Salome (1923 film)
 Poster | ||
| Starring | Alla Nazimova<br/Mitchell Lewis Rose Dione Earl Schenck Arthur Jasmine Nigel De Brulier Frederick Peters Louis Dumar | |
| Directed by | Alla Nazimova Charles Bryant | |
| Written by | Natacha Rambova | |
| Based on | Salome (play) by Oscar Wilde | |
| Cinematography | Charles Van Enger | |
| Distributed by | Nazimova Productions | |
| Released | Dec 31, 1922 in {{{4}}} | |
| Runtime | 74 minutes | |
| Country | United States | |
| language | Silent film with English intertitles | |
| Budget | $350,000 | |
Salomé is a 1923 American silent drama film directed by Charles Bryant and Alla Nazimova, who also stars. It is an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's 1891 play of the same name. The play itself is a loose retelling of the biblical story of King Herod and his execution of John the Baptist (here, as in Wilde's play, called "Jokanaan") at Herod's stepdaughter Salome's request, whom he lusts after.
Salomé is often seen as one of the first art films made in the United States. The highly stylized costumes, exaggerated acting, minimal sets, and use of only the most essential props create a visual focus that emphasizes atmosphere and the portrayal of the characters' heightened desires more than traditional plot development.
Plot
The film begins by providing background for the upcoming banquet. The Tetrarch is said to have murdered his brother to gain the throne and access to his brother's (now his) wife and daughter.
Sometime after this coup, Jokanaan arrived from the desert and prophesizes the forthcoming birth of Christ. He exposes the infidelity of Herodias, the Tetrarch's wife. Enraged, the Tetrarch confines Jokanaan to protect him from angry mobs.
Salomé, daughter of Herodias, is described as "... An uncontaminated blossom in a wilderness of evil," but despite this, she is known as a girl who is unafraid to kill and does so as a form of affection.
A new scene opens at Herod's palace, where the Tetrarch shows his intense obsession with Salome, his stepdaughter and niece, much to Herodias's anger. Salome leaves this and enters the courtyard from the banquet hall. She charms a young guard into allowing her to see Jokanaan.
He is brought up from his cell below. Salomé shows a deep obsession with the Prophet. After he ignores her affections, she announces her intention to kiss him. The young guard Salomé had previously charmed takes a blade to his own chest. Unmoved, Salomé continues to bother Jokanaan, causing him to retreat back to his prison. This angered Salomé, and she waits just outside his cell door. Looking for his stepdaughter, the Tetrarch stumbles into the courtyard and finds the body of the young guard. He is horrified because he did not order anyone to be killed.
After the initial shock, the Tetrarch orders the banquet to be served outside so Salomé is visible while he eats. He urges her to join and dance for him and his guests, promising whatever she desires. Salomé realizes she can use this moment to kill the man she loves, Jokanaan. She knows her stepfather would keep him locked away in his cage otherwise, and her mother also despises him.
Salomé performs The Dance of the Seven Veils, which greatly pleases the Tetrarch. In return, Salomé asks for Jokanaan's head to be delivered to her on a silver platter. The Tetrarch is horrified by this request and offers several alternatives.
Cheered on by her mother, Salomé insists on the head of Jokanaan. When the head is delivered, Salomé hides it under her long train and kisses it, which she had desired since their first meeting.
Seeing this, the Tetrarch orders the execution of Salomé. Guards rush her with spears. The final card shows the words "THE MYSTERY OF LOVE IS GREATER THAN THE MYSTERY OF DEATH!"
Gay cast rumor
There is a longstanding rumor, which seems to have started while the film was still in production and has been asserted by Hollywood decadence chronicler Kenneth Anger, that the film's cast is made up entirely of gay or bisexual actors in an homage to Oscar Wilde, as per star and producer Nazimova's demand.
It is, of course, impossible to confirm, but one of the extras in Salomé reported that several cast members—both featured and extras—were indeed gay, though not an unusual percentage, and certainly not all of them. What can be said is that Nazimova herself was generally considered a lesbian (despite occasional flings with men including Paul Ivano), the two guard characters (who, next to Salomé, have the most screen time) are at least played very stereotypically gay, and several of the female courtiers are men in drag.
According to Vito Russo's The Celluloid Closet, some scenes in which homosexuality was exposed more explicitly were cut out, including one showing the relationship between two Syrian soldiers.
Critical reception and legacy
A reviewer for Screenland described Salomé as "a painting deftly stroked upon the silversheet" and said that "poets and dreamers will find imaginative delights in the weird settings and the still more weird acting, depressing at times to ordinary folks. And it is worth something to watch Nazimova balance her Christmas-tree headdress!"
Photoplay was unsure what to make of the film. Calling Wilde's original story "a hot-house orchid of decadent passion," the review was skeptical of the film adaptation: "We are not sure whether we like Madame Nazimova's idea of Salome as a petulant little princess with a Freudian complex and a headdress of glass bubbles. We rather believe such a Salome would not have stirred men so in those good old pagan days. You have our warning: this is bizarre stuff."
Salomé was screened in 1989 at the New York International Festival of Lesbian and Gay films and in 1990 at the New York Gay Experimental Film Festival.
In 2000, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
In 2006, Salomé became available on DVD as a double feature with the avant-garde film Lot in Sodom (1933) by James Sibley Watson and Melville Webber.
In 2013, Salomé was screened at the Ojai Music Festival, where the Bad Plus performed a live improvised soundtrack.
The film was nominated in 2001 by the American Film Institute for AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions.
See also [ Salome ]
External links
- Salome (1923 film) on YouTube Dance of Seven Veils is at T:45:00
- More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Salome_(1923_film) ]
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