Cecil B. DeMille Movies
An actor and general manager with his mother's theatrical troupe since the mid-1900s, Cecil B. DeMille formed a filmmaking partnership in 1913 with vaudeville artist Jesse L. Lasky and businessman Samuel Goldfish (soon to be known as Samuel Goldwyn). Their first venture was The Squaw Man (1914), which DeMille co-directed, co-wrote and co-produced with Oscar Apfel. This successful and elaborate six-reeler launched DeMille on a lifelong career in films. His first solo effort was the Western The Virginian (1914), which he also co-scripted. He edited and wrote (or co-wrote) almost all his successful films, with the notable exception of the popular melodrama The Cheat (1915). Writer Jeanie Macpherson began working for DeMille in 1914 with The Captive (1915), and wrote most of his later silent films: hits that included witty romantic farces (Don't Change Your Husband); epic morality tales that combined modern dramas with visions of history (Joan the Woman [1916]) or the Bible (The Ten Commandments [1923]); and perhaps DeMille's greatest artistic success, the handsome and moving life of Christ, The King of Kings (1927). Macpherson also wrote the director's first three talkies, ending their collaboration in 1930 with the bizarre comedy Madam Satan (1930). DeMille continued to score hits in the '30s with epics (Sign of the Cross [1932], Cleopatra [1934]) and Westerns (The Plainsman [1937], Union Pacific [1939]). His output became more sporadic during the '40s, but he still pleased the public with his rugged action films Northwest Mounted Police (1940) and Reap the Wild Wind (1942). DeMille's last three films -- Samson and Delilah (1950), The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), and The Ten Commandments (1956), a remake of his 1923 movie of the same name -- were the most successful releases of their respective years. DeMille's final directorial effort, The Ten Commandments was also the decade's box-office champ. He died in 1959 at the age of 77; his memoir, The Autobiography of Cecil B. DeMille, was published posthumously later that year. ~ All Movie Guide
Cecil B. DeMille's much-maligned cinemadaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's The Affairs of Anatol holds up better than its reputation suggests. Wallace Reid stars as New York socialite Anatol DeWitt Spencer, who after only a few day's marriage has become bored with his new bride Vivian (Gloria Swanson). In search of new romantic vistas, Anatole takes up his old flame Emilie (Wanda Hawley), who repays the "favor" by two-timing him. Briefly returning to his wife, Anatole attempts another extramarital adventure with Annie Elliot (Agnes Ayres), whose tear-stained tales of a tragic life are but a subterfuge to disguise her larcenous streak. Finally, Anatole dallies with Satan Synne (Bebe Daniels), "the wickedest woman in New York"-who turns out to be a virtuous housewife, hoping to raise money for her seriously ill husband. At long last, Anatole decides that he's better off with Vivian, who by now has grown tired of him. In reviewing The Affairs of Anatol, Photoplay magazine said laconically "Cecil B. DeMille, not Arthur Schnitzler. We leave it to you which gentleman has pleased our public more." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wallace Reid, Gloria Swanson, (more)
- 1920
During the late teens and early '20s, filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille reveled in much cinematic pomp and circumstance, mixing epic past-life fantasies with James M. Barrie in Male and Female and blending high society with sex in the domestic scenarios of Don't Change Your Husband and Why Change Your Wife?. So when he tried for simplicity and a spiritual message with Something to Think About, it took quite a few people aback. Elliott Dexter plays David Markley, crippled but wealthy, who pays for the education of Ruth Anderson Gloria Swanson, daughter of the town blacksmith Theodore Roberts. When Ruth returns from school, Markley falls in love with her. She feels obliged to marry him but elopes instead with Jim Dirk Monte Blue. After Dirk is killed in an accident, Ruth comes home once again, but her angry and now-blind father denounces her. The altruistic Markley agrees to marry Ruth only for the benefit of the son she had by Dirk. But this marriage -- in name only -- turns into a real romance as Ruth and Markley fall in love. The bad feelings between them vanish and heal the crippled man. The intention behind Something to Think About was certainly well-meant, but at this point in DeMille's career words like "straightforward" and "uncomplicated" just weren't part of his vocabulary. Unfortunately that's just what this film needed to be, but instead it veered between sincerity and melodrama. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1920
