THE PARTING OF THE RED SEA: Five Different Versions (video)

 

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (Cecil B. DeMille, 1923) 

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (Cecil B. DeMille, 1956) 

THE PRINCE OF EGYPT (1998) 

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (2006 Mini-Series) 

THE BIBLE (2013 Mini-Series) 

 

Video by Porfle Popnecker. I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

 

THE PARTING OF THE RED SEA: Five Different Versions (video)

THE PARTING OF THE RED SEA: Five Different Versions (1923-2013) (video)

THE PARTING OF THE RED SEA: Five Different Versions (1923-2013)



THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (Cecil B. DeMille, 1923)

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (Cecil B. DeMille, 1956)

THE PRINCE OF EGYPT (1998)

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (2006 Mini-Series)

THE BIBLE (2013 Mini-Series)

Originally posted on 4/20/19
I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

THE PARTING OF THE RED SEA: Five Different Versions (1923-2013) (video)

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1952) -- Movie Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 7/26/21

 

Currently watching: I usually don't care that much for circus movies, but producer/director Cecil B. DeMille's blustery, bloated, bombastic, and at times downright monstrous THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1952) eventually won me over.

DeMille clearly did care for circus movies--enough, at least, to make this the most spectacular big top epic ever, with the full participation of the Ringling Brothers-Barnum & Bailey Circus, the best outfit of its kind ever to tread the sawdust.

It's also packed with dozens, perhaps hundreds of actual circus performers (including Emmett Kelly), making it a three-ring extravaganza that barely lets up for its entire two-and-a-half hour running time. Even Hopalong Cassidy makes an early appearance.

 

The director's sentimental streak for the circus life is expressed in all the cutaways of wide-eyed kids, wonderstruck by the spectacle before them as they gorge themselves on cotton candy and other treats even as their adult companions can be seen reliving their own childhood joy.

What really drives this film, however, is the behind-the-scenes drama. Charlton Heston is awesome as the no-nonsense boss, Brad, who dresses like Indiana Jones and drives the performers and roustabouts to always push themselves to produce the best show possible despite all odds.

The absolutely indefatigable Betty Hutton has one of her most energetic roles as trapeze star Holly, driven to risk her life nightly when another trapeze master, roguish French superstar Sebastian (Cornel Wilde), joins the show and competes with her for the center ring. Both perform their increasingly dangerous stunts without a net, with inevitably tragic results.

 

Also filling out a wonderful cast are Gloria Grahame as elephant trainer Angel, Holly's rival for Brad's affections; exotic Dorothy Lamour as an emotionally unpredictable glamour girl; and Lyle Bettger and Lawrence Tierney as criminal types whose dastardly schemes threaten both the circus and the very lives of its people. (Keep a sharp eye out for a great dual cameo appearance by two very familiar stars.)

Last but not least is Jimmy Stewart, a clown who hides his identity beneath layers of greasepaint due to a dark secret in his past that will return to haunt him at a crucial moment. His character stays in the background for most of the film but comes to the forefront in a big way during the finale.

This occurs when a spectacular train wreck spells instant disaster for the circus as DeMille pulls out all the stops. The miniature special effects are great fun here, and so are the full-scale practical effects and stunts, replete with escaping wild animals and a number of grievous injuries among the tightly-knit circus family.

 

 

Till then, however, DeMille himself does an impressive juggling act as he keeps all the various subplots up in the air. Some are of the romantic variety, while others focus on the performers' egos as well as the evil forces that are conspiring to bring ruin to the show.

It's all a dizzying mish-mash of melodrama, with plenty of corny dialogue and gushing sentiment, and somehow it all works when the viewer settles in and becomes acclimated to the atmosphere DeMille has so feverishly created in what was evidently one of his most heartfelt productions (which he himself narrates in solemn tones just as he did his later epic THE TEN COMMANDMENTS).

Sprawling, colorful, eye-pleasing, and delightfully old-fashioned, THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH is pure pleasure for anyone who wants to put their minds on hold and let one of Hollywood's greatest showmen entertain them for a few hours.

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1952) -- Movie Review by Porfle

"THE LOST CITY OF CECIL B. DEMILLE" -- A True Hollywood Mystery, Coming 10/3

“Part Detective Story, Part ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’…”

THE LOST CITY OF CECIL B. DEMILLE

In 1982 He Heard About an Ancient Egyptian City Buried in the California Desert…For 30 Years He’s Been Fighting to Dig it Up

The Mystery Debuts on Digital & VOD – October 3, 2017!

Los Angeles, Calif. – September 2017 – Leading independent cinema distributor Random Media and Lost City Productions debut a Hollywood detective story that will thrill any fan of movies and history -- THE LOST CITY OF CECIL B. DEMILLE on Digital and Video-on-Demand on October 3, 2017!
 
