Salomé main backdrop
Salomé main poster

6.1/10 • 33

1923-02-151h 14m

DramaFantasyHorror

Based on Oscar Wilde's play, the films tells the story of how Salomé agrees to dance for King Herod in return for the head of John the Baptist.

Directors
Charles Bryant, Alla Nazimova

Top Billed Cast

View Credits
  1. Alla Nazimova

    Alla Nazimova

    Salomé

  2. Nigel De Brulier

    Nigel De Brulier

    Jokaanan, the Prophet

  3. Mitchell Lewis

    Mitchell Lewis

    Herod, Tetrarch of Judea

  4. Rose Dione

    Rose Dione

    Herodias, wife of Herod

  5. Earl Schenck

    Earl Schenck

    Narraboth, Captain of the Guard

  6. Arthur Jasmine

    Arthur Jasmine

    Page of Herodias

  7. Frederick Peters

    Frederick Peters

    Naaman, the Executioner

  8. Louis Dumar

    Louis Dumar

    Tigellinus

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Jan 14, 2025

7/10

Yikes, but I wonder what the good old Code would have made of this hugely sexually fluid and charged interpretation of Oscar Wilde's story of the bible's ultimate temptress. It's Alla Nazimova who takes the top billing as she sets her sights on the prophet "Jokaanan" (a shockingly wooden Nigel De Brulier) who sees her as little better than the spawn of Satan. Determined that she isn't going to be spurned, she shifts her inclination from seduction to revenge, and to that end she goes to work on her sleazy step-father Herod (Mitchell Lewis) who was the Tetrarch of the Roman province of Judea. He's your typical lecherous coward and though she tantalises him relentlessly, he is afraid to challenge the religious establishment or the people whom he knows will not approve of any attempt to separate "Jokaanan" from his head. Finally, she manages to exhort a promise from him and that's where the legend takes over and the seven veils do their stuff! It is very theatrically staged with precision and skill, if not a great deal of humanity. Indeed, it doesn't look natural at all as the characters deliver such stylised performances, but that also helps to capture it's very seaminess. The court of this king is debauchery central, and there is a clear sense from the photography that director Charles Bryant is showing us as much as he dare whilst simultaneously teasing our imagination provocatively. Some of the supporting cast look like they came straight from a "Tarzan" film and the others straight from Cleopatra's court of eunuchs and hairless men clad only in short kilts and curly wigs. It could do with an injection of pace at times, but if you sit back and let the whole tawdry thing wash over you, it's quite enjoyable.

Media

  • Salomé poster
  • Salomé poster
  • Salomé poster
  • Salomé poster
  • Salomé poster
  • Salomé poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$350,000.00
Revenue
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Keywords
princesstransvestismbased on play or musicalremakereligionprophetkingsilent filmwoman director