86 Cecil B. DeMille Movies, Ranked Best to Worst

Norma Desmond, a faded silent film star living a reclusive life, is desperate to make a comeback and hires small-time screenwriter Joe to improve the script she is preparing. She convinces him to move into her Sunset Boulevard mansion, but erupts into a violent rage after he falls for young script reader Betty.

Infant Moses, set adrift in Nile to escape slaughter of first-born Hebrew males, is raised by Pharaoh Sethi’s sister and is disliked by Prince Ramses II. After discovering his Hebrew origins, he is banished from Egypt. As his divine mission is revealed, Moses returns to Egypt to liberate enslaved Hebrews and leads them to Mount Sinai where he receives God’s Ten Commandments.

This is a silent drama film, highlighting David Markely’s unselfish love for Ruth, a blacksmith daughter.  Rich, but cripple, he has always loved her and has financed her education. Later, howeve,r she runs away with a city worker and when he dies in a subway accident returns home pregnant with his child. Will David now come to her rescue? 

Dr. Edward Meade and his friend Richard Burton are both suitors for the hand of Sylvia Norcross. Richard leaves to join World War I, but Edward stays behind to take care of orphans. Sylvia marries Richard just before he leaves. When Richard is presumed dead in the war, she and Edward reconcile, but then Richard returns. 

Manslaughter is a drama film, which revolves around a rich society girl and her fiancé. When the former causes the death of a policeman, the latter prosecutes her and sends her to prison. Though she manages to reform herself in prison, her ex-fiancé becomes a wasted alcoholic. 

Although engaged to a socialite named Richard, Iris gets married to her chauffer Tom, who was secretly in love with her. Meanwhile, Richard falls for Shamrock, a poor laundress, after meeting her, when she comes to deliver laundry at his house. Richard decides to marry Shamrock, but soon, class differences begin to cause problems in both relationships.

When fight erupts between two groups led by Judith, a young atheist girl, and Bob, a devout Christian boy, they are sent to a reform school. Eventually the two fall in love and escape into the countryside, where Judith finds her faith in God. Known as Cecil B. DeMille's last completely silent movie, it also portrays the pathetic condition of the reform schools of that era.

While an alien invasion threatens the future of the human race, an American man Ray Ferrier struggles to survive the catastrophic nightmare, along with his family.   

Coal miner Hagon is sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit. Worried that his sister will be left alone after his execution, he puts out an advertisement, offering his body for $10,000. Cynthia on the other hand must marry within a month if she wants to inherit her grandfather’s fortune; but cannot marry her man unless she pays his wife $100,000. 

When a guest is absent at a dinner party, Mrs Mallory asks her unhappily married seamstress Mary Maddock to take her place. Things take a turn when Mary wins the heart of Nelson Rogers, who asks her to marry him. However, she decides to stay faithful to Steve, her abusive husband.

The Story of Dr. Wassell is a war film inspired by the war-time activities of Dr. Corydon M Wassell during the Second World War. The film portrays how Dr. Wassell coordinates the wounded servicemen and leads them to safety, after the American forces withdraw from Java, before the Japanese invasion. 

Based on a novella of the same name by French author Prosper Mérimée, this silent drama film depicts the story of a gypsy girl called Carmen and how she successfully seduces Don José, an officer of the Civil Guard, to facilitate her clan’s smuggling activities.  

An estranged married couple try to save their marriage by reconnecting on a road trip to a relative's funeral.

A notorious gangster named Louis Garrett murders a local tailor, but still he walks away scot-free. Soon, a group of high school students appeal to the town’s adults, but it seems to them that the people are too cowardly to stand up against Louis. Therefore, they decide to take matters into their own hands. They try to come up with a plan to lure him out.

Delilah is a beautiful courtesan, who tries to seduce Samson, one of the strongest men of his time. Her goal is to avenge her sister’s death and to know the secret behind Samson's strength.

A musical made during WWII to entertain troops, raise funds and boost morale. Silent Era-Star, Billy Webster is now a gateman at Paramount studios. However, his Navy serviceman son, Johnny, thinks he is a studio executive. As Johnny is arriving with his shipmates, to preserve his illusion, Billy takes help of studio switchboard-operator, Polly, to put up a show with Hollywood’s mega-stars.

The Greatest Show on Earth is a drama film which revolves around the lives of a clown, an elephant trainer and trapeze artists, who work in a circus.      

After learning that a new planet is headed towards Earth and it is going to destroy all living beings, a group of survivalists work together to build a rocket, hoping that it will take them to a new home where they will have a chance of survival.

King Richard of England does not wish to marry Princess Alice of France, so he agrees to be a part of the Third Crusade and embarks on a journey to the Holy Land of Jerusalem. On their way, he weds Princess Berengaria of Navarre who is later captured by Saladin, Sultan of Islam. Meanwhile, there is an internal plot to assassinate Richard too.

