Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
"Give me any two pages of the Bible, and I'll give you a picture."
Cecil B. DeMille
Birth name:
Cecil Blount DeMille
Born:
12th August 1881, Ashfield, Massachusetts, USA
Died:
21st January 1959, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
Years active:
1914 - 1958
Cecil Blount DeMille was one of Hollywood’s founding figures. His career began in the silent era and spanned five decades. In that time he directed over seventy features, working in a variety of genres, ranging from social dramas to Westerns and biblical epics. DeMille ranks among the most commercially successful producer-directors in the history of American cinema.
He was born on 12th August 1881 in Ashfield, Massachusetts, into a theatrical family. His father, Henry C. DeMille, a lay preacher and playwright, collaborated with the celebrated theatrical impresario David Belasco. His mother, Beatrice, was an actress who figured prominently in his son’s business affairs. Henry DeMille died when Cecil was just eleven years old. To support her family, Beatrice ran a girls’ finishing school and sent Cecil to Pennsylvania Military College.
After developing a keen interest in theatre, he studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, graduating in 1900. A decade working as an actor and later actor-manager in stock and touring theatre companies followed. While touring in Washington with the play Hearts Are Trumps, DeMille met the actress Constance Adams, whom he would marry on 16th August 1902. The Genius, DeMille’s debut effort as a playwright, premiered in 1906 but met with little success. The Warrens of Virginia, which he co-wrote with his brother William, fared better the following year.
In 1911, DeMille’s mother introduced him to Jesse Lasky, then a theatrical producer. Lasky hoped to engage the services of Cecil’s older brother, William, a promising playwright. The two men’s shared passion for the theatre saw them enter a partnership which resulted in an operetta called California. It was a hit, but DeMille’s desire to be successful in his own right resulted in a series of flops between 1911 and 1913.
In 1913, he thought of becoming a war correspondent in Mexico. Instead, he formed the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company with Lasky, glove salesman Samuel Goldfish (later Goldwyn), and attorney Arthur Friend. The new company’s first picture was The Squaw Man, which DeMille filmed in Hollywood, using a rented barn as a studio. Released in February 1914, it was the first feature film made in Hollywood and an enormous success.
Between 1914 and 1917, DeMille made thirty movies, rising to become one of the industry’s leading figures. In June 1916, the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company merged with W. W. Hodkinson’s Paramount Pictures. The merger gave the new organisation control of production, distribution, and exhibition. DeMille played a key part in shaping Paramount’s structure. He created positions such as studio story editor and art director. Larger budgets allowed DeMille to insist on higher production values for his films. During this period, he mixed social themes with melodrama and spectacle. His films would often combine titillation with an uplifting moral message and religious sentiment.
Cecil B. DeMille on set in 1922
After the war, DeMille’s films reflected the new social attitudes which abandoned morality for materialism and fast living. The “Roaring Twenties”. Audiences were growing more sophisticated and responded to smart movies that emphasised sex and modern women, such as DeMille’s Old Wives for New (1918), Don’t Change Your Husband (1919), Why Change Your Wife? (1920) and The Affairs of Anatol (1921).
Despite his success at the box office, DeMille frequently clashed with Paramount studio head Adolph Zukor. After a rancorous dispute over the production costs for The Ten Commandments (1923), DeMille left Paramount to form DeMille Pictures Corporation, distributing his pictures through Lasky’s Producers Distributing Corporation (PDC). Apart from The King of Kings (1927), his independent pictures were unsuccessful, and he signed a contract with MGM. However, the three films he made for them were unsuccessful, and the studio didn’t renew his contract.
DeMille suffered disastrous financial losses in the stock market crash. In 1932, with his career at an all-time low, he returned to Paramount. He part-financed The Sign of the Cross (1932), and Paramount rewarded him for its box-office success with a creative home for the rest of his career. The film reinforced his reputation for directing lavish religious spectacles, although two of his highest-grossing films of the 1930s were Westerns: The Plainsman (1936) and Union Pacific (1939). DeMille also elevated his public profile above his contemporaries by hosting the popular, long-running Lux Radio Theatre program. On set, he created the archetypal public image of a movie director by wearing jodhpurs and riding boots and wielding a megaphone.
