Cecil B. DeMille Movies

Filmed in 1929 and released early in 1930, Dynamite was Cecil B. DeMille's first all-talking feature. As one observer has noted, this 128-minute opus has enough plots for seven pictures. The basic storyline here involves spoiled heiress Cynthia Crothers (Kay Johnson) who will lose her fortune if she isn't married right away. Her love Roger Towne (Conrad Nagel) isn't interested in marriage, so Crothers decides to wed convicted murderer Hagon Derk (Charles Bickford). Her plan: Derk will die, then she'll be a millionaire, free to chase after Towne without benefit of clergy. Unfortunately for Crothers, Derk is pardoned at the last minute when the real killer (Leslie Fenton) confesses. Crothers tries to drive Derk out of her life by humiliating him at a fancy party, only to discover that the conditions of her inheritance require that she live with her husband for a set period of time. She swallows her pride and heads for Derk's home town, a grimy mining village. Touched by Crother's inept efforts to keep house and cook dinner, Derk eventually falls in love with her--though he makes it clear that he wants no part of her money. Crothers, in turn, falls genuinely in love with her brutish but basically decent husband. It must needs be that fortune-hunting Towne arrives in the mining village, leading to a powerful climax wherein Derk, Crothers and Towne are trapped in a mine cave-in. Though the dialogue is occasionally quite silly (after the killer commits suicide in a crowded restaurant, one of the patrons is heard to complain "It's ruined my dinner!") and the performances overripe at times, Dynamite actually holds up better than you'd expect. DeMilles' utilization of sound is both innovative and imaginative, especially during the noisy climactic sequences. The film was a success, paving the way for DeMilles' camp classic Madame Satan (1930). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having scored big-time box office with his first Biblical epic, The Ten Commandments (1923), Cecil B. DeMille hoped to top this success with his 1927 The King of Kings. Inasmuch as he was now dealing with the life of Christ, DeMille had to be careful to serve up equal amounts of showmanship and reverence. The first creative challenge: how to "introduce" Christ in a tasteful manner? The answer: as a blind child is cured through Jesus' intervention, DeMille cuts to the child's point-of-view, slowly fading in on the kindly countenance of H.B. Warner as the Son of Man. Still, DeMille remained DeMille, especially in his handling of the character of Mary Magdalene (Jacqueline Logan). No longer a tattered streetwalker, Mary Magdalene is now a glamorous courtesan, replete with legions of gorgeous slave girls (one of whom is "bubble dancer" Sally Rand) and dressed in revealing Hollywood-style gowns. In fact, the film opens on this character, as she ruminates over the defection of her favorite customer, Judas Iscariot (Joseph Schildkraut), who is spending far too much time with Jesus of Nazareth. Upon visiting Jesus herself, she immediately repents, casting off all her prior sins. Once again, the efficacy of the Cecil B. DeMille formula is proven: redemption has no dramatic value unless the film shows viewers why the sinner needs to be redeemed. Once he's gotten his box-office considerations out of the way, DeMille adheres faithfully to the particulars of Jesus' life, betrayal, trial, Crucifixion, and Resurrection. (Again, however, the director improves a bit upon his source material: the storm that follows the Crucifixion is of the same spectacular dimensions as the parting of the Red Sea in Ten Commandments, while the Resurrection is filmed in vibrant Technicolor). To back up the authenticity of his images, DeMille -- with an assist from scenarist Jeannie Macpherson -- utilizes Scriptural quotes in his subtitles. And to avoid any untoward publicity while filming, DeMille required all of his actors to sign legal documents preventing them from indulging in any sort of "sinful" activity; this meant that poor old H.B. Warner had to steer clear of alcoholic beverages for nearly a year, though he more than made up for lost time after his contract ran out. Prepared to mercilessly lambaste The King of Kings, DeMille's critics were disarmed by his reverent, tasteful approach to the subject. Years after the film's release, a specially prepared 60-minute version of the 18-reel King of Kings was making the rounds of religious groups, church basements, and Easter-weekend telecasts. The film was remade in 1961 by producer Samuel Bronston and director Nicholas Ray, with Jeffrey Hunter as Jesus. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Three Faces East was one of several films produced under the supervision of Cecil B. DeMille at the old Pathe Studios. Based on a play by Anthony Paul Kelly, the film stars Jetta Goudal as Frances Hawtree, alias British Secret Agent Z-1. Posing as one Fraulein Marks, Frances pretends to be working on behalf of Germany during WWI. Her mission is to halt the activities of master spy Valdar (Clive Brook), who is currently employed as a butler in the home of a high-ranking British diplomat. Director Rupert Julian uses the film's wartime setting as another excuse to appear in a cameo role as Kaiser Wilhelm. Three Faces East was remade in 1930, then again as British Intelligence in 1940. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This was Cecil B. De Mille's last film for Paramount (at least for a few years). Irene Rich plays Flora Lee Peake, a cool beauty who, like Lorelei, lures men to death and destruction. Flora Lee weds the Marquis De San Pilar (Theodore Kosloff) and saves the old homestead. The Marquis finds her with the Duc de Savarac (Robert Cain), and the two men fight it out on a cliff. Both fall to their deaths, and Flora Lee returns to the States. Her childhood friend, Admah Holtz (Rod La Rocque), has become wealthy through his candy firm and, even though her sister, Margaret (Vera Reynolds), loves him, Flora Lee snares him. Her extravagance ruins Holtz and he goes to jail for embezzlement. Margaret buys his old candy store and gets it going once again. Flora Lee, meanwhile, runs off with Bunny O'Neill (Warner Baxter), who eventually casts her off. Her life and her beauty destroyed, she returns to the family homestead, which is now a boarding house, and crawls into her crumbling golden bed, an overly elaborate symbol of her former days. Holtz is released from jail and finds her there just before she dies. The ever-faithful Margaret is waiting for him, and they marry. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Produced but not directed by Cecil B. DeMille, The Coming of Amos nevertheless has many earmarks of a typical DeMille film, including a climax straight out of a gaslit melodrama. Rod LaRocque plays Amos Burden, a handsome Australian who takes a Riviera vacation. Here he falls in love with White Russian princess Jetta Goudal, who is tricked into marriage by lecherous Noah Beery. When Goudal declares her devotion to Amos, Beery spirits her away to his castle by the sea. She spurns his advances, whereupon Beery locks Goudal in the cellar and opens the floodgates, allowing the water to slowly pour in. "My last wife changed her mind down here!" leers Beery as Goudal screams for assistance. Amos comes dashing to Goudal's rescue in a thrilling finale that has since been excerpted in several compilation films (and is seldom taken seriously by modern audiences). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Under the supervision of Cecil B. DeMille, character actor Alan Hale handled the directing chores in Wedding Song. DeMille contractee Leatrice Joy plays Beatrice Flynn, a beautiful con artist who marries Hayes Hallan (Robert Ames), the owner of a pearl-rich island. No sooner has the couple said "I do" than Beatrice's partners in crime (Charles Gerard, Ruby Lafayette) show up, claiming to be the bride's parents. When the crooks try to rob Hallan's safe, he orders them -- and Beatrice -- to leave the premises. But our heroine saves both the day and her marriage by saving Hallan from being killed by a bomb, hidden under his house by a disgruntled rival. Wedding Song was based on a novel by Ethel Watts Mumford. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After the spectacular epic The Ten Commandments, filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille returns to the drawing room for this pleasingly straightforward drama. King Garnet (Rod La Rocque) is the idle son of factory owner David Garnet (George Fawcett). He is in love with Ann Land (Leatrice Joy), the factory's forewoman, but she turns down his proposal of marriage because she has aspirations to be a singer. When old man Garnet dies, he wills his son the company, providing that he settles down within two years; failing that, it goes to William Silver (Victor Varconi), the factory's manager and King's half-brother via a secret marriage. Two years pass and Garnet is a bum sleeping on park benches, so Silver inherits the company. His new position in life changes him -- where he was once a radical in favor of the workers, he now becomes a snob. Meanwhile, Ann has achieved her dream and become an opera star in Europe, but smoke from a theater fire destroys her vocal chords. She returns to the factory, where Silver courts her. King picks himself up, goes to work at the factory as an employee and works his way up to manager. Silver is the pawn of a group of schemers, and King helps him straighten things out. He is glad to hand over the company to King, who also wins Ann. The good notices this film received prove that DeMille was still capable -- when he wanted -- of making an entertaining film without resorting to a lot of flash. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

