Salome is a 1953 American drama Biblical film directed by William Dieterle and produced by Buddy Adler from a screenplay by Harry Kleiner and Jesse Lasky Jr. The music score was by George Duning, the dance music by Daniele Amfitheatrof and the cinematography by Charles Lang. Rita Hayworth's costumes were designed by Jean Louis. Hayworth's dances for this film were choreographed by Valerie Bettis. This film was the last produced by Hayworth's production company, the Beckworth Corporation.

Plot

In Galilee, during the rule of Rome's Tiberius Caesar (Cedric Hardwicke), King Herod (Charles Laughton) and Queen Herodias (Judith Anderson) sit on the throne and are condemned by a prophet known as John the Baptist (Alan Badel). Herodias resents John's denunciation of her marriage to the king, her former husband's brother, for which John labels her an adulteress. The king is not pleased with the Baptist condemning his rule, but fears he will face the same fate his father, the elder Herod, suffered after ordering the murder of firstborn males when Jesus was born. The prophecy states that if a king of Judea kills the Messiah, he will suffer an agonizing death. The king believes John the Baptist is the Messiah because of the mistaken belief of some peasants.