Salomé (1922)

A Disappointing Continuation

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

This silent movie is an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's play of the same name, starring Mitchell Lewis as Herod, Alla Nazimova as Salome, and Rose Dione (who played Madame Tetrallini in "Freaks") as Herodias, wife of Herod. The director was Charles Bryant.I've read Wilde's play but never seen it. I was concerned about taking this great poet's play and making it a silent movie, but overall I think the movie is a success. However, I stopped expecting the play and took the film on its own. There are some long title cards to wade through with some of Wilde's dialogue, but basically we have to take the movie as its own silent work of art.This is a movie I would recommend only to select portions of viewing audiences. The sets were by Natacha Rambova, and they were an attempt to suggest the Aubrey Beardsley illustrations in the printed copy of Wilde's script. The sets and scene designs are excellent in and of themselves and capture Beardsley's spirit admirably. Much of the opening is composed of static shots of actors posing, giving I suppose the Beardsley-like sets the attention they merit, but some audiences may find the opening shots unintentionally humorous and perhaps over-long. The costumes are also clearly inspired by Beardsley, so while we have suggestions of clothing worn by Sadducees, Pharisees, Romans, and so on, great liberties were taken, and the materials were much richer than I imagine was available back in the days of Herod. The style was much grander, as well. One of Salome's costumes is a totally modern strapless mini- dress, by the way, and Herodias reminded me throughout of Robert Crumb's prototypical hippie woman.The acting, like the sets and costumes, was not natural at all. This is a very stylized production. I was amazed, though, by Nazimova's pantomime of expressions flitting across her face as she was wooed by Herod and then rejected his advances. Nevertheless, much of the acting is dramatic posing of the characters for a few seconds in a static shot.Yet ... many of those static shots are excellent compositions with great lighting, especially the chiaroscuro effects when we see Jokaanan (also spelled Iokaanan) in his cell. It's a fascinating movie with many faults, I'm afraid. (I am reminded for some reason of Charles Laughton's "Night of the Hunter.")I think this version of "Salome" will be appreciated by select groups; persons interested in Beardsley, Expressionism, art films, scene and costume design, and other such esoterica will find the movie more interesting than general audiences, but general audiences may be intrigued by "Salome" as well.As a note, Natacha Rambova was born in Salt Lake City as Winifred Shaughnessy. At 17, she ran off to New York City, changed her name, and studied ballet under Russian Theodore Kosloff. Rambova began an affair with the married Kosloff, and her mother brought charges of statutory rape against him. Rambova fled to England to avoid the trial, and her mother relented, giving Rambova her way. It was through Kosloff that Rambova and Nazimova met. The affair with Kosloff ended (he shot her as she was leaving), and Rambova began an affair with an American actor known as Rudolph Valentino. Valentino was married at the time, and the affair complicated the divorce, but eventually Rambova and he were married. She worked with him on several of his films as costume and art designer.Nazimova was born in Yalta as Miriam Leventon. She took as her stage name that of a character in the Russian novel "Children of the Streets." She was a major star in pre-World War I Russia and was brought to Broadway, where she was also popular. She also became a star in Hollywood, and she began producing and directing her own films. However, "Salome" was such a complete failure that she could no longer attract financing, so she returned to the stage.Ken Russell directed a movie in 1988 called "Salome's Last Dance," which incorporated the play as part of a somewhat larger story involving Oscar Wilde's birthday. I'd forgotten who Ken Russell is until I saw the film. Only Stratford Johns (as Herod) was good in his role; the rest of the actors (including Glenda Jackson, I'm sorry to say) engaged in histrionics to put it mildly. Imogen Millais-Scott (as Salome) had two expressions: opening her eyes very widely and squinting. However, there was lots of nudity to save the day. Ken Russell fans will love the movie, but it's of little help appreciating Wilde's one act play, which must be padded to make it a full length movie (by, for example, adding in stuff about Wilde's birthday). Bryant's version follows the play and runs about an hour; "Salome's Last Dance" goes for an hour and a half.Millais-Scott has her own interesting story. She had diabetes since childhood and was legally blind when the movie was made. She has since had a transplant of kidneys and pancreas after renal failure; the transplanted pancreas has cured her diabetes (though not her blindness), but she has not returned to acting.

By the early 1920s, Alla Nazimova had lost her standing as one of the premiere actresses of her time. She had an appeal some compare to Greta Garbo, with much-acclaimed performances in films such as "War Brides" (1916), "Revelation" (1918), and "Out of the Fog" (1919). Unfortunately, these films are presently unavailable. Today, Nazimova's most widely seen silent film appears to be her ludicrously impressionistic version of "Camille" (1921), which was precisely the sort of film which made audiences and exhibitors conclude Nazimova's star had set. By the time "Salome" was released, her appeal was low.This is unfortunate because "Salome" was the best of Nazimova's art-house period, and could have been a hit comparable to some of the foreign imports of the day. It follows the plot of Oscar Wilde's play, but works more as a visual feast of images. Nazimova's opening hair style alone is among best in all of filmdom. A heavily "homosexual look" (many said) to the film has been said to stem from Nazimova's use of an exclusively gay cast and crew, including most notable stylistic contributions from Natacha Rambova (aka Mrs. Rudolph Valentino). Like a lot of hyperbolized Hollywood, the whole is more of a bisexual affair.********* Salome (10/22) Charles Bryant ~ Nazimova, Nigel de Brulier, Mitchell Lewis, Rose Dione

This film is the culmination of the silent era. Through the blending of mystical dance, conceptual art, and unprecedented design, Nazimova and Rambova take us all beyond the confines of any set time or place and into the murky, ever changing tides of creativity. There is simply an essence radiating from behind each scene or perhaps even filtering out through it. It's up to the viewer to give this energy it's own ideal. Few films attempt this type of transparent mysticism. One is left with the distinct impression that more than a classical tale is being told. I highly recommend this film as an addition to any collection. It's not your average black and white, but then again the distinction of difference is well-deserved.

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.