Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood

27. The Woman God Forgot

27 Th~ Woman God Forgot An Artcraft Picture. Director: Cecil B. DeMille. Original story and scenario by Jeanie Macpherson. Art director: Wilfred Buckland. Photography: Alvin Wyckoff. Assistant directors: Charles Whittaker and Cullen B. "Hezie" Tate Picture started: July 2, 1917. Picture finished: August 10, 1917. Length: 5,292 feet (six reels). Cost: $1 15.420.32. Released: November 8, 1917. Gross: $340,504.98 Cast: Geraldine Farrar (Tezca), Wallace Reid (Alvarado), Theodore Kosloff (Guatemoc), Raymond Hatton (Montezuma), Hobart Bosworth (Hernando Cortes), Walter Long (Taloc), Charles B. Rogers (Cacamo), Olga Grey (Marina ), and Julia Faye (lady in waiting) The relative failure of Joan the Woman put Cecil B. DeMille in an awkward position. His agreement with Jesse Lasky allowed him to make lengthy "special productions" for road-show release, but it was clear that the market for twelve-reel epics was virtually nonexistent in 1917. As plans were being firmed for Geraldine Farrar's annual summer trek to the West Coast, DeMille received a less-than-subtle hint from the New York office. On March 10, 1917, Jesse Lasky wrote: IN CONFERENCES ATTENDED BY [Hiram] ABRAHAMS [sic] AND [W.E.] GREEN IT WAS STRONGLY URGED THAT YOU PRODUCE TWO PICTURES WITH FARRAR SIX THOUSAND FEET EACH COSTING ABOUT SEVENTy -FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS EACH INCLUDING HER SALARY INSTEAD OF ONE LONG EXPENSIVE PICTURE AS PLANNED ARGUMENT IS THAT WE COULD RELEASE THE PICTURES THROUGH ARTCRAFT AND GIVE THAT PROGRAM PRESTIGE AS WELL AS MAKE ASSURED PROFITS EQUIVALENT TO PROFITS THAT COULD BE MADE ON ONE BIG PICTURE GIVE THIS IMMEDIATE SERIOUS CONSIDERATION AND ADVISE YOUR OPINION DO YOU FEEL 112 The Woman God Forgot / 113 YOU CAN FIND TWO SUITABLE SUBJECTS FOR TWO SIX-REEL FARRAR PICTURES.! DeMille was wary-afraid that his status with Famous Players-Lasky was being eroded. "Before answering your suggestion ofdoing two Farrar pictures instead of one, there is strong rumor here that [D.W.] Griffith has joined us," DeMille replied. "While I assume this would have no bearing on my doing single big picture, I should like word from you that his joining us is not a factor in the matter."2 Lasky was able to give his old friend and associate some assurance: GRIFFITH IS ABOUT TO SIGN WITH ARTCRAFT FOR ONE YEAR TO DO SIX PICTURES OF SIX REELS EACH WITHOUT STARS[.] SINCE INTOLERANCE HE IS CONVINCED THERE IS NO MONEY IN BIG PICTURES AND WILL NOT DO A BIG PICTURE FOR AT LEAST ANOTHER YEAR HOWEVER, GRIFFITH HAS ABSOLUTELY NO BEARING ON YOUR DOING A BIG PICTURE . ... WE WOULD PROBABLY NOT BE ABLE TO PROFITABLY DISPOSE OF ANOTHER LONG PICTURE WITH FARRAR AS THE STAR[.] ON THE OTHER HAND TWO SIX-REEL PICTURES WOULD CAUSE A SENSATION BOOKED THROUGH ARTCRAFT AND WE WOULD BE ASSURED OF HANDSOME PROFITS WITH MUCH SMALLER INVESTMENT THIS IS OUR ONLY MOTIVE IN SUGGESTING CHANGE IN PLANS YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT I PERSONALLY WOULD NOT STAND FOR AN ALLIANCE WITH GRIFFITH INTERFERING WITH ANY OF YOUR PLANS[.p The Woman God Forgot deals with the Spanish conquest of Mexico and seems to have been planned as a "big" picture. One indication that DeMille was forced to limit the scope of The Woman God Forgot is that the $115,000 negative cost was far in excess of Lasky's $75,000 recommendation . Costumes and settings must have been in preparation before the cost-cutting measures were suggested. Despite the appearance of grandeur, however, the tighter budget is evident in the settings. For example , the exterior of the great Aztec pyramid was built against the side 114 / CedI B. DeMille's Hollywood of a hill and shot from a carefully selected angle, eliminating the need to build a freestanding set. The picture bears much in common with Joan the Woman. Again Wallace Reid plays a soldier from an invading army who falls in love with a daughter of the enemy. Tezca, daughter ofMontezuma, defies the gods ofthe Aztecs by refusing to permit the sacrifice ofher handmaiden, Marina. Taloc threatens that the gods will forget her. Later, when Alvarado comes to Montezuma as a representative ofCortes, he is wounded by the Aztecs. Tezca hides the wounded Alvarado from his Aztec assailants, and Alvarado tells her that he comes to conquer Mexico in the name of the Cross. As she embraces Alvarado, Tezca is discovered by Guatemoc. He tells Montezuma, who threatens to kill his daughter for harboring the stranger...