1.
Film director
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A film director is a person who directs the making of a film. Generally, a film director controls a films artistic and dramatic aspects, the director has a key role in choosing the cast members, production design, and the creative aspects of filmmaking. Under European Union law, the director is viewed as the author of the film, the film director gives direction to the cast and crew and creates an overall vision through which a film eventually becomes realized, or noticed. Directors need to be able to mediate differences in creative visions, there are many pathways to becoming a film director. Some film directors started as screenwriters, cinematographers, film editors or actors, other film directors have attended a film school. Some outline a general plotline and let the actors dialogue, while others control every aspect. Some directors also write their own screenplays or collaborate on screenplays with long-standing writing partners, some directors edit or appear in their films, or compose the music score for their films. Film directors create a vision through which a film eventually becomes realized/noticed. Realizing this vision includes overseeing the artistic and technical elements of production, as well as directing the shooting timetable. This entails organizing the crew in such a way as to achieve their vision of the film. This requires skills of leadership, as well as the ability to maintain a singular focus even in the stressful. Moreover, it is necessary to have an eye to frame shots and to give precise feedback to cast and crew, thus. Thus the director ensures that all involved in the film production are working towards an identical vision for the completed film. The set of varying challenges he or she has to tackle has been described as a jigsaw puzzle with egos. It adds to the pressure that the success of a film can influence when, omnipresent are the boundaries of the films budget. Additionally, the director may also have to ensure an intended age rating, thus, the position of film director is widely considered to be a highly stressful and demanding one. It has been said that 20-hour days are not unusual, under European Union law, the film director is considered the author or one of the authors of a film, largely as a result of the influence of auteur theory. Auteur theory is a film criticism concept that holds that a directors film reflects the directors personal creative vision
2.
Television program
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It may be a single production, or more commonly, a series of related productions. A limited number of episodes of a show may be called a miniseries or a serial or limited series. Television series are without a fixed length and are divided into seasons or series. While there is no defined length, U. S. industry practice has traditionally favored longer television seasons than those of other countries, a one-time broadcast may be called a special, or particularly in the UK a special episode. A television film is a film that is initially broadcast on television rather than released in theaters or direct-to-video, a program can be either recorded, as on video tape, other various electronic media forms, played with an on-demand player or viewed on live television. Television programs may be fictional, or non-fictional and it may be topical, or historical. They could be primarily instructional or educational, or entertaining as is the case in situation comedy, a drama program usually features a set of actors playing characters in a historical or contemporary setting. The program follows their lives and adventures, except for soap opera-type serials, many shows especially before the 1980s, remained static without story arcs, and the main characters and premise changed little. If some change happened to the characters lives during the episode, because of this, the episodes could be broadcast in any order. Since the 1980s, there are series that feature progressive change to the plot. For instance, Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere were two of the first American prime time television series to have this kind of dramatic structure. While the later series, Babylon 5 is an example of such production that had a predetermined story running over its intended five-season run. In 2012, it was reported that television was growing into a component of major media companies revenues than film. Some also noted the increase in quality of television programs. When a person or company decides to create a new series, they develop the elements, consisting of the concept, the characters, the crew. Then they offer it to the networks in an attempt to find one interested enough to order a prototype first episode of the series. They want very much to get the word out on what types of shows they’re looking for, to create the pilot, the structure and team of the whole series must be put together. If the network likes the pilot, they pick up the show to air it the next season, sometimes they save it for mid-season, or request rewrites and further review
3.
