Review of The Ten Commandments (1956) by Steven L — 10 Dec 2011

Charlton Heston stars as Moses in this biblical epic filmed in 1956. Moses is adopted and raised as a prince of Egypt until discovering he is actually the son of Hebrew slaves. He is banished from Egypt, but later returns to liberate the Hebrews from bondage.

The cast is impressive, featuring Yul Brynner and Ann Baxter, and thousands of extras for the exodus scenes. The dialogue is dignified but a bit formal at times, and the background music is somewhat old-fashioned and melodramatic. However, the special effects (especially the parting of the Red Sea) look quite impressive, considering the movie was made long before the advent of computer-generated imagery.

At 4 hours in length, the movie drags on too long, and the story itself takes liberties with the biblical version of events. (According to the bible, Moses fled from Egypt. In this movie version, Rameses banished him.).

Also starring Vincent Price (star of numerous horror movies) and Yvonne De Carlo (Lily from "The Munsters").