Cecil B. DeMille Christian and Jewish heritage to convey a message of tolerance. "The Crusades" was the first film to show accord between Christians and Muslims. DeMille received more than a dozen awards from Jewish religious and cultural groups, including B’nai B’rith. In 1954, he was seeking approval for a lavish remake of his 1923 silent film "The Ten Commandments". He went before the Paramount board of directors, which was mostly Jewish-American. The members rejected his proposal, even though his last two films, "Samson and Delilah" and "The Greatest Show on Earth", had been record-breaking hits. Adolph Zukor, the chairman of the board,
Down to the Sea in Ships (1949 film) Down to the Sea in Ships (1949 film) Down to the Sea in Ships is a 1949 seafaring drama directed by Henry Hathaway, starring Richard Widmark and Lionel Barrymore. The supporting cast includes Dean Stockwell, Cecil Kellaway, Gene Lockhart, and John McIntire. This was a remake of the silent film version, directed by Elmer Clifton and starring Marguerite Courtot, Raymond McKee and Clara Bow. Whaling ship captain Bering Joy (Lionel Barrymore) takes his grandson Jed (Dean Stockwell) on a whaling expedition in order to teach the young boy real life values such as honesty, courage, wisdom, fairness and hard work.