Batman (1989 film)
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Batman is a 1989 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and produced by Jon Peters, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. It is the first installment of Warner Bros. initial Batman film series, the film stars Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman, alongside Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Pat Hingle, Billy Dee Williams, Michael Gough and Jack Palance. In the film, Batman is widely believed to be an urban legend until he goes to war with a rising criminal mastermind known as the Joker. After Burton was hired as director in 1986, Steve Englehart, Batman was not greenlit until after the success of Burtons Beetlejuice. Numerous A-list actors were considered for the role of Batman before Keaton was cast, Keatons casting caused a controversy since, by 1988, he had become typecast as a comedic actor and many observers doubted he could portray a serious role. Nicholson accepted the role of the Joker under strict conditions dictated a high salary. The tone and themes of the film were influenced in part by Alan Moore and Brian Bollands The Killing Joke, filming took place at Pinewood Studios from October 1988 to January 1989. The budget escalated from $30 million to $48 million, while the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike forced Hamm to drop out, uncredited rewrites were performed by Warren Skaaren, Charles McKeown and Jonathan Gems. Batman was a critical and financial success, earning over $400 million in box office totals and it was the fifth-highest-grossing film in history at the time of its release. The film received several Saturn Award nominations and a Golden Globe nomination, as Gotham City approaches its bicentennial, Mayor Borg orders district attorney Harvey Dent and police commissioner James Gordon to make the city safer. Meanwhile, reporter Alexander Knox and photojournalist Vicki Vale begin to investigate rumors of a vigilante nicknamed Batman who is targeting the citys criminals, Batmans alter-ego is Bruce Wayne, a billionaire industrialist who, as a child, witnessed his parents murder at the hands of a psychotic robber. At a fundraiser for the bicentennial in Wayne Manor, Bruce meets and falls for Vale, however, the evening is cut short as Bruce is alerted to Commissioner Gordons sudden departure due to police business and leaves to investigate as Batman. Mob boss Carl Grissom, who has already been targeted by Dent, with the help of corrupt police lieutenant Max Eckhardt, Grissom sets Napier up to be killed in a raid at Axis Chemicals. However, Grissoms plan is foiled with the arrival of Commissioner Gordon, in the ensuing shootout, Napier kills Eckhardt, but Batman suddenly appears and, in a struggle, Napier is knocked into a vat of chemicals. Batman escapes and Napier is presumed dead, as Batman returns to his life as Bruce Wayne, Napier is revealed to have survived the accident, but left horribly disfigured with chalk white skin, emerald green hair, and a ruby red grin. Driven insane, Napier calls himself the Joker, killing Grissom, the Joker begins to terrorize Gotham City by lacing hygiene products with Smilex, a deadly chemical which causes victims to die laughing with the same maniacal grin as the Joker. Whilst searching for information on Batman, the Joker also falls for Vale and he lures her to the Gotham Museum of Art, but Batman arrives and rescues her. They escape in the Batmobile, but are pursued by the Jokers men, Batman takes Vicki to the Batcave, where he gives her information from his research on Smilex that will allow the citys residents to protect themselves from the toxin
4.
Batman (1966 film)
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Batman is a 1966 American superhero film based on the Batman television series, and the first full-length theatrical adaptation of the DC Comics character Batman. Released by 20th Century Fox, the film starred Adam West as Batman, the film hit theaters two months after the last episode of the first season of the television series. The film includes most members of the original TV cast, with the exception of Lee Meriwether as Catwoman, when Batman and Robin get a tip that Commodore Schmidlapp is in danger aboard his yacht, they launch a rescue mission using the batcopter. As Batman descends on the bat-ladder to land on the yacht it suddenly vanishes beneath him and he rises out of the sea with a shark attacking his leg. After Batman dislodges it with bat-shark repellent, the shark explodes, Batman and Robin head back to Commissioner Gordons office, where they deduce that the tip was a set-up by the United Underworld, a gathering of four of the most powerful villains in Gotham City. The United Underworld equip themselves with a dehydrator that can turn humans into dust, a made to resemble a penguin. It is revealed the yacht was really a projection, when The Dynamic Duo return to a buoy concealing a projector, they are trapped on the buoy by a magnet and targeted by torpedoes. They use a radio-detonator to destroy two of the missiles, and a porpoise sacrifices itself to intercept the last one, after Wayne escapes captivity, Penguin disguises himself as the Commodore and schemes his way into the Batcave along with five dehydrated henchmen. This plan fails when the henchmen unexpectedly disappear into antimatter once struck, Penguin mistakenly rehydrated them with heavy water. Ultimately the Duo are unable to prevent the kidnapping of the dehydrated United World Organizations Security Council, giving chase in the batboat to retrieve them, Robin uses a sonic charge weapon to disable Penguins submarine and force it to surface, where a fist fight ensues. Although Batman and Robin win the fight, Batman is heartbroken to find out that his true love Miss Kitka is actually Catwoman when her mask falls off, Commodore Schmidlapp accidentally breaks the vials containing the powdered Council members, mixing them together. Batman sets to work, constructing an elaborate filter to separate the mingled dust, Robin asks him whether it might be in the worlds best interests for them to alter the dust samples, so that humans can no longer harm one another. With the world watching, the Security Council is re-hydrated, Batman quietly expresses his sincere hope to Robin that this mixing of minds does more good than it does harm. The duo quietly leave United World Headquarters by climbing out of the window. The film includes most members of the original TV cast, the actors for Batman, Robin, Alfred, Gordon, OHara, Aunt Harriet, the Joker, the Penguin, and the Riddler all reprised their roles. Though Julie Newmar had at this point played Catwoman in her episode of the TV series. According to the 2004 Biography special celebrating the character of Catwoman it was said that Newmar was unable to reprise her role due to a back injury. Catwoman was nonetheless played by Newmar once again in the eleven episodes of season two of the series, Eartha Kitt would then play the character in three episodes on season three
5.
