Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director, producer, 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.
Claudette Colbert was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the late 1920s and progressed to films with the advent of talking pictures. Initially associated with Paramount Pictures, she gradually shifted to working as an actress free of the studio system. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for It Happened One Night (1934), and received two other Academy Award nominations during her career. Colbert's other notable films include Cleopatra (1934) and The Palm Beach Story (1942).
Banyan Drive is a tree-lined street at the shoreline of Hilo, Hawaii. It is known as the "Hilo Walk of Fame" for the banyan trees planted by celebrities. These trees have withstood several tsunamis that have devastated the town on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Arthur Hohl was an American stage and motion-picture character actor. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and began appearing in films in the early 1920s. He played a great number of villainous or mildly larcenous roles, although his screen roles usually were small, but he also played a few sympathetic characters.
Cleopatra is a 1934 American epic film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and distributed by Paramount Pictures. A retelling of the story of Cleopatra VII of Egypt, the screenplay was written by Waldemar Young and Vincent Lawrence and was based on Bartlett Cormack's adaptation of historical material. Claudette Colbert stars as Cleopatra, Warren William as Julius Caesar, and Henry Wilcoxon as Mark Antony.
The Sign of the Cross is a 1932 American pre-Code epic film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and released by Paramount Pictures. Based on the original 1895 play by English playwright Wilson Barrett, the screenplay was written by Waldemar Young and Sidney Buchman. It stars Fredric March, Elissa Landi, Claudette Colbert, and Charles Laughton, with Ian Keith and Arthur Hohl.
Three Cornered Moon is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Elliott Nugent, written by Ray Harris and S.K. Lauren, and starring Claudette Colbert, Richard Arlen, Mary Boland, and Wallace Ford. Based on a 1933 play by Gertrude Tonkonogy Friedberg, the film reached No. 9 in the National Board of Review Awards top-10 films in 1933. Film critic Leonard Maltin identifies it as one of the "25 Vintage Movies You Really Shouldn't Miss".
Secrets of a Secretary is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by George Abbott, and starring Claudette Colbert and Herbert Marshall. The film was stage actress Mary Boland's first role in a talkie.
Manslaughter is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film directed by George Abbott, and starring Claudette Colbert and Fredric March. An original print of the film is saved in the UCLA Film and Television Archive. This film is a sound remake of Cecil B. DeMille's 1922 silent classic Manslaughter. Paramount also released a French-language version of this 1930 film as The Indictment, directed by Dimitri Buchowetzki.
Practically Yours is a 1944 comedic film made by Paramount Pictures, directed by Mitchell Leisen, written by Norman Krasna and starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray.
Young Man of Manhattan is a 1930 American pre-Code musical comedy film directed by Monta Bell and starring Claudette Colbert, Norman Foster, Ginger Rogers, and Charles Ruggles. Made by Paramount Pictures, it was set and filmed in New York City.
Jameson Thomas was an English film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1923 and 1939.
Nella Walker was an American actress and vaudeville performer of the 1920s through the 1950s.
Doctor Bull is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy film directed by John Ford, based on the James Gould Cozzens novel The Last Adam. Will Rogers portrays a small-town doctor who must deal with a typhoid outbreak in the community.
Hollywood on Parade (1932–1934) is a series of short subjects released by Paramount Pictures.
Hotel Haywire is a 1937 American comedy film written by Preston Sturges with uncredited rewrites by Lillie Hayward. It was directed by George Archainbaud and stars Leo Carrillo, Lynne Overman, Spring Byington, Benny Baker and Colette Lyons.
Hollywood Without Make-Up is a 1963 American film produced by Ken Murray and directed by Rudy Behlmer, Loring d'Usseau and Ken Murray (uncredited).
Six of a Kind is an American 1934 pre-Code comedy film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Charles Ruggles, Mary Boland, W.C. Fields, George Burns, and Gracie Allen. It is a whimsical and often absurd road movie about two couples who decide to share their expenses on a trip to Hollywood. It includes the famous pool playing scene in which Fields explains how he got the name “Honest John”.
Make Me a Star is a 1932 American pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring Joan Blondell, Stuart Erwin and ZaSu Pitts. The film is a remake of the 1924 silent film Merton of the Movies, based upon the 1922 novel of that name, and the 1923 play adapted from the novel by George S. Kaufman, and Marc Connelly. It was remade again in 1947.
The Crime of Doctor Hallet is a 1938 American drama film, directed by S. Sylvan Simon and starring Ralph Bellamy, Josephine Hutchinson, William Gargan, Barbara Read, John 'Dusty' King, and Charles Stevens. The film was released by Universal Pictures on March 11, 1938.
