1h 43min | Drama, History | 24 March 1953
Director: William Dieterle
Stars: Rita Hayworth, Stewart Granger, Charles Laughton, Judith Anderson.
Valerie Bettis ... dance for Miss Hayward created by
Valerie Bettis ... choreographer (uncredited)
Watched because RH dances, and that's always worth seeing.
The story is engaging. I remembered that Salome had requested the head, but it was her mother, seizing an opportunity that Salome had not anticipated. I like RH (b. '18), her dancing and her acting. (She's between husbands at the moment; divorced Aly Khan in Jan, and marrying Dick Haymes in Sep.)
The dance of the 7 veils (no, I didn't count them) is in the final chapter (12) of the dvd. It is preceded by other dancing entertainment for the king, but none is worth much, not even the "Asian dancers" who get billing. But it's worth seeing the whole film to build up to the dance, and what it means to her (why she's doing it), and to contemplate that H'wood is making such a religious film; Harry Cohn is still running Columbia at this point (through '58).
Columbia, dir. Dieterle; 7-