Alfred Hitchcock
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Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE was an English film director and producer, at times referred to as The Master of Suspense. He pioneered many elements of the suspense and psychological thriller genres and he had a successful career in British cinema with both silent films and early talkies and became renowned as Englands best director. Hitchcock moved to Hollywood in 1939, and became a US citizen in 1955 and he also fashioned for himself a recognisable directorial style. Hitchcocks stylistic trademarks include the use of movement that mimics a persons gaze. In addition, he framed shots to maximise anxiety, fear, or empathy and his work often features fugitives on the run alongside icy blonde female characters. Prior to 1980, there had long been talk of Hitchcock being knighted for his contribution to film, Hitchcock later received his knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in the 1980 New Year Honours. Hitchcock directed more than fifty films in a career spanning six decades and is often regarded as one of the most influential directors in cinematic history. His flair was for narrative, cruelly withholding crucial information and engaging the emotions of the audience like no one else, Hitchcocks first thriller, The Lodger, A Story of the London Fog, helped shape the thriller genre in film. His 1929 film, Blackmail, is cited as the first British sound feature film, while Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest. Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born on 13 August 1899 in Leytonstone and he was the second son and the youngest of three children of William Hitchcock, a greengrocer and poulterer, and Emma Jane Hitchcock. He was named after his fathers brother, Hitchcock was raised as a Roman Catholic, and sent to Salesian College, Battersea, and the Jesuit grammar school St Ignatius College in Stamford Hill, London. His parents were both of half-English and half-Irish ancestry and he often described a lonely and sheltered childhood that was worsened by his obesity. Around age five, Hitchcock recalled that to him for behaving badly. This incident implanted a lifelong fear of policemen in Hitchcock, and such harsh treatment, sources vary on Hitchcocks performance in school. Gene Adair reports that by most accounts, Alfred was only an average, or slightly above-average, however, McGilligan writes that Hitchcock certainly excelled academically. When Hitchcock was 15, his father died, in that same year, he left St. Ignatius to study at the London County Council School of Engineering and Navigation in Poplar, London. After leaving, he became a draftsman and advertising designer with a company called Henleys. Hitchcock joined a regiment of the Royal Engineers in 1917
6.
