Salome 1923 Silent Film

Salomé (1923) Silent Film Starring Alla Nazimova, Mitchell Lewis, Rose Dione, Earl Schenck, Arthur Jasmine, Nigel De Brulier, Frederick Peters, Louis Dumar Drama | Biblical | USA | Silent w/Eng Intertitles | 74min Based on Oscar Wilde’s 1891 play, "Salomé". 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 the request of Herod's stepdaughter, Salomé, whom the King lusts after. King Herod's stepdaughter Salome seduces him with a dance and is promised the head of the prophet John the Baptist. Director: Charles Bryant * The film was shot completely in black and white, matching the illustrations done by Aubrey Beardsley in the printed edition of Wilde's play. The costumes, designed by Natacha Rambova, used material only from Maison Lewis of Paris, such as the real silver lamé loincloths worn by the guards. * "Salomé" is often called one of the first art films to be made in the United States. The highly stylized costumes, exaggerated acting, minimal sets, and absence of all but the most necessary props make for a screen image much more focused on atmosphere and on conveying a sense of the characters' individual heightened desires than on conventional plot development.