It's likely that even Oscar Wilde and Richard Strauss might have been surprised at the liberties taken by Hollywood with the biblical text in this version of the famed story. Starring Rita Hayworth as the titular heroine, as SALOME opens she has been banished from Rome for her involvement with... [More]

It's likely that even Oscar Wilde and Richard Strauss might have been surprised at the liberties taken by Hollywood with the biblical text in this version of the famed story. Starring Rita Hayworth as the titular heroine, as SALOME opens she has been banished from Rome for her involvement with a nephew of Caesar's. She travels to Galilee, where her mother, Herodias (Judith Anderson), has married King Herod (Charles Laughton), who rules the province with an iron fist. John the Baptist (Alan Badel), the cousin of Jesus Christ, roams the area, preaching against the evil of the king and his wife, gaining adherents for his faith. Salome falls in love with Claudius (Stewart Granger), the commander of the local garrison who, like herself, is attracted to the new religion of Christianity. Herod imprisons John but is unwilling to kill him because of a negative augury. Herodias, fearing the prophet's power and knowing of Herod's lust for her daugher, tricks Salome into believing that if she performs the famed Dance of the Seven Veils, the Baptist's life will be spared. William Dieterle's majestic film is a true masterpiece of camp, with many inadvertently hilarious lines, and Salome transformed into a near saint. [Less]