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Under-appreciated in its day—Photoplay’s reviewer called the film “bizarre stuff” and a “hothouse orchid of decadent passion”—Salomé is now considered one of the first American art films.
An adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s notorious 1891 stage play, Salomé is a queer classic. Produced by its star Alla Nazimova and designed by Natacha Rambova, the film re-envisions the biblical story of Salomé, who danced for King Herod for the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter. Inspired by the work of Aubrey Beardsley, whose illustrations accompanied the first English translation of Wilde’s play, Nazimova and Rambova abandoned any effort at historical realism, crafting a style that film scholar Martin Turnbull has called “Art Nouveau meets searing minimalism meets Hollywood decadence.” [71 min; drama; silent with English intertitles]
Silent Movie Day is an annual celebration of silent movies meant to champion their presentation and preservation while highlighting their vital, beautiful, and powerful part of film history. You can learn more about this national program at www.silentmovieday.org.
This year, IU Cinema is collaborating with IU Libraries Moving Image Archives (IULMIA) to bring you not one, but two fantastic silent film programs to enjoy! Kick off Silent Movie Day 2025 at IULMIA’s Wells Screening Room with the short film program Breaking Plates and Smashing the Patriarchy, from the curators of Cinema’s First Nasty Women, Maggie Hennefeld, Laura Horak, and Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi. IULMIA’s screening will be foregrounded with a recorded introduction by Hennefeld that will be archived post-screening on IU Cinema’s YouTube channel.
“Seen through 21st century eyes, Salomé is a phantasmagoria of striking images, unbridled sensuality, and fearless storytelling. It also leaves the viewer with the lingering sense that if Alla Nazimova had the good fortune to come along a hundred years later than she did, she’d have found a world with its arms thrust wide open to embrace the groundbreaking artist that she was.” — Martin Turnbull, Library of Congress
"The persons responsible for Salomé deserve the whole- souled gratitude of everyone who believes in the possibilities of the movies as an art." — Robert E. Sherwood, LIFE Magazine
"This film is a necessary spectacle and has been drafted into the National Film Registry. The big screen is just the place to stare at it." — Michael Barrett, PopMatters
Any film screened at IU Cinema may contain content that viewers find sensitive or upsetting. Visit our Audience Advisories page to learn more.
