I’m so glad that someone thought to capture this historic moment. What we’re seeing here is Cecil B. DeMille directing his cast of “The Squaw Man” which was the first important feature film made in California. This was taken on the film’s first day of principal photography, December 29, 1913. DeMille rented half a barn on the southeast corner of Selma Ave and Vine Street in Hollywood so I’m guessing those lemon trees behind the open-air set were there. The film was also his directorial debut so what we’re seeing Cecil B. DeMille at the very start of the making of the DeMille legend.
Darryl H says: “The photo is actually not of DeMille, but of his co-director Oscar Apfel. The photo is a segment of a large panorama of the entire cast and crew in front of the Barn. In that original photo, DeMille is standing in the center dressed in white.”
When I was in the Navy decades ago, there was a sailor on my ship with the last name Demille. He was a distant relative. He said that on the set, there was somebody with a chair who was to be ready in a second to scoot it under the director whenever he wanted to sit. I wonder if that chair onstage is for that purpose.
I’m so glad that someone thought to capture this historic moment. What we’re seeing here is Cecil B. DeMille directing his cast of “The Squaw Man” which was the first important feature film made in California. This was taken on the film’s first day of principal photography, December 29, 1913. DeMille rented half a barn on the southeast corner of Selma Ave and Vine Street in Hollywood so I’m guessing those lemon trees behind the open-air set were there. The film was also his directorial debut so what we’re seeing Cecil B. DeMille at the very start of the making of the DeMille legend.
When I was in the Navy decades ago, there was a sailor on my ship with the last name Demille. He was a distant relative. He said that on the set, there was somebody with a chair who was to be ready in a second to scoot it under the director whenever he wanted to sit. I wonder if that chair onstage is for that purpose.
Rich, I’m going to assume that that IS the chair until proven otherwise.