So much average

Sadly Over-hyped

Just perfect...

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Producer: Buddy Adler. Executive producer: Rita Hayworth. A Beckworth Corporation production, released through Columbia Pictures Corp. Copyright 28 January 1953 by the Beckworth Corp. New York opening at the Rivoli: 24 March 1953. U.S. release: September 1953. U.K. release: 7 September 1953. Australian release: 6 August 1953. Sydney opening at the State. 9,218 feet. 102 minutes.NOTES: A domestic rental gross of nearly $5 million brought "Salome" into second place behind "From Here To Eternity" as one of Columbia's top box-office attractions of 1952-53.Previous cinema Salomes include Theda Bara in 1918, Nazimova in 1922, and Diana Allen also in 1922. The plot of the Allen film which attempts to whitewash Salome is closely paralleled by the present version. Nazimova's celebrated interpretation, on the other hand, was based on the Oscar Wilde play. COMMENT: Although it certainly exhibits some of the shortcomings common to the Hollywood religious epic, "Salome" has some unexpected assets and in no way deserves its poor reputation. The first problem of course is the script. It always is. Here we have not only a gross distortion of the climactic events so as to whitewash Salome's character, not only the introduction of a spurious love interest in the person of Stewart Granger's fictitious Commander Claudius, not only a too facile desire to introduce historical quotes (complete with King James' English) into somewhat forced, mannered and even amateurish dialogue; but a whole approach that seems at once pompous but irreverent, florid yet frightened, verbose yet laughably inaccurate, grandiose yet simple-minded, religious but impossibly naive.What can you rescue from a mess like that? Quite a lot, actually. Some of the playing is nothing short of inspired, particularly Charles Laughton as the lecherous Herod, Judith Anderson as the designing queen, Arnold Moss as her acquiescent adviser, and Basil Sydney as the stubbornly thick-headed Pilate. Even Rita Hayworth is occasionally quite credible. Certainly no-one could complain that she doesn't make an alluring Salome, even if her long-awaited dance (to a rather pedestrian score by Amfitheatrof) is a considerable let-down and disappointment. Sir Cedric Hardwicke is a boringly wooden Caesar but fortunately his role is small. Badel makes an energetically frenzied John the Baptist, though his theatrical posturings seem often as ridiculous as his dialogue. It's hard to keep a good director down, even with a hokey script. Dieterle can still show the style, the pace, the tension and the atmosphere of his famous 30's biographies, particularly when helped out by cleverly inter-cut second unit footage, eye-catching sets and costumes, and Charles Lang's grandly low-key, almost film noirish cinematography. Duning's brassy music score is also a major asset.The film cost a lot of money, but for once it's right up there on the screen, not wasted on discarded footage, studio overheads, grossly super-expensive star salaries and other intangibles.

John the Baptist (Alan Badel) denounces the rule of King Herod (Charles Laughton) and the scheming Queen Herodias (Judith Anderson). Herod was her husband's brother. Emperor Tiberius Caesar dismisses Princess Salome (Rita Hayworth) from Rome. She returns home to her mother Herodias with Roman soldier Commander Claudius (Stewart Granger). Herod lusts after her. Salome attends John the Baptist speaking and is taken with him.This is an old-fashion Biblical epic with big sets and old-fashion big acting. The acting is very broad compared to modern sensibilities. The veteran duo of Laughton and Anderson is compelling. Hayworth's acting is rarely subtle. Badel does a lot of staring skyward. Unlike some of the more iconic Biblical epics, this one doesn't have the big action scenes unless the Dance of the Seven Veils is an action scene to you. Rita Hayworth throws everything into the dance. Maybe she's throwing too much into it. Some of the moves are too hard and not sensual enough. I like some of the old epics but this is not one of them.

Though the movie is known for star Rita Hayworth's "dance of the seven veils," the over-the-top performances of Sir Charles Laughton and Dame Judith Anderson are worth the price of admission. The pair play Herod and Herodias, two of the other central figures in the eventual beheading of John the Baptist, played to the hilt by Alan Badel.Laughton alternates between seriousness and buffoonery as the king who condemns the Baptist to death at the request of his wife. Anderson plays his wife in the same sinister wizardry as she had done earlier as "Mrs. Danvers" in "Rebecca." These are two pros that always made acting mincemeat of anyone around them.Hayworth looks good in her royal garb and does well in the role of the unwitting temptress, used by her mother to swing the tide against "The Baptist." Co-star Stewart Granger is along for the ride as Hayworth's love interest.Composer Daniele Amfitheatrof's music for the celebrated dance is quite memorable, made the more by Hayworth's foot and body work.

While this film does vary from the biblical storyline, it's worth watching for Rita alone. She's a vision in all her scenes and very good in her part, culminating in her 'Dance of the Seven Veils', which is a treasure. {I only wish it wasn't montaged with the death of the Baptist.} Rita never looked lovelier than she does here and her Jean Louis costumes are all drop-dead gorgeous. Stewart Granger is pretty good, better than usual, he and Rita having good chemistry here. It's well cast, with actors Charles Laughton and Dame Judith Anderson both excellent as King Herod and Queen Herodias. Arnold Moss is slithering as the evil adviser to Queen Herodias, though Alan Badel as John the Baptist seems more like a wild-eyed madman than a holy prophet. Though there are some filler segments that are not up to the rest of the film, still I think it's excellent entertainment.