DeMille, Cecil B(lount)

DeMille, Cecil B(lount) (1881-1959), American film director and producer. DeMille was born in Ashfield, Massachusetts. His family was involved with the theatre from his childhood, with his father and mother writing plays, and then collaborating with American playwright David Belasco. Cecil and his elder brother William became actors and playwrights. In the process, Cecil became associated with Jesse L. Lasky, and together with Samuel Goldwyn was led into the formation of the Jesse Lasky Feature Play Company. They used their theatrical connections to make films of stage successes, starting with The Squaw Man (1914). After a successful beginning, the company began to produce original scripts, with William deMille brought in as writer and script editor. Other directors were engaged, and Cecil also supervised them.

From this point on, DeMille's own interests figured more strongly in his films, all of which featured a moral problem at their centre and had a touch of fetishistic sexuality. His good visual sense and his sure hand with spectacle made films such as The Woman God Forgot (1917) big successes. DeMille was the first to introduce modern social issues, such as trial marriage and delinquent youth, into films. Examples include Don't Change Your Husband (1919) and Manslaughter (1921).

In 1925 DeMille became an independent producer-director, releasing his work through Paramount, but this did not change his methods or his success. His films such as The King of Kings (1926), with their well worked-out stories, continued to find public favour, and at the beginning of the sound period he continued to be innovative, making use of multi-layered sound and semi-improvised scenes in Dynamite (1929). Subsequently, DeMille had some failures, but he regained his touch in Cleopatra (1934) and later films. He retired after releasing his version of The Ten Commandments (1956). DeMille's Autobiography was published just after his death.