Review of The Ten Commandments (1956) by Paulo Henrique O — 17 Feb 2014

What is there to be said about The Ten Commandments? Ever since it's original release in 1956, it's been hailed as one of the greatest Hollywood epics ever made and is a seasonal highlight on TV every Easter since. Based on the Holy Scriptures, with a little help from other ancient texts, and directed by the legendary filmmaker Cecil DeMille (who had previously directed a silent adaptation of the same story in 1923), The Ten Commandments is a Hollywood classic that is definitely not to be missed.

The Ten Commandments is based on the Bible story of Moses (Charlton Heston), a Hebrew who has been raised by the Egyptian pharaoh since birth. As a prince, he has to deal with the Hebrew slaves who have long prayed for a "deliverer" to free them from bondage, his jealous brother Rameses (Yul Brynner), and his possible marriage to Princess Nefertiri (Anne Baxter). When Moses discovers that he is in fact a Hebrew, he starts to realize that he has the potential to help out his fellow man. After being exiled for his change in heart, Moses receives a divine revelation from God himself via burning bush, commanding him to return to Egypt to free the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage, having to reverse the hard heart of his ruling brother in the process.

The Ten Commandments also stars John Derek as Hebrew Joshua, Edward G. Robinson as Dathan the Hebrew rebel, Debra Paget as Lilia the love interest of Joshua, Yvonne de Carlo as Moses' wife Sephora, Vincent Price as Baka the master builder, Judith Anderson as a suspicious slave, and John Carradine as Moses' actual brother Aaron.

The Ten Commandments would go down as the most famous, most well-known, and most successful film of Cecil DeMille (and would also be his last), and it's definitely the film to end a great filmmaking career on. While it's influenced from it's Biblical counterpart there's also some obvious Cold War parallels present throughout as well, as the film debates on the what man should be ruled by; the law of God or the force of dictators, something that has been debated for thousands of years, even to today. Even for those that are not as accepting of anything that has to do with religion, I still highly recommend The Ten Commandments for its entertainment and historical value.

Like with The Bible, The Ten Commandments sets out to be as big in scope as with the famous story, and DeMille pulls it off big time. It's filmed on location in Egypt, features a super ginormous set, has tons of extras, and features some extreme and wondrous visuals that still hold up well today, particularly the Red Sea sequence and the creation of The Ten Commandments. When it was first released, people would literally watch this film a dozen times just to see the Red Sea sequence, as it was done THAT well, and it's still an excellent marvel to this day. DeMille was right when he said he was going to make an epic unlike any other.

This was also the film that defines the career of Charlton Heston, as this was his first major film, and Heston does a fantastic job in the role of Moses. Not only is the makeup really convincing, but his voice and expressions really work in playing this legendary character. Even if I had no clue who Charlton Heston was, then I'd still be wowed over how Moses was portrayed in this wonderful epic. To this day, Heston is still the definitive Moses. I'm curious to see how Christian Bale will handle the character in Ridley Scott's upcoming Exodus film coming out this December. Other real noteworthy performances include Yul Brynner as Rameses, Edward G. Robinson as Dathan, and Anne Baxter as Nefertiri.

Elmer Bernstein scores the film, and like the film itself, it's pretty epic. The first notes of the score defines what the film is going to be like, with it's strong epic instrumentations. Along with The Magnificent Seven score, The Ten Commandments is one of Bernstein's strongest highlights.

While this film has sort of fell in the middle of great epics in the ranks of others like Ben-Hur and Lawrence of Arabia, The Ten Commandments still remains an epic that is truly worth watching. It's got excellent scope and wonder, filled with wondrous storytelling from DeMille, who narrated this film, it's got incredible performances particularly Charlton Heston, and Yul Brynner, and has some of the best visual effects ever in a film classic, particular the parting of the Red Sea. There's a reason why this film is the 7th highest grossing film of all-time (when adjusted for inflation), and it's because of DeMille's desire to retell this excellent Bible story in the strongest way possible. While I'm excited for Ridley Scott's Exodus, it will be extremely difficult for Scott to maintain that epic greatness as what DeMille's done here.