Salome (I) (1923)

Salome, the daughter of Herodias, seduces her step-father/uncle Herod, governor of Judea, with a salacious dance. In return, he promises her the head of the prophet John the Baptist.

Director:

Charles Bryant

Writers:

Oscar Wilde (play), Natacha Rambova (scenario)

Stars:

Mitchell Lewis, Alla Nazimova, Rose Dione

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview:
Mitchell Lewis	...	Herod, Tetrarch of Judea
Alla Nazimova	...	Salome, stepdaughter of Herod (as Nazimova)
Rose Dione	...	Herodias, wife of Herod
Earl Schenck	...	Narraboth, Captain of the Guard
Arthur Jasmine	...	Page of Herodias
Nigel De Brulier	...	Jokaanan, the Prophet
Frederick Peters	...	Naaman, the Executioner
Louis Dumar	...	Tigellinus

Storyline

Salome, the daughter of Herodias, seduces her step-father/uncle Herod, governor of Judea, with a salacious dance. In return, he promises her the head of the prophet John the Baptist.

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Plot Keywords:

dance | prophet | judea | female protagonist | king | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | Horror

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Details

Country:

USA

Release Date:

15 February 1923 (USA)

Also Known As:

Salomé

Box Office

Budget:

$350,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nazimova Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

72 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In addition to producing, writing, and actually directing, Nazimova also financed the film herself. Its total failure (both domestic and overseas) left her broke.

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Quotes

Salome, stepdaughter of Herod: The mystery of Love is greater than the mystery of Death!

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Connections

Referenced in Caligula (1979)

User Reviews

The Notorious Art Film Classic

Oscar Wilde's 1892 retelling of the Bible story of Salome, who danced before Herod to win the death of John the Baptist, was considered so depraved that the High Lord Chamberlain of England refused to grant it a license for public performance--and in the wake of Wilde's scandalous exposure as a homosexual and his subsequent imprisonment, all of Wilde's plays were swept from the stage. Wilde, who died in 1900, never saw his play publicly performed.

The worth of Wilde's plays were reestablished by the 1920s, but even so SALOME, with its convoluted and exotic language and hothouse sense of depravity, remained something of a theatrical untouchable--and certainly so where the screen was concerned. No one dared consider it until Russian-born Alla Nazimova, who is generally credited with bringing Stanislaski technique to the New York stage, decided to film it in 1923.

It proved a disaster. Theatergoers in large cities might be prepared to accept Wilde's lighter plays, but Main Street America was an entirely different matter--especially where the notorious SALOME was concerned, particularly when the film was dogged hints of Nazimova's lesbianism and by the rumor that it had been done with an "all Gay cast" in honor of Wilde himself. Critics, censors, and the public damned the film right and left. It received only limited distribution and faded quickly from view. Even so, the legend of both the film and its exotic star grew over time.

Given that much of the original play's power is in Wilde's language, SALOME suffers from translation to silent film--the title cards are often awkwardly long, and in general fail to convey the tone of Wilde's voice; moreover, the convolutions of the original have been necessarily simplified for the silent form. Even so, it is a remarkable thing in a purely visual sense. Directed in a deliberately flat style by Charles Bryant and designed by Natacha Rambova (wife of Valentino, she would also design Nazimova's silent CAMILLE), the look of the film seeks to reproduce the playscript's equally infamous illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley--and succeeds to a remarkable degree.

And then there is Nazimova herself. Well into her forties at the time she played the teenage Salome, Nazimova is an electric presence: while she often shows her years in close up, she is remarkably effective in capturing the willful, petulant, and ultimately depraved Salome in facial expression and body posture, balancing an over-the-top style with moments of quiet realism to most remarkable effect. The supporting cast is also quite memorable, with Mitchell Lewis (Herod) and Rose Dione (Herodias) particularly notable.

I would hesitate to recommend this film anyone other than someone already well versed in silent movies--and even then I would give the warning that it is unlikely to be what you thought it would. Still, this is a classic of its kind, and fans of silent cinema are urged to see it.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer