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The Ten Commandments

Paramount Pictures

Motion Picture Associates

United States of America

English

Charlton Heston

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

Olive Deering

Douglass Dumbrille

Frank De Kova

Henry Wilcoxon

Eduard Franz

Donald Curtis

Lawrence Dobkin

H.B. Warner

Julia Faye

Lisa Mitchell

Noelle Williams

Joanna Merlin

Pat Richard

Joyce van der Veen

Diane Hall

Abbas El Boughdadly

Fraser Clarke Heston

John Miljan

Francis McDonald

Ian Keith

Paul De Rolf

Woody Strode

Tommy Duran

Eugene Mazzola

Ramsay Hill

Joan Woodbury

Esther Brown

Rushdy Abaza

Dorothy Adams

Eric Alden

E.J. André

Babette Bain

Baynes Barron

Kay Bell

Mary Benoit

Henry Brandon

Robert Carson

Bobby Clark

Rus Conklin

Mike Connors

Henry Corden

Edna Mae Cooper

Kem Dibbs

Maude Fealy

Mimi Gibson

Gavin Gordon

Diane Gump

Nancy Hale

June Jocelyn

Richard Kean

Gail Kobe

Fred Kohler Jr.

Kenneth MacDonald

Peter Mamakos

Irene Martin

George Melford

John Merton

Amena Mohamed

Paula Morgan

Dorothy Neumann

John Parrish

Rodd Redwing

Addison Richards

Keith Richards

Hal Sherman

Marcoreta Starr

Onslow Stevens

Clint Walker

Amanda Webb

Frank Wilcox

Jeane Wood

Luis Alberni

Lillian Albertson

Barbara Aler

Michael Ansara

William Bagdad

Arthur Batanides

Polly Burson

Lesley-Marie Colburn

Fairy Cunningham

Cecil B. DeMille

Richard Farnsworth

Frank Hagney

Kay Hammond

John Hart

Bob Herron

Madeleine Taylor Holmes

Walter H. Tyler

Jack Gariss

A.E. Southon

Anne Bauchens

Fredric M. Frank

Jesse Lasky Jr.

J.H. Ingraham

Loyal Griggs

Albert Nozaki

Æneas MacKenzie

Dorothy Clarke Wilson

Hal Pereira

W. Wallace Kelley

Daniel McCauley

John F. Warren

Ruth Godfrey

Michael D. Moore

Francisco Day

Ray Moyer

Wally Westmore

Frank Westmore

LeRoy Prinz

Frank McCoy

Edward Salven

J. Peverell Marley

Nellie Manley

Sam Comer

Loren Janes

Keith C. Seele

Edith Head

Gordon Cole

Gene Garvin

Arnold Friberg

Ralph Marcus

Gladys Percey

William C. Hayes

Ralph Jester

Jerry Cook

Robert Goodstein

John Jensen

Donald MacLean

Arthur Rosson

Henry Noerdlinger

Rudolph Lupo

Frances Dawson

Harry Lindgren

John P. Fulton

C. Kenneth Deland

Donald Robb

George R. Hughes

Richard Mueller

Farciot Edouart

Dorothy Jeakins

Fouad Aref

Frank Caffey

Labib Habachi

Louis Mesenkop

Paul K. Lerpae

Elmer Bernstein

Olga Celeste

Albert Simpson

Norbert Haring

Doris Turner

Albert Scheving

Bud Bashaw Jr.

Loren L. Ryder

Murray Young

Helen Lierly

Glen E. Richardson

George Dutton

Vera Tomei

Joshua Meador

Cat Ellington

(The King of Egypt - with his sword drawn - and his Queen, together, converse about killing Moses, servant of the Most High God) ...

Queen Nefretiri: 'Bring it back to me, stained with his blood!'

Pharoah Rameses: 'I will... to mingle with your own!'


Inspired by the Book of Exodus, this Cecil B. DeMille-directed, Academy Award-winning biblical epic, the seventh most successful film of all-time, needs no further analysis.

Among the undisputed, where exceptionally classic one-liners are concerned, The Ten Commandments is a timeless generational masterpiece, and a National Film Registry-honored landmark of the Hollywood cinema industry ... Period.

Five out of five glittering stars.

His God "is" God!

The Ten Commandments is at the top end of Hollywood historical epics. It was to be Cecil B. DeMille's last ever directing assignment and he bows out with a gargantuan epic that to this day stands as a testament to his brilliant talent as one of the masters of epic film making.

The story cribs from a number of biblical sources, some of which are hokum and not to be taken as a religio lesson, but basically it tells the tale of Moses (Charlton Heston) and how he came to lead the Israelites to their exodus from Egypt - culminating in his delivering of God's own Ten Commandments to the people.

No expense is spared, with a top line ensemble cast being joined by over 25,000 extras. The wide-screen special effects work dazzles the eyes, the direction of ginormous crowd sequences impressive, and an ebullient spectacle is never far away in what is a picture running at three hours thirty minutes (add ten for the glory of an intermission).

It would have been easy for the cast to get lost amongst such a large scale production, but the principals shine bright and make telling characteristic marks. Heston was born for the Moses role, Yul Brynner absolutely excels as Moses' silky and sulky nemesis - Rameses, Anne Baxter gives Nefretiri a beauteous and villainous twin arc, which in turn is counterpointed by Yvonne De Carlo's sultry yet homely Sephora (wife of Moses).

Elsewhere we get Debra Paget filling out a trio of gorgeous lady stars, where as Lilia she does determined and heartfelt oomph as a woman yearning to be freed from male dominance. Edward G. Robinson (Dathan) and Vincent Price (Baka) camp it up and have a good time, while Cedric Hardwicke (Sethi) turns in a heartfelt old Pharaoh and John Derek as Joshua, Moses' underling, does surprisingly well given the enormity of the character trajectory.

As the music (Elmer Bernstein) swirls and thunders we are treated to Loyal Griggs' colour photography that pings out the screen and brings to life expert costuming. John Fulton's special effects work won him the Academy Award, and even though a couple look creaky these days, they all still today hold great entertaining spectacle worth. While the sheer gusto of the performances overcomes some less than stellar dialogue.

Lavish yet vulgar, hokey yet magnificent, this maty not be the greatest historical epic ever made, but it booms loud and proud and is an utter joy for like minded fans of the genre's output. 9/10

As good today as in 1956

This film consists of an all star cast and is an amazing movie. The special effects are incredible especially for 1956. The acting is clearly amazing in this account of Moses and the Ten Commandments. 9-10

CinemaSerf

Until very recently, I had never actually made it all the way through this Cecil B. De Mille marathon. It is a glorious piece of cinema but no amount of beautiful colour and costumes can detract from what is really rather a staid, over-egged production. Sir Cedric Hardwicke helps open the proceedings as Seti, but once he has gone the film loses much of it's class and just becomes a vehicle for Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner to play Moses and Ramses as this overly scripted tale of frail brotherly love becomes enmity and ultimately open hostility. Edward G. Robinson and Vincent Price present us with a bit of menace; the special effects are cleverly applied - giving the plagues an extra bit of potency and Elmer Bernstein provides a strong score but basically this is just one long story more of biblical, than, epic proportions.

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The Ten Commandments

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Cast

Charlton Heston

Yul Brynner

Anne Baxter

Edward G. Robinson

Yvonne De Carlo

Debra Paget

John Derek

Cedric Hardwicke

Nina Foch

Martha Scott

Box office

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