switzerland frontier when she is stopped again. She has important information for the Americans, and manages to get word to her American lover, who comes in an airplane. One against many, he is unable to rescue her by force. Von Rohn comes and there is a struggle in her room, in which she stabs him while he is trying to open the door of her closet in which the American is hidden. Then there is a running chase in an automobile to the airplane and a final escape. Program and Advertising Phrases: Theda Bara Seen Again in Another "Vamp" Offering, Her Favorite Specialty. In Which Dan Cupid Engineers an Aeroplane Love Affair Hun Duplicity and Brutality Frustrated by Yankee Genius. American Girl i Power of Hun Beast Rescued by Fearless Yankee. Advertising Angles: Make Miss Bara your chief sales point, but the aeroplane hook-up in the press book will give you a good lobby or window stunt, or you can plan a race for aeroplanes along the same lines. It is an indirect hook-up, but if it gets the boys talking it will advertise the picture and your house. Keep the war angle in the background as much as possible and advertise it rather as a sidelight on German Kultur. Advertising Aids: One twenty-four sheet, two six-sheet, two three-sheet and two one-sheet posters. Lobby displays 8x10, 11x14, and three colored photographs, 22x28. Cuts, mats, music cues and a slide announcing the picture and date. Released March 9. -- Moving Picture World, March 22, 1919, p. 1697 with Theda Bara, Fleming Ward, and G. Raymond Nye. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards. Fox. More Information on this film...                                      This work (When Men Desire (1919), by Fox), identified by Bruce Calvert, is free of known copyright restrictions. Books (none) Last Modified March 20, 2023