The Blue Flame is a four-act play written by George V. Hobart and John Willard, who revised an earlier version by Leta Vance Nicholson.

Ruth Gordon, the main character, is a religious young woman who dies and is revived by her scientist fiancé as a soulless femme fatale.

The production starred Theda Bara, a popular silent film actress who was known for playing similar roles in movies.

[2] Bara's movie fame drew large crowds to theaters, and the play was a commercial success, breaking attendance records at some venues.

In the first act, irreligious scientist John Varnum has developed a device to bring the recently dead back to life.

The characters and cast from the Broadway production are listed below: Leta Vance Nicholson, a movie scenario writer, wrote the first version of The Blue Flame.

[7] From her first leading role as "the Vampire" in the 1915 movie A Fool There Was, Bara had been typecast as a "vamp" or femme fatale who seduced and ruined innocent men.

[10] Bara told a reporter that she was offered a few scripts to consider, and chose The Blue Flame (at that time titled The Lost Soul) because it allowed her to play two versions of the character, one good and the other bad.

[15] The production began with a series of preview performances in February 1920, appearing in Pittsburgh; Washington, D.C.; Stamford, Connecticut; and Chicago.

[16] While the show was still in previews, writer Owen Davis claimed the story had been lifted from his earlier play Lola, which had appeared briefly on Broadway in March 1911, then was adapted as a movie in 1914.

The play was further promoted by the release of sheet music for a theme song, with Bara's image featured prominently on the cover.

[26] Variety expected Bara to draw audiences to the theater for at least a few weeks, but said opinions in the daily press were united about how bad the play was.

The theater critic for Munsey's Magazine quoted several negative reviews and compared Bara's acting unfavorably to that of drama school students.

[29] The Sun and New York Herald said Bara's acting was disappointing and the play was "abysmal in intelligence and all that touches the art of the theatre".

[4] In Ainslee's Magazine, Dorothy Parker said the play's authors had taken the line about being remembered for badness "as their working motto", and suggested the crowds at the performances were there to attack the playwrights.

[30] In the New-York Tribune, Heywood Broun suggested that the entire production company should fear the wrath of God for such a terrible play.