Psycho (1960 film)
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When originally made, Psycho was seen as a departure from Hitchcocks previous film North by Northwest, having been filmed on a low budget, with a television crew and in black and white. Psycho is now considered one of Hitchcocks best films and praised as a work of cinematic art by international film critics. After Hitchcocks death in 1980, Universal Studios began producing follow-ups, in 1992, the US Library of Congress deemed the film culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. During a lunchtime tryst in Phoenix, Arizona, a real estate secretary named Marion Crane discusses with her boyfriend, Sam Loomis, after lunch, Marion returns to work, where a client drops off a $40,000 cash payment on a property. Her boss asks her to deposit the money in the bank, returning home, she begins to pack for an unplanned trip, deciding to steal the money and give it to Sam in Fairvale, California. She is seen by her boss on her way out of town, during the trip, she pulls over on the side of the road and falls asleep, only to be awakened by a state patrol officer. He is suspicious about her nervous behavior but allows her to drive on, shaken by the encounter, Marion stops at an automobile dealership and trades in her Ford Mainline, with its Arizona license plates, for a Ford Custom 300 that has California tags. Her transaction is all for naught—the highway patrolman sees her at the car dealership, driving on, Marion encounters a sudden rainstorm and decides to stop for the night at the Bates Motel, the proprietor, Norman Bates, invites her to a light dinner after she checks in. She accepts, but then hears an argument between Norman and his mother about bringing a woman into her house. They eat in the parlor, where he tells her about his hobby of taxidermy and his life with his mother. Returning to her room, Marion decides to go back to Phoenix to return the stolen money and she prepares to take a shower, unaware that Norman is spying on her. As she is showering, a female figure suddenly comes in. A week later, Marions sister Lila arrives in Fairvale and confronts Sam about the whereabouts of her sister, a private investigator named Arbogast approaches them and confirms that Marion is wanted for stealing the $40,000 from her employer. He eventually comes across the Bates Motel, where Normans behavior arouses his suspicions, after hearing that Marion had met with Normans mother, he asks to speak with her, but Norman refuses. Arbogast calls Lila and Sam, informing them of what he has discovered and he goes to the Bates home in search of her, as he reaches the top of the stairs, Mrs. Bates suddenly appears from the bedroom and murders him. When Lila and Sam do not hear from Arbogast, they go to the local sheriff, concerned, Lila and Sam make their way to the motel. Norman takes his mother from her room, telling her he needs to hide her for a while in the fruit cellar. At the motel, Lila and Sam meet Norman, Sam distracts him by striking up a conversation while Lila sneaks up to the house
7.
The Mummy (1999 film)
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It is a loose remake of the 1932 film The Mummy, which starred Boris Karloff in the titular role. Filming began in Marrakech, Morocco, on May 4,1998, and lasted seventeen weeks, the crew had to endure dehydration, sandstorms, the visual effects were provided by Industrial Light & Magic, who blended film and computer-generated imagery to create the titular Mummy. Jerry Goldsmith provided the orchestral score, the Mummy opened on May 7,1999, and grossed $43 million in 3,210 theaters during its opening weekend in the United States, a surprise hit, the film went on to gross $416 million worldwide. The box-office success led to a 2001 sequel, The Mummy Returns, as well as The Mummy, The Animated Series, seven years later, the third installment, The Mummy, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, opened on August 1,2008. Universal Pictures also opened a roller coaster, Revenge of the Mummy, novelizations of the film and its sequels were written by Max Allan Collins. In Thebes, Egypt,1290 BC, high priest Imhotep has an affair with Anck-su-Namun. When the Pharaoh discovers the affair, Imhotep and Anck-su-Namun assassinate him, Imhotep flees, while Anck-su-Namun kills herself, intending for Imhotep to resurrect her. Imhotep and his priests steal her corpse and travel to Hamunaptra, the city of the dead, but the ritual is stopped by Setis bodyguards. Imhoteps priests are all mummified alive, while Imhotep himself is sentenced to suffer the Hom Dai, Imhotep is sealed away in a sarcophagus at the feet of a statue of the Egyptian god Anubis and kept under strict surveillance by the Medjai to prevent Imhoteps return. In 1926, Jonathan Carnahan presents his sister Evelyn, a Cairo librarian and aspiring Egyptologist, with a box and map. Jonathan reveals he stole the box from an American adventurer, Rick OConnell, Rick makes a deal with Evelyn to lead them there if they release him from prison. Rick leads Evelyn and her party to the city, where the group encounters a band of American treasure hunters guided by Ricks cowardly colleague Beni Gabor, the expeditions are attacked by the Medjai, led by the warrior Ardeth Bay. Against Ardeths advice to leave the city, the two continue to excavate. Evelyn searches for the famous Book of the Living, a made of pure gold. Instead of finding the book, she, Rick, and Jonathan stumble upon the statue of Anubis, the team of Americans, meanwhile, discover the black Book of the Dead, accompanied by canopic jars carrying Anck-su-Namuns preserved organs. At night, Evelyn takes the Book of the Dead and reads a page aloud, the expeditions return to Cairo, but Imhotep follows them with the help of Beni. Imhotep returns to full strength by killing the Americans one by one, seeking a way to stop Imhotep, Rick, Evelyn and Jonathan meet Ardeth at a museum. Ardeth hypothesizes that Imhotep wants to resurrect Anck-su-Namun again and plans to do so by sacrificing Evelyn, Evelyn believes that if the Book of the Dead brought Imhotep back to life, the Book of the Living can kill him again, and deduces the books whereabouts
8.
