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The Autobiography of Cecil B. Demille
1881–1959 was an American film director & Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent & sound films.
465 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1959
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 19, 2012
What a wonderful book! This is definitely one of the most incredible autobiographies I've ever read. C.B.'s life is an amazing recounting of a man who was living during a changing generation. His story is not only the story of the birth of the motion picture movement, it is, in a way, an overview of the first half of the 20th century. He tells his story in the most personal and down-to-earth way imaginable. While reading this book, I truly felt that I was getting to know DeMille, the man, personally.
C.B. completed drafting the book just months before his death in 1959. By the time I reached the epilogue and read the editor's comments about his final days, I felt like I had lost a friend of many years. He was by no means a perfect man, one who was always right or with whom we would always agree. Yet at times his understanding of certain issues is astounding. In the history of film, there are very few filmmakers who felt the calling to make scriptural epics as strongly as Cecil B. DeMille.
The best way I can sum up his life is to simply present the opening he wrote to his 1923 Ten Commandments: "Our modern world...laughed at the Ten Commandments as old fashioned. Then, through the laughter came the shattering thunder of the World War. And now a blood-drenched, bitter world--no longer laughing--cries for a way out. There is but one way out. It existed before it was engraven upon Tablets of Stone. It will exist when stone has crumbled. The Ten Commandments are not rules to obey as a personal favor to God. They are the fundamental principles without which mankind cannot live together. They are not laws -- they are The Law."
C.B. completed drafting the book just months before his death in 1959. By the time I reached the epilogue and read the editor's comments about his final days, I felt like I had lost a friend of many years. He was by no means a perfect man, one who was always right or with whom we would always agree. Yet at times his understanding of certain issues is astounding. In the history of film, there are very few filmmakers who felt the calling to make scriptural epics as strongly as Cecil B. DeMille.
The best way I can sum up his life is to simply present the opening he wrote to his 1923 Ten Commandments: "Our modern world...laughed at the Ten Commandments as old fashioned. Then, through the laughter came the shattering thunder of the World War. And now a blood-drenched, bitter world--no longer laughing--cries for a way out. There is but one way out. It existed before it was engraven upon Tablets of Stone. It will exist when stone has crumbled. The Ten Commandments are not rules to obey as a personal favor to God. They are the fundamental principles without which mankind cannot live together. They are not laws -- they are The Law."
March 10, 2021
Whew, that took forever. It's 440 pages but feels about a 1,000 pages long. Usually old Hollywood memoirs are quick reads but this one dragged so much at times that it was hard to force myself to pick it up. I admit that it would be a great resource for someone writing a book about that era of movie making since he goes into a lot of details about the people he worked with. A LOT of details.
I wanted to read this ever since I read Gloria Swanson's memoir - A page turner! Amazing! Highly recommend! - and she wrote about her work with deMille. He managed to convince her to film a scene with a lion that was incredibly dangerous. I wanted to learn what made him so charismatic, with the ability to get what he wanted all the time. I wasn't able to figure it out by reading his version of events. I probably should have read a standard biography of him instead of this.
I was amazed that the lion scene with Gloria didn't even make it into his memoir! I guess because she wasn't actually mauled in the end? Never fear, he wrote of many other horrible accidents on his movie sets. Not one, but two people got their hands blown off while attempting a risky stunt. One extra was shot and killed during the filming of a Western! There were near drownings, horse stampedes, an elephant stampede, a close call with a wild panther who had already killed a man(That's how Cecil managed to get the animal so cheap)....the list goes on & on.
DeMille writes a lot, too much in my opinion, about his political viewpoints. At one point he was asked to run as a Republican senator for California. He seriously considered it. He was very anti-union and since this was written in the 1950's, constantly writing about the evils of communism. Look, unions aren't perfect but they have done a world of good(thank you for the 40 hour workweek, child labor laws, safety laws etc) and I couldn't believe he was so dismissive of them. I kept thinking, well maybe if those stuntmen were in a union, they wouldn't have gotten maimed and killed while on your movie sets.
I did respect DeMille's loyalty and kindness to his staff - barring all those maimings and one death. Many people worked 20, 30, even 40 years for him. He kept people on payroll even when he was between movies. When studio heads wanted to trim costs, he protected his staff and wouldn't let them get laid off. He hired a lot of women in important positions, not just as secretaries.
His personal life was so cuckoo! Of course, he did not mention that these women he kept writing about working for him were his mistresses. He did make a weird comment about how 'nice' women don't like to have sex. Apparently, his wife, after having their first child, declined to ever have sex with him again! They continued on with their loving marriage. I got the vibe it was more like a sister/mother relationship - not a lover/partner. She was a-ok with him having mistresses and even befriended them. Sometimes the mistress would travel with them!
