CECIL B. DeMILLE Box Set
First appeared in www.filmsinreview.com
First appeared in www.filmsinreview.com
By Glenn Andreiev
“A Cecil B. DeMille film is like a nine and a half foot tall showgirl. Great to look at, glittery, a bit naughty,
but excessive” wrote one critic about this very famous, and showy film-making pioneer.
Universal is letting DVD buyers wallow in wicked, enjoyable excess with their five-disc Cecil B. DeMille
Collection. I’ve been a lifelong DeMille fan (I also suggest that film goers seek out his lesser known
films such as THE CHEAT (1915), his 1923 TEN COMMANDMENTS (on the PARAMOUNT deluxe
edition of his 1956 remake) and his salute to art deco and decadence, MADAME SATAN (1930). I
have not seen his 1939 film UNION PACIFIC in years, and this box set let me catch up to this robust
and energetic western. It follows the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1869, linking the
east and west coast through dangerous Indian territory. Barbara Stanwyck’s odd Irish accent adds a
degree of welcome silliness to what could have been another bland “leading lady” character. You can
never go wrong with Joel McCrea as the hero. There’s one helluva train wreck that’s worth waiting for,
and film fans should look out for Lon Chaney Jr, and Ward Bond in uncredited cameos.
As a side-note, has anybody seen the recent made-for-TV version of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS?
Whoever made that one refused to give the film any energy. It was the above-mentioned giant showgirl
on heavy medication. Whereas THE CRUSADES has that DeMille energy and spunk. What hurts the
film is the casting of the barnstorming Henry Wilcoxon as Richard The Lion Hearted. He peppers all of
his dialog with old theatre machismo. Every time he opens his mouth, he sounds like he’s trying to
pass a pineapple! I would have preferred Fredric March. You do, however, have DeMille’s terrific
handling of the storming and reclaiming of 12th Century Jerusalem.
Henry Wilcoxon was the perfect sexual boy toy for the playful Claudette Colbert in DeMille’s
CLEOPATRA. Forget that boring Liz and Dick version, Claudette is the cinematic Queen of the Nile!
The dialog sequences here have the feel of a 1930’s comedy about high society. The scene where
Cleopatra entertains (with an army of dancers, acrobats and chicks in cat costumes) Wilcoxon’s Marc
Anthony on her yacht- sized barge is not history reproduced but history daydreamed. The near
climax of the film is a dizzying battle sequence done with quick montages. DeMille quickly cuts wide
battle shots with ultra tight close ups, and underwater scenes.
The one DeMille non-epic in this set is the hard-to-catch FOUR FRIGHTENED PEOPLE. This 1933
adventure finds a group of tourists stranded on a desolate island. Herbert Marshall is the star, and it
makes you wish this low-key talent had more leading roles. Schoolmarm Claudette Colbert sheds her
prim dress, eyeglasses and hair-in-a-bun for a bikini made from enormous banana-tree leaves. Mary
Boland, who always played stuffy rich dames (such as Katherine Hepburn’s easily shocked auntie in
BRINGING UP BABY), steals the film as a tough, sarcastic sarong-clad broad who becomes a dictator
over some confused natives. It’s elusive and fun DeMille material.
I saved the best for last! While THE TEN COMMANDMENTS is DeMille’s most famous film, his 1932
production of THE SIGN OF THE CROSS is far and above his best! Set in Ancient Rome, SIGN OF
THE CROSS follows Roman Police Prefect Marcus Suberbus (young Fredric March with eye-shadow
and a tendency for delicious barnstorming!) He is ordered to capture and sometimes kill Rome’s
“dangerous” and elusive underground Christian cult. However, he falls in love with Mercia (Elissa
Landi), a captive girl who refuses to give up her faith. Along the way, we meet Nero, portrayed by
Charles Laughton as a boozed-up, spineless, psychotic baby. Claudette Colbert takes it all away as
Poppaea, Nero’s wife. Her nude milk-bath, and constant, demonic, purring dialog delivery, hypnotizes
the audience. ("You're evil, Poppaea!", "I knowww.") There’s a bizarre orgy sequence about half-way
through the film where a lunatic dancer entertains the crowd and us with her “Dance of the Naked
Moon”. Trust me, you have to see this.
Then comes the third act of SIGN OF THE CROSS. The captive Christians are forced to participate
in deranged and warped games at the Coliseum that will simply blow you out of your comfy-chair!
Naked girls are fed to alligators, one is offered to what looks like a lovesick gorilla, Amazon women
fight and behead hopping pygmies, men are made to box grizzly bears, and much, much more.
DeMille adds to this craziness by cutting in reaction shots of the Coliseum crowd. Some scream in
horror, a woman is obviously turned on by the carnage, many gawk and gamble, while others yawn in
boredom. I can only imagine being with a movie theatre audience watching this in 1932!
If you caught SIGN OF THE CROSS, let’s say on late night TV in the past, you saw the heavily-
censored version with most of the above insanity cut out. For a 1944 re-release, the Production Code
forced most of the Coliseum scenes to be removed. A prologue and epilogue with World War II fighter
pilots talking about Nero’s Rome was tacked on. This is the original 1932 uncut version, with the
Coliseum craziness replaced and the fighter pilot footage removed. Luxuriate in it!
One of DeMille’s famous quotes was: “A theory that died very hard was that the public won’t stand for
costumed players in a movie set in another period. I got around this objection by staging and filming a
vision. The poor working girl was dreaming of “Tristan and Isolde”. The scene fades out, and the
screen reveals what the girl was supposed to be reading. Thus, the costume picture was put over on
the public who paid to see this picture in a theatre. The public did not protest!”
(Editor’s note: You can consider your DeMille collection adequately complete with this handsome
boxed set, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, and Criterion’s KING OF KINGS. I won’t, however, until
Paramount Home Video gets around to releasing SAMSON AND DELILAH. Come on, guys. What’s the
hold-up?)
“A Cecil B. DeMille film is like a nine and a half foot tall showgirl. Great to look at, glittery, a bit naughty,
but excessive” wrote one critic about this very famous, and showy film-making pioneer.
Universal is letting DVD buyers wallow in wicked, enjoyable excess with their five-disc Cecil B. DeMille
Collection. I’ve been a lifelong DeMille fan (I also suggest that film goers seek out his lesser known
films such as THE CHEAT (1915), his 1923 TEN COMMANDMENTS (on the PARAMOUNT deluxe
edition of his 1956 remake) and his salute to art deco and decadence, MADAME SATAN (1930). I
have not seen his 1939 film UNION PACIFIC in years, and this box set let me catch up to this robust
and energetic western. It follows the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1869, linking the
east and west coast through dangerous Indian territory. Barbara Stanwyck’s odd Irish accent adds a
degree of welcome silliness to what could have been another bland “leading lady” character. You can
never go wrong with Joel McCrea as the hero. There’s one helluva train wreck that’s worth waiting for,
and film fans should look out for Lon Chaney Jr, and Ward Bond in uncredited cameos.
As a side-note, has anybody seen the recent made-for-TV version of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS?
Whoever made that one refused to give the film any energy. It was the above-mentioned giant showgirl
on heavy medication. Whereas THE CRUSADES has that DeMille energy and spunk. What hurts the
film is the casting of the barnstorming Henry Wilcoxon as Richard The Lion Hearted. He peppers all of
his dialog with old theatre machismo. Every time he opens his mouth, he sounds like he’s trying to
pass a pineapple! I would have preferred Fredric March. You do, however, have DeMille’s terrific
handling of the storming and reclaiming of 12th Century Jerusalem.
Henry Wilcoxon was the perfect sexual boy toy for the playful Claudette Colbert in DeMille’s
CLEOPATRA. Forget that boring Liz and Dick version, Claudette is the cinematic Queen of the Nile!
The dialog sequences here have the feel of a 1930’s comedy about high society. The scene where
Cleopatra entertains (with an army of dancers, acrobats and chicks in cat costumes) Wilcoxon’s Marc
Anthony on her yacht- sized barge is not history reproduced but history daydreamed. The near
climax of the film is a dizzying battle sequence done with quick montages. DeMille quickly cuts wide
battle shots with ultra tight close ups, and underwater scenes.
The one DeMille non-epic in this set is the hard-to-catch FOUR FRIGHTENED PEOPLE. This 1933
adventure finds a group of tourists stranded on a desolate island. Herbert Marshall is the star, and it
makes you wish this low-key talent had more leading roles. Schoolmarm Claudette Colbert sheds her
prim dress, eyeglasses and hair-in-a-bun for a bikini made from enormous banana-tree leaves. Mary
Boland, who always played stuffy rich dames (such as Katherine Hepburn’s easily shocked auntie in
BRINGING UP BABY), steals the film as a tough, sarcastic sarong-clad broad who becomes a dictator
over some confused natives. It’s elusive and fun DeMille material.
I saved the best for last! While THE TEN COMMANDMENTS is DeMille’s most famous film, his 1932
production of THE SIGN OF THE CROSS is far and above his best! Set in Ancient Rome, SIGN OF
THE CROSS follows Roman Police Prefect Marcus Suberbus (young Fredric March with eye-shadow
and a tendency for delicious barnstorming!) He is ordered to capture and sometimes kill Rome’s
“dangerous” and elusive underground Christian cult. However, he falls in love with Mercia (Elissa
Landi), a captive girl who refuses to give up her faith. Along the way, we meet Nero, portrayed by
Charles Laughton as a boozed-up, spineless, psychotic baby. Claudette Colbert takes it all away as
Poppaea, Nero’s wife. Her nude milk-bath, and constant, demonic, purring dialog delivery, hypnotizes
the audience. ("You're evil, Poppaea!", "I knowww.") There’s a bizarre orgy sequence about half-way
through the film where a lunatic dancer entertains the crowd and us with her “Dance of the Naked
Moon”. Trust me, you have to see this.
Then comes the third act of SIGN OF THE CROSS. The captive Christians are forced to participate
in deranged and warped games at the Coliseum that will simply blow you out of your comfy-chair!
Naked girls are fed to alligators, one is offered to what looks like a lovesick gorilla, Amazon women
fight and behead hopping pygmies, men are made to box grizzly bears, and much, much more.
DeMille adds to this craziness by cutting in reaction shots of the Coliseum crowd. Some scream in
horror, a woman is obviously turned on by the carnage, many gawk and gamble, while others yawn in
boredom. I can only imagine being with a movie theatre audience watching this in 1932!
If you caught SIGN OF THE CROSS, let’s say on late night TV in the past, you saw the heavily-
censored version with most of the above insanity cut out. For a 1944 re-release, the Production Code
forced most of the Coliseum scenes to be removed. A prologue and epilogue with World War II fighter
pilots talking about Nero’s Rome was tacked on. This is the original 1932 uncut version, with the
Coliseum craziness replaced and the fighter pilot footage removed. Luxuriate in it!
One of DeMille’s famous quotes was: “A theory that died very hard was that the public won’t stand for
costumed players in a movie set in another period. I got around this objection by staging and filming a
vision. The poor working girl was dreaming of “Tristan and Isolde”. The scene fades out, and the
screen reveals what the girl was supposed to be reading. Thus, the costume picture was put over on
the public who paid to see this picture in a theatre. The public did not protest!”
(Editor’s note: You can consider your DeMille collection adequately complete with this handsome
boxed set, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, and Criterion’s KING OF KINGS. I won’t, however, until
Paramount Home Video gets around to releasing SAMSON AND DELILAH. Come on, guys. What’s the
hold-up?)
SIGN OF THE CROSS
Paramount. 1932. 2 hrs. 5 mins
FOUR FRIGHTENED PEOPLE
Paramount. 1933. 1 hr. 19 mins.
CLEOPATRA
Paramount. 1934. 1 hr. 42 mins.
THE CRUSADES
Paramount. 1935. 2 hrs. 6 mins.
UNION PACIFIC
Paramount. 1939. 2 hrs. 19 mins.
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