Tuberculosis in human culture the disease, which allegedly helped them to see life more clearly and to act decisively. In 1680 John Bunyan referred to it as "the captain of all these men of death". Several major operas have exploited the theme of heroines dying tragically of tuberculosis, including Mimì in Puccini's opera "La bohème". Giuseppe Verdi's "La Traviata" features the consumptive Violetta Valéry, based on Marguerite Gautier in Alexandre Dumas, "fils"'s 1848 novel "La Dame aux Camélias". In Jacques Offenbach's opera "The Tales of Hoffmann", Antonia has tuberculosis and is under the control of a Svengali-like quack doctor who forces her to sing
Sarah Bernhardt Nonetheless, her film is cited as one of the first examples of a sound film. Eight years later, in 1908, Bernhardt made a second motion picture, "La Tosca". This was produced by Le Film d’Art and directed by André Calmettes from the play by Victorien Sardou. The film has been lost. Her next film, with her co-star and lover Lou Tellegen, was "La Dame aux Camelias", called "Camille". When she performed on this film, Bernhardt changed both the fashion in which she performed, significantly accelerating the speed of her gestural action. The film was a success in the United States,