A fascinating documentary that pays tribute to Cecil B. DeMille, one of Hollywood’s most innovative and commercially successful filmmakers, it is the story of a more than 30 year quest to unearth from the sandy coast of Central California, the remains of one of De Mille’s most monumental undertakings: the Egyptian city constructed for his first spectacle, 1923’s The Ten Commandments.

Watch the Trailer:  

THE LOST CITY OF CECIL B. DEMILLE follows the decades long quest of Peter Brosnan, who first heard rumors of the burial of DeMille’s City of the Pharaoh, a huge set encompassing 20 sphinxes and four 35-ton statues of Ramses, in 1982.  Too daunting to be constructed inside a 1920’s-era studio soundstage, DeMille and his production staff found their “faux-Egypt” on the beaches of Santa Barbara County.  When they finished shooting, rather than leave the sets to be repurposed by second-rate hacks hoping to steal a little of his thunder, DeMille had the sets buried in the sand, counting on time and coastal elements to eventually destroy them.

Fascinated by this bit of movie lore about “the last of the great sets” and optimistic that much of the set may have survived, Brosnan and film-school friends Bruce Cardozo and Richard Eberhardt set out to arrange for an excavation and make a documentary.  What followed was decades of on-again, off-again excavation efforts, as the project faced seemingly insurmountable funding stumbles and bureaucratic obstacles.  

“What an extraordinary story… a rare combination of film and cultural history.” --  Leonard Maltin

THE LOST CITY OF CECIL B. DEMILLE documentary is the story behind the excavation, highlighting Brosnan’s multiple agonizing years of starts and stops, as funding, red tape and weather halted the well-publicized story that wouldn’t die, even when Brosnan was ready to walk away, over and over again.  It concurrently interweaves the history of famed director DeMille with fascinating firsthand accounts from dozens of people who were involved in the groundbreaking 1923 production, including studio executives, extras, spectators and the filmmaker’s granddaughter Cecilia DeMille Presley.

Logline:
A fascinating documentary about the 30+ year quest, against funding struggles and bureaucratic red tape, of filmmaker Peter Brosnan to unearth from the sandy coast of Central California, the remains of one of Cecil B. DeMille’s most monumental undertakings: the Egyptian city constructed for his first spectacle, 1923’s The Ten Commandments.

Synopsis
Have you seen “The Ten Commandments” with Charlton Heston?  Did you know that in 1923 Cecil B. DeMille made a silent version of the movie?   Because Egypt was far away from the studio and estimated to be much too costly, DeMille shot the film in Santa Barbara County, California, about 150 miles north of Hollywood, and built an enormous ‘City of the Pharaoh’ set, literally taking over the economy of the surrounding community and creating a fantastic spectacle.  Designed by Paul Iribe, the “father of Art Deco,” it was the largest set in motion picture history.

When filming wrapped, the city mysteriously vanished.

In 1982, Peter Brosnan was sitting in a bar when someone told him that there were ancient Egyptian Sphinxes buried somewhere in the California Dunes.  It sparked his imagination and he embarked on what turned out to be a thirty year battle to prove the existence of these Sphinxes and the discovery of the Lost City.

After searching in the California desert, Brosnan located what he believed was the site of the 1923 filming. Over 33 years in the making, “The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille” is an extraordinary tribute to a director whose innovative and fearless style continues to inspire modern day filmmakers, almost 60 years after his death.

THE LOST CITY OF CECIL B. DEMILLE explores the spirit of a man, Peter Brosnan, who walked away from this project three times in frustration, only to be called back a fourth time. The result is an iconic tale of a reluctant hero, who finally surrenders to his destiny and accepts that he was chosen to follow this quest and tell this story.

Specifications:
Director: Peter Brosnan Screenwriter: Peter Brosnan Producers: Peter Brosnan, Daniel J. Coplan Executive producer: Francesca Judge Silva
Presented by:  Cecelia DeMille Presley
Co-producers: Bruce Cardozo, Richard Eberhardt
Director of photography: Alessandro Gentile Editor: George Artope
Still Photography: Kelvin Jones
Time Lapse Photography: Michael DeLavallade Composer: Steve Bauman Running Time: 88 minutes
Produced by: Lost City Productions
Distributed by: Random Media

About Random Media:
Random Media is a content company that acquires and distributes films on a worldwide basis through movie theatres, conventional brick and mortar retailers, digital platforms, cable and satellite companies and television networks.  Random Media's library includes such acclaimed films as Escape From Tomorrow, The Visit, Meth Head, Desert Cathedral and Killswitch: The Battle To Control The Internet.
                   
OFFICIAL FILM SITE: https://www.lostcitydemille.com/       
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Lost-City-of-Cecil-B-DeMille-1614033822253579/
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2507306/?ref_=nm_flmg_prd_1

"THE LOST CITY OF CECIL B. DEMILLE" -- A True Hollywood Mystery, Coming 10/3