Come Again?! Cecil B. Demille's Belief In

Home , Arnold Friberg, Something to Think About

Summer 2011

Come Again?! Cecil B. DeMille’s Belief in Reincar- nation and Karma: Its Cinematic (and Other) Con- sequences

Anton Karl Kozlovic

Abstract tions in the arts, sciences, and business of moviemaking.3 he legendary movie director, Cecil B. T DeMille, helped co-found both Para- Not only did he become the iconic image of a mount Pictures and Hollywood, and quickly Hollywood film director, especially wearing became America‘s preeminent biblical his trademark puttees and barking orders filmmaker. He employed numerous strategies through a megaphone to milling minions, but he also became ―a master of the film narra- to achieve his artistic ends, but none as astute 4 as the audiovisual engineering of his pro- tive.‖ He is chiefly remembered today for found belief in reincarnation and karma; his four unforgettable Bible movies: The Ten which is still not very well-known today Commandments (1923), The King of Kings amongst the public or scholars. Consequent- (1927), Samson and Delilah (1949), and The ly, the critical religion, film, and DeMille Ten Commandments (1956), plus ―the near literature, along with selected feature films impossibility of mentioning his name without the epithet ―master of the biblical epic‖ at- highlighting his esoteric views, were re- 5 viewed and integrated into the text to en- tached to it.‖ hance narrative coherence utilizing humanist And yet, despite his exceptional filmmaking film criticism as the guiding analytical lens. fecundity, fame, and fortune, DeMille still It was concluded that DeMille‘s religious remains ―Hollywood‘s best known un- beliefs were complex, wide-ranging, and in- known,‖6 ironically, due to his directorial cluded various reincarnation and karma inci- longevity (1913-1956) coupled with being dents deftly engineered throughout his filmic ―one of the most complex and multi-faceted fare; thus needing urgent critical reappraisal men in America.‖7 Indeed, ―no one on the of his entire cinematic oeuvre. Further re- Hollywood scene ever contradicted his own search into DeMille studies, sacred cinema, legends more consistently than he did as you and the hidden metaphysical teachings there- got to know him better and better.‖8 As Hol- in is highly warranted, warmly recommend- lywood‘s leading cinematic lay preacher he ed, and already a long overdue aspect of Hol- became ―virtually the Sunday school teacher lywood history. for the nation,‖9 or as one anonymous Introduction: Hollywood’s Protestant churchman proudly proclaimed: Best Known Unknown ______egendary producer-director1 Cecil B. About the Author L DeMille2 (1881-1959), affectionately Anton is a graduate of the Australian Film, Tele- known as ―CB‖, was a progenitor of Para- vision and Radio School with a Flinders Universi- mount Pictures, a seminal cofounder of Hol- ty PhD on the biblical cinema of Cecil B. lywood, and an indelible emblem of the DeMille. He publishes predominantly within the Golden Age of the American cinema. During religion-and-film field and guest edited the ―Ex- his artistic apprenticeship and seventy feature ploring Religion and Popular Film‖ special issue of the Australian Religion Studies Review (2008, films history, he pioneered numerous innova- Vol. 21, No. 3).

―The first century had its Apostle Paul, the hinting that he didn‘t exactly embrace the thirteenth century had St. Francis, the six- old-time religion: The Godless Girl [1928] teenth had Martin Luther and the twentieth showed some sympathy for the atheist hero- has Cecil B. DeMille.‖10 Although Cecil ine, and Adam’s Rib [1923] had an evolu- claimed near the end of his life that: ―my tionary flashback to caveman days.‖22 Nor ministry was making religious movies and did his religious orientations and unconven- getting more people to read the Bible than tional tastes stop there. anyone else ever has,‖11 his own religious Throughout his life, DeMille explored nu- heritage and esoteric interests were just as merous religious phenomena beyond the tra- complex and unappreciated as the public man ditional mainstream faiths, as his New York himself. Masonic Lodge membership demonstrated,23 Consequently, to address this under- and wherein his religious eclecticism em- appreciated facet of Cecil‘s life, work, and braced other belief systems tinged with the art, selected feature films along with the crit- esoteric, the spiritual, and what might today ical religion, film, and DeMille literature be called the ―New Age.‖ In essence, were reviewed and integrated into the text to DeMille was a spiritual seeker who rejected enhance narrative coherence utilizing human- the twin evils of churchianity and priestcraft ist film criticism as the guiding analytical claiming: ―I am not a regular church-goer. I lens (i.e., focusing primarily upon the textual do not boast of that: I state it as a fact. I world inside, but not outside, the frame).12 might be a better man if I were.‖24 DeMille This film studies methodology assumes that disliked churchianity in particular because: audiences are cultured, enjoy, and accept the ―There‘s a danger in worshipping the Church cinema as fine art, whilst it fosters the inter- and forgetting that your worship should go to pretation of motifs, symbols, and themes de- God. You should worship God. People forget ployed therein. All of which are fruitful ped- that and the priests sometimes permit them to agogic steppingstones for guided discussion forget it so that they worship the Church, the within the classroom, home, or pulpit. forms, the rituals, and they lose sight of the Great Divine Mind which is in all of us, and DeMille’s Complex Religious which we can call.‖25 Furthermore, as Heritage and Inter-Faith DeMille lectured his costume designer, Ar- Interests nold Friberg: ecil was the biological son of a Christian …the truth is put upon the world and C father, Henry Churchill DeMille, an the priesthood and that thing be- ―Episcopal lay reader‖13 who studied for the comes subverted. The thing that once church but was never ordained,14 and a Se- was priesthood now becomes priest- phardic Jewish mother, Matilda Beatrice craft. The physical power and the ―Bebe‖ DeMille nee Samuel,15 an ―English glory of the church––the building Jew.‖16 Consequently, Cecil has sometimes and so forth…starts to become more been academically described as a ―half- important than the core of the thing Jew‖17 which he also called himself,18 but itself and pretty soon the real thing is lost and it becomes a church of men nevertheless, he firmly declared within his 26 autobiography that: ―I am an Episcopalian.‖19 instead of a church of God. Although DeMille was ―a religious man, a That is, DeMille was more interested in di- 20 genuine believer,‖ he had an unconvention- vinity than dogma, essence rather than form. al belief in religion and God and was ―no As Robert S. Birchard reported: ―For Bible-thumper. He put a far higher premium DeMille…God could be known only on the on faith than on dogma, but belief was most personal level. In later years he would 21 there,‖ and as filmographer Robert S. go out of his way to avoid outwardly offend- Birchard noted: ―Despite his religious epics, ing organized religion, but the fact remains DeMille had made some disturbing films that one almost never finds a sympathetic

