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AMONG THE LILLIPUTIANS 29 Mayer last?" or "Have I ever talked on the phone to Herbert Hoover?" Virtually every move was documented. One could, for ex- ample, ascertain the name and cast of a movie screened at Mr. DeMille's home on any night for years back. This in itself was a hefty record. He saw an average of 150 films a year over a period of seventeen years, this being almost his only relaxation in the last decade or two before his death. Though a small core of loyalists remained with DeMille through the years, many departed within a relatively short time, while others faded after sincere effort to survive the rigors of life in the bungalow. At the peak of his buccaneering, in the 1920-30's, the mortality artfong his workers was forbid- dingly high. DeMille would not tolerate skill without stamina, and those that possessed only skill soon disappeared. There were moments when DeMille deeply regretted this lack of perseverance and durability among the mortals that came to his bungalow. He hoped they would see the kind of life they had to live from then on, accept it for what it was, perhaps even embrace it, bravely and resolutely like a forest Druid, and be- come one of its determined champions. Alas, too few felt the call. He once exclaimed, having just banished a couple of work- men from the sets, "They know when they come here how DeMille works. Why does God send me the curse of the child mind?" These turbulences through forty years made him,,pharypf staff loyalty. He had crushed too many who did not have the stamina to rise up smiling. He watched for little changes of attitude among his aides, in time developing an extraordinary sensitivity; he could detect a defection in its incipient stage. He secretly worried when an assistant turned churlish or moody, just as he was delighted by little gestures of affection, whether by way of a compliment or merely an anniversary card. At Christmas time for several years the wife of a staff member