No, this society drama is not related in any way, shape or form to the 1949 Katherine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy comedy. It's one of Cecil B. DeMille's most critically savaged pictures. At 34, Anna Q. Nilsson was a bit young to play the neglected middle-aged wife of business man Michael Ramsay (Milton Sills). The deposed King of Morania (Theodore Kosling) begins to draw Mrs. Ramsay's attention away from her marriage and she makes plans to run off with him. Ramsay, meanwhile, is trying to keep his marriage intact by spending his fortune in an attempt to get the king back on his throne. All this is viewed with disgust by the Ramsay's flapper daughter, Mathilda (Pauline Garon). Although she is engaged to professor Nathan Reade (Elliott Dexter), Mathilda makes a play for the king, just to keep him away from her mother. She winds up saving her mother but ruining her own reputation and destroying Reade's trust. Ramsay makes himself a new fortune and reconciles with his wife, who writes a confession for Mathilda to hand to Reade. She takes it down to him in the tropics, where he is working, but he decides to believe her and destroys the letter without reading it. The last part of the film contains a sequence shot on color film. DeMille was famous for his fantasy sequences and this one, which takes place in caveman days, is one of his worst. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Cecil B. DeMille's first screen version of The Ten Commandments is only peripherally a Biblical story. The film's first 45 minutes recaps the struggle between Moses (Theodore Roberts) and Rameses (Charles de Roche) over the liberation of the Hebrews. Only after the Lord has imposed a series of plagues upon Egypt does Rameses relent and permit the Exodus to take place--only to go back on his word a few moments later. The scenes of thousands of Hebrews trekking across the desert, the parting of the Red Sea (an effect accomplished in part by splitting a bowl of gelatin down the middle) and the pre-Commandments revelries before the Golden Calf--complete with a fetchingly undressed Estelle Taylor as Miriam--are produced on a spectacular scale...but this is only the beginning. Just as Moses is invoking the Wrath of God upon the ungrateful Hebrews, the film dissolves to the present day (1923, that is). We are introduced to the MacTavish Family: pious, Bible-thumping Martha McTavish (Edythe Chapman) and her sons, straight-arrow John (Richard Dix) and hedonistic Dan (Rod LaRocque). Both sons love Mary Leigh (Leatrice Joy), but the roguish Dan wins out. While John continues honoring the Ten Commandments, Dan breaks as many as he can get his hands on, especially after falling under the spell of Eurasian adventuress Sally Lung (Nita Naldi). Before the uplifting climax, wherein John and Mary finally get together with (it is implied) the blessings of Heaven, we are treated to a series of disastrous plot turns, including the death of mother McTavish in a collapsing church, Sally Lung's revelation that she has leprosy, and a wild speedboat chase. All that's missing is the kitchen sink. Partially filmed in Technicolor at a then-astronomical cost of $1.2 million (a sum that caused a decade-long rift between Cecil B. DeMille and Paramount Pictures), The Ten Commandments grossed several times that amount. DeMille's 1956 Ten Commandments dispenses with the modern story to concentrate on the life of Moses. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Cecil B. DeMille morality play came at just the right time -- the Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle scandal and William Desmond Taylor murder were both still fresh in the public's mind. Leatrice Joy plays Lydia Thorne, a rich society girl who is addicted to thrills. Because of her reckless driving, she is responsible for the death of a motorcycle cop and is brought to trial. The prosecutor is none other than her fiancé, Daniel O'Bannon (Thomas Meighan). Feeling that prison is her only means of mending her ways, he guarantees her conviction by making a speech in which he depicts the decadence and downfall of Rome (this gave DeMille the opportunity for one of his historical fantasy sequences). After Lydia is found guilty, the miserable O'Bannon becomes an alcoholic, but Lydia does learn from the experience and when she is released she searches out O'Bannon. Her new outlook on life brings him around, and they are together once again. This film is, perhaps, the epitome of the DeMille formula of the '20s -- as long as the characters paid for their sins by the last reel, DeMille could show all the debauchery he wanted. This pleased both the Hayes office's need for censorship and filmgoers' hunger for sensation. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Although this expensive drama was "suggested by" a short story, The Laurels and the Lady, by Leodard Merrick, one can't help but think filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille would not be satisfied until he made it completely his own. After returning from World War I, Arthur Phelps (Conrad Nagel) meets Poll Patchouli, a cantina girl (Dorothy Dalton), in a Mexican border town. She falls in love with him and it pains her to see that he has become infatuated with another dancer, Rosa Duchene (Mildred Harris). Phelps is blinded by an exploding cigar and Poll impersonates Rosa so he will marry her. A surgeon restores his sight, and when he sees that he has wed Poll, he angrily leaves her in search of Rosa. Phelps goes halfway around the world and finds Rosa in Siam, where she has won the admiration of Prince Talaat-Noi (John Davidson). She callously tosses her glove into a pit of alligators and bids the man who really loves her to fetch it. The Prince dives in and is injured; Phelps saves him from being eaten. Both men realize that Rosa is faithless, and Phelps returns home to Poll. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide