Cecil B. Demille's Hollywood

by Birchard, Robert S.

• ISBN13: 9780813123240
• ISBN10: 0813123240
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-06-29
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Kentucky

Summary

" ""Far and away the best film book published so far this year.""--National Board of Review Cecil B. DeMille was the most successful filmmaker in early Hollywood history. Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood is a detailed and definitive chronicle of the screen work that changed the course of film history and a fascinating look at how movies were actually made in Hollywood's Golden Age. Drawing extensively on DeMille's personal archives and other primary sources, Robert S. Birchard offers a revealing portrait of DeMille the filmmaker that goes behind studio gates and beyond DeMille's legendary persona. In his forty-five-year career DeMille's box-office record was unsurpassed, and his swaggering style established the public image for movie directors. DeMille had a profound impact on the way movies tell stories and brought greater attention to the elements of decor, lighting, and cinematography. Best remembered today for screen spectacles such as The Ten Commandments and Samson and Delilah, DeMille also created Westerns, realistic "chamber dramas," and a series of daring and highly influential social comedies. He set the standard for Hollywood filmmakers and demanded absolute devotion to his creative vision from his writers, artists, actors, and technicians.

Author Biography

Robert S. Birchard, an award-winning film editor and film historian, is also the author of King Cowboy: Tom Mix and the Movies. His "In the Beginning" episode of the Discovery Channel's Hollywood Chronicles series, which he wrote and directed, received a Silver Award at the Houston International Film Festival.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
Kevin Thomas
Preface	xi
The Squaw Man	1	(13)
The Virginian	14	(5)
The Call of the North	19	(4)
What's-His-Name	23	(4)
The Man From Home	27	(3)
The Rose of the Rancho	30	(4)
The Girl of the Golden West	34	(3)
The Warrens of Virginia	37	(4)
The Unafraid	41	(3)
The Captive	44	(3)
The Wild Goose Chase	47	(3)
The Arab	50	(2)
Chimmie Fadden	52	(2)
Kindling	54	(3)
Maria Rosa	57	(3)
Carmen	60	(4)
Temptation	64	(2)
Chimmie Fadden Out West	66	(2)
The Cheat	68	(3)
The Golden Chance	71	(5)
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine	76	(3)
The Heart of Nora Flynn	79	(3)
The Dream Girl	82	(8)
Joan the Woman	90	(13)
A Romance of the Redwoods	103	(4)
The Little American	107	(5)
The Woman God Forgot	112	(4)
The Devil Stone	116	(2)
The Whispering Chorus	118	(3)
Old Wives for New	121	(4)
We Can't Have Everything	125	(2)
Till I Come Back to You	127	(4)
The Squaw Man (first remake)	131	(4)
Don't Change Your Husband	135	(3)
For Better, For Worse	138	(6)
Male and Female	144	(6)
Why Change Your Wife?	150	(5)
Something to Think About	155	(3)
Forbidden Fruit	158	(4)
The Affairs of Anatol	162	(3)
Fool's Paradise	165	(4)
Saturday Night	169	(3)
Manslaughter	172	(3)
Adam's Rib	175	(3)
The Ten Commandments	178	(12)
Triumph	190	(4)
Feet of Clay	194	(3)
The Golden Bed	197	(3)
The Road to Yesterday	200	(10)
The Volga Boatman	210	(6)
The King of Kings	216	(11)
The Godless Girl	227	(7)
Dynamite	234	(7)
Madam Satan	241	(7)
The Squaw Man (second remake)	248	(3)
The Sign of the Cross	251	(10)
This Day and Age	261	(6)
Four Frightened People	267	(8)
Cleopatra	275	(8)
The Crusades	283	(10)
The Plainsman	293	(6)
The Buccaneer	299	(7)
Union Pacific	306	(6)
North West Mounted Police	312	(4)
Reap the Wild Wind	316	(7)
The Story of Dr. Wassell	323	(6)
Unconquered	329	(5)
Samson and Delilah	334	(7)
The Greatest Show on Earth	341	(10)
The Ten Commandments	351	(26)
Appendices
Appendix A DeMille Pictures, Inc., Costs and Grosses	365	(4)
Appendix B Other Cecil B. DeMille Film Credits	369	(2)
Appendix C Unrealized Projects	371	(2)
Appendix D Film Appearances	373	(4)
Cecil B. DeMille
Notes	377	(28)
Bibliography	405	(2)
Index	407