18 Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly, 2011. Summer 2011 clergyman of any belief as a major character is said He created all men in His image— in DeMille‘s work.‖27 In fact, some DeMille- then He would dwell in every heart—in eve- an clergymen were downright scary, notably ry mind—in every soul.‖ Secondly, after the villainous Inquisitors seeking to destroy Moses met God upon the holy high place and Joan of Arc within his religious biopic Joan returned home full of spiritual awe, he sagely the Woman (1917). ―The pictorial treatment said of God to an inquiring Joshua (John of these clerics makes them seem as implac- Derek) and before Sephora: ―He is not flesh able as they are inhumane. Their posturings but spirit…the light of Eternal Mind—and I make the cassock and cowl the very image of know that His light is in every man.‖ cruelty, vanity, self-indulgence, and inscruta- DeMille was also a strong advocate of per- bility.‖28 sonal prayer. He claimed that: ―Prayer is the DeMille‘s dislike of priestcraft was particu- most powerful force in the world, if we can larly self-evident in The Ten Commandments use it. It‘s more powerful than the atomic (1956), his last but ―long-lasting pop-culture bomb, more powerful than electricity.‖32 Pri- artefact,‖29 wherein the Egyptian high priest or to releasing The Ten Commandments Jannes (Douglas Dumbrille) pleaded to Phar- (1956), he publicly said: ―we cannot remain aoh Rameses (Yul Brynner) before the He- close to God unless we set aside periods of brew Moses (Charlton Heston) and said: time as God‘s time—periods of rest from the ―The people desert the temple. They turn affairs of the world and the body to seek true from the gods,‖ but to both of them Rameses communion with the Spirit of Truth, in medi- bitterly retorted: ―What gods? You prophets tation, in prayer, and vital contact of our [Hebrew] and priests [Egyptian] made the minds with the Divine Mind.‖33 Journalist gods that you may prey upon the fears of Bela Kornitzer once asked if he was a reli- men!‖ Nor was DeMille‘s anti-organized re- gious man and DeMille answered: ligion stance just an aberration at the end of I am one if faith in God and belief in his long directorial career; it was also evident Divinity is religion…But I must say at the start of his career within The Woman that I don‘t believe the practice of God Forgot (1917), notably its flashback to forms is necessary in religion. In the Spanish conquest of Montezuma and the many instances it is apt to deprive pagan Aztecs of Ancient Mexico. As Robert the thought of its religious value, if it S. Birchard noted: ―Both civilizations in the is presented in a definite form that is film distort religious values to their own repeated day after day over and over. ends: the Aztecs use the appeasement of their I think the importance of contact gods as pretext for human sacrifice; the with a Supreme Being, or a Supreme Christians conquer in the name of the Cross. Mind, is basic…Religion, to me, is For DeMille, the institutions of men are cor- the contact of the human being with rupt. He may revel in the glory of pageantry the Divinity.34 and ceremony, but he always sees through the hypocrisy of invoking the name of God to When asked by an unnamed journalism stu- conquer or subjugate an enemy.‖30 dent: ―It may sound a little foolish, but do you believe in God?‖ DeMille thoughtfully DeMille also believed that ―Man, every man replied: ―It‘s much more than that. It isn‘t has divinity in him,‖31 which his Moses just a belief. It‘s a knowledge. I know there is (Charlton Heston) had mouthed twice within a God. I know that a God answers prayer. I The Ten Commandments (1956). Firstly, in know that prayer is the most powerful force full view of the forbidden slopes of Sinai, in the world.‖35 Actor Donald Curtis, who Moses philosophically mused to Sephora played the Hebrew Mered in The Ten Com- (Yvonne De Carlo) saying: ―If this God is mandments (1956) and was a real-world min- God—He would live on every mountain—in ister-in-training, brought the Science of Mind every valley. He would not be only the God minister Ernest Holmes to work, and of Israel or Ishmael alone, but of all men. It ―DeMille was so taken with Holmes that he

Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly 19 The Esoteric Quarterly spent two hours—on the set, with the clock n particular, the metaphysician ―De Mille ticking—two hours discussing God and the I was deeply interested in the philosophy of Bible and metaphysics with him.‖36 Similar- survival after death and in psychical re- ly, Mormon artist and DeMille‘s costumer search,‖42 as was Geraldine Farrar, DeMille‘s Arnold Friberg reported: ―I was surprised at opera star of Joan the Woman (1917), and his [CB‘s] grasp of the spiritual things. Many her mother who claimed to be a life-long times I was called in on what they called the- ―sensitive.‖43 In fact, DeMille acknowledged ological consultation.‖37 the theme of reincarna- Throughout his life, tion within the flashback DeMille also displayed a of this silent Joan of Arc strong nature-mysticism DeMille explored numer- film by tentatively streak; especially concern- ous religious phenomena claiming: ―It was an in- ing his animal sanctuary- beyond the traditional teresting idea, with its cum-ranch-cum-private re- hint of reincarnation treat appropriately named mainstream faiths, as his which appealed particu- ―Paradise.‖ He particularly New York Masonic Lodge larly to Jeanie Macpher- liked to be in ―communion membership demonstrat- son [DeMille‘s script- with the Spirit of all things, writer]. I have used his- who seems somehow closer ed, and wherein his reli- torical flashbacks in a when one is close to the gious eclecticism em- number of other pic- elements of earth and wood braced other belief sys- tures.‖44 Further indica- and water and to the crea- tions of Cecil‘s esoteric tures whose lives pulse with tems tinged with the eso- inclinations are evident nature‘s own rhythm of the teric, the spiritual, and within a 1936 research seasons and the sun and the equipment list that in- dark.‖38 DeMille also liked what might today be cluded an Abridgement Buddha, statues of which called the “New Age.” of the Secret Doctrine by featured in The Cheat, the H.P. Blavatsky of the Theosophical Society, modern portion of The Ten Commandments and a book on Atlantis, another favorite ar- (1923), and were located within his Culver cane topic.45 As Robert S. Birchard reported: City Studio. This pleasant surprise prompted ―DeMille had long been attracted to the journalist Alice Williamson to muse: ―he themes of mysticism and reincarnation…but wouldn‘t surround himself with these as he attributed these elements to Christianity mere ornaments or curiosities. She guesses rather than occult forces.‖46 (and she guesses right) that Buddha means something to the man who has brought to- Nevertheless, Cecil was especially interested gether these…emblems of a great teacher…A in the arcane concept of reincarnation,47 conceited man has no reverence. Cecil de which was advocated by his employee-cum- Mille has it as one of his most intimate, if paramour Jeanie Macpherson,48 and was very least recognized qualities.‖39 Indeed, DeMille well-known amongst his other close employ- financially supported the translator of Bud- ees. For example, Cecil‘s protégé actor Glo- dhist sacred Scriptures to enable him to finish ria Swanson reported that DeMille ―believed his project.40 Overall, as actor Lisa Mitchell in reincarnation and tried to demonstrate it in succinctly summed up Cecil: ―He was a met- these pageants, these switches in time, these aphysician who passionately loved the Bible, presentations of people living in different was not a regular churchgoer, and referred to ages simultaneously on the screen. He actual- God as the Divine Mind.‖41 ly believed that people had to come back to earth and suffer for the sins of their past The Esoteric DeMille and lives.‖49 Henry Wilcoxon, actor and Cecil‘s Selected Reincarnation right-hand man similarly claimed: ―it‘s no Reminiscences secret that Mr. DeMille very firmly believed in reincarnation (and made a movie on the

