Salome (1923/I)

Director:

Charles Bryant

Writers:

Oscar Wilde (play)
Natacha Rambova (scenario)

Release Date:

15 February 1923 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Salome, the daughter of Herodias, seduces her step-father/uncle Herod, governor of Judea, with a salacious dance...

Plot Keywords:

Homosexual | Biblical | Religion | Remake | Based On Play

Awards:

1 win

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Salomé (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

72 min | Germany:75 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Company:

Nazimova Productions

Trivia:

A copy of this film survives at Eastman House (Rochester, New York).

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Valentino (1977)

very unusual but is it art?

Having read the reviews of this on the Silents Majority website and in Time Out film guide I was curious. It looked good from stills and the play is one of my favourites ... the film is extremely odd. Nazimova, who looks like Gloria Swanson only more over the top, is a seductive and teasing Salome, dancing the seven veils with style, driving Herod mad, taunting the Baptist (a gaunt stick of a man who is quite disturbing to look at). The guards are all extremely camp and OTT and the whole film has that feeling of the extremes of twenties decadence. One feels Wilde would have approved. Not a patch on the opera but a decent stab at a play which is full of excess. It just wouldn't work with sound. It has to be images, and this is full of them.