Joe Claro tells a great story about the making of one of Cecil B. DeMille's epic films. The film was a biblical extravaganza with a cast of thousands.

Normally, movies are filmed in tiny pieces, but this day's scene was going to be shot live, with all six hundred or so actors and extras going into action at once. DeMille had stationed eleven cameras at various points to pick up the action. They had started work at six in the morning and the complete scene had been rehearsed four times. After each rehearsal, hundreds of actors and dozens of technicians would go back to square one to get ready to begin again.

Now it was late afternoon. The sun was on its way down behind the hills, and there was just time enough to get the shot itself done. DeMille looked over the panorama, saw that all was…