Magic Lantern Video & Book StoreCecil B. DeMille
[1881-1959]
![producer-director Cecil B. DeMille [1881-1959] on left, and members of his crew, circa 1927?](images/CBDemille&crew.jpg "producer-director Cecil B. DeMille [1881-1959] on left, and members of his crew, circa 1927?") | short profile |
"Give me any two pages of the Bible and I'll give you a picture."
"Every time I make a picture the critics' estimate of American public taste goes down ten percent."
"I make my pictures for people, not for critics."
"God means us to be free. With divine daring, He gave us the power of choice."
— Cecil B. DeMille
B I O
h e r e
One of the 36 co-founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).
The lifetime achievement award from the Hollywood Foreign Press (Golden Globes) is named after him
He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: for motion pictures and for radio
After a falling out with Adolph Zukor, he left Paramount Pictures to found his own company but it too failed and he moved on to M.G.M. where his films were less successful than he had hoped. By 1931 DeMille, despite his huge successes in the silent era, was practically unemployable. Given a second chance at Paramount DeMille found his now classic formula of religious or epic tales with more than just a tinge of sex. Firmly re-established, he would stay with the studio for the rest of his career. He became a fervent anti-communist leading to a confrontation with his colleagues in the Directors Guild. He died as one of the most commercially successful producers in Hollywood history.
Cecil B. DeMille entry at Wikipedia
Cecil B. DeMille's Broadway credits [1900-13]
Cecil B. DeMille credits [1914-58] at Internet Movie Database
browse DVDs
  | Cecil B. DeMille won an Honorary Oscar in 1950 and the Best Picture Oscar for "The Greatest Show On Earth" [1952] and the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1953 — and two other Oscar nominations |
Cecil B. DeMille also received
a Golden Palm Award at the Cannes Film Festival. 1939
footprints in the forecourt at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, 7 August 1941
the Cecil B. DeMille Award {named after him} at the Golden Globe Awards, 1952
a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Directors Guild of America, 1953
a Golden Globe Best Director Award, 1953
and two Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
L i n k s
Cecil B. DeMille entry at Wikipedia
Cecil B. DeMille's Broadway credits [1900-13]
Cecil B. DeMille credits [1914-58] at Internet Movie Database
browse Cecil B. DeMille DVDs at Amazon
'official' Cecil B. DeMille website [est. 2004]
Robert Hammond's "C.B. DeMille" movie site
Movies of Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille credits [1914-58] at Internet Movie Database
browse Cecil B. DeMille DVDs at Amazon
 | "The Complete Films of Cecil B. DeMille" [1969] by Gene Ringgold & DeWitt Bodeen Citadel Press 11x8½ pb [4/85] out of print/used Citadel Press pb [1969] out of print/used |
 | "Killing The Indian Maiden: Images of Native American Women In Film" [2006] by M. Elise Marubbio featuring analyses of Cecil B. DeMille's "The Squaw Man" [1914 silent]; DeMille's "North West Mounted Police" [1940]; King Vidor's "Duel In The Sun" [1946]; Delmer Daves's "Broken Arrow" [1950]; Charles Warren's "Arrowhead" [1953]; John Ford's "The Searchers" [1956]; Arthur Penn's "Little Big Man" [1970]; and Michael Apted's "Thunderheart" [1992] Univ Press of Kentucky 9x6 pb [8/2009] for $25.00 Univ Press of Kentucky 9x6¼ hardcover [12/2006] for $50.00 |
 | "The Cecil B. DeMille Collection" DVD Box Set [2006]
Universal Studios b&w DVD set [5/2006] 5 disks for $17.95 contains 5 feature films: "The Sign of the Cross" [1932] starring Fredric March, Claudette Colbert & Charles Laughton; "Cleopatra" [1934] starring Claudette Colbert, Warren William & Henry Wilcoxon; "Four Frightened People" [1934] starring Claudette Colbert & Herbert Marshall; "The Crusades" [1935] starring Loretta Young, Henry Wilcoxon & Ian Keith; and "Union Pacific" [1939] starring Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea & Robert Preston; apparently no extras |
 | "The Cecil B. Demille Classics Collection" DVD Box Set [2007]
