''Salomé'' is a

1918 The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...

American silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

produced by William Fox and starring actress

Theda Bara Theda Bara ( ; born Theodosia Burr Goodman; July 29, 1885 – April 7, 1955) was an American silent film and stage actress. Bara was one of the more popular actresses of the silent era and one of cinema's early sex symbols. Her femme fatal ...

Plot

As described in a film magazine, Salome uses her wiles in pursuit of King Herod, whose power she desires. She has disposed of Herod's chief rival, and causes his wife to be killed through her own treachery. John the Baptist, who has secured a hold on the people, denounces Herod and his court. Herod has John thrown in jail for fomenting sedition. There Salome meets him, and becomes crazed with passion, but when John rejects her she seeks revenge. With a sensuous dance she gains the approval of Herod, and demands John's head as her reward. This act brings her own punishment when she is crushed to death beneath the sharp spokes on the shields of the Roman legionnaires.

Cast

Salome Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...

G. Raymond Nye G. Raymond Nye (April 13, 1889 – July 23, 1965) was an American film actor whose career began in silent film, silent era and lasted until the 1950s. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1912 and 1952. Early life and education Nye wa ...

as King Herod *

Albert Roscoe Alan Roscoe (born John Albert Rascoe; August 23, 1888 – March 8, 1933) was an American film actor of the silent film, silent and Sound film, early talking film eras. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1915 and 1933. Roscoe was bo ...

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

Herbert Heyes Herbert Harrison Heyes (August 3, 1889 – May 31, 1958) was an American film actor. He appeared in nearly 100 films between 1915 and 1956, including the famed 1947 film '' Miracle on 34th Street'', in which he played an ahistorical "Mr. Gimbel ...

Sejanus Lucius Aelius Sejanus ( – 18 October AD 31), commonly known as Sejanus (), was a Roman soldier and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Of the Equites class by birth, Sejanus rose to power as prefect of the Praetorian Guard, the imperia ...

(Heyes' final of five films with Bara) *

Bertram Grassby Bertram Grassby (23 December 1880 – 7 December 1953) was an English actor. He appeared in more than 90 silent film, silent era films between 1914 and 1927. Grassby was married to American actress Gerard Alexander. He was born in Lincolnshire, ...

as Prince David *

Genevieve Blinn Genevieve Clothilde Blinn (née Nannery; June 12, 1874 – July 20, 1956) was a Canadian actress who appeared on stage and in Hollywood silent motion pictures. She was a native of New Brunswick, Canada. Family Genevieve Nannery was the last mem ...

as Queen Marian * Vera Doria as Naomi * Alfred Fremont as Galla

Production notes

Portions of the film were shot in

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

.
here for Table of Contents

Reception

Although the film proved to be popular with some theaters charging extra for tickets to see it, ''Salomé'' also proved to be controversial. For example,

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

churches of varying denominations organized to protest the showing of the film. They objected not only to Bara's attire, but also to the divergence of the plot from Biblical text, such as scenes where John the Baptist was preaching in Jerusalem and where Salome declares her love to John, and to the youthful appearance of John. Objections were also made that children were attending showings of the film. In response, director Edwards stated that his ''Salomé'' was not based upon any single version of the story, but was a combination of many versions and used

poetic license Artistic license (and more general or contextually-specific, derivative terms such as creative license, poetic license, historical license, dramatic license, and narrative license) refers to deviation from fact or form for artistic purposes. It ...

. Edwards also noted the film had a "big, moral lesson" since "Salome, according to a consensus of literary opinion, was the wanton creature criminal history has given us" and who "drove the most diabolical bargain that has ever been known" by bartering "a dance for the head of a man." Like many American films of the time, ''Salomé'' was subject to restrictions and cuts by city and state film censorship boards. For example, the Chicago Board of Censors required a cut, in Reel 5, of a closeup of Salome in a litter where she raises her arm and exposes a breast, Reel 6, scene of executioner's sword descending, and, Reel 8, in two scenes where Salome is shown bending over dungeon, portions of film where her breasts are exposed.

Preservation

''Salomé'' is now considered to be a

lost film A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...

, though two minutes worth of fragments are held by the

Filmoteca Española The Filmoteca Española () is an official institution of the Spanish Ministry of Culture. Its objective is to restore, investigate and conserve the film heritage of Spain and its diffusion. It is part of the Institute of Cinematography and Audio ...

, who uploaded them to Vimeo on October 2, 2021. French film preservationist and historian

Henri Langlois Henri Langlois (; 13 November 1914 – 13 January 1977) was a French film archivist and cinephile. A pioneer of film preservation, Langlois was an influential figure in the history of cinema. His film screenings in Paris in the 1950s are often ...

said he had the opportunity to buy this film but dismissed it as he felt that the film was not considered a classic. He subsequently realized his lost chance and regretted prejudging which films as worthy of preserving, deciding instead to preserve whatever film he was able to.

In popular culture

A scene in the 1918 film '' The Cook'', starring

Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (; March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked with Mabel ...

and

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently ...

, spoofs parts of this movie, with Arbuckle dressing in drag and doing his best " Salomé" impression.

References

External links

* *
Alternate lobby poster

at silenthollywood.com * , Filmoteca Española (2 minutes) {{DEFAULTSORT:Salome (1918 film) 1918 films 1918 drama films Fox Film films Silent American drama films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Films directed by J. Gordon Edwards Films set in the 1st century Films shot in California Lost American drama films Lost silent American films Cultural depictions of John the Baptist 1918 lost films Cultural depictions of Salome 1910s American films Cultural depictions of Herod Antipas Films shot in Palm Springs, California 1910s English-language films English-language drama films