The Cecil B. DeMille Collection (Cleopatra/ The Crusades/ Four Frightened People/ Sign of the Cross/ Union Pacific)
List Price:
Our Price: $13.19
You Save: $46.79 (78%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: C. Aubrey Smith, Cecil B. DeMille, Henry Wilcoxon, Ian Keith, Loretta YoungBrand: NBC Universal
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 571 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-05-23
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Reviews of The Cecil B. DeMille Collection (Cleopatra/ The Crusades/ Four Frightened People/ Sign of the Cross/ Union Pacific)
DVD Review: A cast of thousands - but zero extras!
Summary: 4 Stars
Universal's collection of several of the great showman's biggest hits is a half-hearted affair - the films are there, but the showmanship is completely missing in a lackluster presentation.
De Mille's Cleopatra is much more fun than you'd expect, played as much for deliberately camp comedy as for spectacle and a lot pacier at 104 minutes than the Elizabeth Taylor version. Warren William plays Caesar as De Mille himself, Henry Wilcoxen plays Anthony as an oaf and Claudette Colbert takes centerstage as the kind of vixen who knows which side of the Roman Empire her bread is buttered. At times De Mille's tongue is firmly in his cheek - not least a wonderfully drawn out death scene from Leonard Mudie that wouldn't look out of place in Carry On Cleo or Cleo's spectacular seduction of Tony on that fabled barge - but there's some fine filmmaking here too, not least a great battle montage padded out with footage from the silent Ten Commandments. It ain't history but it is fun. Nice score from Rudolph Kopp too.
De Mille's The Crusades isn't history either, but it's certainly a lot more fun than its reputation implies. Wilcoxen reprises his macho oaf routine as Richard the Lionheart, but despite the film being best remembered for failing to make him the major star De Mile thought he could be, he's a surprisingly confident and rather likeable oaf: Wilcoxen was always a better actor than he was ever given credit for, even if his sword has a better part in the movie than he does. Loretta Young is the gushing God-botherer Berengaria and many of De Mille's regulars pop up - Ian Keith, C. Aubrey Smith, Joseph Schildkraut and John Carradine (all of whom feature in Cleopatra) - to add color to the monochrome proceedings. It's no Kingdom of Heaven, opting for simplistic melodrama at every turn, but it's done with zest and passion, not to mention some remarkably ambitious camerawork at times. And the songs are maddeningly catchy.
The Sign of the Cross was a surprise too, but not a pleasant one. Obviously intended as a pretty blatant ripoff of earlier movie versions of Quo Vadis (although the play its based on was first performed in 1895, the year Sienkewicz's novel was first published), it's hard to believe just how monotonous and relentlessly static De Mille managed to make it. Claudette Colbert and Charles Laughton are fun as Poppea and Nero, but they're hardly in the picture, far too much time being taken up with Frederic March hamming it up as Marcus Superbus (no, really) as he falls for Elissa Landi's Christian gal Mercia (no relation to the county). It's restrained to the point of being inert at times, with far too much of the dreary Christians, although it does perk up for the arena finale which features dwarfs battling Amazon women, elephants crushing Christians and gorillas menacing naked women. The last 15 minutes aside, Dreary with a capital D.
It's hard to avoid the phrase `run of De Mille' for Cecil B.'s Four Frightened People, one of his lesser efforts that sees four white folks jumping ship after an outbreak of Bubonic Plague and taking an ill-advised and badly guided trek through the Malay jungle that rips off their stereotypical civilized veneer to reveal the stereotypical clichés beneath. Claudette Colbert's Miss Jones goes from downtrodden mousy schoolmarm to red-hot, husky voiced wisegal almost as soon as she breaks her glasses, henpecked Herbert Marshall discovers his inner he-man (yes, they really do use that phrase), William Lundigan goes from self-obsessed indifference to obnoxious would-be lecher, while only Mary Boland's matron remains unchanged in her determination to bring civilization and a reduced birthrate to the islands. On the plus side, Leo Carillo is entertaining as their local guide who seems to think owning a tie makes him English and there are a few good exchanges - "It's practically virgin territory." "Perhaps that why Mr Corder doesn't like it." - and it's only 78 minutes long.
