Document Type
Article
Abstract
[First paragraph]
Cecil B. DeMille [1] (1881-1959) was a seminal founder of Hollywood who helped turn a Californian orange grove into a world class centre that became the synonym for film making (DeMille & Hayne, 1960; Edwards, 1988; Essoe & Lee, 1970; Higashi, 1994; Higham, 1973; Koury, 1959; Ringgold & Bodeen, 1969). Not only was the affectionately known C. B. an important film pioneer, producer and director, but he also became known as the master of the American Biblical Epic, and was variously tagged "King of the epic Biblical spectacular" (Finler, 1985, p. 32), the "high priest of the religious genre" (Holloway, 1977, p. 26), and the "arch apostle of spectacle" (Clapham, 1974, p. 21). As a Christian apologist and Hollywood's leading cinematic lay preacher, DeMille deserved these accolades because of his indelible classics The Ten Commandments (both versions), The King of Kings and Samson and Delilah. Indeed, historically speaking, his Technicolor rendition of the Samson saga (Judges 13-16) [2] was a "watershed film" (Schatz, 1997, p. 394) that had sired the 1950s trend of biblical epics. DeMille was a self-confessed pop culture professional (DeMille & Hayne, 1960, p. 195) who took great personal and professional pride in bringing Bible stories to the screen, especially as real "men and women" (DeMille & Hayne, 1960, p. 365). He was even crowned "Lay Churchman of the Year - 1958" from the Religious Heritage of America for his artistry, amongst many other religious awards and civil honours throughout his long career (see Essoe & Lee, 1970, pp. 245-247).
Repository Citation
Kozlovic, Anton K.. "Have Lamb Will Martyr: Samson as a Rustic Christ-Figure in Cecil B. DeMille's Samson and Delilah (1949)." Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture vol. 3, no. 1, 2003, pp. 1–29. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/reconstruction/vol3/iss1/3