Though filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille was by far the most famous member of the DeMille clan, many of his contemporaries considered his older brother William C. DeMille to be the more talented director. Certainly William was the better playwright, as he proved time and again in the early years of the 20th Century. The elder DeMille might have remained in the theatre all his life had he not been urged to head westward to write and direct motion pictures by his kid brother Cecil. William started his film career in 1914 at Cecil's stomping grounds, the Famous Players-Lasky studio (later Paramount). Affectionately referred to as "Pop" by his fellow workers, William eschewed Cecil's preoccupation with spectacle, concentrating instead on intimate stories with strong human values; as a result, he never displayed the awesome visual sense of his younger brother, but invariably "scored" in the emotional department. Few of DeMille's silent films survive today, though if such rare extant productions as Miss Lulu Bett (1921) are any indication, his was a career that warrants a full-scale reassessment someday. After talking pictures arrived, William C. DeMille cut down his output, regarding the silent cinema as being of more artistic value; he made his last film, His Double Life (co-directed by Arthur Hopkins) in New York in 1933. William C. DeMille was the father of choreographer Agnes DeMille, who once provided a succinct epitaph for both her father and her more celebrated uncle: "Cecil spent his lifetime building up a legend. Father was interested only in the truth."
| Title | Year | Editors' Rating | User Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Captain Fury
Screenwriter |
1939 | |||
|
The Emperor Jones
Producer |
1933 | |||
|
Two Kinds of Women
Director |
1932 | |||
|
The Secret Call
Play Author |
1931 | |||
|
Passion Flower
Director |
1930 | |||
|
This Mad World
Director |
1930 | |||
|
The Doctor's Secret
Director, Producer, Screenwriter |
1929 | |||
|
The Idle Rich
Director |
1929 | |||
|
Craig's Wife
Director |
1928 | |||
|
Tenth Avenue
Director |
1928 | |||
|
The Little Adventuress
Director |
1927 | |||
|
The Telephone Girl
Play Author |
1927 | |||
|
For Alimony Only
Director |
1926 | |||
|
Splendid Crime
Director, Producer, Screenwriter |
1926 | |||
|
The Runaway
Director |
1926 | |||
|
Braveheart
Short Story Author |
1925 | |||
|
Locked Doors
Director |
1925 | |||
|
Lost -- A Wife
Director |
1925 | |||
|
Men and Women
Director, Producer |
1925 | |||
|
New Brooms
Director |
1925 | |||
|
The Night Club
Play Author |
1925 | |||
|
Classmates
Play Author |
1924 | |||
|
Don't Call It Love
Director |
1924 | |||
|
Fast Set
Director |
1924 | |||
|
Icebound
Director |
1924 | |||
|
The Bedroom Window
Director |
1924 | |||
|
The Warrens of Virginia
Play Author, Screenwriter |
1924 | |||
|
Grumpy
Director, Producer |
1923 | |||
|
Marriage Maker
Director, Producer |
1923 | |||
|
Only 38
Director, Producer |
1923 | |||
|
World's Applause
Director, Producer |
1923 | |||
|
Bought and Paid for
Director |
1922 | |||
|
Clarence
Director |
1922 | |||
|
Nice People
Director, Producer |
1922 | |||
|
Trip To Paramountown
Actor |
1922 | |||
|
After the Show
Director |
1921 | |||
|
Miss Lulu Bett
Director |
1921 | |||
|
What Every Woman Knows
Director |
1921 | |||
|
Conrad in Quest of His Youth
Director |
1920 | |||
|
Jack Straw
Director |
1920 | |||
|
Midsummer Madness
Director, Producer |
1920 | |||
|
Prince Chap
Director |
1920 | |||
|
Why Change Your Wife?
Screenwriter |
1920 | |||
|
For Better, for Worse
Screenwriter |
1919 | |||
|
Mirandy Smiles
Director |
1918 | |||
|
The Mystery Girl
Director |
1918 | |||
|
The Ghost House
Director |
1917 | |||
|
The Secret Game
Director |
1917 | |||
|
Anton the Terrible
Director |
1916 | |||
|
Common Ground
Director |
1916 | |||
|
Maria Rosa
Screenwriter |
1916 | |||
|
The Ragamuffin
Director |
1916 | |||
|
After Five
Screenwriter |
1915 | |||
|
Carmen
Screenwriter |
1915 | |||
|
Secret Orchard
Screenwriter |
1915 | |||
|
The Goose Girl
Screenwriter |
1915 | |||
|
The Puppet Crown
Screenwriter |
1915 | |||
|
The Warrens of Virginia
Screenwriter |
1915 | |||
|
The Wild Goose Chase
Screenwriter |
1915 | |||
|
Rose of the Rancho
Actor |
1914 | |||
|
Strongheart
Short Story Author |
1914 | |||
|
The Master Mind
Supervisor/Manager |
1914 | |||
|
The Only Son
Supervisor/Manager |
1914 |