The Italian Job
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The Italian Job is a 1969 British caper film, written by Troy Kennedy Martin, produced by Michael Deeley and directed by Peter Collinson. Subsequent television showings and releases on video have made it known in the United Kingdom. Its soundtrack was composed by Quincy Jones, and includes On Days Like These sung by Matt Monro over the opening credits, lead actor Michael Caine is among its singers. In November 2004, Total Film named The Italian Job the 27th greatest British film of all time, the line Youre only supposed to blow the bloody doors off. By Caine was voted favourite film one-liner in a 2003 poll of 1,000 film fans, the popularity of the film has led to parodies and allusions in other films and productions, including a 2003 remake. Charlie Croker, a Cockney criminal, is released from prison with the intention of doing a big job in Italy. He soon meets with the widow of his friend and fellow thief Roger Beckermann, Croker breaks back into his former prison to convince Mr. Bridger, the head of a huge criminal empire, to finance the plan. Bridger, who has bribed almost all of the guards to work for him, initially rejects the plan. With Bridgers backing, Croker recruits computer expert Professor Peach, his girlfriend Lorna, after planning and training, Croker and crew set out for Turin. Mafia boss Altabani and his underlings are waiting in the Alps at the pass where they killed Beckermann. Altabani warns Croker that the Mafia are aware of the intentions and smashes their Jaguar E-Type cars. Croker tells Altabani that Mr. Bridger will avenge their deaths by attacking the Italian community in Britain, Altabani lets them go, ordering them to return to England. Instead, they proceed with the plan, replacing the control systems magnetic tape data storage reels. On the day of the robbery, Croker sends gang member Birkinshaw, disguised as a football fan, the substitute data reel then causes widespread traffic chaos. The gang converge on the convoy, overpower the guards. There, the transfer the gold to the Minis. Altabani recognises that If they planned this jam, they must have planned a way out, the getaway is timed perfectly, and they throw off the police by driving through a large sewer pipe. As Mr. Bridger receives the cheers and adulation of his fellow prison inmates and they then unload the gold and dispose of the Minis by pushing them off the mountainside
9.
Scarface (1983 film)
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Scarface is a 1983 American crime film directed by Brian De Palma and written by Oliver Stone, a remake of the 1932 film of the same name. The film tells the story of Cuban refugee Tony Montana who arrives in 1980s Miami with nothing, the cast also features Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Steven Bauer, and Michelle Pfeiffer. Scarface was released on December 9,1983 and was a box office success, initial critical reception was mixed, with criticism over excessive violence and profanity and graphic drug usage. Some Cuban expatriates in Miami objected to the portrayal of Cubans as criminals. In the years followed, the film has received reappraisal from critics, considered by some to be one of the best mob films ever made. Screenwriters and directors such as Martin Scorsese have praised the film, which has been referenced extensively in rap music, comic books, and video games. In 1980, Cuban refugee Antonio Tony Montana arrives in Miami, Florida, the four are released from the camp in exchange for assassinating a former Cuban government official at the request of wealthy drug dealer Frank Lopez, and they are given green cards. They become dishwashers in a diner, Franks henchman Omar Suarez gives the group the opportunity to purchase cocaine from Colombian dealers, but the deal collapses. Angel is dismembered with a chainsaw, while Manny and Chi-Chi rescue Tony, suspecting that Omar betrayed them, Tony and Manny insist on personally delivering the recovered drugs and money to Frank. During their meeting, Tony is attracted to Franks girlfriend Elvira Hancock and he and Manny are hired to work for Frank. Months later, Tony visits his mother Georgina and younger sister Gina, disgusted by his life of crime, Georgina throws Tony out. Manny comments on Ginas beauty before being warned by Tony to stay away from her, Frank sends Tony and Omar to Bolivia to meet with cocaine kingpin Alejandro Sosa. Tony negotiates a deal without Franks approval, angering Omar, who leaves to contact Frank, Sosa claims that Omar is a police informant and then has Tony witness as a beaten Omar is hanged from a helicopter. Tony vouches for Franks organization, so Sosa agrees to the deal, back in Miami, Frank is infuriated by Omars demise and the unauthorized deal struck by Tony, prompting Tony to establish his own organization. At a nightclub, corrupt detective Mel Bernstein attempts to extort money from Tony in return for protection and information. Tony angers Frank further by openly pursuing Elvira in the club, Gina is also there, and Tony notices her dancing and being groped by a man. Hit men attempt to assassinate Tony, but he escapes from the club, Tony, Manny, and Chi-Chi go to Franks office, certain that his former boss sent both Bernstein and the assassins. At gunpoint, Frank confesses to his involvement and begs for his life, Tony marries Elvira and becomes the dealer of Sosas supplies
10.
