The colorful insert from Cobra
The "Fatal Attraction" of the silents, Cobra was adapted from the well-known stage play by Martin Brown. This film provides Nita with yet another opportunity to play a femme fatale, this time the exotic Elise van Zile, a "cobra" woman who is as fascinating as she is deadly. Slimmed down and seductive in Adrian gowns and furs, Nita has never looked more beautiful. She is, as usual, the pivotal point in the drama, this time between two men who are close friends, played by Rudolph Valentino (an Italian, Count Torriani) and Casson Ferguson (the American, Jack Dorning). One has the misfortune to fall in love with her; the other the misfortune to become her obsession.
Kino has a mint archival print with a theatre-orchestra score in which the beautiful sets, designed by William Cameron Menzies, are a magnificent stage for the cobra's strike.
These pages were originally created on July 10, 1999.
All text and images on this site ©1999-2001 Gloria Bowman, unless otherwise noted, and may not be used or copied without permission.