Cecil B. DeMille
The Woman God forgot - L'ultima dei Montezuma

You could say this first historical drama by Cecil B. DeMille, one of many to come, is good but not great. Many will remember him as playing himself alongside Gloria Swanson, whom he truly launched, in the unforgettable Sunset Boulevard.

This is about Cortés and Montezuma and how a violent, aggressive group of soldiers managed to checkmate a centuries-old empire. Even though DeMille highlights the evangelical mission of the Spaniards, he doesn't hesitate to show their hypocritical and cowardly actions.

There's little to say about the historical events concerning the film, which significantly changed the world, as they are now well-known; the cross of Catholic Spain already reigned supreme, and in its name, In hoc signo vinces, looting and killing continued without respite.

The two lead actors, her, Geraldine Farrar, a soprano lent to silent cinema and became one of its first divas—she also sang with Caruso, with whom she was intimate and had a long relationship with Toscanini. Him, Wallace Reid, a big screen star who died very young (he was injured in a train accident while working on a film and, to continue working, was prescribed morphine to alleviate the pain, a drug from which he quickly became addicted), were not very in sync and aren't too likable as they were still unaccustomed to acting styles not directly derived from theater. After all, it was still 1917, with acting still awkward and stereotyped; much better were the mass and battle scenes, which, it could be said, introduce us to the colossal style that DeMille would soon perfect. A special mention goes to the scenography and, above all, the costumes, which are truly sensual and spectacular.

The film, part of DeMille's vast production, who is rightly considered one of the founding fathers of cinema, was a director, producer, actor, editor, screenwriter, and who knows what else (he was a Mason and a supporter of McCarthyism, and demanded an anti-communist oath from Hollywood directors, clashing with John Ford and Joseph L. Mankiewicz). The film, as I was saying, is still worth watching if only for the sense of estrangement it produces by seeing the Conquistadors arrive from the sea, imagining what would happen next and which you see filmed for the first time.