20 Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly, 2011. Summer 2011 subject as a matter of fact—The Road to Yes- school, with Gladys Rosson and her brothers, terday [1925]) and believed that his affinity Jeanie Macpherson, Neil McCarthy, Anne for various historical periods was due to his Bauchens and others forging the bonds that actually having been there.‖50 As such, the only death can break (if death can, which I writer argues that DeMille‘s filmic flash- do not believe), the good pattern of life was backs were not just dramatic storytelling de- taking shape‖ [my emphasis].56 vices (and sometimes viewed unfavorably Actor Clint Walker overheard DeMille dic- because of it),51 but that they were also suc- tate a letter that said: ――Thank you for your cinct cinematic statements of Cecil‘s reincar- very kind letter of condolence on the recent nation beliefs that buttressed and overlapped death of my brother [William],‖ he began. ―I his Christian convictions, esoteric preoccupa- do not grieve for my brother, however, for I tions, and dramatic needs as an avowed pop have always looked upon death as the chang- culture professional.52 ing of an old garment for a new one‖ [my Further hints of DeMille‘s belief in reincar- emphasis],57 that is, a Western formulation of nation and rebirth are also buried throughout the reincarnation doctrine, and which is also his many personal statements, but which a garment-related metaphor used in the East might otherwise be automatically interpreted (Bhagavad Gita 2:22). Further hints exist as soothing words by DeMille-the-caring- within Cecil‘s favorite poem entitled ―Evolu- Christian rather than DeMille-the-esotericist tion,‖58 which was ―full of splendid images (possibly both roles considering his trade- of a love affair that spanned eternity—from mark penchant for multi-layering and subtex- the caves of Neolithic man to Del Monico‘s tual engineering). For example, regarding the in 1890s New York.‖59 According to publi- demise of actor Rudolph Valentino, he said: cist David Freeman, ―DeMille believed in ―In Mr. Valentino‘s death we have lost a Darwinian evolution, and had no trouble rec- great artist. But fortunately we can look on onciling it with the basic teachings of Gene- death as progress and not as the finish‖ [my sis,‖60 thus revealing Cecil‘s postmodernist emphasis].53 DeMille‘s adopted son Richard religious stance well ahead of today‘s sci- provided another hint of Cecil‘s esotericism ence-faith, evolution-Bible, Darwin-Genesis when he reported: ―In 1946 I went with him discourses.61 to the hospital to visit Jeanie Macpherson a However, DeMille was not deeply into brute few days before she died. He held her hand biological evolution, but rather, spiritual evo- and told her they would surely meet in the lution of the incarnation kind that had next world. She murmured that they would‖ worthwhile practical consequences (i.e., the [my emphasis].54 eternal spirit inhabits a series of physical Although there are no profound declarations bodies for soul growth reasons). As he once of his reincarnation or rebirth beliefs within mystically advised his actors: ―There is his posthumously published autobiography something very important that you cannot (whether due to self-censorship or the Edi- neglect—the development of your own soul tor‘s redaction is uncertain), nevertheless, or essence—because that is the thing that subtle hints therein point in that esoteric di- will make you valuable. It‘s as you develop rection. For example, when his brother Wil- from within that you gain power‖ [my em- liam was dying, Cecil said: ―In our more than phasis].62 DeMille also viewed humanity as a seventy years we had watched together many conduit for the Divine and claimed: ―Man times the infinitely varied splendor of the has not invented anything. He has only dis- setting sun; and one day, together, we shall covered the possibilities of what already ex- see it rise again‖ [my emphasis].55 Else- ists. He is a channel through which Divine where, Cecil said: ―With my family and Wisdom flows‖ [my emphasis].63 This Divine Bill‘s settled close enough together for fre- transmission idea was also reflected within quent going back and forth, our wives good The Ten Commandments (1956) when Moses friends, our daughters going to the same (Charlton Heston) said to Sephora (Yvonne

De Carlo): ―By myself I am nothing. It is the liberately interrupting himself with that well- power of God which uses me to work His known Gospel reference. will.‖ DeMille and the Karma Further hints of spirit-based reincarnation Concept and rebirth wrapped inside overt religious references (in the tradition of Luke 20:27-38 eMille‘s belief in reincarnation and re- KJV) is clearly detectable within DeMille‘s D birth with its attendant connotation of story of the grub turning into a dragonfly, karmic consequences was strongly detectable which is thematically akin to the caterpillar within Moses‘ (Charlton Heston‘s) throne turning into a butterfly that is itself a symbol- room prayer to God in The Ten Command- ic motif for spiritual transformation, resurrec- ments (1956). After Pharaoh Rameses (Yul tion, immortality, rebirth, new life, and the Brynner) agreed to let his people go, Moses awesome powers of regeneration.64 Yet, responded with the line: ―where every man DeMille recounted his insect-based reincar- shall reap what he has sown.‖ He did this in nation story with a decidedly Christian fla- the context of freedom, and it had strong bib- vor; presumably not to offend his fundamen- lical resonances (e.g., Jer. 12:13; Hos. 8:7; 1 talist followers and/or to subtly re-educate Cor. 9:11 KJV),67 but subtextually speaking, them about Jesus‘ incarnation (John 1:14 it was also a common Western formulation KJV), which itself could be seen as a type of of the belief in karma, that ―Oriental doctrine reincarnation (i.e., from heavenly form to related to reincarnation which teaches essen- earthly form then back to heavenly form tially that every thought and deed must even- again at death).65 As Cecil dramatically re- tually create its own effects, which must then counted: be endured or enjoyed by the individual con- cerned.‖68 DeMille had earlier reiterated the One day while I was there [Maine karma concept when Prince Moses interrupt- woods], sitting in a rowboat on a ed Baka (Vincent Price) in the process of lake, I saw enacted on the gunwale of killing Joshua (John Derek) with a whip and the boat a little grub turning into a said: ―Death will bring death, Baka‖ before brilliant dragonfly. It was the drama he promptly killed the Egyptian master of eternal resurrection: when it was builder and made himself a murderous out- completed, the dragonfly darted off, law-cum-Egyptian outcast. Indeed, Robert shimmering in the sunlight, to a new Klepper used the non-Christian concept and life, leaving behind only the drab lit- language of reincarnation without mention- tle husk from which it had emerged. I ing the ―R‖ word to describe DeMille‘s two- suppose that half-elusive fragments part silent version of The Ten Command- from the Gospels drifted into my ments (1923). He called it ―a classic story of mind: Our Lord‘s sayings about the the effects of karma in two different eras of lilies of the field and the single spar- history, demonstrating that the [ten] com- row that falls [Matt. 6:26, 28 KJV]. mandments are just as valid now as they Here I had seen life come from were in the time of Moses‖ [my emphasis].69 death. If Our Father does this for a dragonfly, what must He do for us? However, it was the tenth plague, the death [my emphasis].66 of all the Egyptian firstborn within The Ten Commandments (1956) that DeMille‘s con- DeMille‘s Gospel quote about the lilies of the cept of karma reached a theological and dra- field and sparrow could be seen as a biblical matic highpoint. According to the biblical affirmation of faith by DeMille-the-Christian, account: but also as a redirection tactic to placate those potential fundamentalist followers who And Pharaoh said unto him [Moses], may have suspected that he was dangerously Get thee from me, take heed to thy- drifting towards reincarnation; which he was self, see my face no more; for in that doing as DeMille-the-esotericist before de- day thou seest my face thou shalt die.

And Moses said, Thou hast spoken firstborn of the maidservant that is well, I will see thy face again no behind the mill; and all the firstborn more. And the Lord said unto Moses, of beasts. And there shall be a great Yet will I bring one more plague up- cry throughout all the land of Egypt, on Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; after- such as there was none like it, nor wards he will let you go hence: when shall be like it any more (Exod. he shall let you go, he shall surely 10:28-11:6 KJV). thrust you out hence forth…And But it was DeMille‘s esoteric spin to have Moses said, Thus saith the Lord, Pharaoh Rameses (not God) dictate the terms About midnight will I go out into the of his own demise to Moses, which boomer- midst of Egypt: And all the first born anged devastatingly upon himself in classic in the land of Egypt shall die, from karmic law-and-effect fashion: the first born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even, unto the

Rameses: If you bring another plague upon us, it is not your God but I who will turn the Nile red with blood. Moses: As your father‘s father turned the streets of Goshen red with the blood of our male children! If there is one more plague on Egypt, it is by your word that God will bring it—and there shall be so great a cry throughout the land, that you will surely let the people go. Rameses: Come to me no more Moses! For on the day you see my face again, you will surely die! Moses: So let it be written. [Moses leaves Pharaoh with Aaron {John Carradine} in tow. Ram- eses says to his high priest Jannes {Douglas Dumbrille}, his Com- mander and the court councilors] Rameses: I will give this spawn of slaves and his God an answer the world will not forget! Commander of the Host—call in the chariots from Tanis. There shall be one more plague! Only it will come upon the slaves of Goshen. The firstborn of each house shall die—beginning with the son of Moses!

DeMille dramatically reinforced this scene (plus remove Sephora so that she could try when Nefretiri (Anne Baxter) had Moses‘ and woo back Moses). Once Moses‘ wife and wife Sephora (Yvonne De Carlo) and son child had departed, Nefretiri had a private Gershom (Tommy Duran) escorted to Midian moment with Moses and discovered the to avoid the forthcoming Egyptian slaughter shocking truth:

Nefretiri: Rameses is massing the Lybian axemen—the chariots—the Sardinian swordsmen… Moses: Why? Tell me why! Nefretiri: To destroy the firstborn of Israel. Moses: Oh God, my God—out of his own mouth comes Thy judgment. Nefretiri: But I have saved your son Moses! Moses: It is not my son who will die. It is…it is the firstborn of Egypt. It is your son Nefretiri. Nefretiri: No! You would dare strike Pharaoh‘s son! Moses: In the hardness of his heart Pharaoh has mocked God and brings death to his own son! Nefretiri: But it is my son Moses. You would not harm my son.

Moses: By myself I am nothing. It is the power of God which uses me to work His will. Nefretiri: You would not let Him do this to me. I saved your son! Moses: I cannot save yours. Nefretiri: Your God listens to you Moses! Moses: About midnight, the Destroyer will come into the midst of Egypt, and all the firstborn shall die from the firstborn of Pharaoh to the firstborn of his servants. Nefretiri: When you were Prince of Egypt, you held me in your arms. When you were a condemned slave, I threw myself at your feet before the Court of Pharaoh…because I loved you Moses. Moses: It is the Lord who executes judgment Nefretiri…Go back to your son.

Rameses‘ deadly words-cum-deeds had back- within The Crusades (1935): ―Oh what if we fired upon himself in devastating karmic call him Allah or God, shall men fight be- fashion, which also satisfied DeMille-the- cause they travel different roads to him? dramatist because one of the best forms of There‘s only one God.‖71 This DeMillean revenge that audiences can vicariously in- belief via onscreen dialogue was the equiva- dulge in (engineered by DeMille-the- lent of ―All rivers run to the sea‖ (for Hin- people‘s-director) is to have one‘s enemies dus), ―All spokes lead to the hub of the hoisted upon their own petards. This act wheel‖ (for Buddhists), and an earlier morally balances out the effects of the ―bad‖ equivalent of Moses‘ (Charlton Heston‘s) deed (i.e., moral equilibrium as a form of interreligious claim within The Ten Com- natural justice), which itself is another West- mandments (1956): ―He would not be only ern formulation of the karma doctrine. the God of Israel or Ishmael alone, but of all men.‖ Indeed, Cecil‘s Crusader adventure Further hints of DeMille‘s belief in karma, was outstanding for portraying the Moors but this time of the instantaneous variety, are and Saladin as decent human beings and not easily detectable within his silent melodrama the Muslim monsters some Christians may Something to Think About (1920). Ruth An- have wanted depicted.72 When DeMille derson (Gloria Swanson) and Jim Dirk (Mon- ―wasn‘t promoting one of his current releases te Blue) run away together on the eve of he would sometimes refer to it as his favorite Ruth‘s unwanted marriage to David Markley film. He believed in the message of religious (Elliott Dexter). Consequently, Ruth‘s angry tolerance he felt he had injected into the sto- father, Luke Anderson (Theodore Roberts) ry,‖73 and he also believed that God‘s word cried out in rage: ――I pray God I may never was recycled to counteract the evils of priest- see her ungrateful face again.‖ Sparks fly up, craft and churchianity, his pet religious and he is instantly blinded, or as a tart card hates.74 title reminds the audience, ―If we ask a curse—we got a curse!‖.‖70 This common Furthermore, DeMille‘s unorthodox side also folk belief is the equivalent of ―What goes encompassed having his astrological chart around comes around,‖ and is another West- cast,75 receiving psychic communications ern formulation of the karma doctrine. from Irish medium, Eileen Garrett, who in 1933 worked for the Californian branch of DeMille’s Other Unorthodox the American Society for Psychical Re- Religious Beliefs and Esoteric search,76 the willing acceptance of a lucky 77 78 Associates rabbit‘s foot and a lucky theatre cat, in addition to contemplating an actor‘s astrolog- dditional hints of DeMille‘s unorthodox ical sign as part of his decision-making pro- A views are detectable when Berengaria cesses.79 Cecil even used the same camera (Loretta Young) said to Saladin (Ian Keith) from his 1914 Squaw Man on the first take

