Cecil B DeMille and the Golden Calf

In an illustrated talk, Simon Louvish re-examines Hollywood's most enduring legend who directed lavish recreations of The King of Kings, The Sign of the Cross, Samson and Delilah and two versions of The Ten Commandments. In his day he provoked at least as much of an uproar as Mel Gibson. Was Cecil B DeMille a savant or sinner, artist or hack, defender of freedom or a hypocritical opportunist who embraced the golden calf of sheer commercialism? The iconic director is a pervasive puzzle - a mirror of the larger puzzle and contradictions of America itself.

Simon Louvish is author of six previous books of film history, biographies of Hollywood's comedy greats, from W. C. Fields and the Marx Brothers, through Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy, to Mae West and now Cecil B DeMille. He is also the author of 11 works of controversial fiction. He is married, lives in London, and rants about cinema at the London Film School.

Watch Cecil B DeMille's introduction for The Ten Commandments and the film's trailer, you'll see where the American Neo-Conservatives come from....