This is a semi fictional account of Jean Lafitte, the well-known French pirate and privateer operating in the Gulf of Mexico and his involvement in the War of 1812.  When the woman he loves, agrees to marry him if he gives up piracy, he sets up a trading post to sell luxury goods. But, before long his past deeds catches up with him and he has to take up arms once again. 

This 1930 pre-code musical comedy film tells the story of an upper class couple,  Bob and Angela Brooks. However, since Bob is unfaithful, to teach him a lesson, and to win back his love, Angela disguises herself as a mysterious devil woman aboard a magnificent ball, and tries to seduce her unknowing husband. 

This romantic adventure war drama film revolves around seven different people living in Madrid, whose lives are affected during the Spanish Civil War. To escape the war, some of the people try to escape by train. They include a woman named Carmelita, a newsman named Bill Dexter, and a fugitive named Eduardo.

White Gold is a silent western film which revolves around a beautiful young Mexican girl and a sheep rancher from Arizona, who get married, after which they return to the latter’s ranch, where he lives with his elderly father. The father is unable to accept the fact that his son is giving so much attention to her, which makes him dislike the girl. Therefore, he does everything that he can, to make her life as miserable as possible.  

When Michael Ramsay is going through hard times, his wife decides to leave him. However, when he gets rich again, she returns.

The Buccaneer is an adventure historical war film which takes us to the war of 1812, when the British forces target New Orleans. Jean Lafitte, a former pirate, is approached by the Americans, and they ask for his help in defending themselves. Lafitte agrees, as he seems to have taken a liking to the daughter of the Governor.  

Princess Vera is betrothed to Prince Dimitri, but she finds herself falling for a boatman named Feodor. She meets him again when the Revolution occurs, and Feodor becomes a leader in the Red Army.

The silent drama follows Jenny Lawrence, a naive city girl who moves to the redwoods during the California Gold Rush to live with her uncle. But on reaching she realizes her uncle is dead and his identity has been taken up by the bandit ‘Black’ Brown. The two form an uneasy alliance that develops into a romance. 

The Whispering Chorus is a silent drama film which revolves around the life of John Tremble, an impoverished cashier who steals a significant amount of money from his employer, and runs away to an isolated island. When he finds the body of a dead man, he decides to fake his own death, so that no one will come looking for him.

The Golden Chance is a silent romantic drama film which tells the story of Mary Denby, a woman who is forced to start working as a seamstress after her husband Steve starts wasting his money on booze. She is soon forced to become an escort to a millionaire Roger Manning, but her husband learns about this, and tries to blackmail him.  

Charles Murdock is not happy with his unattractive wife. While on a hunting trip, he meets a girl Juliet and falls for her. However, when his wife finds out, she becomes enraged. Shortly after, when Juliet’s name gets connected to a scandal due to a false report, Murdock decides to come to her rescue.

The Captive is a romantic drama war film which tells the story of a young woman named Sonia Martinovitch, who lives in a small farm, during the midst of the Balkan Wars. When her older brother Marco is killed in war, Sonia and her younger brother Milo is left helpless. Meanwhile, a Turkish nobleman by the name of Mahmud Hassan is taken captive, and is sent to work in Sonia’s farm.

In 1914, Angela travels to France to bring her aunt back to USA. But reaching home she finds her dead and instead of fleeing decides to nurse the wounded French soldiers. Shortly, the Germans occupy the area, killing and raping civilians. Among all this, she is reunited with her German American boyfriend Karl, who has been drafted in the German army.   

Joan the Woman is a silent drama film, which tells the story of an English officer during the World War I, who receives inspiration through a vision of Joan of Arc on the night before a dangerous mission. 

Captain James Wingate’s reputation is ruined, shortly after which he comes to the American West. He marries an American Indian girl, after he saves her life, and they settle down in Montana. However, his past returns soon, to haunt him.

Two men and two women escape from a plague-infested ship to land at the edge of a Malayan jungle. To reach safety, they now need to trek through the tropical forested, inhabited by a native tribe. As they start experiencing the different natural phenomena and begin to interact with the natives their personalities too begin to change. 

James Wynnegate is falsely implicated when his cousin, Henry, embezzles money. James manages to escape to Wyoming, where he rescues Native American woman, Nat-U-Ritch, from outlaw, Cash Hawkin,s and marries her. Meanwhile, Henry dies and leaves a letter proclaiming James' innocence. But James and his wife are being pursued by the law for Cash’s murder. 

After winning a beauty contest, Elvira Plunkett, with her mother and besotted manager, Elmer Butts, travels to Hollywood. During the journey, they meet film-star Larry Mitchell who takes a liking to Elvira and assists her around Hollywood. Trying to help Elvira, Elmer blunders through movie sets, but manages to get a part for himself. Finally, which lucky guy will win Elvira’s heart?

Stepping out of family vaudeville act, Buster Keaton starts with bit roles in films, and soon gains popularity with his own films. Casting director Gloria Brent falls for him, but he adores film-star Peggy Courtney, whose rejection drives him to drinking. His career suffers with advent of talkies, worsening his alcoholism. Now only Gloria’s love can bring him back to his comedy.