User Reviews

Where did she dance? Where did she eat? And did she eat the huge oyster from the shell she came out of for her glorious entrance? Poor Yvonne DeCarlo moved out of minor supporting roles for her first lead in this turkey of all turkeys that doesn't know whether it wants to be European romantic drama, swashbuckler, or western. In the 1971 Stephen Sondheim musical "Follies", DeCarlo sang "First you're another slow eyed vamp, then someone's mother, then you're camp". Well, the camp came first, and this is one where she should be finding veils to hide behind.

The plot line has nothing to do with the famous Biblical princess who asked for John the Baptist's head on a platter. Salome is a European dancer with a bad reputation who seduces a powerful Count (Kurt Katch), gets information for the other side of the war between Austria and Prussia, ends up in the wild west where she falls in love with a bandit (David Bruce), then back in Europe where the still western clad Bruce has a sword fight with the count over her affections.

This one rips out all the lousy dialog you can think of when it starts off on April 9, 1865 with a group of soldiers (Bruce included) who encounter General Lee (John Litel) right after the truce has been signed between him and Grant. Bruce still wants to fight the war; After all, he has known nothing but battle since the age of 16, and plans to continue to fight even though the war is basically over. Lee spouts some over-the-top philosophies and disappears on his merry way out of the film, but poor Bruce and a reporter (played by Rod Cameron) aren't so lucky. They've got another 85 minutes to go.

What starts off as unintentional camp turns into a major yawn fest with only several moments of eye-rolling humor. Everybody in the cast (which also includes Marjorie Rambeau as a saloon proprietor who humiliates herself with a hideous musical number, and Walter Slezak as a Russian nobleman also after DeCarlo) is directed to over-emphasize their dialog. The film is lovely to look at, and DeCarlo is exquisitely dressed. But attractive or not, when the plot simply rambles just everywhere and creates an instant distaste, the ultimate result is plain and simply a Danube that will leave you coldly blue.

"This is surely one of the worst films ever made and released by a major Hollywood studio. The plot is simply stupid. The dialog is written in clichés; you can complete a great many sentences in the script because of this. The acting is ridiculously bad, especially that of Rod Cameron. The "choreography" is silly and wholly unerotic. One can only pity the reviewer who saw 23-year-old Yvonne's dance as sexual; it's merely very bad choreography. The ballet scene in the film's beginning is especially ludicrous. If you are into bad movies and enjoy laughing at some of Hollywood's turkeys, this is for you. I bought the colorized version on VHS, making the movie even worse. Yvonne's heavy makeup, when colored, has her looking like a clown all the time. And she's the best part of this film. What a way to launch a career."

Above is the "review", such as it is, by aberlour36. If this commenter, and the word IS commenter...NOT commentator, wishes his or her comments to be taken seriously then they should have taken the simple, elementary trouble to discover that "Salome Where She Danced" was FILMED IN COLOR....Technicolor, to be exact. It was NOT computer colorized. I find it virtually impossible to have any respect or serious consideration for the "critical" and "artistic" opinions of someone who literally cannot tell the difference between a 40's Universal picture in Technicolor....some of the most intensely bright and gorgeous true Technicolor of all....and the visual horror that is computer colorization. If this glaring, visual fact is not readily apparent then this commenter's taste in general must be called into SERIOUS question. That I disagree with the review otherwise, goes without saying.

Walter Wanger produced this western melodrama at Universal. Not only did he have his wife Joan Bennett under contract, he also had Susan Hayward and Julie London under contract. Either those women passed up the opportunity to play the lead in SALOME, or else Wanger didn't think they quite fit the role. Whatever the reason for their non-participation, he still needed to find the right star, so he launched a nationwide search.

The search occurred over a two-month period in the summer of 1944. Photographers across the U. S and Canada were invited to submit pictures of the most beautiful women they'd photographed (obviously, movie talent or experience acting on stage was not necessary). Over 20,000 images were submitted. Wanger and his staff reviewed the submissions and were able to narrow it to down to eight hopefuls by August.

Meanwhile Yvonne De Carlo had been working under a contract at Paramount. She racked up quite a few credits at the studio in bit parts, but when she was up for a major role, she lost out to Dorothy Lamour. Frustrated by her experience at Paramount, she was ready to bail on the studio and find opportunities elsewhere in Hollywood. Having heard about Wanger's search for the perfect female to play Salome, she decided this would be the part that would put her on the cinematic map.

With help from friends in her native Canada, a campaign was launched to get Wanger to consider De Carlo for the role. Wanger was ultimately persuaded, and he cast her in August '44. A few of the other hopefuls, including Barbara Bates, were cast as background dancers.

With De Carlo now in place, and under a new contract at Universal (where she'd go on to make quite a few hit films), Wanger was ready to finalize the script with the production code people. However, the production code office had two major objections, and the script was not finalized until mid-September. One objection involved a reference to the story of Salome in the Bible; and another objection involved one of the male characters not getting punished for his criminal deeds. After Wanger and his writers made changes, the script received approval, and they could start filming.

Cast as De Carlo's leading man was Universal contractee Rod Cameron. He was a fellow Canadian, and they shared chemistry, though at 6'5" Cameron towered over De Carlo. He had been making B westerns at the studio and was just the right sort of rugged and working class he-man that would counterbalance De Carlo's brand of exotic femininity. They'd go on to make FRONTIER GAL a short time later and reunite for RIVER LADY in 1948.

The story for SALOME WHERE SHE DANCED is somewhat intriguing. De Carlo plays a Viennese dancer and actress inspired by Lola Montes who arrives in America and falls for a bandit (David Bruce). The rogue reminds her of a former love, but his outlaw exploits are more important to him than she is.

Of course the relationship doesn't work out. Meanwhile, Cameron who plays a newspaper man, seems to be keeping on eye on what's happening...probably because he's developing feelings for De Carlo. He follows her on to the next engagement.

A highlight of the film is a memorable dance that De Carlo performs during a production of Salome in an Arizona town. Her attractive costume and exciting movements on stage make her quite popular with the locals.

She and her troupe move on to San Francisco where a colonel (Walter Slezak) becomes smitten with her. At the same time a Prussian nobleman (Albert Dekker) wants to take her back with him to Europe. Ultimately, she is able to avoid these entanglements with Cameron's help.

The film has just the right blend of over-the-top escapist entertainment. De Carlo is a rousing success on screen. She would become one of Universal's top moneymakers in the second half of the 1940s and early 1950s. Later, she went back to Paramount to make THE TEN COMMANDMENTS in 1956 for Cecil DeMille. That was validation; she had proven herself as a bonafide Hollywood star.