Salome's Pearls

Alla Nazimova was not a subtle woman. A Moscow hussy, she was "kept" by a string of older benefactors as she worked her way up the casting couch. A few husbands later, she'd made her way to New York City, and became an acclaimed actress, known also for her outlandish lifestyle and beauty. But Alla had more than a bevy of champagne escapades on her mind. She used her newfound hoard of cash to make her own movies, which were fantastic frog-belly flops. Her baby was Salome, in which she naturally starred, with a hairdo that may only be described as pearls the size of portobello mushrooms liberally dotted in her hair and then lit up. 

And when Salome didn't have her pearl afro on, she was swathed like a showgirl in pearl head pieces. 

Although her audience may have also felt that pearls were the epitome of luxury and materialism, they could not get over the sight of Nazimova hopping awkwardly about the screen in an attempt to dance seductively, which gave the effect of both a two-year-old at ballet recital and a drunk hobo. Unphased by bad reviews, Alla continued on with her career, reigning over her "Garden of Allah" compound in Hollywood, where she entertained, seduced, and launched the careers of half the movie stars in town.

And the pearl connection? Besides the obvious and endearing fetish for them in Salome, she also held a torch for Anna May Wong, previously a subject of pearl curiosity for Lady Akoya.