Salomé

Credited to Charles Bryant, this 1923 silent film is really a design experiment produced by Alla Nazimova with her own money, with Nazimova in the lead. Adapted from Oscar Wilde's play, the story follows Salomé agreeing to dance for King Herod in return for the head of John the Baptist. The film's actual subject is not narrative but appearance: Natacha Rambova designed the costumes, and both women drew on Aubrey Beardsley's illustrations for the printed edition of Wilde's play. It was shot entirely in black and white, bringing it close to the world of those drawings. The legend that the cast was made up entirely of queer performers is widespread; one extra who worked on the film said that a number of the cast were gay, but not an unusual proportion, and certainly not all of them. Reported to have cost three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, the production failed commercially, ran into distribution problems and ended Nazimova's career as a producer. Who it's for: viewers interested in silent cinema, art deco design and queer film history. Who it's not for: anyone wanting narrative flow, or who will find the theatrical, heavily stylised playing artificial.