Passport b&w DVD set [6/2007] 5 disks - out of prodn/used contains 16 silent feature films: "The Squaw Man" [1914] starring Dustin Farnum; "The Virginian" [1914] starring Dustin Farnum; "Carmen" [1915] starring Geraldine Farrar & Wallace Reid; "The Cheat" [1915] starring Fanny Ward & Sessue Hayakawa; "Joan The Woman" [1916] starring Geraldine Farrar & Wallace Reid; "The Romance of The Redwoods" [1917] starring Mary Pickford & Elliott Dexter; "The Little American" [1917] starring Mary Pickford, Jack Holt & Raymond Hatton; "Old Wives For New" [1918] starring Elliott Dexter, Sylvia Ashton & Florence Vidor; "The Whispering Chorus" [1918] starring Raymond Hatton; "Don’t Change Your Husband" [1918] starring Gloria Swanson, Elliott Dexter & Lew Cody; "Male and Female" [1919] starring Gloria Swanson & Thomas Meighan; "Why Change Your Wife?" [1920] starring Gloria Swanson, Thomas Meighan & Bebe Daniels; "The Affairs of Anatol" [1921] starring Wallace Reid & Bebe Daniels; "Manslaughter" [1922] starring Leatrice Joy Gilbert & Thomas Meighan; "The Road To Yesterday" [1925] starring Jetta Goudal & Joseph Schildkraut; "The Volga Boatman" [1926] starring Elinor Fair Boyd, Victor Varconi & William Boyd; bonus features include "Miss Lulu Bett" [1921 silent feature] directed by Cecil’s brother, William C. deMille; newsreel footage, and an interview with Charlton Heston |
· ·
"The Squaw Man" silent feature
[Famous Players-Lasky Feb 1914]
![still photo from DeMille's "The Squaw Man" [1914 silent] with Dustin Farnum & Red Wing](covers/stillCBDsquawsan1914.jpg) | Partly filmed along then-natural Ballona Creek in Culver City, California as well as at San Pedro Harbor, Hollywood & Chatsworth; British nobleman James is framed for embezzlement by his cousin, and flees to the American West; he acquires a ranch and marries a local Ute Indian girl; the crooked cousin dies, leaving a written confession, and word arrives that James can return to England; he refuses to leave Wyoming but agrees to allow his half-breed son to go, for the advantages of an aristocratic upbringing; distraught over the loss of her son, and pursued by the sheriff over an old crime, the Indian girl kills herself; James then returns to England as the new Earl of Kerhill.
Co-produced & co-directed by Cecil B. DeMille; co-directed by Oscar Apfel; based on the 1905 Broadway stageplay by Edwin Milton Royle; starring Dustin Farnum & Red Wing, with Monroe Salisbury, Winifred Kingston, William Elmer & Hal Roach
Alpha Video b&w silent DVD [7/2006] for $7.98 full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |
remade by DeMille as a 1918 silent feature and as a 1931 sound feature
"The Squaw Man" article excerpted from Robert S. Birchard's 2004 book on the A.F.I. website
"The Virginian" [1914] starring Dustin Farnum
"Carmen" [1915] starring Geraldine Farrar & Wallace Reid
"The Cheat" [1915] starring Fanny Ward & Sessue Hayakawa
"Joan The Woman" [1916] starring Geraldine Farrar & Wallace Reid
"The Romance of The Redwoods" [1917] starring Mary Pickford & Elliott Dexter
"The Little American" [1917] starring Mary Pickford, Jack Holt & Raymond Hatton
"Old Wives For New" [1918] starring Elliott Dexter, Sylvia Ashton & Florence Vidor
"The Whispering Chorus" [1918] starring Raymond Hatton
"Don’t Change Your Husband" [1918] starring Gloria Swanson, Elliott Dexter & Lew Cody
"The Squaw Man" silent remake [1918]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Squaw_Man_(1918_film)
"Male and Female" [1919] starring Gloria Swanson & Thomas Meighan
"Why Change Your Wife?" [1920] starring Gloria Swanson, Thomas Meighan & Bebe Daniels
"The Affairs of Anatol" [1921] starring Wallace Reid & Bebe Daniels
"Manslaughter" [1922] starring Leatrice Joy Gilbert & Thomas Meighan
"The Ten Commandments" [1923 silent epic]
http://www.jewish-theatre.com/visitor/article_display.aspx?articleID=424
http://www.lostcitydemille.com/
"The Road To Yesterday" [1925] starring Jetta Goudal & Joseph Schildkraut
"The Volga Boatman" [1926] starring Elinor Fair Boyd, Victor Varconi & William Boyd
"Chicago" [1927 silent film] directed by Cecil B. DeMille
with Phyllis Haver, Eugene Pallette, Frank Urston /B003N0E5DW/
"The King of Kings" silent epic [1927] by Cecil B. DeMille
William Boyd portrayed Simon of Cyrene, who carried Christ's cross
http://www.imdb.com/ra/us/a/B00005JNGA
http://www.imdb.com/ra/us/a/6304483074
"The Godless Girl" [1929]
"The Squaw Man" sound feature remake [M.G.M. Sept 1931]
