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Cecil B. DeMille

1881 - 1959

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The director Cecil B. DeMille impersonated the image of a Hollywood director and producer for many years. He was a great showman and an inspired storyteller.

He was born into a theater family where his father wrote plays and his mother led a theater group. When his brother William attended the Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, he followed him soon. There he learned the acting and the writing of plays.

Together with Jesse Lasky and Samuel Foldfish (later Goldwyn) he created the "Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Co." in 1913 and shot together with Oscar Apfel the movie "The Squaw Man" (14). The movie was a success and the three founders of the company became established.

Together with art director Wilfred Buckland and cameraman Alvin Wyckoff, Cecil B. DeMille worked out stories for the demand of the cinema which remained still till today remarkable works. To these movies belong "The Warrens of Virginia" (15), "The Cheat" (15), "Maria Rosa" (16), "Joan the Woman" (17), "The Little American" (17) and "The Whispering Chorus" (18).

In 1919 he realised his first social comedy with "Don't Change Your Husband" (19) und "Male and Female" (19), in which Gloria Swanson took off her gown discreet in a single scene. These scene was enthusiastically rewarded by the audience and DeMille shot similar movies like "Why Change Your Wife?" (20), "The Affairs of Anatol" (21) and "Saturday Night" (22) in the following years.

When Hollywood was stroken by a whole string of scandals at the beginning of the 20's, they tried to tackle the image of a modern Gjomorrah. DeMille reacted to this situation with the movies "Manslaughter" (22) and "The Ten Commandments" (23) with biblical background.

DeMille founded his own company in the middle of the 20's and realised among others the movies "The Road to Yesterday" (25), "The Volga Boatman" (26) and "The King of Kings" (27).
With the arise of the sound movies he went to MGM where he shot the successful movie "Madam Satan" (30), and after that already the third version of "The Squaw Man" (31) after 1914 and 1918. It followed other successes in the 30's like "The Sign of the Cross" (32), "This Day and Age" (33), "Cleopatra" (34) and "The Crusades" (35).
In the following years his movies became more and more monumental. He directed the western "The Plainsman" (36) and "Union Pacific" (39) and the costume movies "The Buccaneer" (38) and "Reap the Wild Wind" (42).
The time he invested into his new projects was more extensive from year to year, which was positively reflected in the final result. His last movies reached dimensions his earlier movies didn't have. With "Samson and Delilah" (49), "The Greatest Show on Earth" (52) and "The Ten Commandments" (56) - for which he was nominated for the Oscar - he said goodbye to the audience in an impressive way.

His memoirs were posthumous published with the title "The Autobiography of Cecil B. DeMille". With the dead of Cecil B. DeMille ended a unique epoch of Hollywood.
 

Director: 
The Squaw Man (14) Brewster's Millions (14) The Only Son (14) The Call of the North (14) The Virginian (14) What's His Name (14) The Man from Home (1) Rose of the Rancho (14) The Ghost Breaker (14) The Girl of the Golden West (15) After Five (15) The Warrens of Virginia (15) The Unafraid (15) The Captive (15) The Wild Goose Chase (15) The Arab (15) Chimmie Fadden (15) Kindling (15) Carmen (15) Chimmie Fadden Out West (15) The Cheat (15) Temptation (15) The Golden Chance (15) The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (16) The Heart of Nora Flynn (16) Maria Rosa (16) The Dream Girl (16) Joan the Woman (17) A Romance of the Redwoods (17) The Woman God Forgot (17) The Devil-Stone (17) The Whispering Chorus (18) Old Wives for New (18) We Can't Have Everything (18) Till I Come Back to You (18) The Squaw Man (18) You Can't Have Everything (18) Don't Change Your Husband (19) For Better, for Worse (19) Why Change Your Wife? (20) Something to Think About (20) Forbidden Fruit (21) The Affairs of Anatol (21) Fool's Paradise (21) Saturday Night (22) Manslaughter (22) Adam's Rib (23) The Ten Commandments (23) Triumph (24) Feet of Clay (24) The Golden Bed (25) The Road to Yesterday (25) The Volga Boatman (26) The King of Kings (27) The Godless Girl (29) Dynamite (29) Madam Satan (30) The Squaw Man (31) The Sign of the Cross (32) This Day and Age (33) Four Firghtened People (34) Cleopatra (34) The Crusades (35) The Plainsman (36) The Buccaneer (38) Union Pacific (39) North West Mounted Police (40) Reap the Wild Wind (42) The Story of Dr. Wassell (44) Unconquered (47) California's Golden Beginning (48) Samson and Delilah (49) The Greatest Show on Earth (52) The Ten Commandments (56)

Producer: 
The Squaw Man (14) What's His Name (14) The Man from Home (14) Rose of the Rancho (14) The Ghost Breaker (14) The Girl of the Golden West (15) The Captive (15) The ARab (15) Chimmie Fadden (15) Kindling (15) Carmen (15) Chimmie Fadden Out West (15) Temptation (15) The Golden Chance (15) The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (16) The Heart of Nora Flynn (16) Maria Rosa (16) The Dream Girl (16) Joan the Woman (17) Lost and Won (17) A Romance of the Redwoods (17) The Little American (17) The Woman God Forgot (17) The Devil-Stone (17) The Whispering Chorus (18) Old Wives for New (18) We Can't Have Everything (18) Till I Come Back to You (18) The Squaw Man (18) For Better, for Worse (19) Male and Female (19) Why Change Your Wife? (20) Something to Think About (20) Forbidden Fruit (21) The Affairs of Anatol (21) Fool's Paradise (21) Saturday Night (22) Manslaughter (22) Adam's Rib (23) The Ten Commandments (23) Triumph (24) Feet of Clay (24) The Golden Bed (25) The Dressmaker From Paris (25) The Coming of Amos (25) The Road to Yesterday (25) Whispering Smith (26) The Volga Boatman (26) Her Man o' War (26) The Cruise of the Jasper B. (26) Whit Gold (27) The Yankee Clipper (27) The King of Kings (27) Hold 'Em Yale (28) The Godless Girl (29) The Squaw Man (31) The Sign of the Cross (32) This Day and Age (33) Four Frightened People (34) Cleopatra (34) The Crusades (35) The Plainsman (36) The Buccaneer (38) Union Pacific (39) North West Mounted Police (40) Reap the Wild Wind (42) The Story of Dr. Wassell (44) Unconquered (47) Samson and Delilah (49) The Greatest Show on Earth (52) The Ten Commandemnts (56)

Editor:
What's His Name (14) The Man from Home (14) Rose of the Rancho (14) The Girl of the Golden West (15) The Captive (15) The Arab (15) Chimmie Fadden (15) Kindling (15) Carmen (15) Chimmie Fadden Out West (15) The Cheat (15) Temptation (15) The Golden Chance (15) The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (16) The Heart of the Lonesome Pine (16) Maria Rosa (16) The Dream Girl (16) Joan the Woman (17) A Romance of the Redwoods (17) The Woman God Forgot (17) The Devil-Stone (17) The Whispering Chorus (18) Old Wives for New (18) We Can't Have Everything (18)

Writer:
The Squaw Man (14) Lord Chumley (14) What's His Name (14) The Man from Home (14) Rose of the Rancho (14) The Ghost Breaker (14) After Five (15) The Captive (15) The Arab (15) Chimmie Fadden (15) Kindling (15) Chimmie Fadden Out West (15) The Golden Chance (15) The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (16) The Love Mask (16) Forbidden Fruit (21) The Night Club (25)


 
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