classicmoviecomedy — 18 years ago(September 09, 2007 10:19 AM)

I can't think of any other director whose career at the top spanned as many decades as DeMille. He directed what many consider to be his first masterpiece, THE CHEAT, in 1915, and continued through 1956 with his epic THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
I look at the work that came between, and see a remarkable body of incredibly diverse work, held together by common themes and stylistic traits. His epics of the 1910s (such as JOAN THE WOMAN) are perfect examples of what was possible in Hollywood when virtually unlimited resources were available (D.W. Griffith was able to make INTOLERANCE, a film that even today is estimated that it could not be made due to what it would cost in modern dollars). The 1920s saw his wonderful romantic comedies, often mixed with social satire worthy of Lubitsch, the best of which is probably THE AFFAIRS OF ANATOL. He continued these types of films well into the 1930s, with films like the wonderfully weird MADAM SATAN and FOUR FRIGHTENED PEOPLE (very similar in tone to his 1919 film MALE AND FEMALE). His taste for the historical epic, which continued throughout much of the rest of his career, can be split into the "ancient history/biblical epic" films such as THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (both versions), THE KING OF KINGS, SIGN OF THE CROSS, CLEOPATRA, etc. And starting with THE PLAINSMAN in 1937, he developed an excellent series of American historical epics, including UNION PACIFIC and UNCONQUERED. Perhaps DeMille's most personal film is THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH, which offers a self-reflective view of show business, and what better metaphor for DeMille's cinema than the carefully choreographed and expertly exploited showmanship of the American circus?
I think it's ashame that DeMille is often derided as a mere "popular" filmmaker, which overlooks the incredible skill with which he executed his films on a scale larger than anything before or since.

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