The Ten Commandments (1956 film)
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| The Ten Commandments | |
|---|---|
 1966 Reissue Poster |
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| Directed by | Cecil B. DeMille |
| Produced by | Cecil B. DeMille |
| Starring | Charlton Heston Yul Brynner |
| Music by | Elmer Bernstein |
| Cinematography | Loyal Griggs |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 5, 1956 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 220 min |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Ten Commandments is a 1956 epic film from Paramount Pictures in VistaVision directed by Cecil B. DeMille, which tells in the broadest Hollywood style the Bible story of Moses (Charlton Heston) as he struggles to get Pharaoh Ramesses II (Yul Brynner) to let the Israelites leave Egypt.
It is the 5th highest grossing movie of all time, adjusted for inflation, with collections of $838,400,000.[1] In non-adjusted dollars, it held the record as the highest-grossing film with a religious storyline until the 2004 film The Passion of the Christ.
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[edit] Plot Summary
The film covers the life of Moses from his discovery in a basket floating on the Nile as a baby by Bithiah, a childless young widow and daughter of the then-Pharaoh, Rameses I, to his eventual departure from Israel in the wake of God's judgment that he not be allowed to enter the Promised Land. In between, the film depicts the early adulthood of Moses as a beloved foster son of Pharaoh Seti I (successor of Rameses I and brother of Bithiah) and general of his armies, his romance with Throne Princess (the one who would be betrothed to the next Pharaoh) Nefretiri and rivalry with the Pharaoh's own son, Prince Rameses. That rivalry comes into play when Moses was charged with building a treasure city that Ramses failed to complete. When Moses assumes control of the project, he institutes numerous reforms concerning the treatment of the slave workers such as one day in seven to rest and even going so far as to raid temple granaries for necessary food supplies. Rameses uses these changes as proof that Moses is planning an insurrection by currying the slaves' favor, and points out that the slaves are calling Moses the "Deliverer" of prophecy. However, when Seti confronts Moses on the matter, Moses argues he is simply making his workers more productive by making them stronger and happier. He proves his point with impressive progress on the project that convinces Seti that Rameses falsely accused his foster brother and declared that Moses will get credit for the new city. Rameses, meanwhile, has been charged by his father with the task of finding out if there really is a Hebrew fitting the description of The Deliverer, and is having no luck.
Prince Moses learns that he is not a prince at all, but the son of Hebrew slaves who set him adrift on the Nile to escape the slaying of all firstborn male Hebrews by Rameses I's order, to prevent a prophecy of a Hebrew Deliverer freeing the slaves from coming true. Declaring he is not ashamed ("Egyptian or Hebrew, I'm still Moses"), but curious, he spends time working among the slaves to learn of their hardship, only to be rescued from the mudpits by Nefretiri. Moses then saves Joshua, a Hebrew stonecutter, from death at the hands of the Egyptian Master Builder Baka; he kills Baka, while Dathan, the devious and ambitious Hebrew overseer who's been charged by Rameses to help him find the Deliverer, watches from hiding. Moses confesses to Joshua that he himself is Hebrew; Joshua excitedly proclaims Moses the Deliverer, and although Moses denies it, Dathan has all the proof he needs. Revealing what he knows to Rameses, Dathan bargains for Baka's house, a post as Governor of Goshen and the ownership of Joshua's betrothed Lilia.
Moses is arrested and brought in chains before Seti, who begs him to say he is not the Deliverer. Moses does so, but avows that he would free the slaves if he could. Bithiah begs her brother Seti to blame her since Moses was just an innocent child when she took him from the Nile, whereupon Seti says, "I shall not see your face again". In a short, impassioned speech, Moses says that it is evil to enslave or oppress people, "to be stripped of spirit, and hope and faith, all because they are of another race, another creed. If there is a God, He did not mean this to be so!" This causes Seti to imprison him and order his name stricken from all records and monuments, to be unspoken in Egypt forever thereafter. Rameses banishes Moses to the desert, fearing to execute him lest he create a martyr. Meanwhile, Seti proclaims Nefretiri as Rameses' bride to her great distress.