 | Same plot as before: British nobleman under a cloud for embezzlement finds a wife in the American Southwest; when his cousin dies and confesses the crime, he has a chance to return to England and assume the title. Produced & directed by Cecil B. DeMille; based on the 1905 Broadway stageplay by Edwin Milton Royle (and on the DeMille films of 1914 & 1918); starring Warner Baxter, Lupe Velez, Eleanor Boardman, Charles Bickford, Paul Cavanagh & Julia Faye
DVD/Blu-ray not available • full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |
"The Sign of the Cross" [1932] starring Fredric March, Claudette Colbert & Charles Laughton
"Cleopatra" [1934] starring Claudette Colbert, Warren William & Henry Wilcoxon
"Four Frightened People" [1934] starring Claudette Colbert & Herbert Marshall
"The Crusades" [1935] starring Loretta Young, Henry Wilcoxon & Ian Keith
"The Buccaneer" [Paramount Jan 1938]
 | During the War of 1812, Britain tried to persuade pirate Jean Lafitte to join them against American interests in Louisiana; based on the 1930 novel "Lafitte The Pirate" by Lyle Saxon Co-produced & directed by Cecil B. DeMille; starring Fredric March, Franciska Gaal, Akim Tamiroff, Margot Grahame, Walter Brennan, Ian Keith, Spring Byington, Douglass Dumbrille, Robert Barrat, Hugh Sothern, Beulah Bondi & Anthony Quinn; Oscar nom for Best Cinematography Firecake Ent. b&w DVD [3/2009] for $19.99 full credits from IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |
"Union Pacific" [Paramount Pictures April 1939]
 | Paramount owned and used former Virginia & Truckee Railroad coaches and locomotives to portray U.P.R.R. rolling stock. After President Lincoln authorizes construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, a 'financial opportunist' decides to obstruct the railroad for personal gain; railroad trouble-shooter Jeff Butler has his hands full fighting the bad guy's agent as well as Indians on the warpath, and competeing with a former friend for the construction fore-man's daughter. An action-packed 135 minutes (road show length). Co-produced & directed by Cecil B. DeMille; based on the Ernest Haycox novel "Trouble Shooter"; starring Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Robert Preston, Akim Tamiroff, Lynne Overman, Brian Donlevy, Robert Barrat, Anthony Quinn, Stanley Ridges, Henry Kolker, Francis McDonald, Willard Robertson, Harold Goodwin, Evelyn Keyes, Richard Lane, William Haade, Regis Toomey, Fuzzy Knight, Lon Chaney Jr., Ward Bond, Lane Chandler, Iron Eyes Cody, Will Geer, Elmo Lincoln & Chief Thundercloud; won Western Heritage Bronze Wrangler Award in 1975 Universal Vault Series b&w DVD-R [11/2014] for $13.48 Universal Studios b&w VHS [3/95] for $25.95 full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia also available on C.B. DeMille 5-Pack Box Set {as above} Universal Studios DVD set [5/2006] 5 disks for $25.40 |
 | "Trouble Shooter" Western novel [Doubleday, Doran & Co. 1936] by Ernest Haycox The westward-building Union Pacific Railroad hires 'trouble shooter' Frank Peace to prevent trouble, and there is plenty of it! Signet mass pb [1975] out of print/used Popular Library mass pb [1952] out of print/used Chivers N/A 8x5¼ hardcover [2/99] out of print/used |
"North West Mounted Police" [1940]
"Samson and Delilah" [1949]
"Sunset Boulevard: A Hollywood Story"
[Paramount Aug 1950]
 | Joe is an unsuccessful screenwriter who has another script rejected by the studio; fleeing the men trying to repossess his car, he hides in a garage at a Sunset Blvd. mansion; the owner is Norma Desmond, a failed star who asks Joe to help polish the script intended to ignite her comeback on the screen; Joe moves into the mansion where he is essentially a 'kept man'; that is okay, but he is horrified to learn that Norma thinks that she is in love with him. She sends the completed script to DeMille at Paramount, then drives her rare limousine to the studio for a confrontation. Joe has been working with a studio secretary on another script, and the pair have fallen in love. Joe tells Norma, Norma calls the girl to bad-mouth Joe, Joe invites the girl to the mansion to see for herself. After the girl leaves, Norma shoots Joe, his body falls into the pool. By the time the police arrive, Norma is lost in fantasy; the butler persuades her that the waiting cops and news reporters are part of her new movie, so she descends the staircase and utters the famous line "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up".