One of the best of Cecil B. DeMille's sophisticated sex comedies of the silent era, Why Change Your Wife? hinges upon a marriage of opposites. Husband Thomas Meighan has a fondness for wine, women and song; wife Gloria Swanson is the intellectual bookish type (we know this much because she wears thick glasses). When jazz baby Bebe Daniels enters Meighan's life, the indignant Swanson files for divorce. Realizing that she's permitted herself to become dull and drab, the newly liberated Gloria "dolls up" with a glamorous new wardrobe. Meanwhile, Meighan has become disillusioned with new bride Bebe, who is all pizazz but no substance. At a fashionable summer resort, Meighan and Swanson are reunited. When Tom and Gloria fall in love all over again, Bebe is temporarily put out, but she consoles herself with the old battle cry "Remember the Alimony!" Despite the film's farcical trappings, Why Change Your Wife? has more depth than the usual DeMille froth, thanks to the three-dimensional performances of its star trio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Don't let that title fool you: Male and Female is really James M. Barrie's The Admirable Crichton, as interpreted by Cecil B. DeMille. Thomas Meighan plays Crichton, the very proper butler in the British household of Lord Loam (Theodore Roberts). When masters and servants go on a yachting excursion, the vessel is destroyed in a storm, marooning everyone on a desert island. The helpless aristocrats must turn to the resourceful Crichton for survival. Before long, Crichton is ruling the roost, while his masters are cheerfully performing the most menial of tasks. Haughty Lady Mary (Gloria Swanson) foregoes her class-conscious upbringing and falls in love with Crichton. Once the castaways are rescued and brought back to England, however, the original class distinctions are restored. Lady Mary goes ahead with a marriage to stuffy Lord Brockelhurst as scheduled, but it is obvious that she will be unhappy in this "socially correct" union. Meawhile, Crichton finds happiness with scullery maid Tweeny (Lila Lee), who has loved him all along. Feeling that the Barrie play didn't have sufficient "punch" to go over with 1919 filmgoers, DeMille interpolated a dream sequence in which Gloria Swanson imagines herself a Babylonian princess; this gave the actress the opportunity to share a scene with a live and none-too-docile lion. One would think that critics of the era would haul DeMille over the coals for taking so many liberties with The Admirable Crichton, but such was not the case. One reviewer of Male and Female even congratulated DeMille for making Barrie "filmable"! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thomas Meighan, Gloria Swanson, (more)
- 1919
This was Gloria Swanson's first film for director Cecil B. DeMille and it went a long way in establishing her as a star. Considered deliciously racy in its day, Don't Change Your Husband is an amusing battle between the sexes that takes place in the sumptuous upper-class society of the post-WWI era. The romantic Leila Porter (Gloria Swanson) is frustrated by her neglectful husband, James (Elliot Dexter). James is a glue magnate who is more concerned with making money than he is about keeping Leila happy. So she divorces him and marries the flashy, stylish Schuyler Van Sutphen (Lew Cody). It doesn't take long before Leila discovers that Sutphen is a gambling, two-timing rat, and she returns to the more prosaic Porter, who -- luckily for Leila -- is happy to have her back. This is a classic example of DeMille's drawing-room side, and the combination of humor, luscious sets and costumes, and brilliant casting (especially of Swanson and Cody), made this film a solid winner. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1919
