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
Cecil B. DeMille and Agnes, as well as DeMille's granddaughter, Cecilia de Mille Presley, also used the "de Mille" spelling. Cecil Blount DeMille was born in Ashfield, Massachusetts, while his parents were vacationing there, and grew up in Washington, North Carolina. His father, Henry Churchill de Mille (1853–1893), was a North Carolina-born dramatist and lay reader in the Episcopal Church, who had earlier begun a career as a playwright, writing his first play at age 15. His mother was the playwright and script writer Matilda Beatrice DeMille (née Samuel), whose parents were both of German Jewish heritage. She emigrated from England with her