SALOME (1922)

Vintage original 14 x 11″ (36 x 28 cm.) double weight photo, USA. Diagonal creases at top left, one tear on left mended with archival paper, VERY GOOD+. Alla Nazimova (actor and uncredited co-director, along with Charles Bryant). The notorious and flamboyant Nazimova, who had initially captivated Broadway with her interpretations of Ibsen, was lured to Hollywood with a then unheard of salary of $13,000 a week. She had a vogue which lasted for several years.

Mann, pp. 60f: “In her few films that survive, what’s preserved for all time is lesbian passion — passion that breaks rules, defies tradition, reverses gender roles, challenges assumptions — lesbian passion, even though it’s ostensibly directed at a man.”

In this rare image from her Oscar Wilde adaptation, she is with Mitchell Lewis (as Herod); this image is from late in the film, as she demands that Herod give her the head of John the Baptist.