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Cecil B. DeMille, 1881-1959
Cecil B. DeMille was one of the great pioneers of the American motion picture industry. Time reported in a cover story of August 27, 1934, that he was "the only director who managed to walk the tightrope from silent to sound films without losing his megaphone or mannerisms." In fact, he was the last director in Hollywood to still use a megaphone! Time was critiquing DeMille's sixty-seventh film, Cleopatra, starring Claudette Colbert in the title role, with Warren William as Julius Caesar. It was a typical DeMille production in that it was lavishly produced at an exorbitant cost and included a favorite DeMille prop -- a bathing facility. Cleopatra's bathtub covered an entire acre. The magazine noted that "the fabulous DeMille bathtub is a symbol not of cleanliness but of luxury."
Wide World Photos, 1934
Time cover, August 27, 1934 |