Now, having sung its praises as classic cinema, I must point out that this film is really more Christian than Jewish, even though the Exodus story is originally Jewish and remains the central theme of the Passover celebration. Jews and Christians (as well as Muslims and Baha'is) share the story of Moses, but their imagery is often quite different. Among other things, all the main characters in this movie are played by lily-white Caucasian actors, whereas the real Moses and his family were probably dark-skinned. In 1952, however, that was not the Hollywood standard of beauty for movie stars.

Cecil B. DeMille started his career directing silent films, where melodramatic body postures and facial expressions, rather than spoken dialogue, were used to convey the action. He continued to use the same visual techniques here, with carefully-posed scenes that reflect biblical illustrations from the great religious painters like Rembrandt and Reubens. The result is a movie that looks just like the pictures in your Sunday school lessons -- if you're a Christian, that is. From a Jewish POV, the movie has quite a few anachronisms.

For example, most Jews would not portray Moses as bare-headed after he received the Ten Commandments on the mountain, because Jews cover their heads during prayer. How much more so would Moses have covered his head when actually speaking with God! But Christians do portray Jesus and other holy men with bare heads, so that image of Moses was used here, too.

Also, the way that Heston delivers his lines is reminiscent of a pulpit minister preaching the Gospel, rather than the way a rabbi (Jewish clergyman) speaks to his congregation. Ditto for many of the dramatic poses that Heston strikes. It made for good drama in a mode familiar to American audiences back in the 1950s, but it's not authentically Jewish (or, for that matter, Middle Eastern) body language.

In fact, the only character in the film who seems "Jewish" to the average person's eye is the villain Dathan, played by Edward G. Robinson. Alone of all the Hebrew characters, Dathan speaks with a Yiddish accent and uses some Jewish body language. Problem is, he does it in an offensively stereotyped way. I absolutely cringe every time Dathan whines that "a god of gold will lead us back to Egypt" as he points to the statue like a midway circus barker hawking his wares. This scene evokes everything negative about how Jews are often portrayed in the popular culture (i.e., dishonest, gold-hungry, manipulating, self-serving, etc.), with the result that children watching this film tend to see Dathan as "the Jew" and everyone else as "good Christians," even though ALL the Hebrews in the story -- good guys and bad! -- are Jews. (I should also add that using a Yiddish accent at all is a big anachronism, since the Yiddish language originated during the European Middle Ages, many centuries after Moses.)

There's another major anachronism at the end of the film, too. Moses, just before his death, hands Joshua a BOUND BOOK of God's teachings that looks suspiciously like a King James Bible. Sorry folks, but the Torah (Five Books of Moses) was originally a scroll, not a modern book with bound pages. Bound books were not even invented until around the third century A.D., which is why the Talmud has standardized page numbers, but the Bible does not. (Chapter-and-verse numbers were not added until the Middle Ages.) Jews today still use hand-written Torah scrolls in the synagogue rituals, and the idea of scrolls in general was certainly familiar to most viewers, if only because the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered only four years before this movie and were all over the news. So, it beats me why a scroll was not used in this scene instead of a book.


It's DeMille...You'll Either Love It or Hate It!   September 4, 2005
 106 out of 114 found this review helpful

While Cecil B. DeMille's directorial skills were sometimes too rooted in the more grandiose style of the silent era, he CERTAINLY was ALWAYS a master showman, and his 1956 remake of "The Ten Commandments" is a whale of a show! Both pious and profane, posturing and sincere, it isn't great history, but it abounds in spectacle. While he was in poor health during the filming (suffering a seizure that was either a stroke or mild heart attack, while working under the 130-degree Egyptian sun), his distinctive 'style' was never more in evidence, with broad, overwrought performances, dazzling costumes and sets, monumental climaxes, and morals that are repeatedly hammered home. In 'classic' DeMille, there ARE no 'grays', everything is 'good' or 'evil', and 'evil' WILL be punished! Watching the film, you'll either enjoy the 'ride', or you'll groan, again and again. Personally, I love it, even with it's unintentional(?) campiness!

