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
Beulah Marie Dix during this time. The other woman in Dix's life was her agent, Beatrice de Mille. De Mille was the mother of famous film directors, William de Mille and Cecil B. de Mille, which is how Dix found her way to Hollywood. In 1916 on a trip to California to visit de Mille, Dix decided to stay. With the outbreak of polio and the start of World War I, Dix thought it would be in her best interest to stay on the west coast. Dix's professional experiences as a playwright allowed her to transition easily into screenwriting. She began her screenwriting