Salome (1953)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

William Dieterle

Writers:

Jesse Lasky Jr. (story) &
Harry Kleiner (story) ...

Release Date:

24 March 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History

Tagline:

The Glory And Excitement Of Rome...In All Its Greatness and Badness!

Plot:

In the reign of emperor Tiberius, Gallilean prophet John the Baptist preaches against King Herod and Queen Herodias...

Plot Keywords:

Salome | Religion | Severed Head | Beautiful Woman | Ancient Rome

US TV Schedule:

Wed. July 29

5:15 AM

TCM

Cast

Rita Hayworth	...	Princess Salome
Stewart Granger	...	Commander Claudius
Charles Laughton	...	King Herod
Judith Anderson	...	Queen Herodias
Cedric Hardwicke	...	Tiberius Caesar (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
Alan Badel	...	John the Baptist
Basil Sydney	...	Pontius Pilate
Maurice Schwartz	...	Ezra the King's Advisor
Arnold Moss	...	Micha the Queen's Advisor
Asoka	...	Asian Dancer
Sujata	...	Asian Dancer

Also Known As:

Salome: The Dance of the Seven Veils (USA)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:PG | West Germany:12 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #16050)

Filming Locations:

Israel

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The first full length feature that Alan Badel featured in.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: In one scene, outside the walls of Jerusalem, with the "skyline" of the old city beyond the walls, you can see the golden Dome of the Rock, which wasn't built until more than 600 years after this story takes place.

Quotes:

Queen Herodias: The desperate can only survive by taking desperate measures.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Head (1968)

Stylised, colourful and fun!

Don't bother watching this film for historical accuracy. Watch it instead for entertainment value only and to see why Rita Hayworth was worshipped as a Goddess.

You can almost feel the debauchery oozing out of Charles Laughton's Herod as he oils his way through the film. And Judith Anderson's Queen Herodias is completely over the top, but you can see where she's coming from and that she's a product of her circumstances. Stewart Granger is almost out of place here as he's the only one not seriously hamming it up, but he still does a relatively convincing job as Commander Claudius, improving as the film progresses.

I love this film for the wonderful elocution-lesson delivery of the dialogue and the gloriously artificial colouring which give a lovely fantasy recreation of biblical times: even though bad things happen, they just don't seem that bad. And even after all these years Rita Hayworth's dancing is a vision to behold for men and women alike.