Interesting information with regard to Cecil de Mille, producer of the “King of Kings,” and his plan for a new picture of a Jewish nature which is to be produced by his company soon was furnished by Rabbi Louis I. Newman of Temple Emanu El. San Francisco. writing in “The Scribe,” Jewish weekly here.
” ‘The Godless Girl’ is the name of a new ‘religious’ picture in which De Mille intends to attack atheism,” Rabbi Newman writes. “His target is the so-called American Association for the Promotion of Atheism. Much of his material is being gathered from the activities of a Jewish girl who has been prominent in radical activities. Whether the scenario will convey the impression that “The Godless Girl’ is a Jewess remains to be seen.
“Cecil de Mille,” Rabbi Newman continues, “it is rumored, was born to a Jewish mother, but he strenuously denies this report. I understand, nevertheless, that the rumor is correct. Evidently he is seeking to build up a defense mechanism which will overcome any Jewish elements in his make-up by stressing the anti-Jewish.
“His motives appear to be blatantly commercial. He is not interested in artistic or ethical ideals, but is accentuating contemporary religious interest in the belief that he will profit thereby financially. I understand that a suggestion was made he stage a picture showing the excesses to which the Senior and Junior Ku Klux Klan have gone in persecuting Jews, Catholics and negroes. The proposal was venomously rejected. ‘You might as well bring in a stick of dynamite to our studio as a scenario exposing the Ku Klux Klan.’ ‘But,’ it was objected, ‘you are attacking the Jews.’ ‘That,’ was the reply, ‘is different.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
