Scripture Filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille: Biblical, Religious or Spiritual?
Version 2 2024-06-13, 14:34Version 2 2024-06-13, 14:34
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journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-13, 14:34authored byAnton Karl Kozlovic
The legendary producer-director Cecil B. DeMille was a master of the American biblical epic who shaped
the public’s perceptions of Judeo-Christianity in his role as Hollywood’s Sunday school teacher. Despite his
exceptional narrative talents as a sacred storyteller, critics praised or condemned his Bible films according to
whether they deemed him a biblical, religious or spiritual filmmaker. But what sort of Scripture filmmaker
was DeMille exactly, were the critics’ condemnations fair and valid, and what of the DeMille style today?
Utilizing humanist film criticism as the guiding analytical lens, a selective review of the critical literature and
a reading of CB’s biblical oeuvre were performed to address this issue of category confusion. It was concluded
that DeMille was primarily a biblical filmmaker, not a religious or spiritual filmmaker, whose scriptural oeuvre
was frequently mislabeled and unjustly assessed as a consequence. Further research into storytelling, Cecil
B. DeMille studies and the emerging interdisciplinary field of religion-and-film is highly warranted, warmly
recommended and already long overdue.