The Bible in film in Genesis was the 1904 French film "Joseph Vendu Par Ses Frères" ("Joseph Sold by his Brothers"). Enrico Guazzoni's 1913 Italian epic "Quo Vadis?" is often considered the first successful feature-length motion picture and one of the first films with over two hours running time. Cecil B. DeMille specialized in extravagant epics throughout a career that spanned both the silent and sound eras. His 1923 silent version of "The Ten Commandments" (1923) included spectacular special effects for the parting of the Red Sea. De Mille followed "The Ten Commandments" in 1927 with "King of Kings", a lavish, reverential life of
Henry Churchill de Mille was survived by his wife and children, though his young daughter would fall victim to spinal meningitis just two years later. Two months after de Mille died his widow founded the Henry C. De Mille School for Girls in Pompton and opened an office on Broadway becoming only the second woman playbroker (facilitator) in America working with playwrights, producers and actors. Today de Mille's legacy probably lies more with what influence he had over his sons. Within a decade or so of his death, de Mille's style of play writing went out of vogue and his works were largely forgotten.