24 Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly, 2011. Summer 2011 on all his subsequent silent films for good Another side of DeMille‘s unorthodox beliefs luck.80 Within his Americana railway film, was revealed when actor Charles Laughton Union Pacific (1939), DeMille had Mollie asked DeMille if he was religious, and Cecil Monahan (Barbara Stanwyck) read tea-leaves answered: ―I like to believe there‘s a little bit as part of her mysterious charm, and in The of God in DeMille and a little bit of DeMille Ten Commandments (1956), in God.‖86 The idea that God Rameses I‘s high priest (un- Further indications of and man are intimate reflec- credited) referred to astrolo- Cecil’s esoteric incli- tions of each other is a com- gers‘ prognostications about mon biblical belief (Gen. an ―evil star;‖ all of which nations are evident 1:26), but also a common indicated DeMille‘s comfort within a 1936 research esoteric belief,87 which was concerning divinatory and equipment list that in- touchingly hinted at within other esoteric practices. As the epilogue of DeMille‘s actor Mary Pickford said of cluded an Abridgement posthumously published au- Cecil: ―He‘s one of the finest of the Secret Doctrine tobiography: metaphysicians I‘ve ever Among the papers in her met. He knows the Bible by H.P. Blavatsky of father‘s room, Cecilia from cover to cover. I‘m the Theosophical Soci- Harper found these sure that he‘s just as conver- ety, and a book on At- notes, penciled in his sant with all of the great handwriting: ―The Lord philosophical and metaphys- lantis, another favorite giveth and the Lord ical works‖ [my emphasis].81 . arcane topic taketh away. Blessed be In typically complex fashion, DeMille dis- the name of the Lord. It can only be a played his own mystical inclinations when he short time…until these words, the claimed: ―I do not much believe in ―luck.‖ I first in the Episcopal funeral service, think there is something deeper at work in are spoken over me…After those the ordering of human events. I could not be words are spoken, what am I?…I am Henry DeMille‘s son without believing in a only what I have accomplished. How Divine Providence, and I have had too many much good have I spread? How experiences of it in my own life to let me much evil have I spread? For what- doubt it‖ [my emphasis].82 According to pub- ever I am a moment after death--a licist Ann Del Valle: ―Mr. DeMille believed spirit, a soul, a bodiless mind--I shall firmly that the people he needed in The Ten have to look back and forward, for I Commandments [1956] were sent to him.‖83 have to take both with me‖ [my em- His firm belief in Divine destiny and heaven- phasis].88 ly help were dramatically indicated following Indeed, interest in religion and esotericism his massive heart attack whilst filming his ran throughout the DeMille family, neigh- second Moses movie. Despite Dr. Max Ja- bors, and business partners. For example, cobson‘s orders to rest, DeMille ignored him Mary Moon was the biological half-sister of claiming: ―I‘m seventy-three years old. I‘ve Richard de Mille; Cecil‘s adopted son and lived long enough to know that if this project the biological son of Cecil‘s brother, William is going to be my last, so be it. But this is not (resulting from an affair with Lorna Moon). a normal film. You know that. This is spe- Mary was employed at Paramount in the cial. This is about the power of God. And if it steno pool and worked for Cecil in the is meant to be, I will have the strength to fin- DeMille bungalow before DeMille Produc- ish it‖ [my emphasis].84 DeMille promptly tions closed down. According to Richard de returned to work and finished filming helped Mille, Mary was so interested in esoteric by prayer and a bit of pharmaceutical assis- matters: ―She took up psychical research. A tance.85 It was as if DeMille was Heston‘s photograph of a soul leaving a dying body Moses claiming: ―my feet are set upon a road taught her that death is not the end.‖89 Cecil I must follow.‖

Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly 25 The Esoteric Quarterly also had neighbors interested in the psychic ing. Our conversations became peppered with world: ―Just across DeMille Drive lived such esoteric verbosity as the Logos Doc- Hamlin Garland, author of A Son of the Mid- trine, Memphite Theology and the concept of dle Border and Forty Years of Psychic Re- ma‘at (an expression of ideas, which, alt- search. Next door to him lived his daughter hough inexpressible, were morally good, and Connie, Mrs. Joseph Harper, a lush, blond, with which God-king were endowed).‖96 pretty young matron who read fortunes in lucky palms and pulsed with psychic pow- DeMille’s Overt Reincarnation er.‖90 Later, when Connie and her husband Narratives: Theatre and Film divorced, Joseph Harper married Cecil‘s bio- eMille‘s interest in esoteric topics was logical daughter, Cecilia. D no passing fancy and had predated his Richard de Mille was an early convert to Sci- illustrious film career when the theme of re- entology and become an editorial/personal incarnation featured within his theatrical play assistant to its founder, L. Ron Hubbard, be- suggestively entitled The Return of Peter fore they eventually parted company.91 Grimm. As he reported: DeMille‘s adopted daughter Katherine Lester I would write my play, I decided, on DeMille had a fanatical devotion to religion the theme of survival after death. I and the afterlife following the accidental set to work. If a man survives the drowning of her young son, Christopher.92 death of his body, I asked myself, Even her husband, Anthony Quinn why in the world would he want to (DeMille‘s son-in-law) had an interesting return to the world? The strongest religious pedigree. As he claimed: ―I was motive I could think of for wanting born a Catholic, and I studied for the priest- to return would be to undo, if possi- hood and then suddenly – then I became a ble, the wrong a man had done in this preacher for Amiee Semple MacPherson [sic; lifetime. So I made my principal Californian evangelist and founder of the character a manufacturer, a hard International Church of the Foursquare Gos- businessman of the old school, used pel] when I was 15 years old, and then I be- to having his way in everything, so came a Theosophist, and then I became all driven by the love of power that even sorts of things.‖93 DeMille even met and was his love of his ward, a young girl, photographed with the philosopher and was subordinated to his desire to sometimes perceived messianic mystic, Jiddu dominate her life. Then he died, and Krishnamurti, whilst on the set of Cecil‘s saw how wrong he had been. The 1927 Jesus movie, The King of Kings. Jiddu play was the story of his efforts to re- left soon after a publicity shot with DeMille, turn and acknowledge his wrong and H.B. Warner (playing Christ) and himself set the girl free to follow her own because as he humorously put it: ―I thought heart rather than the dictates of his three Saviors on the same lot was perhaps a ruthless will. I had a séance in the little too much.‖94 play, which I still think was some- Thus it is eminently easy to imagine that thing more than a good comedy sce- DeMille was influenced by such visitors, rel- ne. I had the returned spirit of the old atives, and neighbors in his private life; in manufacturer on the stage, invisible addition to his repeated exposure to various to the other players, vainly trying to religionists in his professional life, including get someone to pay attention to the those clerics invited on set during filming.95 urgent message and plea he had for For example, The Ten Commandments them, while the medium babbled in- (1956) scriptwriter, Jesse L. Lasky Jr., re- consequential nothings about how ported that: ―The Bible, the Koran, the Mid- lovely everything was on the other rash and the Talmud were our bed-side read side. Eventually the message and the

plea came through—not through the DeMille‘s fascination with reincarnation con- medium—and everything was tinued until Project X, his last Bible film straightened out.97 about Daniel and Revelation, the end of the world, and the Second Coming [reincarna- This theatrical scenario was the prototypical tion?] of Christ, but which was not realized plot of numerous spirit movies.98 Despite due to his death and the dissolution of his working for roughly two years (1910-1911) production company. As DeMille‘s friend on The Return of Peter Grimm as DeMille- and associate producer Henry Wilcoxon the-playwright, David Belasco, his theatrical mused: employer, claimed it as his own property and denied him author credit, much to DeMille‘s Was DeMille thinking about the end chagrin.99 of the world because he was contemplating the end of his world? Proba- His first major excursion into reincarnation bly. Thousands face Judgment Day as DeMille-the-filmmaker was The Road to in the process of dying. Few face it Yesterday (1925) with its highly suggestive with as strong a belief in Divine Ret- past-life title. In addition to its central rein- ribution as Cecil B. DeMille. The carnation theme, it depicted a protagonist‘s scales of justice from Moses‘ pavil- aunt who was ―a believer in the occult and in ion sat in DeMille‘s office after the reincarnation, in which she tries to interest picture [The Ten Commandments them.‖100 As biographer Charles Higham ex- (1956)], and I know he was forever plained: tinkering with them. Let‘s not be sil- DeMille was attracted to The Road to ly about this; you know he believed Yesterday [1925] because it involved in reincarnation and believed a soul the theme of reincarnation, then en- has as many chances to atone and joying a vogue as extreme as the grow as it needs. But he also be- fashion for spiritualism which had lieved in the swift and sure wrath of inspired Feet of Clay [1924]. His use God; and experiencing God‘s dis- of scenes present and past, interwo- pleasure, no matter how briefly, was ven into the narrative, has, if truth be no happy thought [my emphasis].105 told, always reflected a deep private Given CB‘s life-long interest in religion, it is interest in the subject. What was im- very surprising that few scholars have men- plied could now be clearly stated. tioned, let alone explored, DeMille‘s beliefs The picture of past life would not regarding reincarnation, rebirth, karma, spir- simply be triggered off by an ingen- itualism, occultism or Eastern esoterica; pos- ious Macpherson plot device. It sibly due to his Jewish heritage, Episcopalian would be part of the warp and woof faith, and biblical epic credentials that auto- of the drama [my emphasis].101 matically deflected consideration away from Decades later, the story was perceived by a his religious eclecticism. Besides, the sim- commentator to be in the mold of ―Bridey plistic stereotyping of DeMille avoided the Murphy,‖102 that classic 1950s past-life considerable analytical effort needed to un- claim. Nor is it surprising that the spiritualist tangle his complex personality, convoluted plot for DeMille‘s Feet of Clay (1924) was history, and numerous professional accom- ―resolved by a sequence in which Rod La plishments in theatre, film, and radio. Rocque and Vera Reynolds are shown being turned back from the shadowy borderland of Conclusion Eternity to finish and rectify their premature- 103 eMille‘s religious beliefs were pro- ly ended lives on earth.‖ Indeed, one anon- found, complex, and with various rein- ymous reviewer suggested that the film be D 104 carnation and karma incidents deftly engi- more accurately retitled ―Lost Souls.‖ neered throughout his filmic fare; many still

