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
The Greatest Show on Earth (film) malarkey for the masses: P. T. Barnum and Cecil B. de Mille" as well as a film that "fills the screen with pageants and parades [and] finds a spot for 60-odd circus acts" with a plot that "does not quite hold all this pageantry together." In 1952, "Variety" wrote that the film "effectively serve[s] the purpose of a framework for all the atmosphere and excitement of the circus on both sides of the big canvas." In 1977, Joe Walders wrote in "TV Guide" that a film's box office success does not necessarily translate to continued popularity on TV, and cites