MAKING A "BAD" WOMAN WICKED: THE DEVILISH CONSTRUCTION OF DELILAH WITHIN CECIL B. DEMILLE'S SAMSON AND DELILAH (1949)

Samson is publicly perceived as an Old Testament hero, although the last and worst of the twelve judges overseeing Israel's politico-religious disintegration (Judg. 13-16). DeMille-as-Christian-apologist enhanced Samson's sanctity by subtextually engineering him as a Christ-figure, and conversely, by subtextually engineering Delilah as a sexy serpent/ Satan/Devil-figure. The critical literature is reviewed, and Samson and Delilah closely examined utilizing humanist film criticism to explicate Delilah's wicked construction. It is concluded that DeMille was a far more artful biblical filmmaker than has hitherto been appreciated. Further research into the emerging interdisciplinary fields of religion-andfilm, DeMille studies and the cinematic Bible are recommended.