One of cinema’s earliest pioneers, Oscar winner Cecil B. DeMille helmed 70 films throughout the silent and sound era. He made his mark in a number of genres, but was most famous for his spectacularly mounted biblical epics. Let’s take a look back at 20 of his greatest movies, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1881, DeMille made his directorial debut with “The Squaw Man” (1914), a story he remade in 1918 and 1931. He made dozens of silent films, including the ambitious biblical stories “The Ten Commandments” (1923) and “The King of Kings” (1927). He entered into the sound era with ease, earning his first Oscar nomination in Best Picture for the Claudette Colbert-headlined version of “Cleopatra” (1934).
After a series of box office smashes, he took home the Best Picture prize for his big top melodrama “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952), which also brought him his only nomination in Best Director. Even at the time,...
Born in 1881, DeMille made his directorial debut with “The Squaw Man” (1914), a story he remade in 1918 and 1931. He made dozens of silent films, including the ambitious biblical stories “The Ten Commandments” (1923) and “The King of Kings” (1927). He entered into the sound era with ease, earning his first Oscar nomination in Best Picture for the Claudette Colbert-headlined version of “Cleopatra” (1934).
After a series of box office smashes, he took home the Best Picture prize for his big top melodrama “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952), which also brought him his only nomination in Best Director. Even at the time,...
- 8/7/2022
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
7 random things that happened on this day (Nov 25th) in showbiz history...
1932 Claudette Colbert infamously bathes in milk in Cecil B DeMille's The Sign of the Cross, new in theaters.
1947 The Hollywood Blacklist begins, denying employment to those with perceived Communist ties or sympathies. This period has haunted self-reflecting Hollywood since as witnessed in Trumbo, The Way We Were, Guilty by Suspicion, Good Night and Good Luck, and numerous other movies...
1932 Claudette Colbert infamously bathes in milk in Cecil B DeMille's The Sign of the Cross, new in theaters.
1947 The Hollywood Blacklist begins, denying employment to those with perceived Communist ties or sympathies. This period has haunted self-reflecting Hollywood since as witnessed in Trumbo, The Way We Were, Guilty by Suspicion, Good Night and Good Luck, and numerous other movies...
- 11/25/2020
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
The message of this ode to early Christian martyrs is overpowered by Cecil B. DeMille’s indulgence of his sanctimonious/perverse instincts: although seldom lumped in with other pre-Code sex & sadism offenders, there’s more salacious and violent content here than in a dozen ordinary ‘discouraged’ pre-Code pictures. Fredric March and Elissa Landi provide the pro-Christian idealism, but Charles Laughton and especially Claudette Colbert steal the show with marvelously wicked portraits of Emperor Nero and Empress Poppea. The smirks and come-hither looks are backed up with hot content that filled seats in Depression-era theaters.
The Sign of the Cross
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1932 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 125 min. / Street Date August 25, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Fredric March, Elissa Landi, Claudette Colbert, Charles Laughton, Ian Keith.
Cinematography: Karl Struss
Art Direction & Costumes (+ assistant director): Mitchell Leisen
Film Editor: Anne Bauchens
Original Music: Rudolph G. Kopp
Written by Waldemar Young,...
The Sign of the Cross
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1932 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 125 min. / Street Date August 25, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Fredric March, Elissa Landi, Claudette Colbert, Charles Laughton, Ian Keith.
Cinematography: Karl Struss
Art Direction & Costumes (+ assistant director): Mitchell Leisen
Film Editor: Anne Bauchens
Original Music: Rudolph G. Kopp
Written by Waldemar Young,...
- 8/18/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Cecil B. DeMille would’ve celebrated his 138th birthday on August 12, 2019. One of cinema’s earliest pioneers, the Oscar-winning director helmed 70 films throughout the silent and sound era. He made his mark in a number of genres, but was most famous for his spectacularly mounted biblical epics. In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 20 of his greatest movies, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1881, DeMille made his directorial debut with “The Squaw Man” (1914), a story he remade in 1918 and 1931. He made dozens of silent films, including the ambitious biblical stories “The Ten Commandments” (1923) and “The King of Kings” (1927). He entered into the sound era with ease, earning his first Oscar nomination in Best Picture for the Claudette Colbert-headlined version of “Cleopatra” (1934).
SEECharlton Heston movies: Top 12 greatest films ranked worst to best
After a series of box office smashes, he took home the Best Picture...
Born in 1881, DeMille made his directorial debut with “The Squaw Man” (1914), a story he remade in 1918 and 1931. He made dozens of silent films, including the ambitious biblical stories “The Ten Commandments” (1923) and “The King of Kings” (1927). He entered into the sound era with ease, earning his first Oscar nomination in Best Picture for the Claudette Colbert-headlined version of “Cleopatra” (1934).
SEECharlton Heston movies: Top 12 greatest films ranked worst to best
After a series of box office smashes, he took home the Best Picture...
- 8/12/2019
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
6 random things that happened on this day (Nov 25th) in showbiz history...
1932 Claudette Colbert infamously bathes in milk in Cecil B DeMille's The Sign of the Cross, new in theaters.
1947 The Hollywood Blacklist begins, denying employment to those with perceived Communist ties or sympathies. This period has haunted ever self-reflecting Hollywood since as witness in Trumbo, The Way We Were, Guilty by Suspicion, Good Night and Good Luck, and numerous other movies.
1984 Bob Geldolf's blockbuster charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" recorded in London...
1932 Claudette Colbert infamously bathes in milk in Cecil B DeMille's The Sign of the Cross, new in theaters.
1947 The Hollywood Blacklist begins, denying employment to those with perceived Communist ties or sympathies. This period has haunted ever self-reflecting Hollywood since as witness in Trumbo, The Way We Were, Guilty by Suspicion, Good Night and Good Luck, and numerous other movies.
1984 Bob Geldolf's blockbuster charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" recorded in London...
- 11/25/2018
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
by Jason Adams
Why not celebrate the 115th anniversary of the birth of Claudette Colbert today by taking a warm milk bath and then watching Cecille B Demille's infamously lascivious 1932 film The Sign of the Cross? The whole thing is online right here. One of my favorite things about this movie - besides Colbert, and besides Fredric March in short skirts, and besides Charles Laughton as a leering bisexual Nero (that's a lot of besides!), is this story about how Colbert got cast:
“On my way out of the executive offices at Paramount one day,” said DeMille, “I met a young actress named Claudette Colbert. She’d not done much, just playing pansy roles.” Colbert’s most recent part was as George M. Cohan’s daughter in The Phantom President. “I was bored with these roles,” recalled Colbert. “Because I happened to look like a lady, that’s all they wanted me to play.
Why not celebrate the 115th anniversary of the birth of Claudette Colbert today by taking a warm milk bath and then watching Cecille B Demille's infamously lascivious 1932 film The Sign of the Cross? The whole thing is online right here. One of my favorite things about this movie - besides Colbert, and besides Fredric March in short skirts, and besides Charles Laughton as a leering bisexual Nero (that's a lot of besides!), is this story about how Colbert got cast:
“On my way out of the executive offices at Paramount one day,” said DeMille, “I met a young actress named Claudette Colbert. She’d not done much, just playing pansy roles.” Colbert’s most recent part was as George M. Cohan’s daughter in The Phantom President. “I was bored with these roles,” recalled Colbert. “Because I happened to look like a lady, that’s all they wanted me to play.