Director Cecil B. DeMille tones down his usual elegance and instead focuses on the drama of America during the Great War. Sylvia Norcross (Gloria Swanson) is being courted by two men, Edward Meade (Elliot Dexter) and Richard Burton (Tom Forman). Both Edward and Richard have enlisted, but Edward, a children's surgeon, is asked to stay home by his boss. Thinking him a coward, Sylvia decides to marry Richard. Only after her husband has left for France does she realize the sacrifice that Edward made in staying home. When she is informed of Richard's death, she agrees to marry the surgeon. But Richard isn't dead after all -- he returns home, his face horribly scarred. Husband and wife stay together, but Richard can tell that Sylvia no longer loves him. However, a girl (Wanda Hawley), has been pining away for him all along, battle scars and all. So Richard finds happiness with the girl, leaving Sylvia and Edward free to marry. While not one of DeMille's landmark films, the romance of For Better, For Worse, along with its timely material, helped him (and star Gloria Swanson) keep a high public profile. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1918
The Whispering Chorus was arguably the closest Cecil B. DeMille ever came to making an "art" picture. Stalwart DeMille supporting player Raymond Hatton gave the performance of his career as embezzling bank clerk John Trimble. Hoping to escape punishment for his crimes, Trimble arranges for an anonymous, mutilated corpse to be identified as his own then starts life over again with a new identity. Several years later, however, Trimble is caught in a web of circumstantial evidence, and ends up being put on trial for his own murder! Prepared to reveal his true identity, Trimble is begged not to do so by his dying mother (Edythe Chapman), since such a revelation would bring disgrace upon Trimble's "widow" Jane (Kathryn Williams), who has since become the wife of Governor George Cogswell (Elliot Dexter) and is currently pregnant with her second husband's baby. Not wishing to see his wife branded a bigamist and her unborn child labelled a bastard, Trimble maintains his silence and willingly goes to the gallows. Some of the special-effects work in The Whispering Chorus bordered on the miraculous, especially the sequence in which Trimble is "surrounded" by the voices of his Thoughts, but what lingers longest in the memory are the performances by Raymond Hatton and Edythe Chapman. Unfortunately, The Whispering Chorus was a resounding failure at the box office, convincing director DeMille to ever afterward forsake "Art" in favor of gaudy showmanship. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1918
We Can't Have Everything was at once a typical Cecil B. DeMille marital comedy and also a satire of the whole genre. Aware that her wealthy husband Peter (Thurston Hall) is cheating on her, socialite Charity Cheever (Kathlyn Williams) nonetheless remains faithful to him, spurning the affections of her former suitor Jim Dyckman (Elliot Dexter). Advised by Charity to find a "nice girl" for himself, Jim ignores her and goes ga-ga over mercenary movie starlet Kedzie Thropp (Wanda Hawley). Meanwhile, Charity finally divorces her husband, only to discover that Jim is now beyond her reach. Fortunately for Charity, Kedzie grows weary of her marriage to Jim and sets her sights for a British nobleman (Raymond Hatton). Kedzie sues Jim for divorce, citing Charity as co-respondent. The result is a happy ending for Charity and Jim, and a deliciously ironic denouement for the scheming Kedzie. The highlight of We Can't Have Everything was the scene in which Kedzie's movie studio catches fire, an episode reportedly inspired by a real-life blaze which occurred on the Paramount lot. Also worth noting was the performance of Tully Marshall as a pompous movie director -- a sly takeoff of the film's actual director, C.B. DeMille. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1918
During World War I, every director made at least one film about the battles going on in Europe, even Cecil B. DeMille. These pictures were rarely very distinguished, and this drama was certainly one of DeMille's lesser efforts. Florence Vidor plays Yvonne, a Belgian girl who marries a German man, Karl Von Krutz G. Butler Clonbough. The war breaks out after Von Krutz confesses to Yvonne that he is a spy, he leaves for the German forces. Later, when the United States enters the war, Captain Jefferson Strong (Bryant Washburn) becomes a spy for the Allies. He is ordered to take on the identity of Von Krutz so that he can go behind the lines and blow up a liquid fire base. However, Yvonne is caring for 65 war orphans and they will all die if the detonation goes off, so Strong is forced to cut the wires. Although he undergoes a court martial, Belgian's King Albert (Winter Hall) frees him. Von Krutz conveniently dies, enabling Strong and Yvonne to be together. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1918
Cecil B. DeMille made The Squaw Man three times; this silent version was the second one. While the 1914 Squaw Man bears more historical significance (as it went a long way in establishing Hollywood as the heart of the film industry), this 1918 version is, by far, the better film, with higher production values and a more sophisticated approach. To briefly recap the plot, James Wynnegate (Elliott Dexter) travels to Wyoming after a scandal involving an embezzlement. His cousin, Henry (Thurston Hall), is the guilty one, but Wynnegate takes the blame out of love for Henry's wife, Lady Diana (Katherine MacDonald). In Wyoming, Wynnegate saves an Indian maiden, Naturich (Anna Little), from the advances of the villainous Cash Hawkins (Jack Holt). Wynnegate and Naturich marry, and she then murders Hawkins. Lady Diana comes to Wyoming to tell Wynnegate that Henry was killed on a hunting trip and confessed to the embezzlement before he died. Naturich, feeling she is in her husband's way, commits suicide. Wynnegate, now the Earl of Kerhill, returns to England with Lady Diana and his half-Indian son (Pat Moore). At the time this drama was made, DeMille was only just becoming known for creating film spectaculars; this production was an assurance that this reputation would grow. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1918
The first of Cecil B. DeMille's series of sophisticated romantic comedy-dramas, Old Wives for New was adapted from a novel by David Graham. Elliot Dexter stars as David Murdock, who after several years of marriage has grown as tired of his wife Sophy as she has of him. Casting about for new female companionship, David falls for lovely Juliet Raeburn (Florence Vidor). Upon divorcing Sophy, David is poised to marry Juliet, when she is innocently mixed up in a sensational murder case. Hoping to avoid scandal, David weds another woman named Viola (Marcia Manon), who in turn walks out on David in favor of his much-younger personal secretary. Suitably chastened, David begs Juliet to take him back, which she does. To emphasize the fact that David's first wife has let herself go to seed, director DeMille cunningly (and chauvinistically) cast pert and pretty Wanda Hawley as Sophy "before marriage," and plain and dumpy Sylvia Ashton) as Sophy "after." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1917
This typically overbaked Cecil B. DeMille opus takes place off the seacoast of Brittany. While ambling along the beach, peasant maiden Marcia Manot (Geraldine Farrar) finds the Devil Stone, a "cursed" emerald that originally belonged to a Viking Queen. Marcia doesn't realize the emerald's value, but mercenary American Silas Martin (Tully Marshall) does, and to get possession of the gem he marries the girl. Once he's gotten what he wants, Martin conspires with his business manager Guy Sterling (Wallace Reid) to frame Marcia on adultery charges and then sue for divorce. But Sterling has a change of heart, and informs Marcia of Martin's plans. Angrily attempting to retrieve the emerald, Marcia accidentally kills her hateful husband. Detective Robert Judson (Hobart Bosworth) quickly figures out who murdered Martin, but out of sympathy for Marcia he merely advises her to get rid of the Devil Stone and marry Sterling, who by now has fallen in love with her. The Devil Stone was the last of opera diva Geraldine Farrars starring vehicles for Cecil B. DeMille, though it was far from her final screen appearance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1917
