What is it about?
This chapter discusses two major epics of 1930s cinema from director Cecil B. DeMille, 'The Sign of the Cross' (1932) and 'Cleopatra' (1934) and their representations of the ancient world and images of Roman command and battle. It examines these films with a focus on marketing and the stardom of actors including Claudette Colbert, Henry Wilcoxon and Charles Laughton.
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Why is it important?
The specific qualities of screen stardom, in tandem with analysis of the individual star personae featured in this chapter’s selected films, have not been explored before in detail. The chapter explores how the Paramount studio’s in-house publications, along with the trade press and fan-magazines promoted these films, and their stars, in the context of contemporary ideas about leadership, politics, gender, and sexuality. This analysis can deepen our understanding of the films themselves, while indicating how studying cinema’s representations of the past can enlighten our understanding of the historical context in which they are made.
Perspectives
I greatly enjoyed writing this chapter, particularly for the way it allowed me to dig deeply into the world of film publications and follow the process of the films production, marketing, and reception through them. You really start to feel immersed in the film culture of the time when reading them. Plus, I got to know the two case study films much better, along with fascinating figures such as Claudette Colbert and rising star, Henry Wilcoxon, the brawny actor playfully termed ‘Hairy Henry’ in the fan-magazines!
Professor Michael Williams
University of Southampton
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: “Hail! The Sign of the Cross”: Industrial Campaigns and Commanding Performances in The Sign of the Cross (1932) and Cleopatra (1934), December 2023, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004686823_005.
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