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Cecil B. De Mille in the 1920s. Photo courtesy of Margaret Herrick Library.
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In 2004 the Academy Film Archive received a vast and varied collection of film material from the Cecil B. DeMille Foundation through Mr. DeMille’s granddaughter, Cecilia DeMille Presley. Mrs. Presley generously helped the Archive process Mr. DeMille’s sizable personal film collection and lent her unique insight into her grandfather’s work. The collection includes Mr. DeMille’s personal prints of almost all of the films he directed and produced.
At a time when most companies were shooting in New York and New Jersey, Mr. DeMille became one of the first filmmakers to mount productions in Hollywood. His first films, many of which survive in the DeMille Collection, showcased the untamed landscape around Los Angeles. DeMille soon emerged as a driving force in early Hollywood, turning his talents to lavish and opulent productions set in distant lands and times. Many of DeMille’s films helped change the rapidly developing art form. His influence over the world of filmmaking is also apparent in many of the nonfiction elements in the collection, including newsreels featuring stories about his travels, his work for the Hollywood community, and the dedication of the site of his first film shoot as a historical landmark.
In addition to DeMille’s professionally produced films, the collection is home to fascinating footage showing DeMille in a more personal light. The collection includes home movies featuring scenes of the director and his children playing in the pool, celebrating birthdays, and fishing; many reels of behind-the-scenes footage of DeMille’s most famous films; and outtakes and test footage for both realized and unrealized projects. Mr. DeMille traveled extensively to research for his films, and some of his test footage captures locales such as Egypt and Mexico as they were in the 1940s and 1950s.
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