Episode 40 – Uncovering “The Lost City of Cecil B DeMille” With Filmmaker Peter Brosnan - Part 2

During the second part of Tony’s conversation with filmmaker, documentarian & historian Peter Brosnan they discuss the endless delays and redtape the team had to go through to find the buried set under the sand dunes, how while they waited for the City of Santa Barbara to permit them to dig, Peter got the opportunity to interview many of the people who had worked with Mr DeMille when he shot both versions of “The Ten Commandments” (1923 & 1956) including Agnes DeMille – Cecil’s niece who had been on the dunes back when the first version was being filmed, how after the team finally got permission to dig in the dunes they found a slew of artifacts that are currently on display at The Dune Center in Guadalupe and how thrilled he was when his documentary received positive responses from both movie audiences & archeologists alike!  PETER BROSNAN Peter Brosnan has been a journalist, filmmaker, screenwriter, psychotherapist, college professor & social worker.  In 1983, he co-discovered Cecil B DeMille’s “Lost City,” and began filming interviews with people who worked with DeMille on both versions (1923 & 1956) of “The Ten Commandments."   His award-winning documentary, “The Lost City of Cecil B DeMille,” premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in 2016 & is now available on most streaming services.   Now retired, Peter enjoys spending time with his family and planning new adventures. His motto:  “Onward." THE LOST CITY OF CECIL B DEMILLE Buried beneath a windswept sand dune, just outside the small farming town of Guadalupe on the central California coast, there lies a vast, century-old slab of Hollywood history the site is known as “the lost city of Cecil B DeMille”. In 1923, DeMille built the largest set in movie history (at the time) for his silent (& early Technicolor) epic, “The Ten Commandments” called "The City of the Pharaoh."  When filming was completed, DeMille ordered that the entire edifice be dismantled... and secretly buried. And there it lay, forgotten, for the next 60 years. In 1982, Peter Brosnan was a freelance journalist & aspiring movie director, who shared a house with his film-school buddy Bruce. One evening, Bruce told him a scarcely believable story which he claimed to have read in the memoir of the late DeMille.   The idea of finding the long lost set lit a fire in Peter's heart. It also convinced him that the discovery of the set would make for an epic documentary. However he never could have guessed that his dream of uncovering the set would take nearly 30 years to be realized. But in 2012, with funding from an independent "angel," an archaeological excavation of the site finally took place. What that excavation found is at the exciting climax of his documentary! Because the filmmakers began their work in the 1980's, they were able to capture interviews with many of the people - actors, writers, chariot drivers and extras - who worked with DeMille in 1923. They also filmed interviews with people who worked on the second version of “The Ten Commandments” (the 1956 version with Charlton Heston). The two versions of “The Ten Commandments” were like bookends on the remarkable career of Cecil B. DeMille. The documentary tells the story of these two films, interwoven with the story of the archaeological excavation of the site, as well as the incredible obstacles the project faced. The Official “The Lost City of Cecil B DeMille” Website https://www.lostcitydemille.com/index.html To purchase a copy of “The Lost City of Cecil B DeMille” go to - https://www.amazon.com/Lost-City-Cecil-B-DeMille/dp/B07765H5L5 The Official Hollywood Obsessed Website - ⁠⁠https://www.hollywoodobsessedthepodcast.com/ ⁠⁠ Follow the Official Hollywood Obsessed Facebook Page – ⁠⁠HOLLYWOOD OBSESSED PODCAST⁠⁠ Follow our Instagram - ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/hollywoodobsessedpodcast/ ⁠⁠ Titles VO Talent – Cam Frierson  - ⁠⁠http://camfrierson.com/voice⁠⁠ Music by⁠⁠ QubeSounds⁠⁠ from ⁠⁠Pixabay⁠⁠