Review of The Ten Commandments (1956) by Danny R — 07 Dec 2011

Legendary director Cecil B. DeMille's sweeping classic spectacle which is a unforgettable Hollywood biblical epic. It concerns the life of Moses from his birth to his abandonment through his being found in the Nile river in a water ark by the Egyptian Princess Bithiah the sister to the Pharaoh Sethi and through Moses's manhood as the Prince of Egypt, his slavery and his tremendous trails in leading the Hebrews out of bondage and from Egypt.

Vivid storytelling with a mixture of spectacular pageantry and drama, bolstered by an exceptional all-star cast beginning with Charlton Heston's dynamic lead performance as Moses with his powerful presence and his rich commanding voice, Yul Brynner is perfection as the arrogant and hateful Rameses, Anne Baxter is terrific as the sexy and scheming Nefertiri, Edward G.

Robinson is superb as the nefarious Hebrew overseer Dathan, John Derek delivers a robust performance as the heroic Joshua, the stone cutter. Vincent Price is wonderfully evil as sadistic, whip wielding Baka, the master building and Sir Cedric Hardwicke in brilliant and endearing turn as the Pharaoh Sethi.

Magnificent production design and art direction by Aibert Nozaki, Hal Pereir and Walter Tyler, opulent sets with ravishing cinematography by Loyal Griggs and fabulous costume designs by Edith Head & Arnold Frberg and Elmer Bernstein's majestic score.

Groundbreaking Oscar winning visual effects by John P. Fulton that are still effective today, including the memorable parting of the Red Sea, to get this effect, shots of the actual Red Sea were matched with shots of dump tanks pouring huge amounts of water into a Paramount tank set, when the footage was reversed the water seemed to part, the careful blending of these two shots produced the desired effect.

The combined footage took 18 months to film, at a cost of a million dollars, this would be the great DeMille's most ambitious and successful film of his amazing career at a cost of $13,500,000 with location shots in the Middle East and the Sanai Peninsula with 25,000 extras for the stunning scenes of the exodus and at the age of 75, it would be his last motion picture but what a finale, it earned 7 Academy Awards nominations including Best Picture.

Highly Recommended.