Saturday, November 11, 2006
The Ten Commandments
- Who's watched: M & G
- Mentions: *1* *2* *3* *4* *5*
- Commentary: Although I can't remember my journal comments, I'm sure, if you're even a semi-regular reader of my journal(s) about my mother, you know that this is one of my mother's all time favorites, and I've come to enjoy it, as well. I love the opulence, the story, the acting and the sets. I am proud to say that I can quote dialog from this movie. I never get tired of my mother wanting to see this movie. Each time she decides to watch this movie, the chances always become excellent that I will drop what I'm doing and join her.
Update 2/10/18: For fun, I thought I'd link the title of this write-up to the original 1956 review of this movie in the New York Times.
Update 8/19/19: I just discovered, to my dismay, that the old title link to the original NYT review of this movie dead-ended; so, I looked up the review and attached the new link. Just in case, though, I am appending the entire November 9, 1956, review (by Bosley Crowther) below. Take note of the opening sentence, it's quite interesting. So is the later commentary on the special effects in the movie:
"AGAINST the raw news of modern conflict between Egypt and Israel—a conflict that has its preamble in the Book of Exodus—Cecil B. De Mille's "The Ten Commandments" was given its world première last night at the Criterion Theatre, and the coincidence was profound. For Mr. De Mille's latest rendering of Biblical literature in the spectacular framing and colloquial idiom of the screen tells an arresting story of Moses, the ancient Israelite who was a slave with his people in Egypt and who struggled to set them free.
"As Mr. De Mille presents it in this three-hour-and-thirty-nine-minute film, which is by far the largest and most expensive that he has ever made, it is a moving story of the spirit of freedom rising in a man, under the divine inspiration of his Maker. And, as such, it strikes a ringing note today.
"But aside from the timely arrival and contemporary context of this film, it is also a rather handsome romance in Mr. De Mille's best massive style. To the fundamental story of Moses, as told in the Old Testament and reflected in other ancient writings consulted by Mr. De Mille, he and his corps of screen playwrights have added some frank apocrypha which, while they may not be traceable in history (or even in legend), make for a robust tale.
"In this imaginative recount, Moses is raised as a prince in the palace of Egypt's Pharaoh, after being found, as the Bible tells, by the Pharaoh's daughter in the bullrushes, where he was hidden by his mother, a Hebrew slave. And as a presumed Egyptian, he is a candidate for the Pharaoh's throne and a rival for the love of a luscious princess with the Pharaoh's own son Rameses.
"As one might well imagine, the plot-minded Mr. De Mille does not pass lightly or briefly over this phase of his tale. Moses, as played by Charlton Heston, is a handsome and haughty young prince who warrants considerable attention as a heroic man of the ancient world. And Anne Baxter as the sensual princess and Yule Brynner as the rival, Rameses, are unquestionably apt and complementary to a lusty and melodramatic romance.
"But the story is brought back to contact with the Bible and with its inspirational trend when Moses discovers, acknowledges and is exiled from Egypt because of his Hebraic birth. Then Mr. De Mille, who, incidentally, acts as narrator for his film in many of its more exalted stretches, takes him into the wilderness and establishes his contact with his Maker, which leads to the Exodus and the Covenant on Mount Sinai.
"In the latter phases of the drama, wherein the impulse to set his people free from the bondage of Egypt flames in Moses, the spiritual and supernatural surge comes somewhat bluntly in the picture, and the performance of such awesome miracles as the crossing of the Red Sea and the burning of the Ten Commandments into the tablets of stone may strike the less devout viewer as a bit mechanical and abrupt.
"Also, and with all due regard for the technical difficulties besetting Mr. De Mille, we must say his special effects department was not up to sets or costumes. The parting of the Red Sea is an obvious piece of camera trickery in which two churning walls of water frame a course as smooth and dry as a race track. And the striking off of the Ten Commandments by successive thunderbolts, while a deep voice intones their contents is disconcertingly mechanical.
"However, in its other technical aspects—in its remarkable settings and décor, including an overwhelming facade of the Egyptian city from which the Exodus begins, and in the glowing Technicolor in which the picture is filmed—Mr. De Mille has worked photographic wonders. And his large cast of characters is very good, from Sir Cedric Hardwicke as a droll and urbane Pharaoh to Edward G. Robinson as a treacherous overlord. Yvonne DeCarlo as the Midianite shepherdess to whom Moses is wed is notably good in a severe role, as is John Derek as a reckless Joshua.
