"Cecil B. DeMille was one of the giants of twentieth-century Hollywood. His box-office record was unsurpassed, and his swaggering style established the public image for movie directors. His career was studded with big-budget epics that expressed a Victorian sensibility committed to uplift as much as entertainment." "In a forty-five-year career he directed seventy films and was involved as produce, co-director, screenwriter - even actor - in dozens of others. In addition to the biblical epics that distinguished his career, DeMille shot Westerns, realistic chamber dramas, and a series of daring and influential social comedies. Highly loyal to a core group of actors and production staff, he was largely responsible for making screen stars of Gloria Swanson, Charles Laughton, and Charlton Heston." "Drawing extensively on DeMille's personal archives and other primary sources, Robert S. Birchard offers a revealing portrait of the film-maker that goes behind studio gates and beyond DeMille's legendary persona. Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood is a detailed and definitive chronicle of cinematic work that changed the course of film history and a look at how movies were made during Hollywood's golden age."--BOOK JACKET.