Co-written & co-produced by Charles Brackett; co-written & directed by Billy Wilder; co-written by D.M. Marshman Jr.; starring William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson, Fred Clark, Jack Webb, Julia Faye & Henry Wilcoxon; cameos by Cecil B. DeMille, Hedda Hopper, Buster Keaton, Anna Q. Nilsson & H.B. Warner; won Oscars for Best Original Script, Best Music Score & Best B&W Art Direction, also Oscar nomiations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor & Actress, Best B&W Cinematography & Best Editing; won W.G.A. Award; nominated for D.G.A. Award; listed on National Film Registry (1989)
watch the theatrical trailer [3:14] for free at YouTube not yet available on Blu-ray Paramount b&w DVD [11/2002] for $18.74 Paramount b&w DVD [11/2008] 2 disks out of prodn/used Paramount b&w VHS [1/96] for $14.95 Paramount b&w VHS [undated] for $7.40 full credits at IMDb • film entry at Wikipedia |
more details (synopsis & history, DVDs, books, posters) at
Magic Lantern's "Sunset Blvd." 1950 Movie Page
"When Worlds Collide" [1951]
"The Greatest Show On Earth" [Paramount Pictures Jan 1952]
   | Filmed in 35mm three-strip Technicolor; the manager of a major 'railroad circus' convinces the owners to allow him to keep the show going as long as it brings in a profit; he hires a star trapeze act, which upsets his trapeze artist girlfriend; other problems include a crooked midway concessionaire, love triangles & profes-sional jealousy aplenty. The fired crook robs the box office and stages a railroad wreck to cover his tracks, which injures the manager, so the girlfriend rallies the troops and the show goes on . . . Co-produced by Cecil B. DeMille & Henry Wilcoxon; directed by Cecil B. DeMille; written by Frank Cavett, Fredric M. Frank, Jack Gariss, Barré Lyndon & Theodore St. John; origi-nal music by Victor Young; starring Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, Dorothy Lamour, James Stewart, Gloria Grahame, Henry Wilcoxon, Lyle Bettger, Lawrence Tierney, clown Emmett Kelly, circus owner John Ringling North, clown Lou Jacobs & Edmond O'Brien; with cameos by Leon Ames, Oliver Blake, William Boyd (as Hopalong Cassidy}, Bing Crosby, Bob Crosby, Van Heflin, Bob Hope, Noel Neill & Danny Thomas; won Oscars for Best Picture & Best Story, Oscar noms for Best Director, Best Costume Design, Best Editing
Paramount widescreen color DVD [4/2004] 2 disks for $6.99 Paramount color DVD [4/2004] for $8.96 full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia movie-tie-in novelization Paramount mass pb [1952] out of print/used |
"The War of The Worlds" [1953] /tt0046534/
Exec-produced by Cecil B. DeMille, co-produced by George Pal & Frank Freeman Jr.