Among my favorite 'so bad it's FUN' moments are 'Rameses' Yul Brynner and 'Nefretiri' Anne Baxter's frequent use of "Moses, Moses..." whenever he predicts something dire (Brynner looks like he can barely keep a straight face, uttering the phrase); 'Sephora' Yvonne De Carlo's stoic, yet impassioned pitch to Moses to marry her, always looking away ('into the future', I presume), when comparing her assets to Nefretiri's; 'Dathan' Edward G. Robinson's entire performance (nearly epic hamminess from one of America's finest film actors); Woody Strode's Ethiopian 'Princess' companion, who praises Moses' kindness with so much heat and honey that Nefretiri suspects he was fooling around, down south; and Sir Cedric Hardwicke's 'Sethi', turning an Egyptian Pharoah into a world-weary lovable executive-type (one can't help but wonder how Rameses could be HIS son!)

Compared to Baxter's scenery-chewing, and Brynner's posturing, Charlton Heston's portrayal of Moses is so understated that he's often been criticized as 'wooden' in the role, which is unfair; while DeMille frequently posed him to match classic statues and paintings, his complete earnestness in the role, combined with his sheer physical presence, keeps him from receding into the backround of the spectacle that surrounds him. Despite thousands of Egyptian extras portraying Hebrews during the astonishing 'Exodus' sequence, filling the screen, Heston always grabs and holds your attention; certainly no actor has ever been a more memorable Moses!

The film has some very obvious merits; many of the special effects (particularly the 'Angel of Death' vapor, and the massive parting of the Red Sea) are still astonishing, today; Elmer Bernstein's score is an often 'over-the-top' joy to listen to; and the cast includes some very entertaining supporting players, including Nina Foch, Vincent Price, and DeMille's longtime associate, Henry Wilcoxon.

Taken as spectacle, as a grand entertainment for the senses, "The Ten Commandments" is quite a show, and it's continued popularity over the past half-century is proof that many are still captivated by it.

Cecil B. DeMille, master showman, knew his audience!


BRAVO! SPECIAL COLLECTOR'S EDITION IS EXCELLENT!   March 16, 2004
 45 out of 53 found this review helpful

I was hesitant to review this dvd since, in every credible theologian's view, a fundamentalist approach to the Bible, ignorant of ancient and medieval civilizations and their languages, leads to erroneous interpretations (for example, errors that today are being used to justify discrimination against gays and lesbians and their families, and which, until rather recently, were used to condone racism, segregation and slavery.) But I believe DeMille, The Ten Commandments' producer and director, and the son of a lay Episcopal minister, believed the Bible is the inerrant word of God AND that a historical-critical approach is necessary to understand it (as most mainline churches do, in spite of their often inconsistent stance on gay marriage). The fact that in The Ten Commandments, the Red Sea, not a 'sea of reeds' (a correct translation), parts, is perhaps an example of artistic license.

In a sense, The Ten Commandments is DeMille's Biblical commentary. It's a swan song (DeMille nearly died making it), and a real labour of love (DeMille gave away all of his profits to the cast and crew).

Perhaps first and foremost, The Ten Commandments is great propaganda for democracy (albeit from the Cold War era). Through it DeMille sought to help unite Jews, Christians and Muslims. It argues that all persons are equal and should be 'free', regardless of 'race', ethnicity or 'creed'. It even alludes to the fact that according to the Bible, Moses married an Ethiopian princess (a somewhat daring reference during the segregated '50s).

STYLE & INFLUENCE: It's arguably one of the most spectacular, entertaining and influential films ever made. At Lucasfilm, a poster for it has hung on the wall for many years, and one can easily see the movie's influence not only on Biblical films of the '50s and '60s, but also the Star Wars movies, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Arc and numerous other science fiction and fantasy films. Director Michael Powell considered DeMille the greatest magician in film history.

Perhaps the most under-rated aspect of The Ten Commandments is its production design: a marvelous hybrid of art deco and nineteenth century and ancient Egyptian art. Viewing The Ten Commandments is a bit like stepping into a painting by Alma-Tadema or a Pre-Raphaelite, or a book illustration by Dore, and having the artwork come to life.

The score, by Elmer Bernstein, is extraordinary. It's part of the very essence of the film, and uses leitmotiv beautifully.

TRANSFER: It's excellent, and the next best thing to seeing the movie on a big screen. The colours are very rich and vibrant, and the sound, originally recorded with cutting edge stereo equipment, is nicely remastered and restored.

EXTRAS: I'm SO glad I ordered the most recent dvd release (2004), containing a commentary by Katherine Orrison and a six-part documentary about the 'making of'. Both are extremely informative and entertaining. The latter features interviews with surviving cast and crew, as well as DeMille's granddaughter.