After wandering alone for awhile and nearly dying of hunger and thirst, Moses is woken by the sound of seven sisters watering their flock with the well. Then several bullying Amalekites push the girls aside, whereupon Moses suddenly appears and beats all of them soundly with his staff, and forces them to leave. Moses finds a home in Midian with their father Jethro, a Bedouin sheik and leader of Midian, and marries his eldest daughter, Sephora.
Back in Egypt, Seti dies heartbroken, with Moses' name on his lips, and Rameses succeeds him as Pharaoh (becoming Rameses II), taking Nefretiri as his Queen. Herding sheep in the desert, Moses finds Joshua, who has escaped from hard labour in the copper mines. Soon thereafter, he makes a journey to the summit of Mount Sinai and is visited by God in the Burning Bush. Naming himself "I Am That I Am", God charges Moses to return to Egypt and free His chosen people.
At Pharaoh's court, Moses comes before Rameses to win the slaves' freedom, turning his staff into a snake to show Rameses the power of God, only to have the Pharaoh decree that the Hebrews be given no straw to make their bricks, but to make the same tally as before on pain of death. As the Hebrews prepare to stone Moses in anger, Nefretiri's retinue rescues him; but when she attempts to seduce him again, he spurns her, reminding her that not only is he on a mission, having been touched by God, but that he's married. As Moses continues to challenge Pharaoh's hold over his people, Egypt is beset by divine plagues. In an eerily quiet scene, the Angel of Death creeps into Egyptian streets in a glowing green cloud, killing all the firstborn of Egypt, including Pharaoh's own child. Meanwhile, Bithiah is released to Moses.
Broken and despondent, Pharaoh orders Moses to take "your people, your cattle, your God and your pestilence" and go. Dathan is also ordered to go, his position as an overseer counting for nothing with the Egyptians, the Hebrews resentful of him and refusing him the privileges he expects. The scene of the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt is one of the most spectacular in all of film.
Goaded into rage by Nefretiri in her grief and anger at Moses, the Pharaoh arms himself and chases the former slaves with his armies to the shore of the Red Sea. Held back by a pillar of fire, the Egyptian forces can only watch as Moses parts the sea's waters ("Behold His mighty hand!") to provide his people a route of escape. As the Hebrews race over the seabed, the army rides in hot pursuit as the fire-pillar fades away. The Hebrews make it to the far shore just in time to witness God's closing of the waters on the Egyptian army, drowning every man and horse. Rameses looks on in despair, and all he can do is return to Nefretiri, informing her, "Moses' god is God."
The former slaves camp at the foot of Sinai and wait as Moses again ascends the mountain. When Moses delays coming down from Sinai, the Hebrews lose faith and, urged on by Dathan, build a golden calf as an idol to bear before them back to Egypt, hoping to win Rameses' forgiveness. The people proceed to indulge their most wanton desires in an orgy of sinfulness. Meanwhile, high atop the mountain, Moses witnesses God's creation of the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments. When he finally climbs down, Moses beholds his people's iniquity and destroys both of the tablets in rage, a burning crevasse swallows all who do not join him at his side. After God forces them to endure forty years' exile in the desert wandering lost to prove their loyalty, the Hebrews finally arrive in the land of Israel. An elderly Moses then appoints Joshua to succeed him as leader and goes forth out of Israel to his destiny.
[edit] Popularity
Critics have argued that considerable liberties were taken with the Biblical story, affecting the film's claim to authenticity, but this has had little effect on its popularity. For decades, a showing of The Ten Commandments was a popular fund-raiser among revivalist Christian churches, while the film was equally treasured among film buffs for DeMille's "cast of thousands" approach and the heroic but antiquated silent-screen-type acting.[2] The movie traditionally aired once a year on ABC around Palm Sunday, Easter, and Passover.
In 1999, satisfying both audiences, the film was deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
The parting of the Red Sea won the film its Oscar for Special Effects, while the worship of the Golden Calf owed something to opera staging of Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila. The giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai is also considered a dramatic highlight.