- 9/13/2018
- by JA
- FilmExperience
Let's give a cheer for the lowly sword 'n' sandal epic. This persecution and torture spectacle also takes in the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian. The impressively mounted Italian-Spanish production stars Rhonda Fleming, Fernando Rey, Wandisa Guida, and as the slimy villain, none other than Serge Gainsbourg. Revolt of the Slaves MGM Limited Edition Collection 1960 / Color / 2:35 enhanced widescreen (Totalscope) / 103 min. / La rivolta degli schiavi / Street Date February 16, 2016 / available through Screen Archives Entertainment / 19.98 Starring Rhonda Fleming, Lang Jeffries, Darío Moreno, Ettore Manni, Wandisa Guida, Gino Cervi, Fernando Rey, Serge Gainsbourg, José Nieto, Benno Hoffmann, Rainer Penkert, Antonio Casas, Vanoye Aikens, Dolores Francine, Burt Nelson, Julio Peña . Cinematography Cecilio Paniagua Film Editor Eraldo Da Roma Original Music Angelo Francesco Lavagnino Written by Stefano Strucchi, Duccio Tessari, Daniel Mainwearing from the novel 'Fabiola' by Nicholas Patrick Wiseman Produced by Paolo Moffa Directed by Nunzio Malasomma
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Make all...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Make all...
- 3/1/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Above: Us three-sheet poster for The Private Life of Henry VIII (Alexander Korda, UK, 1933).
The great Charles Laughton may not have been the prettiest of movie stars, but he had a presence that many matinee idols would have killed for (as the current retrospective running at Film Forum will attest). In an era in which glamor was everything, studio marketers may have struggled with how to present Laughton’s unconventional looks and his larger-than-life portrayals of larger-than-life characters (so many monsters, murderers, tyrants, or simply overbearing fathers) to the public. In most of the posters for his most famous film, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), he is all but a silhouette, a spoiler alert to his monstrous transformation as Quasimodo. And in some posters for The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), the film for which he won his first Oscar, Henry is made to look more like the Hans Holbein...
The great Charles Laughton may not have been the prettiest of movie stars, but he had a presence that many matinee idols would have killed for (as the current retrospective running at Film Forum will attest). In an era in which glamor was everything, studio marketers may have struggled with how to present Laughton’s unconventional looks and his larger-than-life portrayals of larger-than-life characters (so many monsters, murderers, tyrants, or simply overbearing fathers) to the public. In most of the posters for his most famous film, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), he is all but a silhouette, a spoiler alert to his monstrous transformation as Quasimodo. And in some posters for The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), the film for which he won his first Oscar, Henry is made to look more like the Hans Holbein...
- 2/21/2015
- by Adrian Curry
- MUBI
Love the Sinner: Miller & Rodriguez Bring Back Hyperstylized Noir with Mixed Results
It has been almost a decade since the visually innovative Sin City thrummed into theaters, cloaked in lascivious shades of film noir nightmares. In between now and then, co-director and creator Frank Miller stepped out on his own in 2008 with The Spirit, an abysmal record of why perhaps Robert Rodriguez was a necessary cohort to return on the sequel, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. Suffering from the regular pitfalls of the overly ambitious sequel, this chapter will surely disappoint those hoping to experience the same level of creative vicissitudes because this go round is a brittle, wearied tethering of varied storylines. But, imperfect their latest creation may be, it isn’t without significant entertainment value. As cheaply as it tends to favor its multitudinous women, doling out an equal helping of misogyny with its crackpot male fantasy version of empowered females,...
It has been almost a decade since the visually innovative Sin City thrummed into theaters, cloaked in lascivious shades of film noir nightmares. In between now and then, co-director and creator Frank Miller stepped out on his own in 2008 with The Spirit, an abysmal record of why perhaps Robert Rodriguez was a necessary cohort to return on the sequel, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. Suffering from the regular pitfalls of the overly ambitious sequel, this chapter will surely disappoint those hoping to experience the same level of creative vicissitudes because this go round is a brittle, wearied tethering of varied storylines. But, imperfect their latest creation may be, it isn’t without significant entertainment value. As cheaply as it tends to favor its multitudinous women, doling out an equal helping of misogyny with its crackpot male fantasy version of empowered females,...
- 8/22/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Even the severest critics of his films had to concede that he was a great showman
Cecil B. deMille, who was often described as the "founder" of Hollywood, died at his home there yesterday after a short illness. He was 77.
Cecil B. deMille - he was always known by his full name, which a Hollywood wit once said was not a name at all but a "proclamation" - was like a personal symbol of the popular view of Hollywood between the two world wars before the competition of television nibbled away at its self-confidence. The films he produced were invariably "epics," launched with tremendous advertising fervour in which deMille often took a hand.
Even the severest critics of his films had to concede that he was a great showman - typically one of his best films was called "The Greatest Show on Earth " - and that he was not only...
Cecil B. deMille, who was often described as the "founder" of Hollywood, died at his home there yesterday after a short illness. He was 77.
Cecil B. deMille - he was always known by his full name, which a Hollywood wit once said was not a name at all but a "proclamation" - was like a personal symbol of the popular view of Hollywood between the two world wars before the competition of television nibbled away at its self-confidence. The films he produced were invariably "epics," launched with tremendous advertising fervour in which deMille often took a hand.
Even the severest critics of his films had to concede that he was a great showman - typically one of his best films was called "The Greatest Show on Earth " - and that he was not only...
- 1/22/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
I generally don’t like when television shows waste precious minutes of their airtime reviewing events that occurred in the previous episode. However, I do like it when they show Adam Levine getting stabbed again and again. I don’t know what it is about this guy. Maybe it’s the whiff that he sold his soul to Rupert Murdoch to be a celebrity judge and a minor part on an awesome TV show that makes him seem disingenuous. Perhaps it’s the look in his eyes that is both miraculously smarmy and blank at the same time. Whatever it is, go Bloody Face, go!!
As Bloody Face lunges towards the hot wife, Levine suddenly throws himself against the attacker, knocking Bloody Face down and allowing wife-y to do some stabbing of her own. As the couple are about to flee, Bloody Face shows up again and shoots them. Then...
As Bloody Face lunges towards the hot wife, Levine suddenly throws himself against the attacker, knocking Bloody Face down and allowing wife-y to do some stabbing of her own. As the couple are about to flee, Bloody Face shows up again and shoots them. Then...
- 11/2/2012
- by FM Overlord
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
Tags: American Horror Story: AsylumAmerican Horror StoryIMDb
Happy day-after-Halloween, everyone. I hope you are nursing a respectable hangover with a nice hot cup of tea. Maybe not too hot though, because I’d hate for you to scald yourself in terror at this episode. (For serious, if you are easily traumatized and a discussion of Another rape scene is going to wreck your day, maybe you should just eat your leftover candy and watch Amelie or something.)
Still here? Then come with me back to the gory 21st century, where despite being stabbed five times, Adam Levine is still alive. Dammit.
I mean, “yaaaay,” or whatever.
He leaps to his wife’s rescue and pulls Bloodyface off her in spite of his truly miniscule size, now exacerbated by loss of arm/blood. Once free, the lady (still no name) grabs Bloodyface’s lobotomizer and stabs him in his chest like infinity times,...
Happy day-after-Halloween, everyone. I hope you are nursing a respectable hangover with a nice hot cup of tea. Maybe not too hot though, because I’d hate for you to scald yourself in terror at this episode. (For serious, if you are easily traumatized and a discussion of Another rape scene is going to wreck your day, maybe you should just eat your leftover candy and watch Amelie or something.)
Still here? Then come with me back to the gory 21st century, where despite being stabbed five times, Adam Levine is still alive. Dammit.
I mean, “yaaaay,” or whatever.
He leaps to his wife’s rescue and pulls Bloodyface off her in spite of his truly miniscule size, now exacerbated by loss of arm/blood. Once free, the lady (still no name) grabs Bloodyface’s lobotomizer and stabs him in his chest like infinity times,...
- 11/1/2012
- by Elaine Atwell
- AfterEllen.com
In the present day precredits segment of American Horror Story Asylum Episode 3 Nor Easter Teresa and her fiancs night of terror continues but takes an unexpected twist when the identity of their adversary is revealed. In 1964 a NorEaster is bearing down on Briarwood Manor. In the face of the storm Sister Jude has arranged for the patientsinmates to be shown the 1932 movie The Sign of the Cross. The film may provide the perfect chance for Grace and Kit to attempt to escape again this time with Shelleys assistance but will Lana interfere...
- 11/1/2012
- Best-Horror-Movies.com
Is Ryan Murphy some kind of dark meteorologist? Did he know that the real world would experience a cataclysmic storm the same week as the poor souls at Briarcliff? Hopefully he wasn't predicting yet another horrible future by revealing further details about modern-day Bloody Face.
After she closes herself in the room where the Thing That Ripped Off Adam Levine's Arm resides, I thought for sure the creature would quickly dispatch of Theresa. Instead, Bloody Face bursts through the door, a deeply wounded Leo leaps to her defense and the two fall into a gory pile.
After she closes herself in the room where the Thing That Ripped Off Adam Levine's Arm resides, I thought for sure the creature would quickly dispatch of Theresa. Instead, Bloody Face bursts through the door, a deeply wounded Leo leaps to her defense and the two fall into a gory pile.
- 11/1/2012
- Rollingstone.com
For years now Island Of Lost Souls has been DVD’s most glaring omission from the Golden Age of Horror. It won the Rondo Award several times for Film Most in Need of DVD Released or Restoration , but last October, classic horror fans rejoiced when Criterion finally released the film. They were not disappointed and this year, not surprisingly, Island Of Lost Souls won the Rondo for Best Classic DVD.
Island Of Lost Souls (1932), the first adaption of H.G.Well’s 1896 novel The Island of Dr. Moreau was one several shocking horror films from the early 30′s that helped advance the enforcement of the Hays Code, Hollywood’s self-censoring rules deeming “no picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it.”. It wasn’t Island Of Lost Souls’s radical scenes of horror (like Freaks) or the deviant sexuality (like the Frederick March version of Dr.
Island Of Lost Souls (1932), the first adaption of H.G.Well’s 1896 novel The Island of Dr. Moreau was one several shocking horror films from the early 30′s that helped advance the enforcement of the Hays Code, Hollywood’s self-censoring rules deeming “no picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it.”. It wasn’t Island Of Lost Souls’s radical scenes of horror (like Freaks) or the deviant sexuality (like the Frederick March version of Dr.
- 8/28/2012
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
I come to praise Sword & Sandal movies -- not to bury them. But with Wrath of the Titans and the Sword & Sandal/sci-fi mash-up John Carter not exactly setting the world on fire -- along with recent disappointments like Immortals and Conan -- it's getting more difficult by the day to believe that the Sword & Sandal movie can survive the recent fumbling of this otherwise great genre. And that's a shame, because the Sword & Sandal movie -- known for its gladiatorial games, pagan orgies, depraved emperors, and the occasional snarling cyclops -- may represent the most colorful and enduring movie genre of all time. So for the uninitiated, what exactly is a Sword & Sandal movie? Like its cousin the Biblical epic, a Sword & Sandal movie -- or 'peplum,' named after a type of ancient Greek garment -- is typically set in the ancient Mediterranean world, and dramatizes the fight for freedom.
- 4/4/2012
- by Jason Apuzzo
- Moviefone
Claudette Colbert/James Robert Parish Q&A Pt.1: 'The Claudette Colbert Business' A follow-up to the previous question: Which roles did Claudette Colbert want — whether at Paramount or elsewhere — that she didn't get? Colbert knew her limitations (because of her sophisticated look and being French-born), so, once a star, she stayed away from seeking parts that would be too far afield from her screen type. Noticeably, she was one of the few actresses in late-1930s Hollywood who did not seek the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind despite the fact that she was a great favorite and personal friend of Gwtw producer David O. Selznick. A few years later, Selznick offered Colbert a huge salary to star in his life-on-the-homefront World War II saga, Since You Went Away. She couldn't resist the hefty fee, but lived to regret the decision, because the set of that...
- 8/12/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Each year New York residents can look forward to two essential series programmed at the Film Forum, noirs and pre-Coders (that is, films made before the strict enforcing of the Motion Picture Production Code). These near-annual retrospective traditions are refreshed and re-varied and re-repeated for neophytes and cinephiles alike, giving all the chance to see and see again great film on film. Many titles in this year's Essential Pre-Code series, running an epic July 15 - August 11, are old favorites and some ache to be new discoveries; all in all there are far too many racy, slipshod, patter-filled celluloid splendors to be covered by one critic alone. Faced with such a bounty, I've enlisted the kind help of some friends and colleagues, asking them to sent in short pieces on their favorites in an incomplete but also in-progress survey and guide to one of the summer's most sought-after series. In this entry: what's playing Friday,...
- 8/4/2011
- MUBI
Frankly My Dear what's behind the Dreamworks Paramount animation split? It is all the panda's fault?
Playbill God help us all. Suri Cruise is making her first movie appearance in the musical Rock of Ages (2012).
Daily Beast Were Waiting For Guffman's Corky St. Clair and Marcus Bachmann "Separated at Birth". oh lol, good hearty life-affirming lol.
Cinema Blend Omg first images from Amy Heckerling's Vamps with Alicia Silverstone, Krysten Ritter and Sigourney Weaver, though no one has fangs! Remember when we thought that movie might get Michelle Pfeiffer? Sigh. Good times. So glad SigWeavie got it if we couldn't have La Pfeiff. Speaking of vampires, if you haven't checked out the latest True Blood episode review, please do.
Old Hollywood Notable moments in pre code history: The Sign of the Cross
IndieWire wonders if James Marsh (Project Nim) is the new Werner Herzog, equally at home in documentary and narrative worlds.
Playbill God help us all. Suri Cruise is making her first movie appearance in the musical Rock of Ages (2012).
Daily Beast Were Waiting For Guffman's Corky St. Clair and Marcus Bachmann "Separated at Birth". oh lol, good hearty life-affirming lol.
Cinema Blend Omg first images from Amy Heckerling's Vamps with Alicia Silverstone, Krysten Ritter and Sigourney Weaver, though no one has fangs! Remember when we thought that movie might get Michelle Pfeiffer? Sigh. Good times. So glad SigWeavie got it if we couldn't have La Pfeiff. Speaking of vampires, if you haven't checked out the latest True Blood episode review, please do.
Old Hollywood Notable moments in pre code history: The Sign of the Cross
IndieWire wonders if James Marsh (Project Nim) is the new Werner Herzog, equally at home in documentary and narrative worlds.
- 7/7/2011
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Island Of Lost Souls (1932), the first adaption of H.G.Well’s 1896 novel ‘The Island of Dr. Moreau’, was one several shocking horror films from the early 30’s that helped advance the enforcement of the ‘Hays Code’, Hollywood’s self-censoring rules deeming “no picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it”. It wasn’t Island Of Lost Souls’s radical scenes of horror (like Freaks) or the deviant sexuality (like the Frederick March version of Dr. Jekyll And Mr Hyde) that offended but its allegory premise that Man could play God and create Man through surgery by splicing together the flesh of various living animals (….and I’m sure the hints of bestiality didn’t help). Island Of Lost Souls is a movie that hasn’t lost its power to shock and disturb almost 80 years later, but it’s one that is Not available on DVD.
- 4/29/2010
- by Tom
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
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