Five stars for the film, five for the transfer, and five for the commentary and documentary!


A uniquely great & timeless classic, improved by DVD techn.   March 17, 2002
 32 out of 36 found this review helpful

Summary:

Monumental timeless picture, improved by DVD picture quality (excellent by any standard), and surround sound music (very good). This is a must have for all families for an annual celebration for Passover, Easter, or thanksgiving.

Review:

Cecil B. DeMille's "Introductory Commentary" gives great insight into his purpose and perspective in making the movie. Very importantly, the meaning of the movie as presented by DeMille in his introduction is about freedom; and specifically freedom to worship. The striving for freedom that all men have.

DeMille obviously had several thoughts of freedom on his mind when he made this film in 1956. The world had just suffered through WWII with all its tragedies, including the murder of 6 million jews in death camps and the killing of over a hundred million people; the Korean war where North Korea invaded South Korea; the Cold War was in full swing and the Iron Curtain dropped in Eastern Europe depriving hundreds of millions of people of all their freedoms; coincidently the USSR invaded Hungary in October, 1956. Communism was brutally telling people how to think and how NOT to worship. The list goes on.

At that time, the US had its own internal war beginning to explode against this country's own bigotry and prejudice that robbed millions of African Americans, Jews and other minorities of their freedoms as clearly defined in the Declaration of Independence, "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights", and the Constitution and Bill of Rights. And, very, very importantly, Israel was fighting for its very existence and its own freedoms to exist and worship within the borders established for it after WWI by the victorious British Army (which established all ex Ottoman borders ad hoc).

Hollywood Era Epic:

With regard to knowledgeable Jewish reviewer's (Rabbi Y. G.) issues, he is essentially correct! But, I have to point out that while 1956 reflected only nominal sensitivity to the points he brought up, there was also very nominal knowledge, at that time, as well. I would think that very few people knew what the traditional customs, or mannerisms were; the only Jewish dialect most people every heard was with a distinctively New York; or possibly European accent. Hebrew was just re-emerging as a spoken language in Israel. And, Hollywood only used the actors the studios had under contract, rather than filling the part authentically. Finally, this era's acting was more theatrical, making it less realistic. Personally, I see the acting styles of this movie more positively. These older styles are better able to better carry us to another time and place.

It is only recently Hollywood has focused on true authenticity down to the dialects, customs, mannerisms, people. Personally, I don't feel these take issues away from the movie.

I am grateful that Rabbi Y. G. discusses his issues because I cannot see a modern re-make emerging anytime soon to supplement, or replace this film classic. His points are important if we are to know the historical truth, and therefore "be free". Ignorance can only tear at man's freedoms like a cancer.

Where history differs with his statement that the film views Passover through a Christian viewpoint. I would like to humbly share that Christianity is solely, "completed Judaism" (Dr. Fructenbaum, "Jesus was a Jew" pp 103) and this occurred through the fulfillment of the Passover by JHWH. But, this only makes sense if one reads the Talmud, Midrashim, Zohar, Babylonian Talmud, Midrash Thanhumi (and other texts) that claim that Mashiach ben Yoseph and Mashiach ben David are one and the same; and that Isaiah 53 was properly interpreted by the early century Rabbi's including Jonathan ben UzzielSimon ben Yochai, Rabbi Eliezer Kalir (7th century), Moses ben Maimon (11th century) and others when they claimed it spoke of the Messiah.

But, for my interest, the movie is about man's desire and right to freedom and self-determination and it is excellent in virtually every manner and outpaces many great movies made decades later.

Compare it to "The Patriot", a recently released and great film that will become a classic. Everything - costumes, background landscapes, ships, armies, etc. - was very authentic, except the British accents! Yet, of all these authentic items, only the costumes were real. Everything else was computer generated!

Notes on Background Credits:

The movie is exceptionally well researched (for its time). While the movie only used the "one paragraph" from the Book of Exodus, DeMille openly states in his prologue that he also used a number of historical books and the credits show a number of archeological experts were consulted. This includes books written by Josephus, Philo, Eusebius and the Midrash. Also, "Prince of Egypt" by Wilson, "Piller of Fire", by Rev. Ingragm, and "On Eagle's Wings" by Southon. Consulted were Rabbi Rudolph Lupo of the Jewish Community Library of Los Angeles, and the Library of Antiquities, Luxor Egypt.