details (history, stageplays, books & ebooks, movies & TV, links, merchandise) on
Spirit of America Bookstore's "The War of The Worlds" 1898 Novel & Movies Page
"The Ten Commandments" [M.P.A./Paramount Oct 1956]
 | The infant Moses escapes the mass murder of baby Hebrew slaves by Pharoah Rameses I, and is raised in the court of Pharoah Seti; when his Hebrew origins are revealed he is exiled from Egypt. But a vision from God commands Moses to return to Egypt and free the Hebrews from their slavery. Five percent of the film was shot in Egypt; DeMille's only widescreen film, using VistaVision cameras. Co-produced, directed & narrated by Cecil B. DeMille; based on the Bible & three modern books; music by Elmer Bernstein; starring Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson, Yvonne De Carlo, Debra Paget, John Derek, Cedric Hardwicke, Nina Foch, Martha Scott, Judith Anderson, Vincent Price, John Carradine, Olive Deering, Douglass Dumbrille, Frank DeKova, Henry Wilcoxon, Eduard Franz, Lawrence Dobkin, H.B. Warner, Julia Faye, Woody Strode, Michael Ansara, Richard Farnsworth & George Baxter; won Oscar for Best Special Effects; Oscar noms for Best Picture, Best Color Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Recording, Best Art Direction, Color & Best Color Costume Design; listed on National Film Registry (1999); at end of 2011, holds #5 box office ranking, at 131,000,000 tickets
full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia |
Paramount restored widescreen color Blu-ray / DVD combo set [3/2011] 6 disks for $69.59
Paramount restored widescreen color Blu-ray [3/2011] 2 disks for $19.99
Paramount restored widescreen color DVD [3/2011] 2 disks for $14.99
Paramount widescreen color/b&w DVD set [3/2006] 3 disks (with 1923 version) for $48.49
Paramount widescreen color DVD [3/2004] 2 disks - out of prodn/many used
Paramount widescreen color DVD [3/99] 2 disks - out of prodn/many used
Paramount letterboxed color VHS [2/98] 2 tapes - out of prodn/used
Paramount letterboxed color VHS [1/97] 2 tapes for $9.99
Paramount color VHS [12/92] 2 tapes for $4.96
 | "Written In Stone: Making Cecil B. DeMille's Epic The Ten Commandments" [1999] by Katherine Orrison Vestal Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [3/99] for $22.90 |
Other Works by Cecil B. DeMille
Before moving to California, Cecil B. DeMille was an actor and then a director on Broadway
Cecil B. DeMille's Broadway credits [1900-13]
Cecil B. DeMille hosted the popular "Lux Radio Theater" program [1934-55] from 1936 until 1945
"Cecil B. DeMille Talks Hollywood" spoken word LP [YR?] is quite rare
 | "The Autobiography of Cecil B. DeMille" [1959] Prentice Hall mass pb [1959] out of print/used Prentice Hall 9½x6 hardcover [1959] out of print/used |
At the end of his life, DeMille was working on a biopic of Lord Baden-Powell [1857-1941],
founder of the Boy Scouts, with David Niven set to star
Works About Cecil B. DeMille
 | "Cecil B. DeMille: Young Dramatist (Childhood of Famous Americans)" [YA series 1963] by Hortense Myers & Ruth Burnett, Illustrated by Nathan Goldstein Bobbs-Merrill 7x5½ hardcover [1963] out of print/used Bobbs-Merrill 7½x6 hardcover [1963] out of print/used |
 | "Cecil B. DeMille: A Biography of The Most Successful Film Maker of Them All" [1973] by Charles Higham
Dell mass pb [1976] out of print/used Da Capo Press pb [10/80] out of print/used Scribner 9x6¼ hardcover [1973] out of print/many, many used |
"Cecil B. De Mille: A Guide To References and Resources" [1985] by Sumiko Higashi
G.K. Hall hardcover [6/85] out of print/used
 | "Lionheart In Hollywood: Life & Times With C.B. DeMille" [1991] by Henry Wilcoxon, with Katherine Orrison Scarecrow Press 8¾x5½ hardcover [12/91] for $58.30 Wilcoxon acted for DeMille in "Cleopatra" [1934], "The Crusades" [1935], and "The Ten Commandments" [1956]; he also associate-produced "The Greatest Show On Earth" [1952] and "The Ten Commandments" [1956] with DeMille |