They adopted 3 other children. One he mentioned as being 'found in the back seat of my car' so they kept him. WTF? Obviously I googled that right away. It turns out his adopted son was the love child of Cecil's brother and his mistress. The brothers were not big on marital fidelity it seems. After Cecil's brother died, Cecil then told his son who his real parents were. One daughter they adopted at 8 years old which seems kinda crazy. He never gave the backstory of that adoption. He barely wrote about his wife and kids. I found his personal life so interesting and wished there had been less 'boo, communism' and more family stuff.
While I am glad I finally finished this behemoth, I can't say I really enjoyed it. Charlie Chaplin & Gloria Swanson wrote much better memoirs.
I wanted to read this ever since I read Gloria Swanson's memoir - A page turner! Amazing! Highly recommend! - and she wrote about her work with deMille. He managed to convince her to film a scene with a lion that was incredibly dangerous. I wanted to learn what made him so charismatic, with the ability to get what he wanted all the time. I wasn't able to figure it out by reading his version of events. I probably should have read a standard biography of him instead of this.
I was amazed that the lion scene with Gloria didn't even make it into his memoir! I guess because she wasn't actually mauled in the end? Never fear, he wrote of many other horrible accidents on his movie sets. Not one, but two people got their hands blown off while attempting a risky stunt. One extra was shot and killed during the filming of a Western! There were near drownings, horse stampedes, an elephant stampede, a close call with a wild panther who had already killed a man(That's how Cecil managed to get the animal so cheap)....the list goes on & on.
DeMille writes a lot, too much in my opinion, about his political viewpoints. At one point he was asked to run as a Republican senator for California. He seriously considered it. He was very anti-union and since this was written in the 1950's, constantly writing about the evils of communism. Look, unions aren't perfect but they have done a world of good(thank you for the 40 hour workweek, child labor laws, safety laws etc) and I couldn't believe he was so dismissive of them. I kept thinking, well maybe if those stuntmen were in a union, they wouldn't have gotten maimed and killed while on your movie sets.
I did respect DeMille's loyalty and kindness to his staff - barring all those maimings and one death. Many people worked 20, 30, even 40 years for him. He kept people on payroll even when he was between movies. When studio heads wanted to trim costs, he protected his staff and wouldn't let them get laid off. He hired a lot of women in important positions, not just as secretaries.
His personal life was so cuckoo! Of course, he did not mention that these women he kept writing about working for him were his mistresses. He did make a weird comment about how 'nice' women don't like to have sex. Apparently, his wife, after having their first child, declined to ever have sex with him again! They continued on with their loving marriage. I got the vibe it was more like a sister/mother relationship - not a lover/partner. She was a-ok with him having mistresses and even befriended them. Sometimes the mistress would travel with them!
They adopted 3 other children. One he mentioned as being 'found in the back seat of my car' so they kept him. WTF? Obviously I googled that right away. It turns out his adopted son was the love child of Cecil's brother and his mistress. The brothers were not big on marital fidelity it seems. After Cecil's brother died, Cecil then told his son who his real parents were. One daughter they adopted at 8 years old which seems kinda crazy. He never gave the backstory of that adoption. He barely wrote about his wife and kids. I found his personal life so interesting and wished there had been less 'boo, communism' and more family stuff.
While I am glad I finally finished this behemoth, I can't say I really enjoyed it. Charlie Chaplin & Gloria Swanson wrote much better memoirs.
March 8, 2023
Very interesting and one of those books benefiting from having a web search always near at hand, as many of the people and events are far, far in the past. As you would expect from something published 65 years ago.
DeMille writes with lots of humor and mostly good will toward those he encountered during his career. This is not a comprehensive Hollywood history but it supplies a point of view.
As the title says, this is an autobiography rather than memoirs, as the author attempts to relate something about his entire life. There’s a good deal from his early life, but it’s not something to skip, as it is charming and useful in understanding his career.
I’d consider reading a biography of the guy. The Wiki on him is very long and might be a place to start.
DeMille writes with lots of humor and mostly good will toward those he encountered during his career. This is not a comprehensive Hollywood history but it supplies a point of view.
As the title says, this is an autobiography rather than memoirs, as the author attempts to relate something about his entire life. There’s a good deal from his early life, but it’s not something to skip, as it is charming and useful in understanding his career.
I’d consider reading a biography of the guy. The Wiki on him is very long and might be a place to start.
March 18, 2014
Absolutely superb! What an amazing autobiography.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews