Yousuf Karsh/De Mille Archives
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was a founder of the Hollywood motion-picture industry. His first film, The Squaw Man, was the first feature film shot in Hollywood. His last, The Ten Commandments, remains a box-office legend. He made stars and cultivated artists. He was successful in aviation, banking, real estate, and radio. He received scores of honors, most notably two Academy Awards.® Mr. DeMille is the most successful producer-director in the history of film.
DeMille is Hollywood Video Series
DeMille Is Hollywood is the YouTube video series produced by the Cecil B. De Mille Foundation. Written and directed by DeMille scholar Mark A. Vieira, this series shows the genesis of Cecil B. DeMille’s career, from his days as a struggling playwright in 1913 New York to his groundbreaking first film, The Squaw Man, which was also the first feature made in Hollywood.
The series continues with the early success of the Lasky Picture Play Company—which DeMille co-founded with Jesse Lasky and Samuel Goldwyn—and follows it through its merger with Adolph Zukor’s Famous Players Company, where a string of blockbuster hits (Carmen, The Cheat, Male and Female, Manslaughter) led to its pre-eminence as Paramount Pictures.
We see a young man of ingenuity, faith, and fortitude emerge as the most successful producer-director in the film industry, crafting colorful and gripping films. Selected scenes from these—restored with color and sound effects—are included with the cavalcade of dynamic images in each episode.