DeMille’s success continued into the 1940s and ‘50s with more historical and religious movies such as Unconquered (1947), and Samson and Delilah (1949). His 1952 circus-set drama The Greatest Show on Earth won the Academy Award for Best Picture and earned DeMille an Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. His standing among the film-making community was damaged, however, by his vociferous support for the House Un-American Activities Committee during the height of the anti-communist witch-hunts of the 1950s.
DeMille’s last film was The Ten Commandments (1956), another religious epic - this time filmed in Technicolor and widescreen. It became one of the highest-grossing films of all time when adjusted for inflation and earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Director.
In November 1954, while filming The Ten Commandments, DeMille suffered a heart attack on set. DeMille insisted on continuing with the production, but suffered further heart attacks that left him in fragile health throughout the late 1950s. Despite this, he continued to plan new projects up until his death at his Los Feliz home on 21st January 1959.
Cecil B. DeMille Filmography
1914 The Squaw Man 74 min Dustin Farnum, Winifred Kingston, Red Wing, Monroe Salisbury Co-dir. Oscar Apfel. First feature film shot in Hollywood. DeMille's debut.
1914 Brewster's Millions ~60 min Edward Abeles, Joseph Singleton, Sydney Deane Co-dir. Oscar Apfel. Based on George Barr McCutcheon's novel.
1914 The Master Mind ~50 min Edmund Breese, Fred Montague, Jane Darwell Co-dir. Oscar Apfel.
1914 The Only Son ~45 min Thomas Meighan, Truly Shattuck, Mabel Van Buren Co-dir. Oscar Apfel.
1914 The Man on the Box ~45 min Victor Moore, Lolita Robertson, Sydney Deane Co-dir. Oscar Apfel.
1914 The Call of the North ~55 min Robert Edeson, Theodore Roberts, Winifred Kingston Co-dir. Oscar Apfel. Preserved at George Eastman House.
1914 The Virginian 55 min Dustin Farnum, Jack W. Johnston, Sydney Deane First film credited solely to DeMille.
1914 What's His Name 50 min Max Figman, Lolita Robertson, Sydney Deane Preserved at George Eastman House.
1914 The Man from Home ~55 min Charles Richman, Theodore Roberts, Fred Montague Preserved at Library of Congress.
1914 Rose of the Rancho 50 min Bessie Barriscale, Jane Darwell, Dick La Reno Adapted from Belasco play. Preserved at GEH & LoC.
1914 The Ghost Breaker 60 min H.B. Warner, Rita Stanwood, Theodore Roberts Co-dir. Oscar Apfel.
1915 Carmen 59 min Geraldine Farrar, Wallace Reid, Pedro de Cordoba DeMille's operatic spectacle. Preserved at GEH, MoMA, BFI.
1915 The Girl of the Golden West 45 min Mabel Van Buren, Theodore Roberts, House Peters Adapted from Belasco play. Preserved at GEH & BFI.
1915 After Five ~45 min Geraldine Farrar, Richard Carlyle, Doris Tennant Lost film.
1915 The Warrens of Virginia 50 min Blanche Sweet, James Neill, Page Peters First use of 'motivated lighting'. Preserved at GEH.
1915 The Unafraid 40 min Rita Jolivet, House Peters, Page Peters Preserved at George Eastman House.
1915 The Captive 50 min Blanche Sweet, House Peters, Gerald Ward Thought lost until 1970; now at Library of Congress.
1915 The Wild Goose Chase ~40 min Ina Claire, Tom Forman, Theodore Roberts Lost film.
1915 The Arab 50 min Edgar Selwyn, Horace B. Carpenter, Milton Brown Lost film.
1915 Chimmie Fadden 40 min Victor Moore, Raymond Hatton, Mrs. Lewis McCord Preserved at Cinemateket Stockholm.
1915 Kindling ~50 min Charlotte Walker, Thomas Meighan, Harvey Clark Lost film. Social drama.
1915 Chimmie Fadden Out West 50 min Victor Moore, Camille Astor, Raymond Hatton Sequel. Preserved at George Eastman House.
1915 The Cheat 59 min Fannie Ward, Sessue Hayakawa, Jack Dean DeMille's masterwork. National Film Registry. Critical sensation.