Copyright © The Esoteric Quarterly 27 The Esoteric Quarterly to be revealed. All of which are vitally important aspects of his auteur signature, but ner‘s Sons, 1973); Phil A. Koury, Yes, Mr. which are still not very well known, mapped DeMille (New York: Putnam, 1959); Simon out, or appreciated today. Not only does Louvish, Cecil B. DeMille: A Life in Art DeMille‘s entire cinematic oeuvre need to be (New York: Thomas Dunne Books/St. Mar- critically reappraised and his reputation revi- tin‘s Press, 2008); Henry S. Noerdlinger, talized, but a more nuanced understanding of Moses and Egypt: The Documentation to the the religion-and-film field mandates it given Motion Picture The Ten Commandments his international reputation as the ―high priest (Los Angeles: University of Southern Cali- of the religious genre‖106 and ―the screen‘s fornia Press, 1956); Katherine Orrison, Writ- master of the historical epic and religious ten in Stone: Making Cecil B. DeMille’s Ep- 107 ic, The Ten Commandments (Lanham: Vestal spectacle.‖ Further research into DeMille Press, 1999); Gene Ringgold and DeWitt studies, sacred cinema, and the hidden meta- Bodeen, The Complete Films of Cecil B. physical teachings therein is highly warrant- DeMille (Secaucus, NJ: The Citadel Press, ed, warmly recommended, and already a long 1969). overdue aspect of Hollywood history; and 4 Douglas Gomery, Movie History: A Survey especially pertinent considering the power of (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1991), 80. motion pictures to significantly shape the 5 Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, ―Iconogra- mass consciousness of humanity. phy,‖ in The Routledge Companion to Reli- gion and Film, ed. John Lyden, 440-464 (London: Routledge, 2010), 450. 6 1 DeMille was so complex and multi-faceted Art Arthur, ―DeMille: Man and Myth,‖ in that to describe, let alone justify, each aspect DeMille: The Man and His Pictures, eds., would be prohibitive; therefore, concise, hy- Gabe Essoe and Raymond Lee, 283-288 (New York: Castle Books, 1970), 283. phenated compound terms will be used 7 throughout to disentangle his complexity and James V. D‘Arc, ―Two Articles: ―Darryl F. avoid needless explanation, justification, or Zanuck‘s Brigham Young: A Film in Con- reader boredom. text‖ and ―‗So Let it be Written...‘–The 2 Many commentators have spelled Cecil‘s Creation of Cecil B. DeMille‘s Autobiog- surname as ―De Mille‖ or ―de Mille‖ or raphy‖‖ (PhD thesis, Brigham Young Uni- ―deMille‖ however, the correct professional versity, 1986), 74. 8 Arthur, The Man and His Pictures, 283. spelling is ―DeMille‖ (see Cecil B. DeMille 9 and Donald Hayne, ed., The Autobiography Bernard Beck, ―Has Anybody Here Seen My of Cecil B. DeMille (London: W. H. Allen, Old Friend Jesus?: Christian Movies in a 1960), 6), which will be used herein (unless Christian Country,‖ Multicultural Perspec- tives 7, no. 1 (2005): 26-29; 27. quoting) alongside ―Cecil‖ and ―CB‖ as ap- 10 propriate. Helen Manfull, Additional Dialogue: Letters 3 Robert S. Birchard, Cecil B. DeMille’s Hol- of Dalton Trumbo, 1942-1962 (New York: lywood (Lexington: University Press of Ken- Evans, 1970), 357. 11 Orrison, Written in Stone, 108. tucky, 2004); DeMille and Hayne, Autobiog- 12 raphy; Anne Edwards, The DeMilles: An Tim Bywater and Thomas Sobchack, An In American Family (London: Collins, 1988); troduction to Film Criticism: Major Critical Gabe Essoe and Raymond Lee, eds., Approaches to Narrative Film (New York: Longman, 1989), chpt. 2. DeMille: The Man and His Pictures (New 13 York: Castle Books, 1970); Scott Eyman, Agnes de Mille, Portrait Gallery (Boston: Empire of Dreams: The Epic Life of Cecil B. Houghton Mifflin, 1990), 161. 14 DeMille and Hayne, Autobiography, 12-13. DeMille (New York: Simon & Schuster, 15 2010); Sumiko Higashi, Cecil B. DeMille: A Edwards, The DeMilles, 14. 16 de Mille, Portrait Gallery, 161. Guide to References and Resources (Boston, 17 MA: G. K. Hall & Co, 1985); Sumiko Hi- Felicia Herman, ――The Most Dangerous An- gashi, Cecil B. DeMille and American Cul- ti-Semitic Photoplay in Filmdom‖: American ture: The Silent Era (Berkeley: University of Jews and The King of Kings (DeMille, California Press, 1994); Charles Higham, 1927),‖ The Velvet Light Trap 46, Fall Cecil B. DeMille (New York: Charles Scrib- (2000): 12-25; 18.

18 Steve A. Carr, Hollywood and Anti-Semitism: 39 Alice M. Williamson, Alice in Movieland A Cultural History Up to World War II (New (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1928), York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 65. 2003), 190. 40 Brigham Young University, Harold B. Lee 19 DeMille and Hayne, Autobiography, 274. Library, Special Collections and Manuscripts, 20 Robert Tanitch, Blockbusters! (London: B.T. MSS 1400, Cecil B. DeMille, Box 20, Folder Batsford, 2000), 64. 21, August 19, 1957, Inter-Office Memo to 21 Art Arthur, ―C. B. DeMille‘s Human Side is Art Arthur. as Little Known as the Depth of His Religious 41 Lisa Mitchell, ―Encounter with an Icon: My Belief,‖ Films in Review 18, no. 4 (1967): Magic Summer Working for Cecil B. De 221-225; 223. Mille,‖ DGA News 18, no. 3 (1993): 14-17; 22 Birchard, DeMille’s Hollywood, 342. 17. 23 DeMille and Hayne, Autobiography, 372. 42 Louis Khourey, ―Eileen Garrett: The Skeptical 24 Ibid., 396. Medium,‖ TAT Journal 2, no. 2 (1979): 1-6; 1. 25 Brigham Young University, Harold B. Lee 43 Geraldine Farrar, Such Sweet Compulsion: The Library, Special Collections and Manuscripts, Autobiography of Geraldine Farrar (New MSS 1400, Cecil B. DeMille, Box 221, Folder York: The Greystone Press, 1938), 3. 1, Anne Del Valle, Censors from Indonesia— 44 DeMille and Hayne, Autobiography, 156. Mr. DeMille and Mrs. Wolondoun, 7. 45 See June 30, 1936, No. 8144 United States 26 Velan M. Andersen, ―Arnold Friberg, Art- Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, ist: His Life His Philosophy and His Work‖ Commissioner of Internal Revenue vs. Cecil (MA thesis, Brigham Young University, B. DeMille Productions, Inc., Vol. 3, 1357. 1970), 206. 46 Birchard, DeMille’s Hollywood, 209. 27 Birchard, DeMille’s Hollywood, 114. 47 Of course, DeMille was not the only movie 28 Les Keyser and Barbara Keyser, Hollywood professional interested in reincarnation and its and the Catholic Church: The Image of Ro- filmic themes. See http://en.wikipedia.org- man Catholicism in American Movies (Chica- /wiki/Category:Films_about_reincarnation for go: Loyola University Press, 1984), 19. other notable exemplars. 29 Douglas Brode, Multiculturalism and the 48 Katherine Orrison, The Ten Commandments Mouse: Race and Sex in Disney Entertainment (1923) DVD commentary. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2005), 49 Gloria Swanson, Swanson on Swanson (Lon- 202. don: Michael Joseph, 1981), 119. 30 Birchard, DeMille’s Hollywood, 114. 50 Henry Wilcoxon and Katherine Orrison, Lion- 31 MSS 1400, Mr. DeMille and Mrs. Wolondoun, heart in Hollywood: The Autobiography of 8. Henry Wilcoxon (Metuchen, NJ: The Scare- 32 Ibid., 7. crow Press, 1991), 57. 33 Cecil B. DeMille, Why I Made The Ten Com- 51 Jean Mitry, The Aesthetics and Psychology of mandments: An Address by Cecil B. DeMille the Cinema (Bloomington: Indianan Universi- at a Luncheon at the Plaza Hotel Just Prior to ty Press, 1997), 311. the Opening of his Motion Picture Production 52 DeMille and Hayne, Autobiography, 195. at the Criterion Theatre in New York City 53 Norman A. Mackenzie, The Magic of Rudolph (USA: np, 1956), 3. Valentino (London: The Research Publishing 34 Bela Kornitzer, American Fathers and Sons Co., 1974), 139. (npp: Hermitage House, 1952), 79-80. 54 Richard de Mille, My Secret Mother: Lorna 35 Brigham Young University, Harold B. Lee Moon (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Library, Special Collections and Manuscripts, 1998), 23. MSS 1400, Cecil B. DeMille, Box 221, Folder 55 DeMille and Hayne, Autobiography, 375. 6, February 21, 1958, Cecil B. DeMille— 56 Ibid., 110. Student Editors‘ Interview, New York, Reel 1, 57 Orrison, Written in Stone, 149. first series, 2-3. 58 Ibid., 37, 176. 36 Orrison, Written in Stone, 107. 59 Jesse L. Lasky Jr., Whatever Happened to 37 Andersen, ―Arnold Friberg,‖ 205. Hollywood? (London: W.H. Allen, 1973), 190. 38 DeMille and Hayne, Autobiography, 151. 60 Orrison, Written in Stone, 177. 61 Peter Hertli, Beyond Darwin and Genesis:

