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 the 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.
Matthew Reginald Sheffield Cassan was an English-American actor.
William Lawrence Boyd was an American film actor who is known for portraying the cowboy hero Hopalong Cassidy.
Julia Faye Maloney, known professionally as Julia Faye, was an American actress of silent and sound films. She was known for her appearances in more than 30 Cecil B. DeMille productions. Her various roles ranged from maids and ingénues to vamps and queens.
The Volga Boatman is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, who reportedly said the film was, "his greatest achievement in picture making". The film's budget was $479,000 and grossed $1.27 million. The film was highly successful, turning William Boyd into matinee idol overnight. The filming location was Wood Island, near Rio Vista, California in 1925.
Frank Coghlan Jr. also known as Junior Coghlan, was an American actor who later became a career officer in the United States Navy and a naval aviator. He appeared in approximately 129 films and television programs between 1920 and 1974. During the 1920s and 1930s, he became a popular child and juvenile actor, appearing in films with Pola Negri, Jack Dempsey, William Haines, Shirley Temple, Mickey Rooney, William Boyd and Bette Davis. He appeared in early "Our Gang" comedies, but he is best known for the role of Billy Batson in the 1941 motion picture serial, and first comic book superhero film, Adventures of Captain Marvel. Coghlan later served 23 years as an aviator and officer in the U.S. Navy, from 1942 to 1965. After retiring from the Navy, he returned to acting and appeared in television, films, and commercials. He published an autobiography in 1992 and died in 2009 at age 93.
The Little American is a 1917 American silent romantic war drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The film stars Mary Pickford as an American woman who is in love with both a German soldier and a French soldier during World War I. A print of the film is housed at the UCLA Film and Television Archive and has been released on DVD.
Old Wives for New is a 1918 American silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Prints of the film survive at the International Museum of Photography and Film at George Eastman House.
Why Change Your Wife? is a 1920 American silent comedy film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Gloria Swanson.
Something to Think About is a 1920 American silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The film stars Elliott Dexter and Gloria Swanson. Prints of the film exist at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York, and at the Filmmuseum in Amsterdam.
Fool's Paradise is a 1921 American silent romance film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The film stars Dorothy Dalton and Conrad Nagel and was based on the short story "Laurels and the Lady" by Leonard Merrick. Prints of Fool's Paradise are preserved at the George Eastman House, the Library of Congress, and the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
Saturday Night is a 1922 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Leatrice Joy, Conrad Nagel, and Edith Roberts. It was Leatrice Joy's first film with DeMille.
Feet of Clay is a 1924 American silent drama film directed and produced by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Vera Reynolds and Rod La Rocque, and with set design by Norman Bel Geddes. The film is based on the 1923 novel by Margaretta Tuttle, and Beulah Marie Dix's one-act 1915 play Across the Border.
Dress Parade is a 1927 American silent romantic drama film produced by William Sistrom and Cecil B. DeMille and distributed by Pathé. The film stars William Boyd and Bessie Love, and was directed by Donald Crisp. Although it is based on a story by Major Robert Glassburn, Major Alexander Chilton, and Herbert David Walter, the plot is essentially the same as West Point, produced at MGM in 1928.
Producers Distributing Corporation was a short-lived Hollywood film distribution company, organized in 1924 and dissolved in March 1927. In its brief heyday, film director Cecil B. DeMille was its primary shareholder and major talent.
The Spreading Dawn is a 1917 American silent drama film produced by Samuel Goldwyn in his first year of producing independently in his own studio and starring Broadway stage star Jane Cowl in her second and final silent film. It was directed by Laurence Trimble. The film is lost with a fragment, apparently only part of reel 3, surviving at the Library of Congress.
The Coming of Amos is a 1925 American silent romantic drama film directed by Paul Sloane, produced by Cecil B. DeMille and distributed by his Producers Distributing Corporation. Copies of this film survive and can be found on home video and more recently on DVD.
Conceit is a 1921 American silent drama film directed by Burton George, produced by Selznick Pictures, and released by Select Pictures. The film stars William B. Davidson and Mrs. De Wolf Hopper, who later became a gossip columnist using the name "Hedda Hopper".
The Dressmaker from Paris is a 1925 American silent romantic comedy drama film directed by Paul Bern. The story was written by Howard Hawks and Adelaide Heilbron. Heilbron also wrote the screenplay. The film starred Leatrice Joy and was her last film for Paramount Pictures. The film was costume designer Travis Banton's first assignment.
Paint and Powder is a surviving 1925 American silent drama film produced and released by the Chadwick Pictures. The director of the film was Hunt Stromberg, later be best known as a producer and one of Louis B. Mayer's right hand men over at MGM. The star of this film is Elaine Hammerstein, sister of the music writer and granddaughter of the theatrical impresario, both named Oscar Hammerstein.
