Salomé/ Lot in Sodom (1923)
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Starring
the tempestuous, Russian-born Alla Nazimova, Salome adapts the controversial
Oscar Wilde play with an abundance of sumptuously fantastic visuals. Loosely
based on the Biblical story, this saga of King Herod and his unbridled lust for
his young stepdaughter leads to the haughty Salome's demand of the head of John
the Baptist in exchange for an alluring dance. Hailed as America's first art
film, this striking evocation of a fantastic, surreal era of perpetual night
and rampant debauchery still retains its power to shock and captivate. No less
remarkable is Lot in Sodom, a sensual depiction of the Sodom and Gomorrah story
filled with sinewy and semi-clad bodies, delirious bacchanales devoted to
physical pleasure, and a searing, cataclysmic finale depicting the fall of a
city devoted to sins of the flesh. Both films are digitally mastered from
excellent 35mm elements. Salome includes a choice of an orchestral score composed
and conducted by Marc-Olivier Dupin and a score composed and performed by
Silent Orchestra (Carlos Garza and Rich O'Meara). Lot In Sodom has its original
experimental soundtrack by Alec Wilder.
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It
might be sort of heretical to admit, but I never really cared that much for Oscar Wilde’s “comedy of manners”
stage plays. Part of it might be that during high school I was a “techie” for a
production of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST. It was a dreadful production
that toured to about seven other schools. I can recite every line from the
script even today. Another factor is that Wilde’s plays primarily deal with the
artificial British upper class of the late 1800’s. Not my favorite milieu. His
play SALOMÉ is not my favorite either. That being said, I certainly acknowledge
Wilde’s literary genius & the cruelty he was subjected to by the very
society he was trying to entertain.
There
is one quote from Lady Windermere’s Fan” that’s great. The actor describes his
thoughts on the English pastime of fox hunting as “the unspeakable in pursuit
of the inedible.”
I
do enjoy Aubrey
Beardsley’s illustrations of the play. They combine Art Nouveau, Symbolism
& Decadence. His work in general is often sexually charged, with dark, even
homicidal tones. It was the perfect illustration for a dark, decadent script
that also had distinct homosexual overtones. Alla Nazimova (this was way before
the Nazi Movement and the actress had no association with them) was the protogé
of Natacha
Rambova, second wife of silent film
heart throb Rudolph Valentino.
They formed an interesting trio, to say the
least. A lot of (Caucasian) American men felt threatened by Valentino’s sauve
handsomeness & sensitive male charisma. There were allegations that the
three were in some sort of open “lavendar (gay) marriage.” Valentino really
suffered as a result of this Flapper Age homophobia.
Valentino did not participate in SALOMÉ.
The
production was “the Baby” of Rambova & Nazimova.
Rambova
focused on the overall set design & Nazimova, of course, was to play the
lead. There is no doubt that both women were probably artistically ahead of
their time, particularly in post-World War I America. They did have the cache
of Russian ancestry that seemed to appeal to a romantic segment of the
population. But the allure of doomed Tsarist beauties & poetic male lovers
could not save SALOMÉ
So
what was so “naughty” in the film that bristled censors from Hollywood to
Maine?
It’s
a difficult movie to write about because it really is bizarre &
extraordinarily different—certainly different from any other commercial release
at the time. The homosexual overtones are obvious and this in itself would set
up a barrier to wide distribution of the film. The plot can easily be seen as a
slap in the face to traditional Christianity—and Fundamentalist elements would
go absolutely ballistic if they viewed.
The
overall “feel” to SALOMÉ is very faithful to Beardsley’s decadent, “far-out” in
interpretation. That I liked. There are European expressionist, Fritz Lang elements I liked
as well. This isn’t a straight-forward (pun intended) interpretation of the
Biblical story. Herod
is a white-faced evil clown who appears to have a melting face. His wife, the
wicked Herodias, is an overweight, alcoholic cave woman with impossibly
enormous hair, wearing painted leotards. She pounces around the set rapidly
alternating between rage, lechery & glee. She was pretty funny—and I liked
that as well.
Another
comic element was the depiction of the Sanhedrin, the Council of Jewish Elders.
They were presented as 3 very short men (who could pass as triplets) dressed in
oversized turbans & vestments straight off the vaudeville circuit. I’m not
sure if the humor was intentional or not. So, go figure…
Now
we arrive at Nazimova’s Salomé.
For
starters, I didn’t see anything very seductive about her. It’s true that the
actress was middle aged, playing a girl not yet 18 (in fact, if there really was
a Biblical Salomé, she could have been even much younger.) Nazimova was known
for her beauty, and while it was not unusual for actresses of the time to play
much younger women, this didn’t “work” for me. Certain long shots of Nazimova
did suggest a young girl with a lithe, dancer's form. But close-up shots were
less flattering. The white make-up & dark eyeliner (typical to this era of
filmmaking) actually appeared to add to the actress’ years.
For me
the most disappointing scene in the SALOMÉ was the all-important Dance of the
Seven Veils. I can’t believe that an
actress with Nazimova’s background would be so lame as to deliberately allow
herself to look so ridiculous. My idea of the Seven Veils Dance is Rita Hayworth coquetishly
letting each of the seven veils slowly fall in an extraordinarily erotic,
saturated technocolor routine.
Review: JEFarrow
Updated 08/09/07
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