Aside from winning the Academy Award for Best Effects, Special Effects, it was also nominated for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color, Best Cinematography, Color, Best Costume Design, Color (Edith Head, Ralph Jester, John Jensen, Dorothy Jeakins and Arnold Friberg), Best Film Editing, Best Picture and Best Sound, Recording.
The film was adapted by Aeneas MacKenzie, Jesse Lasky Jr., Jack Gariss and Fredric M. Frank from the J.H. Ingraham novel Pillar of Fire, the A.E. Southon novel On Eagle's Wings and the Dorothy Clarke Wilson novel Prince of Egypt.
DeMille had previously made the film in a silent version in 1923. It has since been remade again as a television miniseries broadcast in April 2006.
Cast:
- Charlton Heston as Moses
- Yul Brynner as Pharaoh Rameses II
- Anne Baxter as Nefretiri
- Edward G. Robinson as Dathan
- Yvonne De Carlo as Sephora
- Debra Paget as Lilia
- John Derek as Joshua
- Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Pharaoh Seti I
- Nina Foch as Bithiah
- Martha Scott as Yochabel
- Dame Judith Anderson as Memnet
- Vincent Price as Baka
- John Carradine as Aaron
- Douglass Dumbrille as Jannes
- Olive Deering as Miriam
- Mike Connors as Amalekite Herder (under the name Touch Connors)
Other well-known talent in the film's "cast of thousands" included Herb Alpert as a Hebrew drummer, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer as a slave, Michael Ansara as an Egyptian taskmaster, Robert Vaughn as a spearman and a Hebrew, Clint Walker as a Sardinian captain and DeMille himself as the film's narrator, all uncredited. In the film's release to theaters (and its subsequent release on home video), DeMille also appeared on screen to introduce the film.
[edit] Casts/Character
| Casts | Character |
|---|---|
| Julia Faye | Elisheba |
| Henry Wilcoxon | Pentaur |
| Lawrence Dobkin | Hur Ben Caleb |
| Fraser Clarke Heston | Infant Moses |
| H.B. Warner | Amminadab |
| Woody Strode | King of Ethiopia/little carrier-slave |
| Rushdy Abaza | Rushti Abaza |
| Henry Brandon | Commander of the Hosts |
| Dorothy Adams | Slave Woman/Hebrew at Golden Calf/Hebrew at Rameses' Gate |
| Maude Fealy | Slave Woman/Hebrew at Crag & Corridor |
| Gail Kobe | Pretty Slave Girl |
| Henry Corden | Sheik of Sinai |
| Onslow Stevens | Lugal |
| Frank Dekova | Abiram |
| Ian Keith | Rameses I |
| Eugene Mazzola | Rameses' son |
| Paula Morgan | Hebrew Woman/Slave Woman |
| Kenneth MacDonald | Hebrew at Crag & Corridor/Slave |
| Dorothy Neumann | Hebrew at Crag & Corridor/Slave/Hebrew at Dathan's Tent |
| Diane Gump | slave |
| Donald Curtis | Mered |
| Eduard Franz | Jethro |
| Lisa Mitchell | Jethro's Daughter |
| Noelle Williams | Jethro's Daughter |
| Pat Richard | Jethro's Daughter |
| Joyce Vanderveen | Jethro's Daughter |
| Joanna Merlin | Jethro's Daughter |
| Abbas El Boughdadly | Rameses' Charioteer |
| John Miljan | The Blindone |
| Francis McDonald | Simon |
| Tommy Duran | Gershom |
| Ramsay Hill | Korah |
| Joan Woodbury | Korah's wife |
| Paul De Rolf | Eleazar |
| Robert Carson | Aleazar as an Adult |
| Esther Brown | Princess Tharbis |
| E.J. André | Sheik of Hazerath |
| Eric Alden | High Ranking Officer/Taskmaster/Slave/officer |
| Kay Bell | Taskmaster/Red Bearded slave |
| Baynes Barron | Taskmaster |
| Mary Benoit | Guardian of the Prince/Court Woman/Hebrew at Dathan's Tent/ Hebrew at Crag & Corridor/Mother |
