Want to know the best Cecil B. DeMille movies? How about the worst Cecil B. DeMille movies? Curious about Cecil B. DeMille box office grosses or which Cecil B. DeMille movie picked up the most Oscar nominations? Need to know which Cecil B. DeMille movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information and much more.
“I make my pictures for people, not for critics.” – Cecil B. DeMille.
Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959) was one of the most successful directors in the history of Hollywood. The best way to realize just how successful DeMille was, is to say that Steven Spielberg is the modern day Cecil B. DeMille. They both made many blockbuster movies, they both directed movies for almost 50 years, they both ran studios, they both remained relevant even as they got older and they both changed how movies were made. Since we had already written a movie page on Spielberg we figured it was time to do a page on Mr. DeMille.
Drivel part: Gotta give my wife kudos. Currently she is getting her masters degree from the College of William and Mary. Recently, my wife came home from college and gave me a book that she had checked out from the William and Mary library (which is one awesome library). She said, “I think you will find this book interesting.” The book she handed me was Cecil B. DeMille’s Hollywood by Robert S. Birchard. This book turned out to have box office information and production costs on almost every single DeMille movie ever made. For someone who spends a lot of time searching for long lost box office information, I can tell you that this was an awesome find by my wife. There is no way I would have even thought about doing this page without that book. So if you find this page interesting…then you have to thank my awesome wife…because without her there is no way I would have done this page. Kudos to Robert S. Birchard too…as he wrote a book that is educational and interesting.
Cecil B. DeMille’s IMDb page shows 80 directing credits from 1914-1956. This page will rank 67 Cecil B. DeMille movies from Best to Worst in seven different sortable columns of information. The remaining 13 credits were short films…..and were not included in the rankings.
Cecil B. DeMille Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort Cecil B. DeMille movies by the stars of his movies.
- Sort Cecil B. DeMille movies by the actual box office grosse (in millions)
- Sort Cecil B. DeMille movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Cecil B. DeMille movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Cecil B. DeMille movie received and
- Sort Cecil B. DeMille movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
- Use the search and sort button to make this page very interactive.
Stats and Possibly Interesting Things From The Above Cecil B. DeMille Table
- Thirty-two Cecil B. DeMille movies crossed the magical $100 million domestic gross mark. That is a percentage of 47.76% of his movies listed. The Ten Commandments (1956) was his biggest box office ht when looking at adjusted domestic box office gross.
- An average Cecil B. DeMille movie grossed $145.90 million in adjusted box office gross.
- Using RottenTomatoes.com’s 60% fresh meter. 35 of Cecil B. DeMille’ movies are rated as good movies…or 52.23% of their movies. Something To Think About (1920) is his highest rated movie while Chimmie Fadden Out West (1915) was his lowest rated movie.
- Thirteen Cecil B. DeMille movie received at least one Oscar® nomination in any category…..or *68.42% of his movies. *48 of his movies were made before the birth of the Academy Awards®
- Six Cecil B. DeMille movie won at least one Oscar® in any category…..or *31.57% of his movies.
- An average Ultimate Movie Ranking (UMR) Score is 40.00. 40 Cecil B. DeMille movies scored higher than that average….or 59.70% of his movies. The Ten Commandments (1923) got the the highest UMR Score while Chimmie Fadden Out West (1915) got the lowest UMR Score.
Possibly Interesting Facts About Cecil B. DeMille
1. Cecil B. DeMille was born in born in Ashfield, Massachusetts in 1881.
2. Cecil B. DeMille was one of the 36 co-founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
3. Cecil B. DeMille was nominated for 3 Oscars®. He picked up a Best Director Oscar® nomination for The Greatest Show On Earth (1952). He earned 2 Best Producer Oscar nominations for 1952’s The Greatest Show on Earth (he won) and 1956’s The Ten Commandments. He would have had many more nominations, but most of his movies pre-date the Oscars®.
4. Cecil B. DeMille did receive two Honorary Oscars®. In 1953 he received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. In 1950 he was given a Honorary Oscar® for “Distinguished motion picture pioneer for 37 years of brilliant showmanship.”
5. In 1952, Cecil B. DeMille was the first person to receive the Golden Globe® Cecil B. DeMille Award. The award is a lifetime achievement award….the list of Cecil B. DeMille Award Winners is truly impressive.
6. Many people know that Cecil B. DeMille made The Ten Commandments (1923 & 1956) two times in his career. How many people realize he made The Squaw Man THREE TIMES? He made the first Squaw Man in 1914, the second in 1918 and the third in 1931.
7. The movie line from Sunset Blvd (1950)… “All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up” was voted as the #7 movie quote by the American Film Institute. The line is spoken by Gloria Swanson. Swanson starred in two DeMille movies. Cecil B. DeMille agreed to do a cameo in the movie for a $10,000 fee and a brand-new Cadillac.
8. Cecil B. DeMille was married one time. He was married to Constance Adams from 1902 to his death in 1959. They had four children. Two time Oscar winner, Anthony Quinn, was DeMille’s son-in-law.
9. Cecil B. DeMille turned Charlton Heston into a star. DeMille signed the relatively unknown Heston to a 3 picture deal. Their first movie together, The Greatest Show On Earth (1952), was a massive hit and won the Best Picture Oscar®. Their second movie together, The Ten Commandments (1956), is one of the biggest box office hits ever! It is a shame that they never made the third film.
10. According to Cecil B. DeMille only 6 of his movies did not turn a profit. That is very impressive when you realize he made so many movies.
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences. Golden Globe® is a registered trademarks.
Cecil and Charleton Heston’s 3rd collaboration was to be The Buccaneer released in 1958. Cecil was very ill at the time and turned the direction over to his son-in-law Anthony Quinn (per IMDB).
Hey Dan….thanks for the information. That makes perfect sense. I read that Yul Brynner gave Quinn horrible time while making that movie. I guess the saying…”The mice will play when the cats away” fits that movie making experience.
I REMEMBER HIM AND THE LUX RADIO THEATHER
Hey Joseph….that is cool….I imagine Mr. DeMille was the original King of Media back in the day….thanks for stopping by.
WOW – he had some great movies. Such big office hits and great entertainment too. Glad your “awesome” wife found the book for you. THANKS AGAIN COGERSON. Keep up the good work……………………………
Hey BERN1960….thanks for the visit and the comment. DeMille was almost larger than life. I am lucky to have such an awesome wife.
How cool is this compilation? VERY!
Hey Jim…..thanks for the great compliment….glad you liked the page….tons of hard to find stats on some movies that are already over 100 years old.
I love both of his versions of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, the silent one and the 50s remake. I wish he had directed a film version of WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE as he once planned.
Hey Mark. I imagine his When Worlds Collide would have been ground breaking when it came to special effects. He still has a producing credit on that movie. I have not seen the 1923 Ten Commandments….but after writing this page I watched The King of Kings for the first time.