 | "Cecil B. DeMille and American Culture: The Silent Era" [1994] by Sumiko Higashi Univ CA Press 8¾x6 pb [12/94] for $26.95 Univ CA Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [12/94] out of print/used |
"The DeMille Dynasty" docufilm [American Movie Classics Aug 1998]
Featuring Elmer Bernstein, Gregory Hines, Celeste Holm, James Mitchell & Anthony Quinn, with archive footage
of Agnes de Mille, Cecil B. DeMille & William C. de Mille; DVD/Blu-ray not available; •
credits at IMDb
 | "Cecil B. DeMented" [Artisan Ent. Aug 2000] The name of the main character is the only link (included for completists). A guerrilla filmmaker in Baltimore kidnaps an aging movie actress; with cops and Teamsters and family-values protesters on their trail, the movie company overcomes all obstacles to make their film. Written & directed by John Waters; starring Stephen Dorff, Melanie Griffith, Alicia Witt, Adrian Grenier, Lawrence Gilliard Jr., Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mink Stole, Ricki Lake, Patricia Hearst, Roseanne Barr & Eric Roberts Live/Artisan widescreen color DVD [1/2001] for $9.99 LionsGate widescreen color DVD [10/2001] for $13.49 full credits at IMDb |
 | "Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic" TV documentary [Photoplay Productions/T.C.M. April 2004] Follows DeMille's career from Lasky/Paramount to M.G.M. to independent and back to Paramount. Part 1 looks at DeMille's early life and silent films; Part 2 follows his work on the talkies. Produced by Patrick Stanbury; directed by Kevin Brownlow; narrated by Kenneth Branagh; featuring Martin Scorsese, Angela Lansbury, Steven Spielberg, Cecilia DeMille Presley, Richard de Mille & Charlton Heston, plus archive interviews with niece Agnes de Mille, Charlie Chaplin, Samuel Goldwyn, Henry Hathaway, Gloria Swanson and DeMille himself • DVD/Blu-ray not available • full credits at IMDb watch full 2-hour movie online at YouTube: Part 1 [57.51] • Part 2 [58.25] |
 | "Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood" [2004] by Robert S. Birchard, Foreword by Kevin Thomas Univ Press of KY 9x6 hardcover [6/2004] for $32.54 |
 | "Biography: Cecil B. DeMille" [A&E July 2005]
50-minute Biography episode directed by Michael Emerson, written by Dennis Kleinman A&E Television Networks DVD-R [12/2008] for $24.95 A&E Television Networks VHS [2005] for $4.95 episode credits at IMDb |
 | "Cecil B. DeMille and The Golden Calf" [U.K. 2007] by Simon Louvish Apparently (per the author's website), this is indeed the same book as "DeMille: A Life In Art" {below} Faber & Faber 9¼x6¼ hardcover [10/2007] imported/used |
 | "Cecil B. DeMille: A Life In Art" [2008] by Simon Louvish Thomas Dunne Books 9¼x6 hardcover [3/2008] out of print/many used author's official website |
 | "Empire of Dreams: The Epic Life of Cecil B. DeMille" [2010] by Scott Eyman Simon & Schuster 9½x6¾ deckle-edge hardcover [9/2010] for $23.10 |
 | "American Classic Screen: Profiles" [2010] Edited by John C. Tibbetts & James M. Welsh, Preface by Ray Bradbury Scarecrow Press 8¾x6 pb [9/2010] for $40.00 American Classic Screen Magazine [1976-86] was published by The National Film Society; these exclusive profiles have long been difficult or impossible to access, but are now collected by editors Tibbetts & Welsh; the Profiles include: James Cagney and Mae Clarke; George Cukor and Kate Hepburn; Bette Davis and Claude Rains; Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, George Bancroft, Charles T. Barton, Warner Baxter, Ralph Bellamy, Beulah Bondi, George M. Cohan, Cecil B. DeMille, Charlotte 'Alice' Henry, Orval Hixon, Boris Karloff, Barbara La Marr, Elissa Landi, Joseph H. Lewis, Jayne Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe, child star Peggy-Jean 'Baby Peggy' Montgomery, Walter Plunkett, Eleanor Powell, Robert Redford, Mickey Rooney, Victor Sjöström, Kenneth Strickfaden, cowboy star Fred Thomson, Cornel Wilde & Natalie Wood |
"Cecil B. DeMille: The Greatest Showman On Earth" [2013?]
