Salome "(1923) is a silent film directed by Charles Bryant and starring Ala Nazimova, adapted from Oscar Wilde's play of the same name. This script is a loose retelling of the story of King Herod in the Bible, who executed the Baptist John (here, as in Wilde's plays, known as Jokaanan) at the request of his stepdaughter Salome, who longed for Salome. Salome is often referred to as one of the earliest art films produced in the United States, with highly stylized costumes, exaggerated performances (even during that period), minimal set, and no props other than the most necessary ones. This makes the screen image more focused on atmosphere and conveying the strong personal desires of the characters than traditional plot development. Although this movie is only over an hour long and lacks any real action, its production cost exceeded $350000. All devices are built indoors to fully control lighting. This movie was shot entirely in black and white, matching the illustrations of Aubrey Beardsley in the printed version of Wilde's play. These costumes were designed by Natacha Rambova and only used materials from Maison Lewis in Paris, such as the real silver Lame waist worn by the guards. No major studio would be associated with this movie, and it was only released by a small independent distributor a few years after its completion. This was a complete failure at the time, marking the end of Nazimova's production career. A long-standing rumor seems to have started while the film is still in production, indicating that according to the request of star and producer Nazimova, the cast of the film is entirely composed of gay and bisexual actors to pay tribute to Oscar Wilde. Of course, this is impossible, but an extras in Salome reported that some of the actors and extras in the play are indeed homosexual, but the proportion of them is not high, and of course not everyone. It can be said that Nazimova herself is a lesbian, and her two guard roles (second only to Salome, with the most time on screen) have been portrayed as very stereotypical homosexuals, with several of her female courtiers being male cross dressing. Salome was released at the New York International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in 1989 and at the New York Gay and Lesbian Experimental Film Festival in 1990. In 2000, the Library of Congress recognized this film as "culturally significant" and kept it in the National Film Registry.