De Mille's last black and white film, Union Pacific is something of a rarity these days, rarely revived on TV and forgotten in the wake of the Biblical epics that form only a small part of his repertoire. Harking back to his earlier The Plainsman, instead of friends Gary Cooper and James Ellison fighting over Jean Arthur against the background of the Indian Wars on the Great Plains we get friends Joel McRea and Robert Preston fighting over Barbara Stanwyck against the background of the building of the first coast-to-coast railroad. McRea's the agent assigned to stop Brian Donlevy's saboteurs, with old friend Preston among their number and Stanwyck the Hollywood Irish engineer's daughter they both love. Throw in train wrecks, Injun attacks, the odd gunfight, plenty of spectacle, Akim Tamiroff and a complete disregard for history and you've got the closest thing to talkie version of John Ford's The Iron Horse going. It's not up to the 1939 gold standard, but it is entertaining hokum.
While this set does boast uncut versions of all five films, it's maddeningly devoid of any extras whatsoever - a real crime, since De Mille's overblown trailers, usually hosted by the man himself, are great value, as are the many promotional short films that were made for the films. Since all still exist and are regularly excerpted in documentaries, there's no excuse for such lazy treatment.
More The Cecil B. DeMille Collection (Cleopatra/ The Crusades/ Four Frightened People/ Sign of the Cross/ Union Pacific) reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
Description of The Cecil B. DeMille Collection (Cleopatra/ The Crusades/ Four Frightened People/ Sign of the Cross/ Union Pacific)
Legendary filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille earned a place in cinematic history when he helped create Hollywood?s first feature-length film, an event that established Hollywood as the motion picture capital of the world. A master of spectacular epics, his films garnered unparalled acclaim for their scope and grandeur. Now, for the first time ever, five of his most popular films are available in one premium DVD collection. Experience the breathtaking dangers and delights of ancient Rome in The Sign of the Cross; trek through a perilous jungle with Four Frightened People; thrill to the passion, suspense and intrigue of Cleopatra; journey back in time with the glorious story of The Crusades; and see how the West was really won in the explosive Union Pacific. With a glamorous roster of screen legends, including Claudette Colbert, Charles Laughton, Barbara Stanwyck, Anthony Quinn and many more, this 5-disc collection is a phenomenal reminder of the innovator who made moviemaking what it is today.Bestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Icons of Screwball Comedy, Volume 1 (If You Could Only Cook / Too Many Husbands / My Sister Eileen / She Wouldn't Say Yes)Sony; Release date: 2009-08-04; DVD
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
Forbidden Hollywood Collection: Volume Three (Other Men's Women / The Purchase Price / Frisco Jenny / Midnight Mary / Heroes for Sale / Wild Boys of the Road)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2009-03-24; DVD
Best price: $36.90
Price in other shops:
Allegheny UprisingNEW Line Home Video; Release date: 2007-05-22; DVD
Best price: $3.25
Price in other shops:
TCM Archives - Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Vol. 2 (The Divorcee / A Free Soul / Night Nurse / Three on a Match / Female)TCM Archives; Release date: 2008-03-04; DVD
Best price: $24.00
Price in other shops:
Stanley Kramer Film Collection (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner / Ship of Fools / The Member of the Wedding / The Wild One / The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T)Sony; Release date: 2008-02-12; DVD
Best price: $9.90
Price in other shops:
Marlene Dietrich: The Glamour Collection (Morocco/ Blonde Venus/ The Devil Is a Woman/ Flame of New Orleans/ Golden Earrings)NBC Universal; Release date: 2006-04-04; DVD
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops:
The Gary Cooper Collection (Design for Living / The Lives of a Bengal Lancer / Peter Ibbetson / The General Died at Dawn / Beau Geste)Universal Studios; Release date: 2005-05-31; DVD
Best price: $9.81
Price in other shops:
Carole Lombard - The Glamour Collection (Hands Across the Table/ Love Before Breakfast/ Man of the World/ The Princess Comes Across/ True Confession/ We're Not Dressing)NBC Universal; Release date: 2006-04-04; DVD
Best price: $9.20
Price in other shops:
Pre-Code Hollywood Collection (The Cheat / Merrily We Go to Hell / Hot Saturday / Torch Singer / Murder at the Vanities / Search for Beauty) (Universal Backlot Series)Universal Studios; Release date: 2009-04-07; DVD
Best price: $15.38
Price in other shops:
Cleopatra 75th Anniversary Edition (Universal Backlot Series)Cleopatra; Release date: 2009-04-07; DVD
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops: