Samson and Delilah

- Producer: Cecil B. DeMille

- Director: Cecil B. DeMille

- Screenplay: Jesse L. Lasky, Jr

Fredric M. Frank

"Samson and Delilah bedizens the biblical story with all that $3,000,000 can buy: Hedy Lamarr, Victor Mature, 600 extras and eye-crashing Technicolor, mixed by the lavish, lily-gilding hand of Cecil B. DeMille. The result may not be quite Old Testament, but it is Bible story shrewdly blended with sex, spectacle, and the merest suggestion of social comment to keep it abreast of current Hollywood trends. It is unlikely to tarnish Producer-Director DeMille's reputation for consistently making (as well as spending) some money on pictures than everybody else...DeMille has provided plenty of gorgeous scenery for all the actors to chew on, and has filmed his spectacular scenes with technical virtuosity and boundless gusto. Even lovers of cinematic art who recognize Samson and Delilah as a run-of-DeMille epic should enjoy it as much as a simple-mind spree. In its way, it is as much fun as a robust, well-organized circus."

(Time, December 26, 1949)

Samson, the strong Danite, seeks the hand in marriage of Semadar of the Philistines, but she is killed in the fight that ensues when her people revile Samson. Her younger sister, Delilah, out of revenge, determines to learn the secret of Samson's strength, and so destroy him. He becomes infatuated with her, and confides that the secret of his strength lies in his unshorn hair. During a drunken slumber, Samson is shorn of his locks by Delilah, who then delivers him to his enemies, the Philistines, on condition that they neither touch his flesh nor slay him. Cunningly, they blind him and make a lowly slave of him. He strength returns as his hair grows, and on the day he is brought into the temple to be ridiculed, Samson brings everything down in ruins by pushing the two main pillars aside, destroying along with everybody else including both Delilah and himself.

(The Films of Cecil DeMille by Gene Ringgold)

The New Yorker, December 31, 1949:

"It may be said of Cecil B.DeMille that since 1913, when he teamed up with Jesse Lasky to creat The Squaw Man, he has never taken a step backward. He has never a step forward, either, but somehow he has managed to survive in a chancy industry where practically everybody is incessantly going up, down, or sideways, and ordinarily only the dead are absolutely still. Perhaps DeMille's survival is due to the fact that he decided in his movie nonage to ally himself with God as his co-maker and to get his major scripts from the Bible, which he has always handled with the proprietary air of a gentleman fondling old love letters. In Samson and Delilah, DeMille is back on his usual beat, but this time I'm not at all sure that he has produced a work that enhances the glory of him or his Associate."

The Weekly Variety, October, 26, 1949:

"It's a fantastic picture for this era in its size, in its lavishness, in the corniness of its story-telling and in its old-fashioned technique. But it adds up to first class entertainment. The smarties and the hinterlanders will view it from a diametrically opposed standpoints, but whether laughing at it or with it, neither the hepsters nor the squares will find any of its two hours and eight minutes dull or unenjoyable. And as for the kids, Samson is the greatest invention since Superman...DeMille's direction is broad and sweeping, reminiscent in technique of his successes of as long as 30 years ago, yet in keeping with the pic quality of the subject."

Motion Picture Herald, October 22, 1949:

"Cecil B. DeMille returns to the Book with the greatest circulation of them all and from this, the Bible, which has furnished him ideas for several of his greatest successes, he now finds another: the story of Samson and Delilah. If DeMille can outdo DeMille, this time it has been done. For in Samson and Delilah he has come up with a king-size attraction which showman everywhere will long have cause to remember"

The New York Times, December 22, 1949:

"The first thing to be said about it, before the echoes have even died, is that, if ever there was a movie for DeMillions, here it is. For Mr. DeMille, that veteran genie who has already engineered three quasi-religious film pageants that tower in the annals of the screen, has here led his carpenters and actors and costumers and camera crews into the vast manufacture of a spectacle that out-Babels anything he's done. There are more flowing garments in this picture, more chariots, more temples, more peacock plumes, more animals, more pillows, more spear-carriers, more beards, and more sex than ever before. At least, that's the sizable by bringing together the Old Testament and Technicolor for the first time."

Hedy Lamarr' first Technicolor film and her biggest box office success.
Other actors being considered for the role of Samson were Burt Lancaster and Henry Wilcoxon. But Burt was too young for the role, and Henry was too old.
Cecil B. DeMille once considered Betty Hutton for Delilah before settled down with Hedy Lamarr. After Samson and Delilah, he wanted Hedy to be in The Greatest Show on Earth, which she turned down and thus went to Betty Hutton.
Other candidates for Delilah were Lana Turner, Rita Hayworth, and Jean Simmons.
Victor Mature was dubbed during the flight scene with the lion. He didn't want to be in danger even though it was a tamed movie lion with no teeth.
The movie brought $12, million domestically and was the biggest success of Paramount up to date.
Gloria Swanson visited Cecil B. DeMille during the filming of the movie and Hedy Lamarr was asked if she would let Gloria to sit on her chair for a short time, Hedy agreed, in a condition that she would collect $25,000. To save the money, Cecil gave up his chair for Gloria.
Filmed around the same time with Sunset Blvd. In the movie, there was a scene where Gloria Swanson's character Norma Desmond visited Cecil B. DeMille when he was directing a movie. That movie was Samson and Delilah.
Won two Oscars for Best Art Direction Set Decoration in color, and best costume design also in color out of five Oscar nominations. The other three nominations were: Best Cinematography in color, best special effects, and best background music by Victor Young.
Nominated for Golden Globe Award - best cinematography in color.
Acclaimed soundtracks including: "For To Win a Bride" and "The Fat Philistine Merchant" both by Victor Young and Jesse Lasky, Jr.
Filming locations were California, USA (Lone Pine and Paramount Studio); Algeria; and Morocco.
Original Tagline was: "History's most beautiful and treacherous woman"

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