Al Pacino
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Alfredo James Al Pacino is an American actor of stage and screen, filmmaker, and screenwriter. DeMille Award, and the National Medal of Arts and he is also one of few performers to have won a competitive Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony Award for acting, dubbed the Triple Crown of Acting. He achieved international acclaim and recognition for his role as Michael Corleone in Francis Ford Coppolas The Godfather. He received his first Oscar nomination and would reprise the role in the successful sequels The Godfather Part II. Pacinos performance as Corleone is now regarded as one of the greatest screen performances in film history, for his performances in The Godfather, Dick Tracy and Glengarry Glen Ross, Pacino was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. A lifelong fan of Shakespeare, Pacino directed and starred in Looking for Richard, a film about the play Richard III. He has also acted as Shylock in a 2004 feature film adaptation, since 1994, Pacino has been the joint president of the Actors Studio with Ellen Burstyn and Harvey Keitel. Pacino was born in New York City, to Sicilian-American parents Salvatore Pacino and Rose and his mother moved to The Bronx to live with her parents, Kate and James Gerardi, who, coincidentally, had come from a town in Sicily named Corleone. His father, who was from San Fratello in the Province of Messina, moved to Covina, California, in his teen years Sonny, as he was known to his friends, aimed to become a baseball player, and was also nicknamed The Actor. Pacino went through Herman Ridder Junior High School, but in secondary school dropped out of many classes and he attended the High School of Performing Arts, but dropped out of school at age 17. His mother disagreed with his decision, they argued and he left home and he worked at low-paying jobs, messenger, busboy, janitor, and postal clerk, to finance his acting studies. He once worked in the room for Commentary magazine. He began smoking and drinking at age nine, and took up casual cannabis use at age 13 and his two closest friends died from drug abuse at the ages of 19 and 30. Growing up in The Bronx, he got into fights and was considered something of a troublemaker at school. He acted in basement plays in New Yorks theatrical underground but was rejected for the Actors Studio while a teenager, Pacino then joined the Herbert Berghof Studio, where he met acting teacher Charlie Laughton, who became his mentor and best friend. In this period, he was unemployed and homeless, and sometimes slept on the street, in theaters. In 1962, his mother died at the age of 43, the following year, Pacinos grandfather James Gerardi, one of the most influential people in his life, also died. After four years at HB Studio, Pacino successfully auditioned for the Actors Studio, the Actors Studio is a membership organization of professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights in the Hells Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City
11.