Toward a Myth of the Beginnings of Life for 79 Whitney Stine, Stars & Star Handlers: The the 21st Century (New Harmony, IN: Book- Business of Show (Santa Monica, CA: Surge, 2005). Roundtable, 1985), 44. 62 Brigham Young University, Harold B. Lee 80 Charles Lockwood, Dream Palaces: Holly Library, Special Collections and Manuscripts, wood at Home (New York: The Viking Press, MSS 1400, Cecil B. DeMille, Box 211, Folder 1981), 276. 19, March 27, 1936, Mr. DeMille‘s talk to 81 Eileen Whitfield, Pickford: The Woman Who Paramount‘s Contract Players, 2. Made Hollywood (Lexington, KY: The Uni- 63 Brigham Young University, Harold B. Lee versity Press of Kentucky, 1997), 344-345. Library, Special Collections and Manuscripts, 82 DeMille and Hayne, Autobiography, 138. MSS 1400, Cecil B. DeMille, Box 211, Folder 83 Anne de Valle, interviewed by James V. 10, November 5, 1929, Notes–C. B. DeMille. D‘Arc dated October 18, 1981, Brigham 64 Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, Dictionary of Young University, Transcript No. MSS OH Christian Art (New York: Continuum, 1998), 465, 1. 67. 84 Charlton Heston and Jean-Pierre Isbouts, 65 Many esotericists certainly see Jesus as having Charlton Heston’s Hollywood: 50 Years in multiple incarnations; for example, see Chap- American Film (New York: G.T. Publishing, ter VI The Lodge of Masters within Alice A. 1998), 65-66. Bailey, Initiation, Human and Solar (New 85 Birchard, DeMille’s Hollywood, 357-358. York: Lucis Publishing Company, 1951). 86 Orrison, Written in Stone, 175. 66 DeMille and Hayne, Autobiography, 54. 87 Benjamin Walker, Encyclopedia of Esoteric 67 See also Norman C. McClelland, Encyclope- Man (London: Routledge & Keegan Paul, dia of Reincarnation and Karma (Jefferson, 1977), 157-160. NC: McFarland, 2010), 145-146. 88 DeMille and Hayne, Autobiography, 402. 68 Eileen Campbell and J.H. Brennan, The 89 de Mille, My Secret Mother, 99. Aquarian Guide to the New Age (Wellingbor- 90 Ibid., 12. ough: The Aquarian Press, 1990), 186. 91 See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_ 69 Robert K. Klepper, Silent Films on Video: A de_Mille Filmography of Over 700 Silent Features 92 Edwards, The DeMilles, 157. Available on Videocassette, with a Directory 93 Anthony Quinn, American Film Institute sem- of Sources (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1996), inar dated November 9, 1978, AFI Transcript 24. No. T530, 47. 70 Jeanine Basinger, Silent Stars (New York: 94 John Kobler, Damned in Paradise: The Life of Alfred A. Knopf, 1999), 215. John Barrymore (New York: Atheneum, 71 John Aberth, A Knight at the Movies: Medie- 1977), 229. val History on Film (New York, NY: 95 DeMille and Hayne, Autobiography, 256. Routledge, 2003), 91. 96 Lasky Jr., Whatever Happened, 261. 72 Anton K. Kozlovic, ―The Deep Focus Type- 97 DeMille and Hayne, Autobiography, 54. casting of Joseph Schildkraut as Judas Figure 98 James R. Parish, Ghosts and Angels in Holly- in Four DeMille Films,‖ Journal of Religion wood Films: Plots, Critiques, Casts and Cred- and Popular Culture 6, Spring (2004): its for 264 Theatrical and Made-for-Television http://www.usask.ca/relst/jrpc/art6-schild- Releases (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1994). kraut-print.html/ (accessed February 20, 99 de Mille, Portrait Gallery, 163. 2011). 100 Ivan Butler, Silent Magic: Rediscovering the 73 Birchard, DeMille’s Hollywood, 292. Silent Film Era (London: Columbus Books, 74 Andersen, ―Arnold Friberg,‖ 206-207. 1987), 104. 75 Helen Cohen, Cecil B. De Mille Foundation, 101 Higham, Cecil B. DeMille, 146. Private Communication, 1998. 102 Joe Franklin, Classics of the Silent Screen: A 76 Margaret Nicholas, The World’s Greatest Psy- Pictorial Treasury (Secaucus, NJ: The Citadel chics and Mystics (Sydney, NSW: The Book Press, 1976), 134. Company, 1994), 18-19. 103 DeMille and Hayne, Autobiography, 240. 77 Jhan Robbins, Yul Brynner: The Inscrutable 104 Ringgold and Bodeen, The Complete Films, King (New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 237. 1987), 60. 105 Wilcoxon and Orrison, Lionheart in Holly- 78 Orrison, Written in Stone, 144. wood, 340-341.

106 Ronald Holloway, Beyond the Image: Ap- proaches to the Religious Dimension in the Cinema (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1977), 26. 107 Ted Sennett, Great Movie Directors (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1986), 72.