Cecil B. DeMille's Carmen

This highly detailed silent version of Bizet's famous tragic opera from Cecil B. DeMille, features opera diva Geraldine Farrar recreating one of her most famous roles as a feisty gypsy who falls in love with the soldier assigned to hold her captive. To bring Farrar to the screen, studio head Lasky and director DeMille bent over backward to literally treat her like a queen. They gave her a mansion complete with servants, fancy cars, handsome escorts, her own bungalow and two dollars for every hour she spent in Hollywood.