1915 Temptation 60 min Geraldine Farrar, Theodore Roberts, Pedro de Cordoba Lost film. Follow-up to Carmen.
1916 The Golden Chance 74 min Cleo Ridgely, Wallace Reid, Horace B. Carpenter Preserved at George Eastman House.
1916 The Trail of the Lonesome Pine ~60 min Charlotte Walker, Thomas Meighan, Theodore Roberts Preserved at LoC & GEH.
1916 The Heart of Nora Flynn ~55 min Marie Doro, Elliott Dexter, Ernest Joy Preserved at George Eastman House.
1916 Maria Rosa ~55 min Geraldine Farrar, Wallace Reid, Pedro de Cordoba Preserved at GEH & BFI.
1916 The Dream Girl ~55 min Mae Murray, Theodore Roberts, James Neill Lost film.
1916 Joan the Woman 138 min Geraldine Farrar, Wallace Reid, Theodore Roberts Epic biographical drama. Preserved at CNC, GEH, BFI.
1917 A Romance of the Redwoods 70 min Mary Pickford, Elliott Dexter, Tully Marshall Preserved at George Eastman House.
1917 The Little American 75 min Mary Pickford, Jack Holt, Raymond Hatton WWI propaganda. Preserved at GEH, LoC, UCLA.
1917 The Woman God Forgot ~65 min Geraldine Farrar, Wallace Reid, Theodore Kosloff Preserved at GEH & Cineteca Del Friuli.
1917 The Devil-Stone ~60 min Geraldine Farrar, Wallace Reid, Tully Marshall Partially preserved (2 of 6 reels at LoC).
1918 The Whispering Chorus ~80 min Raymond Hatton, Kathlyn Williams, Edythe Chapman Preserved at GEH, UCLA, Academy Film Archive, BFI.
1918 Old Wives for New ~70 min Elliott Dexter, Sylvia Ashton, Theodore Roberts Preserved at Academy Film Archive & GEH.
1918 We Can't Have Everything ~65 min Kathlyn Williams, Elliott Dexter, Thurston Hall Lost film.
1918 Till I Come Back to You ~60 min Bryant Washburn, Florence Vidor, G. Butler Clonbough WWI drama. Preserved at GEH.
1918 The Squaw Man ~75 min Elliott Dexter, Ann Little, Theodore Roberts Second version. Remake of 1914 film. Lost.
1919 Don't Change Your Husband ~75 min Gloria Swanson, Elliott Dexter, Lew Cody First DeMille society comedy. Preserved at GEH, LoC & others.
1919 For Better, for Worse ~70 min Gloria Swanson, Elliott Dexter, Tom Forman Preserved at George Eastman House.
1919 Male and Female 116 min Thomas Meighan, Gloria Swanson, Lila Lee, Theodore Roberts Based on Barrie's The Admirable Crichton. DeMille classic.
1920 Why Change Your Wife? 90 min Thomas Meighan, Gloria Swanson, Bebe Daniels Huge box office success. Preserved at GEH.
1920 Something to Think About ~85 min Gloria Swanson, Elliott Dexter, Theodore Roberts Preserved at GEH & EYE Filmmuseum.
1921 Forbidden Fruit ~80 min Agnes Ayres, Clarence Burton, Theodore Roberts. Said to have influenced Hitchcock. Preserved at GEH, LoC, MoMA, UCLA.
1921 The Affairs of Anatol 117 min Wallace Reid, Gloria Swanson, Elliott Dexter, Bebe Daniels Drew censorship scrutiny. Preserved at multiple international archives.
1921 Fool's Paradise ~95 min Conrad Nagel, Dorothy Dalton, Mildred Harris Public domain. Preserved at GEH, LoC, UCLA.
1922 Saturday Night ~80 min Leatrice Joy, Conrad Nagel, Edith Roberts Public domain. Class-contrast drama. Preserved at GEH, UCLA.
1922 Manslaughter ~100 min Leatrice Joy, Thomas Meighan, John Miltern Public domain. Huge box-office hit. Preserved at GEH, LoC, MoMA.
1923 Adam's Rib ~80 min Milton Sills, Elliott Dexter, Pauline Garon Public domain. Preserved at George Eastman House.
1923 The Ten Commandments 136 min Theodore Roberts, Leatrice Joy, Richard Dix, Rod LaRocque, Nita Naldi First biblical epic. National Film Registry. Held Paramount revenue record 25 years.
1924 Triumph ~80 min Leatrice Joy, Rod LaRocque, Victor Varconi Preserved at LoC & GEH.
1924 Feet of Clay ~90 min Ricardo Cortez, Vera Reynolds, Julia Faye Lost film.
1925 The Golden Bed ~80 min Lillian Rich, Rod LaRocque, Vera Reynolds Preserved at GEH (35 mm & 16 mm).
1925 The Road to Yesterday ~100 min Joseph Schildkraut, Jetta Goudal, Vera Reynolds First film for DeMille Pictures Corp. Preserved at LoC, GEH, UCLA.
1926 The Volga Boatman 120 min William Boyd, Elinor Fair, Robert Edeson, Victor Varconi Russian Revolution epic. Preserved at GEH, UCLA, BFI.
1927 The King of Kings 155 min H.B. Warner, Dorothy Cumming, Ernest Torrence Biography of Jesus. Viewed by 800 million+. Preserved at GEH, LoC & others.
1928 The Godless Girl ~95 min Lina Basquette, George Duryea, Noah Beery Final silent (with partial sound). Preserved at UCLA.
1929 Dynamite 128 min Conrad Nagel, Kay Johnson, Charles Bickford, Julia Faye First all-talking DeMille film. MGM production.
1930 Madam Satan 116 min Kay Johnson, Reginald Denny, Lillian Roth, Roland Young Pre-Code musical comedy. Zeppelin sequence. MGM production.
1931 The Squaw Man ~105 min Warner Baxter, Lupe Velez, Charles Bickford, Eleanor Boardman Third version. Remake of 1914/1918 films. MGM. DeMille's only sound remake.
1932 The Sign of the Cross 125 min Fredric March, Claudette Colbert, Charles Laughton, Elissa Landi Pre-Code epic. Highest-grossing film of 1932. First sound success for DeMille.
1933 This Day and Age ~85 min Charles Bickford, Richard Cromwell, Judith Allen Depression-era vigilante drama. Box-office disappointment.
1934 Four Frightened People 78 min Claudette Colbert, Herbert Marshall, Mary Boland Jungle adventure. Box-office disappointment despite good reviews.
1934 Cleopatra 100 min Claudette Colbert, Warren William, Henry Wilcoxon First DeMille film nominated for Best Picture (Academy Awards).
1935 The Crusades ~125 min Henry Wilcoxon, Loretta Young, Ian Keith, C. Aubrey Smith Medieval epic. Richard the Lionheart vs. Saladin.
1936 The Plainsman 113 min Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, James Ellison, Charles Bickford Wild Bill Hickok & Buffalo Bill. Western classic.
1938 The Buccaneer 126 min Fredric March, Franciska Gaal, Akim Tamiroff, Walter Brennan Jean Lafitte & Battle of New Orleans. Remade 1958 (dir. Anthony Quinn).
1939 Union Pacific 135 min Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Robert Preston, Akim Tamiroff Transcontinental railroad epic. Palme d'Or (posthumous, Cannes 2002).
1940 North West Mounted Police 126 min Gary Cooper, Madeleine Carroll, Paulette Goddard, Preston Foster First DeMille in three-strip Technicolor. Paramount's top-grosser of 1940.
1942 Reap the Wild Wind 123 min Ray Milland, John Wayne, Paulette Goddard, Raymond Massey Second Technicolor. Giant squid sequence. Paramount's most successful to date.
1944 The Story of Dr. Wassell 140 min Gary Cooper, Laraine Day, Signe Hasso WWII heroism drama. Based on true story.
1947 Unconquered 146 min Gary Cooper, Paulette Goddard, Howard Da Silva Longest DeMille production (102 shoot days, $5m budget). Highest-grossing of 1947.
1949 Samson and Delilah 134 min Hedy Lamarr, Victor Mature, George Sanders, Angela Lansbury Biblical epic. Highest-grossing film of 1950. Paramount's biggest to that date.
1952 The Greatest Show on Earth 152 min James Stewart, Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde. Won Academy Award for Best Picture & Golden Globe. First Cecil B. DeMille Award at GG.
1956 The Ten Commandments 220 min Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson Final film. Remake of 1923. 8th highest-grossing adjusted for inflation. Best Picture nominee.