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(2018) Cecil B. Demille, classical Hollywood, and modern American mass culture, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.
Explores how DeMille's historically themed films supported a consensus of national destiny. The chapter reviews the central themes of these works and concludes with a closer reading of the historical presentism manifest in two of these films: Union Pacific and Land of Liberty, both released in 1939. The first identifies a set of widely shared values for the country and the divine providence that, DeMille believed, guided these principles. The second was the film industry's official contribution to the 1939 New York World's Fair and by far the most popular attraction on the Midway. Examining the director's extensive production notes, one sees an early expression of American consensual history that mirrored contemporary academic trends in the years immediately preceding the Second World War.
Publication details
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-76986-8_4
Full citation:
Blanke, D. (2018). A new and filmable past, in Cecil B. Demille, classical Hollywood, and modern American mass culture, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 129-163.
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