Cecil Blount DeMille was an American filmmaker and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of American cinema and the most commercially successful producer-director in film history. His films were distinguished by their epic scale and by his cinematic showmanship. His silent films included social dramas, comedies, Westerns, farces, morality plays, and historical pageants. He was an active Freemason and member of Prince of Orange Lodge #16 in New York City.
William Churchill deMille, also spelled de Mille or De Mille, was an American screenwriter and film director from the silent film era through the early 1930s. He was also a noted playwright prior to moving into film. Once he was established in film he specialized in adapting Broadway plays into silent films.
Edythe Chapman was an American stage and silent film actress.
The Call of the North is a 1914 American silent adventure-drama film directed by Oscar Apfel and Cecil B. DeMille. It is based on the 1903 novel, The Conjuror's House; a Romance of the Free Forest by Stewart Edward White and its 1908 play adaptation The Call of the North by George Broadhurst. Robert Edeson starred in the play and reprises his role in this film. He played a dual role of both Ned Stewart and his own father, Graehme Stewart.
The Man from Home is a 1914 American drama film based on a play written by Booth Tarkington and Harry Leon Wilson. It was directed by Cecil B. DeMille. In 1922, the story was remade in the UK by George Fitzmaurice as The Man From Home, and released by Famous Players–Lasky. The stage play was a big hit for actor William Hodge in the role of Pike in the 1908 Broadway season.
The Captive is an American silent-era film released on April 22, 1915. It was released on five reels. The film was written, directed, edited, and produced by Cecil B. DeMille. Jesse L. Lasky was another producer and Jeanie MacPherson worked with DeMille to write the screenplay. The film is based on a play written by Cecil B. DeMille and Jeanie MacPherson. The Captive grossed over $56,000 on a budget of $12,154. Blanche Sweet stars as Sonia Martinovich, alongside House Peters who stars as Mahmud Hassan. The film details the romantic war-era plight of Sonia and her lover Mahmud.
Carmen is a 1915 American silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The film is based on the novella Carmen by Prosper Mérimée. The existing versions of this film appear to be from the re-edited 1918 re-release.
The Golden Chance is a 1915 American silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. A print of the film survives at George Eastman House. DeMille remade the film in 1921 as Forbidden Fruit.
Maria Rosa is a surviving 1916 American silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. It was based on a 1914 Broadway stage play Maria Rosa by Àngel Guimerà. On the stage the principal parts were played by Dorothy Donnelly and Lou Tellegen, future husband of this film's star Geraldine Farrar.
Joan the Woman is a 1916 American epic silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Geraldine Farrar as Joan of Arc. The film premiered on Christmas Day in 1916. This was DeMille's first historical drama. The screenplay is based on Friedrich Schiller's 1801 play Die Jungfrau von Orleans. This film was considered to be the "first cinematic spectacle about Joan of Arc."
Manslaughter is a 1922 American silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Thomas Meighan, Leatrice Joy, and Lois Wilson. It was scripted by Jeanie MacPherson adapted from the novel of the same name by Alice Duer Miller. The film portrays the main character, Lydia Thorne, as a thrill-seeking, self-entitled, and wild woman who does not have a reputation of thinking before acting. She acts selfishly by dancing with other men in the presence of her husband and not providing help to her maid who is in dire need for her son's health. As a result of her numerous poor decisions, she is taken to court because of a vehicle accident entailing a high-speed chase she has with a motorcyclist policeman. Following this accident, she is imprisoned for manslaughter after being prosecuted by her husband, Daniel O'Bannon, who is a lawyer. After this endeavor, Lydia comes out of jail to find her husband has become an alcoholic.
Hollywood is a 1923 American silent comedy film directed by James Cruze, co-written by Frank Condon and Thomas J. Geraghty, and released by Paramount Pictures. The film is a lengthier feature follow-up to Paramount's own short film exposé of itself, A Trip to Paramountown from 1922.
Common Ground is a 1916 silent film drama produced by Jesse Lasky, directed by William C. deMille and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is an original story for the screen and stars Thomas Meighan and Marie Doro. A print is held by British Film Institute National Film and Television Archive.
The Heir to the Hoorah is a surviving 1916 silent film produced by Jesse Lasky and released through Paramount Pictures. It was directed by William C. deMille.
Secret Service is a lost 1919 American silent American Civil War drama film starring Robert Warwick and directed by Hugh Ford. It was produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Based on the play Secret Service by William Gillette, it was remade as a talking picture by RKO in 1931.
The Blacklist is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by William C. deMille and written by Marion Fairfax and William C. deMille. The film stars Blanche Sweet, Charles Clary, Ernest Joy, William Elmer, Horace B. Carpenter, and Lucien Littlefield. The film was released on February 20, 1916, by Paramount Pictures.
The Thousand-Dollar Husband is a lost 1916 American silent drama film written and directed by James Young and starring Blanche Sweet, Theodore Roberts, Tom Forman, James Neill, Horace B. Carpenter, and Lucille La Verne. The film was released on May 28, 1916, by Paramount Pictures.
The Selfish Woman is a lost 1916 American drama silent film directed by E. Mason Hopper and written by Hector Turnbull and Margaret Turnbull. The film stars Wallace Reid, Cleo Ridgely, Edythe Chapman, Charles Arling, Joe King and Jane Wolfe. The film was released on July 9, 1916, by Paramount Pictures.
The Plow Girl is a lost 1916 American drama silent film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and written by Edward Morris, Charles Sarver and Harvey F. Thew. The film stars Mae Murray, Elliott Dexter, Charles K. Gerrard, Edythe Chapman, Horace B. Carpenter and William Elmer. The film was released on November 13, 1916, by Paramount Pictures.
The Ghost House is a 1917 American silent comedy film directed by William C. deMille and written by Beulah Marie Dix. The film stars Jack Pickford, Louise Huff, Olga Grey, James Neill, Eugene Pallette, and Horace B. Carpenter. The film was released on October 1, 1917, by Paramount Pictures. It is not known whether the film currently survives, which suggests that it is a lost film.