A timeless biblical epic   November 23, 2007
 32 out of 33 found this review helpful

The Ten Commandments is directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The film stars Charlton Heston, and the co-stars include Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson, Yvonne De Carlo, Debra Paget, John Derek, Cedric Hardwicke, Nina Foch, Martha Scott, Judith Anderson, Vincent Price, John Carradine, Douglass Dumbrille, Olive Deering, and Mike Connors.

The Ten Commandments follows the life of Moses (Heston,) who was separated from his birth parents, and discovered by Egyptians - where he grows up and is raised as one of the Pharaoh's own. He becomes a well-respected leader in Egypt - so much so, that the Pharaoh even prefers him over his own son as a potential successor to the throne. But everything changes when he discovers the truth of his origin. Deciding his place is with his enslaved people, he is eventually banished - but an encounter with God turns him into a prophet. It is through this he discovers the secret of his existence - he is the "chosen one" of legend, the one whose destiny it is to free the Hebrews from bondage.

In the age of biblical epics, the Ten Commandments stands out above all the rest. Well-filmed with ahead-of-their-time special effects and elaborate sets, it's easily a superior product to DeMille's earlier version of the story. The "cast of thousands" that DeMille compiled for this film is multi-talented, and their portrayal of these classic biblical characters is nothing short of excellent. Music for the film was composed by the legendary Elmer Bernstein, and as usual, his contributions don't fail to please. Despite the film's lengthy run time (nearly four hours) and some scenes that drag on, it's a masterpiece of a film. Of all the versions of the Ten Commandments ever put on film, DeMille's 1956 version is by far the best.

The story of Moses, naturally, works great in this film. DeMille set out to create a film that told the story of this biblical legend, and all the various periods of his life - from loyal servant to the throne in Egypt, to being a slave amongst his people, to becoming a high and mighty prophet of God. It's a great story, and it's not surprising that a number of directors have tried to film their own takes on the classic legend. But DeMille's epic telling of the tale stands in a class all its own. He was wise to drop the "modern day" half of the twenties film, and focus exclusively on Moses this time around.

This is a well-filmed movie. The sets capture the setting of Ancient Egypt and its surroundings brilliantly. Temple interiors are elaborately decorated, and the exteriors and surroundings are filled with pyramids, obelisks, statues, and assorted "of the period" decor that suits the era. Each scene is well-shot and makes the best use of all available resources. The special effects obviously look a little dated half a century later, but they still entertain.

As for the man who would play Moses, Charlton Heston is well chosen for the role. Through all the major events of the life Moses leads, Heston fits the role perfectly. Whether it's commanding respect as a loyal servant to Egypt, sympathizing and suffering alongside his people in bondage, or serving as God's messenger from above, he steals the show. As an interesting bit of trivia, Heston also provided the voice of God himself (uncredited.)

The supporting cast is equally impressive. Yul Brynner gives a great performance as Rameses, Moses' adoptive brother and opponent for the throne of Egypt. Vengeful and godless, this is one of the best on-screen manifestations of Rameses ever put on film. Also of interest and putting on good performances are a pre-Munsters Yvonne De Carlo as Moses' love interest following his exile, and even the horror legend Vincent Price as Egypt's master builder. Everyone here is well-chosen for their role and the portrayals are all great.

The music for the Ten Commandments was provided by a legend in the film scoring business - Elmer Bernstein. In his life, Bernstein composed film scores for half a century, not one of which was a disappointment. His score for the Ten Commandments was one of his early triumphs in the business that would bring him fame. Even with all the other scores he would go on to record, this one was arguably his finest work. Great score, no questions asked. It suits the atmosphere perfectly.

As far as DVD releases of the film go, I have to recommend getting the anniversary edition released in 2006. This version of the film is three discs - with the first two comprising the 1956 film, and the third featuring the 1923 silent film! In addition, there are plenty of extras in the set, including feature-length commentary.

Overlong run time aside, the Ten Commandments is the quintessential biblical epic. The story is timeless, and DeMille's 1956 take on the classic tale is the definitive version. With its classic "cast of thousands" and the characters they portray, a gripping storyline, and a wonderful Bernstein score, it's a truly classic film.

Thumbs way up!