"This is unquestionably a picture to which one must bring something more than a mere wish for entertainment in order to get a full effect from it. But for those to whom its fundamentalism will be entirely credible, it should be altogether thrilling and perhaps even spiritually profound."
The title link to the NYT article that ran when the movie premiered, is back, again, and appears to be generally available to all digital readers of NYT, not just subscribers. I'm not sure why, and I don't trust it, so, just in case, I'm keeping this link in reserve.
As an aside, from a Special Feature which accompanies the DVD of the movie, Charlton Heston tells viewers that he also voiced God in the movie, and gives an interesting reason: He imagined that the voice of God would come from within oneself and would, therefore, sound like oneself.
Update 6/22/2022 Regarding the voice of God: Although there is considerable confusion online about who voiced God in this movie, what finally seems apparent is that God was voiced by more than one actor. Jesse Delos Jewkes definitely voiced God in the Ten Commandments Tablet scene. [See, also, this article about Jesse Delos Jewkes.] Charlton Heston, in an interview available on my "Special Edition" copy of the movie, said that he was the voice of God; it seems apparent that, for the Burning Bush scene, he probably was (which is confirmed in the Wikipedia article about this movie). Other sources credit Cecil B. DeMille as voicing God in certain segments of the movie, but I cannot find anything authoritative to confirm this. Perhaps we will never know, for sure, how many actors voiced God in this movie and who all of them were.
Yet another link, if you can handle it. Aside from the DVD Savant review I linked in the title, he wrote another review when the blu-ray edition was released with an extra 11 minutes of footage added to the film. I think. I'm not sure. That might be an extra 11 minutes of special features. At any rate, although some of the review is repetitive, it also adds knowledge and perspective, having been written 7 years after his initial review. So, I'm including it in the immediately previous link.
My Final Commentary 8/19/19: I don't consider it true that "one must bring something more than a mere wish for entertainment in order to get a full effect" of the movie. I was not a god-believer when I initially saw the movie and have not been since. The movie's "full effect", however, subsumes me every time I watch it. In fact, after having updated this post, I'm thinking, this afternoon might be a good time for me to watch the movie, again. Just for fun, and to enjoy that subsumation experience, once again.
My Absolute Final Commentary 6/21/2022: I'm about a third of the way through a special on YouTube about the making of The Ten Commandments - 1956. Watching it reminded me of some family history surrounding this movie that I want to record. This movie is the very first DVD that Mom and I obtained. At that time, neither of us had any idea that we would build a large collection around it. One year, I'm not sure which year but it was definitely post 1997 (when she bought the house in Prescott, in which I continue to reside), MFS sent us a coupon for Blockbuster Video in celebration of some holiday or birthday or something-or-other. Mom and I initially figured we'd use it to rent movies, since we'd established a habit of doing this in Mesa and Prescott. Mom sent me to the store while she begged off by saying, "I feel a nap coming on. Get something good for tonight." When I discovered that The Ten Commandments - 1956 was on sale and fit right into the budget established by the gift certificate from MFS, I realized I had a decision to make. I knew that this was a movie that both Mom and I would want to see again and again and decided, instead of renting a few movies that we may or may not watch before they were due back, to buy this movie. I remember Mom being very excited about my choice of "rental" and even more excited when I told her I out-right bought it so we could watch it whenever we wanted. That's where, and how, our movie collection began. From that point on Mom's preference was to own, not to rent, and I had no quarrel with that decision. No, Virginia, I don't remember what our second movie purchase was. It doesn't matter, really. With this movie, alone, our collection was off and running.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Charlton Heston Moses/Voice of God Sir Cedric Hardwicke Seti I Yul Brynner Rameses II Anne Baxter Nefretiri Edward G. Robinson Dathan Yvonne De Carlo Sephora Debra Paget Lilia John Derek Joshua Nina Foch Bithiah Martha Scott Yochabel Judith Anderson Memnet Vincent Price Baka John Carradine Aaron Olive Deering Miriam Eduard Franz Jethro John Miljan The Blind One
Here is the Wikipedia article about the movie, just in case.
Release Date: 1956
Directed and Narrated by Cecil B. DeMille.
Labels: bible-movies1, charlton-heston, drama8, moses, period4, popcorn-and-soda4, religion1, shared-favorite, spectacle2
