SALOMÉ (1923)
Special Features: Silent with live musical accompaniment by Silent Orchestra
Based on the Oscar Wilde play, SALOMÉ is the magnum opus of silent film megastar Alla Nazimova. Born Miriam Leventon in Yalta, Crimea, and a major Broadway star in the early 1910s, Nazimova had by the end of the decade signed a lucrative contract with Metro Pictures and moved to Hollywood. She self-produced SALOMÉ in 1922 in close collaboration with the costumer, set designer and scenarist Natacha Rambova (born Winifred Shaughnessy in Salt Lake City, UT), later the wife of Rudolph Valentino. A daring visual aesthetic makes SALOMÉ an object of fascination today, eschewing anything resembling ancient Rome in favor of a mashup of elements drawn from Aubrey Beardsley illustrations and Art Nouveau design, with wildly expressionistic costumes featuring electric-light wigs and seashell-shaped helmets. "A hothouse orchid of decadent passion…You have your warning: this is bizarre stuff." –Photoplay. DIR Charles Bryant; DIR/PROD Alla Nazimova; SCR Natacha Rambova, from the play by Oscar Wilde. U.S., 1923, b&w, 72 min. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
Run Time: 72 Minutes
Opening Date: Sunday, October 28, 2018
Genre: Dance
