The Ten Commandments is undoubtedly a classic, an epic of sheer force that is still today one of the more popular movies of all time. In fact, it is exactly that, though it doesn’t even rise to the heights of the much better Biblical epic, Ben-Hur, which also starred Charlton Heston.
The movie recounts the story of Moses and his quest to free the Hebrews and take them to the Promised Land. The 4-hour long film also includes characters and events that were not explained in the Bible. We all know the story of Moses. It’s truly an incredible, true narrative. While the focus of the movie is for sure upon Moses, we also have a few subplots that deal with the Pharaoh Seti I (Cedric Hardwicke), his son and future Pharaoh Ramesses II (Yul Brynner), Queen Nefretiri (Anne Baxter), Moses’ wife Sephora (Yvonne De Carlo) and Joshua (John Derek). Pretty much, we have an ensemble cast that includes many other actors and actresses portraying characters that did and didn’t exist. The film is said to have had a ‘cast of thousands’. The scene where the Hebrews exit out of Egypt captures how immense the move was with the thousands of people (600,000).
Cecile DeMille directed this epic. He was criticized for making the film a little ‘silly’, but the special effects at the time was praised and that got the film an Academy Award.
I was entertained the entire time, but alas, DeMille adds characters to it that don’t really appear in the Bible, most likely for making the film look more epic and to dramatize the story. I don’t think that Joshua would have been around at this time that the first half of the story takes place in, but nevertheless, DeMille adds him to add another hero.
The Ten Commandments appears regularly on television. It’s very memorable, will never be forgotten and is a sure classic. Even so, it is not a distinctive masterpiece, even if it is a landmark in the history of cinema.
This has also got to be one of Heston’s memorable performances, tied neck to neck with Ben-Hur.
****/5
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