Cecil B. DeMille
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Cecil Blount DeMille was an American filmmaker. Between 1913 and 1956, he made a total of 70 features and he is acknowledged as a founding father of the cinema of the United States and the most commercially successful producer-director in film history. His films were distinguished by their scale and by his cinematic showmanship. He made silent films of every genre, social dramas, comedies, Westerns, farces, morality plays, DeMille began his career as a stage actor in 1900. He later moved to writing and directing stage productions, some with Jesse Lasky, DeMilles first film, The Squaw Man, was also the first feature film shot in Hollywood. Its interracial love story made it a hit and it put Hollywood on the map. The continued success of his productions led to the founding of Paramount Pictures with Lasky and his first biblical epic, The Ten Commandments, was both a critical and financial success, it held the Paramount revenue record for twenty-five years. In 1927 he directed The King of Kings, a biography of Jesus of Nazareth, the Sign of the Cross was the first sound film to integrate all aspects of cinematic technique. Cleopatra was his first film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, after more than thirty years in film production, DeMille reached the pinnacle of his career with Samson and Delilah, a biblical epic which did an all-time record business. Along with biblical and historical narratives, he directed films oriented toward neo-naturalism. He went on to receive his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director for his circus drama The Greatest Show on Earth and his last and most famous film, The Ten Commandments, is currently the sixth-highest-grossing film of all time, adjusted for inflation. He was also the first recipient of the Golden Globe Cecil B, DeMille Award, which was later named in his honor. There are several variants of DeMilles surname and his familys Dutch surname was originally spelled de Mil and then became de Mille. As an adult, he adopted the spelling DeMille for professional purposes, the family name de Mille was used by his children Cecilia, John, Richard, and Katherine. DeMilles brother William and his daughters, Margaret and Agnes, as well as DeMilles granddaughter, Cecilia de Mille Presley, Cecil Blount DeMille was born in Ashfield, Massachusetts, while his parents were vacationing there, and grew up in Washington, North Carolina. His father, Henry Churchill de Mille, was a North Carolina-born dramatist and lay reader in the Episcopal Church and his mother was Matilda Beatrice DeMille, whose parents were both of German Jewish heritage. She emigrated from England with her parents in 1871 when she was 18, Beatrice grew up in a middle-class English household. DeMilles mother was related to British politician Herbert Louis Samuel, DeMilles parents met as members of a music and literary society in New York
12.
The Ten Commandments (1956 film)
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The Ten Commandments is a 1956 American biblical epic film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille, shot in VistaVision, and released by Paramount Pictures and it is a partial remake of his 1923 silent film of the same title, and features one of the largest sets ever created for a film. The film was released to cinemas in the USA on 5 October 1956 and, in 1957, the film was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, winning the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. Charlton Heston was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture for his role as Moses. Yul Brynner won the National Board of Review Award for Best Actor for his role as Rameses and his roles in Anastasia and The King. According to Guinness World Records, in terms of exhibition it is the seventh most successful film of all-time when the box office gross is adjusted for inflation. In 1999, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. In June 2008, the American Film Institute revealed its Ten Top Ten—the best ten films in ten American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community, the film was listed as the tenth best film in the epic genre. Network television has aired the film in time during the Passover/Easter season every year since 1968. Pharaoh Rameses I of Egypt has ordered the death of all firstborn Hebrew males, Bithiah, the Pharaohs daughter, finds the basket and decides to adopt the boy even though her servant, Memnet, recognizes the child is Hebrew. Prince Moses grows up to become a general, winning a war with Ethiopia. Moses loves Nefretiri, who is the princess and must marry the next Pharaoh. While working on the building of a city for Pharaoh Sethis jubilee, Moses meets the stonecutter Joshua, Moses saves an elderly woman from being crushed, and he scolds the overseer Baka. Moses does not know that the woman is his natural mother, Moses reforms the treatment of slaves on the project, but Prince Rameses, Mosess brother, charges him with planning an insurrection. Moses says he is making his workers more productive, Rameses wonders if Moses is the man the Hebrews are calling the Deliverer. Nefretiri learns from Memnet that Moses is the son of Hebrew slaves, Nefretiri kills Memnet but reveals the story to Moses only after he finds the piece of Levite cloth he was wrapped in as a baby, which Memnet had kept. Moses goes to Bithiah to learn the truth, Bithiah evades his questions, but Moses follows her to the home of Yoshebel and thus learns the truth, while also meeting his true brother, Aaron, and sister, Miriam. Moses learns more about the slaves by working with them, Nefretiri urges him to return to the palace so he may help his people when he becomes pharaoh, to which he agrees after he completes a final task
