Silent

Alla Nazimova takes the lead in this highly stylised version of the biblical tale, based on the play by Oscar Wilde. Directed by Charles Bryant.

Synopsis

Salome (Alla Nazimova), a princess used to getting what she wants, is the daughter of Herodias (Rose Dione). She seduces her stepfather/uncle Herod (Mitchell Lewis), the governor of Judea, with a titillating dance with a purpose.

In return for this delectable spectacle, Herodias promises her the head of the prophet John the Baptist (Nigel de Brullier), the man she loves but who has rejected her.

Review, by @Reelreviewer

Silent Hollywood was a hotbed of hotties getting at it, partying all weekend long, drinking to excess, snorting a few lines of blow and, when they had the time, knuckling down and making a movie or two. Dominic Chazelle’s Babylon (2022) shows that time has not diluted our view of these ancient antics.

Whether Russian-born actress Alla Nazimova indulged in such hedonism, I could neither confirm nor deny. Her past is shrouded in legend and mystery and, as a movie icon, she disappeared almost as rapidly as she arrived (to note: Gavin Lambert’s biography, published in 2021, has had great reviews).

Already an acclaimed stage actress in her homeland and the US, from her debut in 1917’s War Brides (the movie which also launched matinee idol Richard Barthelmess, whose mother taught English to Nazimova) she was marked out as being different from the crowd.

Quick to control her career, she produced her films, creating a series of dazzling, avante-garde fare, a move that eventually bankrupted her. In 1925 she made her last movie for 15 years and returned to the stage.

But at the height of her powers, she made probably the most interesting, certainly the most stylised, films in Hollywood. Salome is the most arresting of them and, perhaps, the first (or firstly famous) US art film.

You could say Salome is Hollywood’s attempt at expressionism, then the ‘cine-vogue’ of European movie style and staging. This production is based on the Victorian adaptation of the biblical tale by playwright Oscar Wilde. It is stagey and artificial, but that’s part of its charm.

The racy costumes and poptastic production design are inspired by illustrations by famed 19th-century artist Aubrey Beardsley that caused a sensation back in the day. Some of the male actors wear nipple badges!

A fair whack of the budget must have gone on this and the hairdos and wigs. At points, Nazimova has a ‘bubble afro’, and the women at Heroditus’ court wear gravity-defying ‘biscuit’ wigs.

Nazimova had much physical grace as a performer and fully deployed a few ‘eye-rolling frenzies’ beloved of the silent movie actress. Salome’s dance of the seven veils includes a support cohort of dwarves. During this frenetic, spasmodic twitch-fest, she caresses her nubile, athletic body – the woman was in great shape for her mid-40s.

The other actors’ movements are equally balletic, leading one to think that Salome is, at times, more of a dance performance than a film, and there’s a wonderfully OTT display of lasciviousness from Mitchell Lewis as Heroditus.

Despite its gorgeous visuals and the physicality of the actors, the movie is mostly a static affair. The camera never moves and the editing is basic, but if we see Salome as an art film, it is a lovely, extended painting.

The version I watched is on Youtube here and features a stunning, crazed score from Carlos U. Garza and Richard O’Meara.

Cast & credits

Director: Charles Bryant. 1h 12mins (72 mins). Metro.

Producer: Alla Nazimova.
Writers: Alla Nazimova, Natacha Rambova.
Camera: Charles van Enger, Paul Ivano.
Music (2003): Carlos U. Garza, Richard O’Meara.
Sets: Natacha Rambova.

Alla Nazimova, Nigel De Brullier, Mitchell Lewis, Rose Dione, Earl Schenck, Arthur Jasmine, Frederick Peters, Louis Dumar.