Hollywood showman Cecil B. DeMille’s early Joan of Arc epic brings into conflict expectations of womanhood from history, both from the era and the history of cinema. Joan the Woman was DeMille’s first historical film, for which he cast notorious opera singer Geraldine Farrar in the title role.
Preceding Ruben Östlund’s splashy Triangle of Sadness by more than a century, Cecil B. DeMille’s prescient satire gleefully turns upper-class snobs into island castaways. Deprived of her luxurious comforts, Gloria Swanson’s snotty yet endearing socialite learns a tough lesson about life—and love.
Considered one of the earliest cinematic examples of the psychological drama, Cecil B. DeMille’s crime-and-punishment parable is a visionary masterwork. Employing then-nascent techniques of superimposition and parallel editing, The Whispering Chorus scales the weight of a guilty conscience.
Based on a play by Arthur Schnitzler, who also penned the source novel behind Eyes Wide Shut, Cecil B. DeMille’s sex comedy fizzes with naughtiness. Delightfully flighty as an upper-class newlywed, Gloria Swanson ushers in the roaring twenties and its carefree attitudes towards love and marriage.
One of the greatest stars to embody the sultry Carmen on stage, beloved diva Geraldine Farrar shocked the opera world when she took up the scandalous role in Cecil B. DeMille’s silent epic. A visual feast of the highest order, this eternal battle between the flesh and the will continues to enchant.