| Rus Conklin | Whip Scarred Brick Carrier/Hebrew at Dathan's Tent |
| Babette Bain | Little Miriam |
| Bobby Clark | Little boy in Exodus |
| Mimi Gibson | Little Egyptian Girl |
| Kem Dibbs | Corporal |
| Edna Mae Cooper | Woman of the Woman |
| Nancy Hale | Court lady in Pool |
| June Jocelyn | Court lady/Hebrew at Crag & Corridor/Hebrew at Dathan's Tent/ Wife of Overseer |
| Irene Martin | Tuya |
| Richard Kean | Old Hebrew at Moses Houses/Hebrew Toward Corridor |
| Fred Kohler Jr | Foreman |
| Peter Mamakos | Chief Driver |
| George Melford | Hebrew at Golden Calf/Nobleman |
| John Merton | Architect Assistant |
| Amena Mohamed | Architect Assistant |
| John Parrish | Sheik of Rephidim |
| Amanda Webb | Hebrew at Golden Calf/Young Woman/Hebrew in Exodus |
| Jeane Wood | Slave/Hebrew at Crag & Corridor/Hebrew at Golden Calf |
| Rod Redwing | Taskmaster/Hebrew at Golden Calf |
| Frank Wilcox | Wazir |
| Addison Richards | Fan Bearer |
| Keith Richards | Hebrew at Golden Calf/Courtier/Slave/Hebrew at Dathan's Tent/ Hebrew at Crag & Corridor/Overseer |
| Marcoreta Starr | Slave/Hebrew at Golden Calf |
[edit] Uncredited Casts
| Uncredited Casts | Character |
|---|---|
| Luis Alberni | Old Hebrew |
| Herb Alpert | Drummer Boy |
| Peter Baldwin | Courtier |
| Dehl Berti | Pharaoh's Man Servant/Architects Assistant |
| Gorgen Raymond Aghayan | Hebrew at Golden Calf |
| Lillian Albertson | Slave |
| Clare Andre | Slave |
| Dorothy Andre | Slave |
| Maria Elena Aza | Dancing Girl |
| Bart Antinora | Slave |
| Alan Aric | Hebrew at Golden Calf |
| Joel Ashley | Taskmaster |
| William Bagdad | Slave |
| Judith Barrett | Hebrew at Golden Calf |
| Norman Bartold | Signalman |
| Betty Bassett | Court Woman |
| Ahmed Salah Sayed Ahmed | Slave |
| Ted Allan | Hebrew at Rameses' Gate |
| Vicki Bakken | Egyptian Courtesan |
| Patti Ballon | Hebrew girl at Rameses' Gate |
| George Baxter | 2nd Wazir |
| Steven Benson | Kid in massive march |
| Abdullah Abbas | Taskmaster |
| Arthur Batanides | Hebrew at Rameses' Gate/Hebrew at Golden Calf |
| Prudence Beers | Hebrew at Crag and Corridor/Hebrew at Golden Calf |
| Jack Baston | Fan Bearer |
| Polly Burson | Slave |
| Herbert Butterfield | Royal Physician |
| Lesley-Marie Colburn | Slave Child |
[edit] Decalogues
One legacy of the movie are scores of public displays or monuments of the Ten Commandments that DeMille paid to be erected around the country as a publicity stunt. Known as decalogues, the displays were set up by the group Fraternal Order of Eagles, sometimes in or near government buildings. Several have been involved in court battles over whether their presence is said to violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution's Establishment Clause.
[edit] Differences from the Bible
There are many differences between the film and the storyline as it is traditionally understood from the Bible.
In the movie, Yochabel, Moses' birth mother, is shown as a slave working on the Treasure City construction site. However, the descendants of Levi (the third son of Jacob) had never been enslaved. Thus, when Moses made the decision to leave the royal palace, he would not have been part of the workforce. DeMille was aware of this; he has Yochabel in a later scene saying "We are Levites, appointed Shepherds of Israel." (Also, the name of Moses' mother is Yochebed rather than Yochabel, in the Bible.)
The story of Shiphrah and Puah (Exodus 1:15-21) is omitted from the film.
The Pharaohs are all named in the film: Ramses I, Seti I, Ramses II. In the Exodus story in the Bible, they are all called "Pharaoh" and no other names are given. (see Pharaoh of the Exodus).
In the Bible, the wives of the Pharaohs are not even mentioned. In the film, one queen of Egypt plays a very important role. She is given the name of Nefretiri, based on that of Nefertari (either way, not to be confused with Nefertiti), the name of one of the most important of the many wives of Ramses II. Her plottings and machinations are very important to the plot of the movie.
In the film, the young Moses is a successful military commander who defeats a Nubian army and makes the Africans allies of Egypt. This has basis on Josephus, legends, and historical fiction novels, but not in the Bible.
In Exodus 2:11-12 it is said that Moses "looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand." No such caution in the film: Moses jumps right in to fight the Egyptian.
In the Bible, Moses flees from Egypt to Midian, fearing (correctly) that the Egyptians know of his homicide and that he will be executed if caught. In the movie, he is arrested and exiled.
The movie adds a subplot about Joshua coming to Moses to beseech him to return to Egypt to free the Israelites.
The story of Zipporah circumcising her son by Moses (Exodus 4:24-26) is omitted from the movie.
In the Bible and in the movie, Moses complains to the Lord that he is slow of speech, and of a slow tongue; there is no indication of this problem in Moses' articulate and powerful voice in the movie version.
The film shows four of the Plagues of Egypt: Blood, Hail, Darkness, and Death of the Firstborn. The other six plagues are Frogs, Flies, Lice, Death of Cattle, Boils, and Locusts. These are not shown.
Pharaoh drowns with his army in Exodus 15:19. In the movie, he very prudently stays in the rear and saves himself from drowning.
In Exodus, the Israelites, led by Miriam, sing and dance to celebrate the death of Pharaoh and the Egyptian army. In the film, they stand still in stunned silence.
The stories in the Bible about God providing manna, quail and water to Israel are skipped over in the film.
The attack by the Amalekites and the Battle of Rephidim are omitted.
The movie depicts the Israelites as worshipping the Golden Calf while Moses was on the mountain, receiving the commandments. As is noted several times in the Bible, however, the reception of the Ten Commandments began as a national revelation, as opposed to the private one depicted in the DeMille film.
The account in Exodus 24 of Moses and seventy Elders of Israel seeing God and eating and drinking in the presence of God is omitted.
In the Bible, God gives Moses many other commandments besides the Ten.
The story of Korah and his rebellion, which occurs much later in the Bible narrative, is conflated with that of the Golden Calf in the film. Korah himself is omitted, replaced with Dathan.
[edit] DVD
The Ten Commandments has been released to DVD on three occasions:
First Edition released on March 30, 1999 as a two disc set, with the following specs:
Disc One & Two: The Movie + Extras
- Widescreen (Enhanced for 16x9)
- Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
- Three Trailers
Second Edition released on March 9, 2004 as a two disc set (Special Collectors Edition), with the following specs:
Disc One & Two: The Movie + Extras
- Widescreen (Enhanced for 16x9)
- Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
- Three Trailers
- Commentary by Katherine Orrison, Author of Written in Stone
- Making Cecil B. DeMille's Epic, The Ten Commandments
- Vintage Newsreel: The Ten Commandments - Premiere in New York
- 6-Part Documentary: Moses/The Chosen People/Land of the Pharaohs/The Paramount Lot/The Score/Mr. DeMille
- Trailers:
- 1956 "Making of" Trailer
- 1966 Trailer
- 1989 Trailer
- Photo Gallery
Third Edition released on March 21, 2006 as a three disc set (50th Anniversary Collection), with the following specs:
Disc One & Two: The Movie + Extras
- Widescreen (Enhanced for 16x9)
- Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
- Three Trailers
- Commentary by Katherine Orrison, Author of Written in Stone: Making Cecil B. DeMille's Epic, The Ten Commandments
- Vintage Newsreel: The Ten Commandments - Premiere in New York
- 6-Part Documentary: Moses/The Chosen People/Land of the Pharaohs/The Paramount Lot/The Score/Mr. DeMille
- Trailers:
- 1956 "Making of" Trailer
- 1966 Trailer
- 1989 Trailer
- Photo Gallery
Disc Three: The Movie (1923 Version)
- Commentary by Katherine Orrison, Author of Written in Stone
- Hand-tinted footage of the Exodus and Parting of the Red Sea Sequence
| The Ten Commandments DVD Covers | |||||
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| First Edition 2 Disc Set |
Second Edition 2 Disc Set |
Third Edition 3 Disc Set |
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[edit] Trivia
- During his lifetime, DeMille was reluctant to discuss technical details of how the film was made, especially the optical tricks used in the famous parting of the Red Sea. It was eventually revealed that it was accomplished (in both versions) by using footage of the Red Sea and splicing in film footage (run in reverse) of water pouring from large trip-tanks set up in the studio back-lot.
- Nina Foch, who played Bithiah, is actually a year younger than Charlton Heston who played Moses.
- Although Rameses II and Seti I were historical figures, Rameses' wife's name was Nefertari, not "Nefretiri", as in the film. This queen, though well-known, is not to be confused with the even more famous queen Nefertiti, who lived 75 years earlier. Both names mean "Beautiful."
- Nowhere in the Bible is any Queen of Egypt even mentioned, much less named.
- Heavy metal band Metallica wrote a song based on the events in the movie, titled Creeping Death.
- Due to the length of the movie, network telecasts would sometimes edit the film heavily, leading some humorists to comment that it had been "trimmed to seven commandments".
- Charlton Heston did God's voice for the burning bush scene, but it is not known for certain who recorded God's voice for the giving of the Ten Commandments.
- Heston's version of Moses has been parodied numerous times, most notably in History of the World, Part I, in which Mel Brooks, playing Moses, brings fifteen Commandments, with the extra five written on a third tablet. He drops the third tablet and hastily says, "Ten, ten commandments!"
- The Paramount mountain at the beginning of the movie is replaced with Mount Sinai and the sky is red.
- The infant Moses was played by Charlton Heston's then infant son, Fraser.
[edit] Production
The screenplay was the creation of a committee of writers, headed by "Rev." J. H. Ingraham (actually a novelist who wrote Pillar of Fire) and "Rev." A.E. Southon (actually the novelist of On Eagle's Wings), who were listed as reverends to add to credibility for the script. Dorothy Clarke Wilson, Aeneas MacKenzie, Jesse Lasky Jr., Jack Gariss, and Fredric M. Frank also contributed.
In the commentary for the DVD edition, Katherine Orrison (a protege and biographer of Henry Wilcoxon), describes the historical research that DeMille and associates did at the time. Orrison says that many details of Moses' life which were left out of the Bible are present in the Koran, which was sometimes used as a source. She also describes some coincidences in production; the man who designed Moses' distinctive rust-white-black striped robe used those colours because they looked impressive, and only later discovered that these are the actual colours of the Tribe of Levi.
Artist Arnold Friberg, in addition to designing sets and costumes, also contributed the manner of Moses ordaining Joshua to his mission at the end of the film: Hands on Joshua's head. Frieberg, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, demonstrated the LDS manner of performing such ordinations, and DeMille liked it.
Pharaoh is usually shown wearing the red-and-white crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. For his pursuit of the Israelites, however, he wears the blue Uraeus helmet-crown, which the Pharaohs wore for battle.
[edit] References
- Orrison, Katherine (1990). Written in Stone: Making Cecil B. DeMille's Epic, The Ten Commandments. New York: Vestal Press. ISBN 187951124X.
- ^ "Top grossing films adjusted for inflation", BoxOfficeMojo
- ^ "Ten Commandments movie", Your Movie Pal
[edit] External link
