In the reign of emperor Tiberius, Gallilean prophet John the Baptist preaches against King Herod and Queen Herodias. The latter wants John dead, but Herod fears to harm him due to a prophecy. Enter beautiful Princess Salome, Herod's long-absent stepdaughter. Herodias sees the king's dawning lust for Salome as her means of bending the king to her will. But Salome and her lover Claudius are (contrary to Scripture) nearing conversion to the new religion. And the famous climactic dance turns out to have unexpected implications...

Rita Hayworth
as Princess Salome

Charles Laughton
as King Herod

Stewart Granger
as Commander Claudius

Judith Anderson
as Queen Herodias

Alan Badel
as John the Baptist

Cedric Hardwicke
as Tiberius Caesar

Basil Sydney
as Pontius Pilate

Maurice Schwartz
as Ezra the King's Advisor

Arnold Moss
as Micha

Karl 'Killer' Davis
as Slave Master
CinemaSerf
This is one of those films that just doesn't ever quite spark - despite a cast that ought to have delivered an epic. Charles Laughton and Judith Anderson gel well as the rulers of Judea under Roman occupation. When her daughter (Rita Hayworth) returns home, she starts to use her feminine wiles on he...