Cecil B Demille Essay Research Paper Cecil

Cecil B. Demille Essay, Research Paper

Cecil B. DeMille was in all a great director, producer, writer and actor. Born Cecil Blount DeMille, he was THE original aristocrat of Hollywood, but this aristocrat had humble beginnings. His father was a clergyman and his mother ran a girl’s school. An old soul in knee pants and determined to get his show on the road, he ran away from military school and tried to enlist in the Armed forces at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War. He was let down when he was turned down for being too young. His next plan was to join his older brother, William, who had begun a successful stage career. Cecil, a young man of strong integrity, enrolled at the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts. In the decisive year of 1900, he first trod the boards on Broadway. For the next 12 years he remained devoted to brother William’s tutelage and eventually collaborated with him on several moderately successful plays.

There was something stirring in Cecil’s blood. It was a mixture of self-confidence, ambition, passion, artistry and gutsiness. In 1913 he could add the attribute of astute businessman to his list of abilities. He formed a lucrative alliance with a vaudeville musician, Jesse L. Lasky, and a glove salesman named Samuel Goldfish (later Goldwyn) called the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company. Cecil then did something astounding. He moved to Hollywood, rented an old barn in the heart of town and directed the most famous early feature film, The Squaw Man, starring Dustin Farnum and Monroe Salisbury. The results were beyond everyone’s expectations, except possibly Cecil himself, for The Squaw Man not only established the new company as a force, but it also instantly placed Cecil B. DeMille in the top echelon of directors. With everything set in place, it was only the beginning of his fantastic voyage.

DeMille was a born showman and had an innate sense of what the public would clamor for. He has been called many things: “The Founder of Hollywood,” “The World’s Greatest Director” and “The Showman of Showmen.” While these names may be debatable, given the existence of other great showman directors such as , Mack Sennett and Steven Spielberg and Hitchcock, one thing is for sure – he became a household name to a huge audience that appreciated his ability to entertain them, often in provocative ways that had not been scene previously. He insisted on realism and wouldn’t hesitate to use any method achieve it.

William Churchill DeMille, Cecil’s initial mentor, was a multitalented artist who found his fame eclipsed by his baby brother. William was a superb artisan himself, yet a humble man of powerful instincts that leaned towards honesty, integrity and patience. The DeMille clan was a close one where jealousy was not an issue. What mattered was maintaining the status quo of artistic merit and respect of society. In his memoirs, Hollywood Saga, William DeMille described a telling exchange with his hardheaded brother who was determined to film a scene as realistically as possible:

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As I chatted with my old friends, C.B. came towards us bearing a carbine in his hand. “Here, Bill,” he ordered, “You can shoot. Take this 30-30, go with Frank and shoot through this door. But don’t shoot until you get the word.”

“More blanks.” I asked, taking the gun.

“Blanks, Hell!” chirped C.B. “These are bullets, and each one of ‘em will go through three or four men if you make a mistake.”

“But listen, son,” I said faintly, “I watched you rehearse this scene; there are a lot of actors in front of that door.”

“They won’t be there when you shoot,” he said, and added grimly, “unless you miss your cue, or they do.”

“But – why bullets.”

“Look,” he said. “They’re barricading the door; the Gringos are coming up the stairs; they pound on the door; it won’t open, but we can see it shake. When the Gringos start shooting through the door to break the locks; the camera will get the splintering door and catch the bullet holes as they appear. That’s why the cue is so important. One minute they’re all in front of the door; the next, bullets are pouring through and it’s being shot to pieces. Get the idea.”

I got the idea completely, though I didn’t like it much. “But C.,” I demurred, “I suppose you know what you’re doing, but it looks damn dangerous to me.”

“Dangerous!” he snorted. “Of course it’s dangerous; who said it wasn’t. But that’s pictures. We don’t fake anything in pictures; we’ve got to have the real thing.”

“That’s pictures,” he had said: I wonder how many times during the next 20 years I was to hear those words, and use them myself. “That’s pictures.” This one short phrase lightly explains away the most unbelievable, the most strange happenings, which are just run-of-the-mill events in the strange world that is Hollywood.

C.B. was turning away when a thought struck him. “For God’s sake be careful, Bill,” he said earnestly. “I can only take the scene twice; we’ve only got two doors!”

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Part of being an astute businessman is watching your pennies. Many promissing beginnings for producers and film companies crashed and burned quickly, due to reckless spending on the productions, especially on the star’s salaries. Cecil had an uncanny knack for choosing and developing fledgling performers into fully grown swans and eagles, for a son

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