Palestine, under the rule of Rome. Salome, daughter of Herodias and both niece and stepdaughter of King Herod, becomes infatuated with the prophet John the Baptist, who publicly denounces the depravity of the royal family and proclaims the arrival of a new messiah. (Film presumed lost.)
Costume
Bara's notorious 'nude' beaded costume that scandalized 1918.
Acting
Bara's hypnotic stare — the original femme fatale prototype.
Director
J. Gordon Edwards
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Bara was Hollywood's first manufactured sex symbol — her entire 'Arabian' backstory was studio fiction, and 'Salome' cemented the 'vamp' archetype that terrified moral guardians.
Like nearly all of Bara's 40+ films, 'Salome' was destroyed in the 1937 Fox vault fire; only a few production stills and a damaged fragment survive.
US
