Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood

33. The Squaw Man (first remake)

33 Th~ Squaw Man (first r~mak~) An Artcraft Picture. A Cecil B. DeMille Production. Director: Cecil B. DeMille. Scenario by Beulah Marie Dix, from the play by Edwin Milton Royle. Photography : Alvin Wyckoff and King D. Gray Picture started: August 19, 1918. Picture completed: September 12, 1918. Length: 6,141 feet (six reels). Cost: $43,858.96. Released: December 15, 1918. Gross: $283,556.56 Cast: Elliott Dexter Uim Wynnegate), Thurston Hall (his cousin, Henry), Katherine MacDonald (Diana, Henry's wife), Helen Dunbar (Henry's mother), Winter Hall (Petrie), Ernest Joy (Fletcher), Herbert Standing (the bishop), Julia Faye (Lady Mable), Theodore Roberts (Big Bill), Noah Beery (Tabywana), Ann Little (Naturich), Raymond Hatton (Shorty), Jack Holt (Cash Hawkins), Monte Blue (Happy), Edwin Stevens (the sheriff), Guy Oliver (the deputy), Jack Herbert (the barkeeper), James Mason (Grouchy), and Pat Moore (Little Hal) Beginning with We Can't Have Everything DeMille was elevated to equal footing with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and William S. Hart. The words "A Cecil B. DeMille Production" were added to the main titles and his films were offered as a separate Artcraft series. This new arrangement brought him great status, butlittle else. Making DeMille the "star" of his own productions meant a reduction in the budget for name acting talent, and while DeMille could suggest properties to the New York office, he had no real power to pick and choose his projects. DeMille wanted to follow Till I Come Back to You with a production based on the exploits of Sir Henry Morgan, the British buccaneer, but Famous Players-Lasky would not hear of it. On June 24, 1918, DeMille received a wire from Jesse Lasky that spelled out the studio's attitude: REGARDING MORGAN BUCCANEER NO ONE HERE [in New York] AGREES WITH ME THIS WOULD BE 131 132 / Cedi B. DeMille's Hollywood GOOD SUBJECT FOR YOU AT PRESENT TIME SUCCESS OF NEXT DE MILLE SERIES DEPENDS ON POPULARITY OF FIRST FEW PICTURES AND OUR ASSOCIATES FEEL YOU OUGHT NOT TO TAKE CHANCES WITH THIS SUBJECT ON ACCOUNT OF IT BEING UNDOUBTEDLY COSTUME PLAY WHICH EXHIBITORS WILL RESENT AND PUBLIC MIGHT BE SLOW IN RESPONDING TO IN SPITE OF UNDOUBTED MERIT OF PRODUCTION STOP WE ADVISE LAYING ASIDE AND RECONSIDERING IT FOR FIFTH OR SIXTH OF DE MILLE SERIES NEXT SEASONl Not quite three weeks later, Lasky reached a decision on DeMille's next project: WOULD LIKE YOU TO DO THE SQUAW MAN WITH WILLIAM FAVERSHAM AS STAR FAVERSHAM LOOKS SPLENDID ... CONFIRM BY WIRE IF THIS IS AGREEABLE TO YOU SO CAN IMMEDIATELY CLOSE WITH FAVERSHAM AND MILTON ROYLE FOR RIGHTS OF PLAY THIS WOULD BE FIRST DE MILLE SPECIAL FOR NEXT SEASON ADVISE DATE FAVERSHAM SHOULD ARRIVE IN HOLLYWOOD ...2 DeMille replied with enthusiasm and some reservation: "I think Squaw Man idea excellent and will consider it closed as my next feature provided you give me your personal word that Faversham's appearance is in your opinion Okay. Remember you cannot make a hero out ofan old man...."3 For Lasky the appeal ofremaking The Squaw Man was based on the availability ofWilliam Faversham, who originated the role on stage. For DeMille it meant something more. Despite all of his subsequent successes , Cecil B. DeMille's standing in the industry was based on the original 1914 production of The Squaw Man, yet it was not really his picture. The proposed remake offered him an opportunity to show what he could do with Edwin Milton Royle's play on his own. Or perhaps he felt that going along with Lasky's suggestion was simply politically astute. The project was nearly stillborn, however. On July 16 Lasky wired: The Squaw Man (first remake) / 133 REGRET INFORM YOU SUDDEN CHANGE IN FAVERSHAM'S PLANS MAKES IT IMPERATIVE WE POSTPONE UNTIL LATE NEXT SEASON PROPOSED PRODUCTION OF SQUAW MAN IF WORK HAS BEEN COMMENCED ON SCENARIO SAME SHOULD BE STOPPED IMMEDIATELY AND LAID ASIDE UNTIL LATER STOP SILVIA BREMER AND WANDA PAWLEY ALSO [Elliott] DEXTER HAVE CREATED VERY FAVORABLE IMPRESSION IN WE CAN'T HAVE EVERYTHING THIS PICTURE SEEMS TO BE POPULAR SUCCESS PLAN IS NOW TO FEATURE EITHER OF THESE GIRLS OR BOTH WITH DEXTER IN FORTHCOMING SERIES OF DE MILLE PRODUCTIONS HAVE YOU ANY SUGGESTION OR IDEAS ON MATERIAL SUITABLE FOR THIS COMBINATION ADVISE DeMille would not be swayed. "I do not want Faversham for Squaw Man," he wrote. "Was much relieved when you...