CECIL B. DE MILLE – AMERICAN EPIC (Photoplay Productions, GB 2004)
Dir: Kevin Brownlow; prod: Patrick Stanbury; narr: Kenneth Branagh; ed: Christopher Bird; ph: Gerald Saldo; mus. comp./cond: Elmer Bernstein; mus. perf: City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra; orchestrations: Emilie A. Bernstein, Patrick Russ; mus. prod: Cynthia Millar; mus. rec. & mixing: Christopher Dibble; opening title des. XTV: Dal Bhatia, Andy Godden, Adam Sealey; interviewees: Elmer Bernstein, Bob Birchard, Diana Serra Cary, Frank Coghlan, James D’Arc, Agnes de Mille (1980/81), Cecilia de Mille Presley, Richard de Mille, Arnold Gillespie (1980), Henry Hathaway (1980), Charlton Heston, Angela Lansbury, Betty Lasky, Jesse Lasky, Jr. (1981), A. C. Lyles, Micky Moore, Pat Moore, Joseph Newman, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Gloria Swanson (1980/81) [(1980) = Hollywood; (1981) = BBC Omnibus)]; Video, Beta, 116 mins. (ep. 1: 57’; ep. 2: 59’), bn e colore / b/w & color>, sonoro / sound, Photoplay Productions.
Versione inglese / English narration & dialogue.
GCM Sacile, Teatro Zancanaro, 15 Oct 2004
Kevin Brownlow (GCM): "Just 90 years ago, Cecil B. De Mille made The Squaw Man, the first feature to be produced in Hollywood. De Mille’s career spanned half a century and 70 films. He was, with Hitchcock, the only director the audience knew by sight. He was also the Voice of Hollywood on the radio in the 1930s and 40s. And his name is still the byword for the Hollywood spectacular. He tackled an incredibly wide range of subjects, pioneering colour processes and lighting techniques. He followed D.W. Griffith as the leading director of the epic spectacular. De Mille was years ahead of his time in making “psychological dramas”, but these were not the box-office hits Paramount demanded. He switched to sex comedies, and the theatres were packed once more. He made a star of Gloria Swanson, and transformed the humble bathtub into an object of beauty. De Mille was a deeply religious man, and yet his private life was somewhat unorthodox; he maintained a loyal staff of female collaborators, several of whom served as his mistresses. In 1922, in a newspaper contest, he asked his public for the subject of his next production; the Ten Commandments was chosen. De Mille planned a film which would, he hoped, eclipse any other. It was so spectacular that Adolph Zukor, head of Paramount, feared the runaway budget would ruin the company. Even though The Ten Commandments made more money for Paramount than any other film, Zukor made things so difficult for De Mille that he left the company. Instead of seeking work at another studio, he opened his own. His most important independent production was The King of Kings. This became one of the most popular films ever made, being in continuous distribution ever since the premiere in 1927. But the studio failed, and he had to find another job. He was rescued by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He made one hit and two misses – and that was enough. His contract was not renewed, and the most successful director in the history of the business found himself out of work. None of the studios would offer De Mille a position. In desperation, he took a belated vacation, and he visited Russia in the hope of landing a job, but no agreement could be made. He returned to find America in the grip of the Depression. Zukor was reluctant to take back the man he had forced out of Paramount, but his old friend Jesse Lasky persuaded the studio to give him a one-picture deal. De Mille chose to make The Sign of the Cross. It was so censorable that it contributed to the formation of the Legion of Decency. Scenes like Claudette Colbert’s bath of asses’ milk and naked girls threatened by gorillas ensured the picture was a stunning box-office success. And it reunited him with Paramount for the rest of his life. In 1950, he embarked on his most controversial episode when he insisted that all members of the Directors Guild sign a loyalty oath guaranteeing that they were not Communists. This led to a dramatic clash between De Mille and DGA President Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Whatever his political troubles, De Mille was now more popular with his public than he had ever been. He had made Samson and Delilah with Victor Mature, and followed it with a story of circus life produced with documentary fidelity. One of the thousands who stood in line to see it was a four-year-old named Steven Spielberg, for whom it was an inspiration. De Mille won his first Academy Award for The Greatest Show on Earth, and he would use the same leading actor, Charlton Heston, for the role of Moses in a new version of The Ten Commandments. It was a staggering undertaking to place on the shoulders of a man of 73. On location in Egypt, De Mille had a heart attack. A mere week later, he was back behind the cameras. The picture was another stupendous success. It is still shown every Easter on American television, 50 years later. De Mille died in January 1959. “Motion pictures have been my life’s work,” he once said. “And every foot of it in film, and every minute of it in time, has been an adventure which I would not exchange for anything else in the world.”" – Kevin Brownlow
Patrick Stanbury (GCM): "THE PRODUCTION: Cecil B. De Mille retained an enormous archive documenting the whole of his career, and was himself frequently on the screen. Photoplay was given unparalleled access to the archive by the De Mille Estate, and the material provided the basis of their two-part documentary. De Mille’s collection of stills, designs, and documents is housed at the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Producer Patrick Stanbury made one preliminary research trip there before returning with director Kevin Brownlow to film much of the documentary and photographic material used in their film. They also interviewed the collection’s curator, James D’Arc. De Mille’s extensive personal film collection is now preserved at two American archives: silent films at George Eastman House in Rochester, and production films at the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Much of the filmic material in Episode 1 came from these sources. Film material for Episode 2, mainly De Mille’s sound films, was accessed through the Hollywood studios Paramount, Universal, and MGM (now Warner Bros.). An important discovery in this episode is production footage showing how De Mille recreated the parting of the Red Sea for The Ten Commandments (1956). Footage of this complex special effect was found while researching at Paramount.Current interviews were filmed during four trips to Hollywood. They include those with surviving members of De Mille’s family, granddaughter Cecilia and adopted son Richard, and De Mille’s collaborators, including actors Angela Lansbury, Charlton Heston, and Pat Moore, composer Elmer Bernstein, assistant director Micky Moore, and Paramount executive A.C. Lyles. Interviews with Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg give a contemporary commentary by two of Hollywood’s most important directors. An asset to the production were interviews shot by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill in the 1970s for their documentary series Hollywood. These include Gloria Swanson, Agnes de Mille, Henry Hathaway, and Arnold Gillespie. Later interviews with Swanson, Agnes de Mille, and screenwriter Jesse Lasky, Jr. were filmed in 1981 by TV film critic Barry Norman for his BBC Omnibus production “Ready when you are, Mr. De Mille!”. For footage of De Mille himself, apart from the many prologues, production shots, and newsreels, the BBC Television archive had an interview with De Mille broadcast in 1957. It is used extensively throughout the film, providing us with De Mille’s own reflections on his career, and even giving him the last word, in a characteristic, straight-to-camera farewell.Interview and research trips were spread throughout the production period (mid-2002–2003). Editor Christopher Bird started to shape the film in 2003, adding new material as it arrived. Encapsulating a prolific career of 50 years, the rough cut was 3 hours long. Once the final length of 2 hours was achieved, the narration was written and recorded, the title sequence was completed, and in September 2003 the film was submitted to composer Elmer Bernstein for its final embellishment.At 82, Bernstein was a direct link to De Mille’s last film, The Ten Commandments (1956). As a young man, he wrote the score which became so much a part of that film’s success. Like De Mille, Bernstein went on to build a reputation working on a wide range of canvases. From jazz to the lush romanticism of The Ten Commandments, his work has made his name synonymous with film music. It was the ambition of producer Patrick Stanbury to bring De Mille and Bernstein together again on a film project. Having the greatest respect for the director who had launched his career, Bernstein agreed. Photoplay’s team had a production meeting with the composer in Santa Monica in September 2003, before he conducted the recording in Prague in November 2003. It is somehow fitting that this is Bernstein’s last film score, bringing his career full circle. Elmer Bernstein died in August 2004. We are honoured to have worked with him. The documentary was completed in December 2003, and first broadcast in the US on TCM in April 2004." – Patrick Stanbury (GCM)
AA: * One of my favourites at the Festival. A top documentary. A good Beta projection.
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