Salomé

I just finished watching this movie. I think it has been unfairly rundown by critics. Yes it is historically inaccurate, but how many Hollywood epics are actually accurate ? The answer is hardly any.

To me movies are essentially entertainment, and this movie really did that. Most of this was down to the casting of the stunningly beautiful Rita Hayworth in the title role. Her much mentioned "dance of the seven veils" is without a doubt the highlight of this film.

The performances by the rest of the cast are decent if not exceptional. Stewart Granger is the Roman commander who is secretly a Christian, Charles Laughton plays Herod, a man as much obsessed with pursuing Salome as with trying to spare John the Baptist for fear of what God will do to him in retaliation (he believes John the Baptist to be the Messiah).

It is definitely not one of the greatest epics and some of the dialogue is not the best, but the movie is certainly not the worst of Hollywoods many Biblical epics. It is far more entertaining than "The Robe" and Rita Hayworth's radiance is extremely easy on the eye.

Banished from Rome by Emperor Tiberius Augustus : Cedric Hardwicke , Salome : Rita Hayworth abandoning her boyfriend : Rex Reason , returns to Jerusalem , there being infatuated by both , a good-looking Roman Centurion : Stewart Granger , and the licentious Herodes : Charles Laughton who is lasciviously after her , while John the Baptist : Alan Badel loses his head .

Spectacular and colorful film , with plenty of some viviv large-scales scenes , certainly , but lacks fidelity to Holy Bible , this is very free and loose rendition based on Ancient Scriptures . Here outstanding Rita Hayworth and her famous dance , as she sinuously shedding her Seven Veils . The best perfomances go to Alan Badel as a fanatic John the Baptist along with Charles Laughton as a lascivious Herodes Antipas and well supported by the usually baddie Judith Anderson as his Queen , Herodias . Including other illustruous secondaries as Sir Cedric Hardwick as emperor Tiberius , Arnold Moss , Maurice Schwarz , Rex Reason, and Basil Sydney as Pontius Pilatos .

It contains a moving and stirring musical score by George Duning , adding some religious and oriental sounds . As well as evocative cinematography in Technicolor by cameraman Charles Lang , though a perfect remastering being really necessary . The picture benefits itself to be shot in location in Israel, though wasted because of no too much exteriors . This Biblic rendition far from faithful to its origin , and according to Columbia Pictures and it was professionally directed by William Dieterle , though it has a few gaps and failures . Dieterle was a good director, making nice films and some masterpieces , as he directed the following ones : "Devil and Daniel Webster" , "Hunchback of Notre Dame" , "Juarez" , "Life of Emile Zola" , "Quick Let's get married" , and his greatest success : "Portrait of Jennie" , among others. Rating : 6/10, acceptable , but neither extraordinary , not notable , but passable . The yarn will appeal to Rita Hayworth , Stewart Granger and Charles Laughton fans .

As we all know that Princess Salome,(Rita Hayworth) danced for King Herod,(Charles Laughton) in order to gain his favor and requested that John the Baptist's head would be removed and placed on a silver platter and given to the king. However, Hollywood changed the Bible version and made Salome look like a kind and loving Princess who loved the Christian way of thinking and living and wanted to save John The Baptist from being killed. Stewart Granger,(Commander Claudis) soon become the lover of Princess Salome after she had fought with him constantly and told him she wanted nothing to do with a Roman. King Herod and Queen Herodus (Judith Anderson)was living in adultery since she was married to another man and living with King Herod. Rita Hayworth was an experienced dancer and this was one of her best films in 1953.

Salome certainly isn't a terrible film, far from it. But I do think, as a biblical epic it is flawed in many ways. The costumes and the scenery were a joy to the eyes, and the music was beautiful and a treat to the ears. The acting is pretty good too, with Stewart Granger handsome in his role, and Judith Anderson deliciously cruel as Herodias, though Anderson to be fair has given better performances in classics like And Then There Were None and Rebecca. Charles Laughton gives one of his career's weakest performances, but he is good as King Herod to some extent. The film's portrayal of John the Baptist from Alan Badel was also fine, but Salome's creme de la creme is Rita Hayworth in the title role. Entirely captivating and so beautiful, and she danced beautifully in Dance of the Seven Veils which also happens to be a scene from Richard Strauss's opera of the same name. However, the film's flaws include pedestrian pacing, an underdeveloped script and a story that suffers from a lot of tampering. Overall, deeply flawed, but watchable biblical film, that is worth watching if only for Hayworth and Dance of the Seven Veils. 6/10 Bethany Cox

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.