- [on Joan the Woman (1916)] We have all watched the story develop from an idea into a massive production. I think Mr. DeMille has done wonderful things and I believe the scenario by Miss MacPherson to be a revelation to those who doubt that a long picture must rely on its spectacular features to the exclusion of its heart interest. It is true that throughout this picture there are various extraordinary spectacles, such as the battle scenes in the siege of Orleans, but one never loses sight of the central figure, her hopes, her ambitions, her disappointments and her failures.
- Joan of Arc - my favorite movie characterization - I gave to the full of my heart and soul. I spent as much thought and energy in making live again - if only on the shadow stage - the blessed Maid of Orleans, as upon any of my creations. The enthusiastic appreciation with which this photodrama has been received in almost every country in the world compensates me for all the physical risks I have taken in filming the play. For, at the very start it was understood that there was to be no "doubling" for risky passages. I would no more think of having some one substitute for my "physically violent" scenes in the movies than I would think of letting another sing my top notes at the opera. If I cannot do a thing absolutely and completely, I do not want to do it at all.
- My screen offspring have been as much children of my heart and soul and mind as my opera creations. The filming of Carmen (1915), my first portrayal on the screen, was one long period of undiluted joy - the glorious California weather, the beautifully appointed house there, the special studio built for my privacy and convenience!
- You will like The Woman God Forgot (1917), I believe. Her unusual appeal lies in the romantic mysteries of the Aztec race. We all know they represented the highest form of civilization among the natives of the American continent. Careful research into the many and sometimes mythical, chronicles of this ancient people revealed in Tezca, the daughter of Moctezuma, a personality peculiarly adaptable to a unique characterization. Such a close study of this character was required for a historically correct portrayal that I was put on my mettle to actually live the life of this woman of a dead race in her conflicting loves for Alvarado, the Spanish captain, and her own people.
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