With the exception of Joan the Woman, which contained a "contemporary" subplot, The Woman God Forgot was Cecil B. DeMille's first all-out historical spectacular. The story is set in Mexico during the reign of Emperor Montezuma (Raymond Hatton). Upon his arrival on Mexican soil, Spanish conquistador Cortez (Hobart Bosworth) sends Captain Alvarado (Wallace Reid) to the imperial palace with a demand for Montezuma's surrender. The emperor immediately puts Alvarado in chains, but he is rescued by Montezuma's daughter Tecza (Geraldine Farrar), who has fallen in love with the young Spaniard. This does not rest well with Tecza's parent-appointed fiance Guatemoco (Theodore Kosloff), who prepares to sacrifice Alvarado to the Aztec gods. To save her sweetheart, Tecza leads Cortez' army into battle against her own father. The price of her devotion to Alvarado is the total destruction of the Aztec empire, but rather than die herself (which would seem to be the logical denouement given the sequence of events), Tecza is permitted to live happily onward with her one true love. Though she was not exactly sylphlike, opera diva Geraldine Farrar wore her revealing costumes quite well, establishing a precedent for such later underdressed DeMille leading ladies as Gloria Swanson, Claudette Colbert and Hedy Lamarr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1917
Reportedly, director Cecil B. DeMille and leading lady Mary Pickford did not see eye to eye during the making of this lavish Western melodrama filmed on location among the giant redwoods in northern California. "Little Mary" actually plays a female her own age this time (maybe that was the trouble) as a young woman whose father is killed in an Indian raid. Pickford falls for a dashing outlaw (Elliott Dexter), whom she later frees after his inevitable capture by persuading the sheriff (Walter Long) that she is pregnant. Amazingly, the ruse works and they are allowed to plan a future together in freedom. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
It would be easy to assume that combining Mary Pickford's charm with director Cecil B. DeMille's penchant for the spectacular would create an exceptional piece of work. But judging from this picture, and the one made before it -- Romance of the Redwoods -- that just wasn't the case. The bottom line was that both Pickford and DeMille wanted control over their productions and neither of them were truly capable of the kind of compromise required by collaboration. As a result, their work together suffered. America had recently entered World War I when this picture was made, and it was one of innumerable patriotic films produced around this time. It begins in 1914 with American Angela Moore (Pickford) and her two foreign suitors -- a German, Karl Von Austreim (Jack Holt) and a Frenchman, Count Jules de Destin (Raymond Hatton). Angela prefers Karl, but when war breaks out in Europe, both men go to serve their countries. Eventually Angela, too, sails for France, but her ship is sunk by a U-boat (although not named, the ship is presumed to be the Lusitania). She is saved, but when she arrives at her destination, she finds her aunt dead, and the family chateau transformed into a hospital for those wounded in battle. The Germans arrive to fight, rape and pillage. Angela and Karl are reunited when, unaware of her identity, he tries to attack her. She forgives him this transgression, but when the Germans discover her sending messages to the French, the commander (Herbert Bosworth) orders her shot. At this, Karl denounces his country and he is ordered to be shot, too. The pair are saved by a French shell which blows up the Germans at an opportune moment, and after an all-night battle, they are found by the Allies, sleeping at the foot of a cross. Although Karl is arrested, Angela is able to have him freed and they leave for the U.S. together. This mediocre film was overshadowed by the far superior Poor Little Rich Girl, which was released earlier in the year. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
A sweeping chronicle of the life and death of Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orlean, this epic stands as one of director Cecil B. DeMille's finest works and offers film buffs a fascinating look into the early years of one of Hollywood's greats. The story of the valiant French martyr is framed by the modern tale of a British soldier who, while fighting WW I, digs up a rusted 15th century sword. Soon afterward he falls asleep and begins dreaming that he is a soldier in Joan's army. With a cast of 1,400 extras, full-sized sets, spectacular battle scenes and hand-tinted prints, DeMille spared no expense with his epic and though the $300,000 seems paltry by today's filmmaking standards, it was a fortune in 1916. It was money well spent for Joan the Woman stand's times test as an exceptional example of the epic film. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1916
This early Cecil B. DeMille feature already shows the director's predilection towards morality plays. Marie Doro plays Nora Flynn, a nursemaid for an unhappily wed couple. Nora is in love with the chauffeur, Nolan (Elliott Dexter), while her mistress, Mrs. Stone (Lola May), has taken up with a playboy (Charles West). Nora winds up hiding Mrs. Stone's lover in her own room, where Nolan finds him and shoots him in a jealous fit. The man makes it through alive, but because of the resulting scandal, Mr. Stone (Ernest Joy) fires Nora, claiming she's unfit to teach his children. Even so, Nora refuses to tell on her mistress. The grateful Mrs. Stone confides the truth to Nolan, and he and Nora are reunited. The DeMille style -- classy, larger-than-life sets and cinematography, and somewhat heavy-handed attitudes about virtue -- is displayed here, but he hasn't yet developed the overblown presentation which later became his trademark. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1916
One of the few opera divas to achieve success on the silent screen (due in part to her affable, non-diva temperament), Geraldine Farrar was starred in several Cecil B. DeMille productions, the third of which was 1916's Maria Rosa. Adapted by C.B.'s brother William C. DeMille from a play by Angel Guimara, the film starred Farrar as the title character, a Catalonian peasant girl. Local vintner Andreas (Wallace Reid) and his "pal" Ramon (Pedro de Cordoba) are both madly in love with Maria Rosa. When Ramon stabs and kills another man, Andreas is arrested for the crime. Maria Rosa promises to wait for Andrea, but Ramon convinces her that her sweetheart has died behind bars. Paroled for conspicuous bravery during a prison riot, Andreas arrives in time to prevent Maria Rosa from marrying the treacherous Ramon -- and, as a bonus, is present at Ramon's own sticky demise at the hands of the heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1916
Previously filmed in England as The Incomparable Bellairs, Agnes and Egerton Castle's romantic novel Sweet Kitty Bellairs(originally The Bath Comedy) served as an early movie vehicle for Mae Murray. Set in 18th-century England, the story concerns a flirtatious debutante who falls in love with a dashing highwayman. Robert Gray co-starred as bandit chieftain Captain O'Hara, while Tom Forman was cast as Lieutenant Varnay, the heroine's erstwhile sweetheart. Though Mae Murray was never much of an actress, she was a fascinating screen presence, and it was her natural charisma that carried the film over its rough spots. Based on the David Belasco stage version of the Castles' novel, Sweet Kitty Bellairs was remade as a musical comedy in 1930. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1916
Longtime collaborators Cecil B. DeMille and Jeanie MacPherson penned the screenplay for this Wallace Reid feature. Reid plays sheriff Dan Deering, who is in love with an independent young lady, Kate Kenner (Cleo Ridgley). Although Kate does find gold, her claim is jumped. The jumpers attack Deering, who is trying to help the girl, but he is saved by the notorious bandit, Silver Spurs (Earle Foxe). Kate disguises herself as Silver Spurs in an attempt to get her gold back. Deering captures her and, believing that she really is the bandit, reluctantly puts her on trial. The real Silver Spurs comes in and saves Kate but again eludes capture. This action adventure from the teens shows that not all female characters of the day were sweet, reticent things. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1916
This is Cecil B. DeMille at his most dressed-down. The Trail of the Lonesome Pine takes place in the Virginia mountains. Jack Hale (Thomas Meighan) is a revenue officer sent to track down some moonshiners. While on his hunt, he meets and falls in love with June Tolliver (Charlotte Walker), the daughter of the very people he's looking for. The Tolliver family see this love affair as their opportunity to outsmart Hale and get him out of their way. Led unwittingly by June, Hale almost falls into their trap, but the girl's father (Theodore Roberts) comes around -- in the end he destroys his still and gives his daughter's hand to Hale. DeMille's handling of this drama with its simple setting won him notices that were nearly as good as the ones he got for the Geraldine Ferrar spectacles he was also making at the time. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Walker, Theodore Roberts, (more)
- 1916
Though many of Cecil B. DeMille's earliest films were based on plays and novels, The Dream Girl was a complete original, written directly for the screen by longtime DeMille associate (and reputed lover) Jeannie Macpherson. Still in her gamine period, superstar-to-be Mae Murray stars as Meg Dugan, a child of the San Francisco waterfront. To escape her shabby surroundings, Meg creates her own fantasy world, complete with a "Sir Galahad" galloping to her rescue. But the grim realities of life come crashing down upon Meg thanks to her reprobate father Jim Dugan (Theodore Roberts), who at present is trying to pass off his confederate "English Hal" (Charles West) as a nobleman, the better to win the heart -- and the bank account -- of susceptible young heiress Alice Merton (Mary Mersch). As luck would have it, Meg has been appointed the temporary ward of Alice's father Benjamin Merton (James Neill). Out of love for Alice's handsome brother Tom (Earl Foxe), Meg exposes her father's scheme, then resignedly returns to the waterfront. But Tom proves to be Meg's long-awaited Sir Galahad when he storms down to the docks and demands that she become his bride. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1915
The grandfather of Betty Wright (Ina Claire) is willing to give her a substantial amount of money if she marries the son of a friend. But she wants no part of an arranged marriage with someone she's never met, so she changes her name and runs away with a theater troupe. There she meets Bob Randall (Tom Forman), who is also going under an assumed name, and is the son of the grandfather's friend -- he has also run away, for the same reasons as Betty. Predictably, the pair fall in love. The troupe is stranded and its members thrown in jail for failing to pay their board. Betty's mother (Helen Marlborough) comes to rescue the girl, and pays to get the whole troupe out of the clink. It's only then that Betty and Bob discover each other's true identities, and they tell their families that a marriage is now acceptable to them. This was stage actress Ina Claire's screen debut. It was based on a play by William C. DeMille (older brother of director Cecil B. DeMille), and he also wrote the scenario. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1915
The Golden Chance was the last of 12 (!) films directed in 1915 by Cecil B. DeMille. Scripted by DeMille and Jeannie MacPherson, the story concentrates on Mary Denby (Cleo Ridgely) a young wife forced to take a job as a seamstress when her husband Steve (Horace B. Carpenter) spends all their money on booze. Mary's employer, socialite Mrs. Hilary (Edythe Chapman) is busily arranging a society marriage for business purposes. When the prospective bride fails to show up at an important party, Mrs. Hilary persuades Mary to take the girl's place. As a result, wealthy Roger Manning (Wallace Reid) falls head over heels in love with her. But then, Mary's husband Steve emerges from oblivion with blackmail on his mind. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1915
This Cecil B. DeMille picture (adapted from the novel by Eleanor M. Ingram) was the screen debut for French actress Rita Jolivet. Two brothers, Stefan and Michael Balsic (real-life acting brothers House Peters and Page Peters) are on opposite ends of the Montenegrin political spectrum. Stefan is loyal to the king, while the dissolute Michael is trying to start a revolution with the help of the secret agent of the Empire (Theodore Roberts). When he squanders the money needed by the revolutionaries, Michael decides to court Delight Warren (Jolivet), a New York heiress, and use her money. Delight naively falls for Michael and goes to Montenegro, but Stefan, who knows of the plot, kidnaps her and forces her to marry him. Even though Stefan treats her courteously, Delight continues to believe in Michael until he tries to have his brother poisoned. Since Michael still needs Delight's money, he kidnaps her, along with Danilo Lesendra, Stefan's right-hand man (Lewrence Peyton). He threatens to blind Lesendra unless Delight pays him off. She agrees, but Stefan arrives with his men. Michael kills himself in lieu of the disgrace he faces, and Stefan offers to let Delight return to America. Delight, however, prefers to stay in Montenegro with her husband. This picture also marked the screen debut of another actress in a bit part -- Marjorie Daw. She was said to be 14, but judging from photos, she was probably closer to 12. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
