As someone long fascinated by the so called "Sewing Circle" of Hollywood lore I've wanted for quite some time now to view a film of the queen of the Sapphic bunch. Based on the Oscar Wilde play "Salomé" is one of the early arthouse films where image and effect precede conventional filmmaking. Colorful costumes bedeck actors in the crystalline black and white lens conveying a scene of sophisticated nocturnal decay. Striking in its modernity the film appeals and compells admiration. Alla Nazimova's androgynous and unfetching features add to the sordidness of the proceedings and the semi-naked uranians that comprise the male actors heighten the contemporary look and vibe of the film with its overt homoeroticism. With its overly theatrical acting, limited space (like a play), clunky script and slow pace the film doesn't hold up though. It was a brave experiment but didn't work (as Nazimova's bank account afterwards ruefully showed). Nevertheless this is one of the important films in the medium's history when film became "art".
Review of Salomé
