The Bible in film religious epics produced as vehicles for its biggest stars. "Samson and Delilah" was the biggest moneymaking movie of 1949 and is considered the picture that sparked the biblical-epic film craze of the 1950s. It was followed by two of 1951’s biggest box-office hits, "Quo Vadis" and "David and Bathsheba". Charlton Heston starred in Cecil B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments" and "Ben-Hur". According to author Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, in the 1950s and 1960s, during the era of the production code, "the most acceptable cinematic path for movies to incorporate sex and violence was the biblical epic". Basing a film on the Bible
Carl Denham in the story only at the beginning and near the end. The novel adds some detail to Denham's life, such as his year of birth (1896). In his review of the 2005 remake, film critic Roger Ebert remarked that Armstrong's performance was reminiscent of filmmaker Cecil B. de Mille, while Jack Black was reminiscent of Orson Welles. Ebert also noted that Black was criticized by other critics for being "not precisely hero material", but Ebert defended that casting decision, saying Denham was a director who did not need "big muscles". Carl Denham Carl Denham is a fictional character in the