An excerpt taken from the Bible when Herod ruled the throne, this is a creep show with morally lacking characters. Herod lusts over his stepdaughter Salome and promises her the throne (over her mother, no less) if she will dance for him. Salome initially rejects the offer, desiring the imprisoned prophet John instead, but when John rejects her she has him killed. There is also a melodramatic subplot about a gay man who kills himself because Salome attempts to seduce John instead of him. The film doesn't tell us he's gay, but IMDb trivia says it was an all gay cast, and really, you could just tell. You might think the filmmakers did this to say something about Babylon at the time, but it was said to be done in honour of gay playwright Oscar Wilde. So clearly this is a film that is interested in concepts such as this, as opposed to the best methods of storytelling.So the characters are all fairly hideous, and so drawn out is the incredibly limited story, that it feels more like art posturing than entertainment (actually the staging reminds me of a tableau vivant - which is pretty much exactly that - art posturing). It is not a compliment to say the most memorable thing about it is the costume design - full of elaborate hats and wigs, a lipsticked Herod, a short dress designed solely to show off our heroines legs, some sort of white painted nipples for our apparently straight gay man, and bare chested black slaves forever in the background, waving umbrella like flowers gently over the Royals to fan them. Characters sway and open their arms wide and look to the sky and take an eternity to do anything, before our heroine finally dances for Herod. Herod looks like he's going to have a heart attack for excitement, yet in possibly the most embarrassing dance routine ever recorded, all it shows is that she is anything but a dancer! Can you believe they made this with a straight face?!IMDb trivia also tells us this film flopped at the box office. I don't always agree with the general public, but in this case they are far closer to the money than those out there dubbing it an 'art film classic'. Just because it has funky costumes does not mean it is a classic. To date I have not yet seen or read anything by Oscar Wilde that I liked, and Salome is no different. A film set in pre-Christ Babylon, I guess it should have been expected..

Sometimes there is a weird silent film production very difficult to classify after so many years have passed since its premiere; this is true even for this German count, a strange fact given that the aristocracy are accustomed to unusual subjects.This silent controversy is true of "Salome", a strange oeuvre that even nowadays shocks the audience by its eccentricity and singularity. It was directed by Herr Charles Bryant in the silent year of 1923, and starred his wife ( or something like that because they lived in sin during many years… ) the also unclassifiable Dame Nazimova.Filmed in an unique and theatrical set ( there are few different shots outside the main setting ), this extravagant oeuvre was the first film adaptation of the great writer Herr Oscar Wilde's play,which tells of the capricious and ill fated infatuation between Dame Salomé and Herr Jokanaan .Many adjectives comes to this German count's mind watching this peculiar silent film production, a baroque oeuvre with bizarre costumes inspired by the great Herr Aubrey Beardsley illustrations together with suggestive décors that are outstanding for their originality and the same time modernity ( the "Art Nouveau" is the inspiration) and stilted performances that give the film an atmosphere of careful theatricality that fits well with its artistic and original intentions. It is of course, an adaptation of a biblical story though with a decadent touch.Obviously Herr Charles Bryant's "Salome" is not one of those DeMille' biblical productions in content and form ( thank Gott! ); Dame Nazimova gives to the oeuvre a perverse sensuality and creates a lustful atmosphere hanging over the other characters. The film plays with ambiguity and loose-living, an interesting combination of hedonism and lechery."Salome" is a capricious, original silent film rarity which is outstanding in its artifice and mannerisms at the service of an exuberant staging and is intentionally overacted. It is an audacious and controversial film even after so many years.And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must do a belly dance for one of his Teutonic rich heiress.Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/

When reading viewer comments on this forum, I often wonder if they and I have seen the same film. What did the people (there are a few) who liked almost two hours of this nonsense see that I didn't?In 1923, when Nazimova made this, Art Nouveau and Victorian Decadence were over, over, over, but she pushed ahead anyway. You can blame Middle American socially conservative values for the failure of the project, but I would say that there are plenty of other reasons that "Salome, The Movie" tanked: posturing instead of acting, declarations instead of dialog, buffoonery (Herod and Herodias) paired with painful sincerity (everybody else) and not quite meshing, a really bad dance number from Nazimova, and the overwhelming sense of self-importance that pervades the entire production. Then there are the absurdities. The Captain of the Guard kills himself because he can't stand the idea that Salome might love someone else. Okay, a bit over the top, but acceptable in a piece of fiction. However, it's absurd to have the character portrayed as (or by) someone who clearly never had any erotic interest in women. Ditto for showing John the Baptist first tempted by Salome and then rejecting her on moral grounds, when either the actor or the portrayal is of someone with the same sexual orientation as the Captain of the Guard. A one-line review might state: they all stay in character and take themselves very seriously. In this movie, that's not a good thing.The credits give a nod to the Aubrey Beardsley illustrations as the basis of the costume design. I think there's more to it than that: Nazimova used the Wilde libretto as a framework for the action, but I think she was really trying to bring the Beardsley illustrations to the screen with herself as the center of attention. Give Middle America a little credit for at least a modicum of good taste. This is not artistry -- this is narcissism.And by the way, one post here suggests that Fellini drew on this film for inspiration. Perhaps, but I see the lines of inspiration going from Herod, as portrayed here, to Harpo Marx, whom Herod very much resembles, and from Herodias to Ma Kettle.

From the moment I saw the close-up of Nazimova (who plays the title character) with her crown of gently bobbing light-globes, I was entranced by this bizarre, magical, lovely film. That's why I was shocked to see its relatively low ratings on this website and the unflattering description by Mr. Warner. This is one of the strangest, most beautiful films I've ever seen, and certainly one of the more engaging silent films I've watched. Yes, it's highly stylized and the acting is way over the top, but realism gets awfully dull sometimes, especially in the silent format. Salome is a true original and a thing of great beauty. From the creative use of drawn set pieces to the spectacularly inventive costumes to Nazimova's perfectly controlled, dancer-like movements, the experience (and it really is that) has a mystical, otherworldly glow to it. A must-see for anyone interested in silent film, dance, costuming, or art nouveau.