Novel & script by Robert Hammond in 2009; other details are scarce, try IMDb for latest info
"The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille" documentary film [indep 2016] 
 | In 1923, pioneer filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille built the largest set in movie history for his silent epic "The Ten Commandments"; it was called “The City of The Pharaoh”. When filming was completed, DeMille ordered that the entire edifice be dismantled and secretly buried. Then in 1983, a group of determined film buffs, led by Peter Brosnan and inspired by a cryptic clue in DeMille’s posthumously published autobiography, located the remains of the set. The thirty years since has been a quagmire of beureaucratic obstruction . . . Co-produced, written & directed by Peter Brosnan; location filming at Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center and the sand dunes west of Guadalupe, California; featuring Agnes de Mille, Cecil B. DeMille, M. Colleen Hamilton, actor Charlton Heston, archaeologist Kholood Abdo Hintzman, Kelvin Jones, Jesse Lasky Jr., A.C. Lyles, Peggy May (audio), archaeologist Jack McIlroy, Lisa Mitchell, Pat Moore, granddaughter Cecilia DeMille Presley, Gabrielle Shulman (audio), Walter H. Tyler, and Dana Walker DVD/Blu-ray not yet available credits at IMDb • official movie website • watch 1/2016 official trailer [1:58] online at YouTube |
The DeMille Companies & Properties
1913: Formed motion picture firm Lasky Feature Play Company with Jesse L. Lasky,
Samuel Goldfish (later Goldwyn) and Arthur Friend
http://www.hollywoodheritage.com/
1919: Formed California's first commercial airline, Mercury Aviation Company
1920s: operated an airfield on northwest corner of Wilshire Blvd. & Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles
1921: Formed Cecil B. DeMille Productions
1925: Left Paramount and formed Cinema Corporation of America
Cinema Corporation of America merged with Pathé
Original 14-acre Ince Studios property built in Culver City, California by Thomas Ince in 1918; became
DeMille Studios in 1925; became R.K.O. in 1928, R.K.O. Pathé in 1930; the '40-Acres Backlot' was built
circa 1931; became David O. Selznick / Selznick International in 1935; became Desilu in 1956; sold to Laird
International in 1977, who turned the backlot into an industrial park; named Culver Studios since 1970.
Middle Ranch in Lake View Terrace, California: lodge • equestrian facility
longtime DeMille estate [built 1914, purchased 1916] at 2000 DeMille Drive
in gated Laughlin Park neighborhood in Los Feliz District (East Hollywood}
Friends & Family
 | "The DeMilles: An American Family" [1988] by Anne Edwards Harry N. Abrams hardcover pb [1988] out of print/used Harry N. Abrams hardcover [1988] out of print/many, many used |
brother playwright & movie director William C. deMille [1878-1955]
"Miss Lulu Bett" [1921 silent feature] directed by William C. deMille
"Hollywood Saga" [1939] by Wm. C. deMille /B000PUDMH8/
niece dancer Agnes de Mille [1905-93]
"No Intermission: The Life of Agnes de Mille" [] by Carol Easton
niece actress Peggy George [1908-78]
wife Constance Adams DeMille [1874-1960] married 1902, widowed 1959
daughter Cecilia de Mille Harper [1908-84]
adopted daughter Katherine Lester DeMille Quinn [1911-95]
son-in-law Anthony Quinn [1915-2001], married 1937, divorced 1965
they had five children
adopted son John Blount DeMille [1913-82]
foster son/nephew author Richard De Mille [1922-2009]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_de_Mille
served at U.S.A.A.F. First Motion Picture Unit at Fort Hal Roach in Culver City, CA during WWII
"Castaneda's Journey: The Power and The Allegory" [1976]
"The Don Juan Papers: Further Castaneda Controversies" [1980]
"My Secret Mother: Lorna Moon" [1998]
granddaughter Cecilia DeMille Presley
longtime mistress Jeanie Macpherson [1887-1946]
longtime mistress Julia Faye [1893–1966]
Image Gallery
Cecil B. DeMille was a skilled self-promoter and poseur: he readily posed for the camera in the studio, at social
events, and on location; he even had photographs taken of himself standing next to each new automobile.
here on the Cecil B. DeMille [1881-1959] Page at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store
top of page • short profile • movies of Cecil B. DeMille • other works by Cecil B. DeMille • works about Cecil B. DeMille •
companies • friends & family • image gallery • links
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