Word: hollywood
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1930-1939
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...genius. Three centuries later George Bernard Shaw required no more equipment for the same task. But when Paramount put Cecil Blount DeMille to work on this well-worn old tale, that old-time director could not even get started without $750,000, a majority of the unemployed actors in Hollywood, ten crates of real grapes by airmail from South America, an $800 history book and a month of conferences aboard his yacht. Last week, after four more months spent in actual production, the result of Director DeMille's elaborate functionings was placed before the public as Cleopatra...
...handsome, well-written but misguided expedition into a realm which properly belongs to Shakespeare, Shaw and history, Cleopatra is important for two reasons. One of the most expensive pictures of the year, it will probably clear all expenses. It is the 60th work of the only director in Hollywood who managed to walk the tight rope from silent to sound films without losing his megaphone or his mannerisms...
...studio they rented a Hollywood stable. Their first picture was The Squaw Man, which DeMille has since made twice. Two years later Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Co. was a rival to Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Co. at the top of the industry and Cecil DeMille was about to make his first expensive spectacle, Carmen, with Geraldine Farrar. His most expensive was The King of Kings which cost about $2,000,000. The Ten Commandments made most money...
...DeMille technique is as peculiar as his ideology. He is almost the only director in Hollywood who still uses a megaphone. Bald, ruddy-faced, he wears riding breeches and puttees made especially for directing. On a silver chain he carries his "finder," a glass similar to the lens of the camera. Visitors are welcome on a DeMille set. He enjoys giving tirades for their benefit. During Cleopatra, he noticed an extra wearing a belt that was historically incorrect. Standing in front of his microphone, he bawled to his secretary: "Take a confidential memo to the production department," and proceeded...
...reserve captain in the Marine Corps. Most of his friends are military officers. Military maneuvres are his hobby and he maps out his pictures like a general planning a campaign. Parties in his house, which is filled with trophies from Africa, the South Seas and Alaska, are among Hollywood's most successful. He looks like a rough top-sergeant but speaks politely with clipped military accents. He tries to get Myrna Loy for his pictures and is principally responsible for her stardom...