The Ten Commandments (1956)

As you all may have recalled in my post about the 1923 silent film version of "The Ten Commandments," I had mentioned the 1956 more popular version. Well, the wait is over. Now the time has come to review this epic remake of Cecil B. DeMille's already popular version, and made it even more popular with this version. Unlike the silent film, where the first third of the film was about the ending of the Exodus chapter, this version focuses entirely on the Exodus chapter. Cecil B. DeMille remade this masterpiece in 1956, like I had already mentioned, and it's one of my all time favorite religious films. Here is a quick synopsis:

To escape the edict of Egypt's Pharaoh, Rameses I, played by Ian Keith, condemning all newborn Hebrew males, the infant Moses, played by Fraser Clarke Heston, is set adrift on the Nile in a reed basket. Saved by the pharaoh's daughter Bithiah, played by Nina Foch, he is adopted by her and brought up in the court of her brother, Pharaoh Seti, played by Cedric Hardwicke. Moses, now played by Charlton Heston, gains Seti's favor and the love of the throne princess Nefertiri, played by Anne Baxter, as well as the hatred of Seti's son, Rameses, played by Yul Brynner. When his Hebrew heritage is revealed, Moses is cast out of Egypt, and makes his way across the desert where he marries Sephora, played by Yvonne De Carlo (daughter of Jethro, played by Eduard Franz), has a son (played by Tommy Duran) and is commanded by God (voiced by Heston) to return to Egypt to free the Hebrews from slavery. In Egypt, Moses's fiercest enemy proves to be not Rameses, but someone near to him who can 'harden his heart.' (IMDB).

Heston's Moses, according to The Nostalgia Critic, is much like a prodigy, even before he speaks to God. His portrayal shows a great amount of confidence. He's strong and powerful, but at the same time, kind and wise. Every single one of his lines has a weight to it. You know that Moses was destined for greatness, even before he had his true calling. If someone were to tell you that Heston would be your leader, you would immediately follow him. With Heston, you feel that there was greatness inside of him from the start. When you see it realized, it becomes all the more influential. However, the drawback to his performance is that his speech does come across at times as stilted and preachy. Aside from that, Heston does sort of have that representation of will and strength that all good people can possess, which is pretty hard to pull off. Though I do have to ask: Why do they keep calling him Moses Moses? Is that his full name? Because that doesn't make any sense. It's like in "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" where Mario and Luigi's last name was Mario, but don't worry, we'll get to that piece of garbage eventually. Right now, let's focus on this epic religious film.

Yul Brynner plays Rameses, Moses's brother, as very cold-hearted, not caring for his brother or anyone else except for his legacy. He's a likable character because of how despicable he is. He's cunning, manipulative, and doesn't care who knows it. There is a great passion and rage that Brynner pulls out of this performance.

Now talk about star-struck in this film. "The Ten Commandments" had a giant number of supporting cast, some of which I had already mentioned. Others include Edward G Robinson as Dathan, the ever creepy Vincent Price as Baka, and one of the many actors who portrayed Dracula, John Carradine as Aaron. With the duration of this film being pretty long, we're allowed to look at even more characters, like Moses's son. Even though this film has a lot of characters, there are great actors portraying them. The relatively short scenes come across as how sympathetic or unsympathetic they are. When Moses murders Baka, it's much more satisfying to see that Price is playing him. You instantly see scumbag, and he doesn't have to do that. That's just the power of Vincent Price. The same can be said of Robinson's performance of Dathan, who is really cocky when he reveals Moses's past. Even with a sword at his throat, he has nothing to fear. Nefertiri is very complex choosing between the man she loves and the man she marries, only to find her life destroyed by Moses and left with the emptiness of Rameses, who is vengeful. When Rameses is about to kill Nefertiri, she says to him, "Before you strike, show me His blood on your sword." He can't even do it and drops the sword. Maybe he's ashamed of his failure or he figures it's cruller to leave her alive, but Rameses knows that killing Nefertiri will bring him nothing. Someone like Nefertiri, who is so simple yet so complex, can bring that reaction. DeMille portrays this world as so advanced but so savvy where great monuments are made but death is common and seen all the time. A world that needs someone like Moses to intervene. This cast is so fascinating in how cutthroat they are. They get across a lot with very little, which makes them darker and interesting.

When most people think about hearing God, the portrayal in this film is probably what they would think. This is the same God who sent flaming hail, constant darkness, and killed all the first born Hebrews, so he was pretty bad. Heston provides this portrayal of God with a deep, booming voice. However, DeMille's depiction of God in this film looks a little too cartoony. It's the deep, traditional, booming voice that, while impressive, doesn't sound that loving, which is probably closer to what most people would think of.

Overall, this is a complex story with a lot of drama going on, but there are several things they overlooked. The most important one is DeMille doesn't have Moses and Rameses remember they were brothers who grew up together when Moses comes back. I know that Rameses is being portrayed as the villain, but if you weren't told that Moses and Rameses were brothers, then you probably wouldn't have guessed it. They show no love to one another, or reminisce on the good times they had, and when Moses shows up after years of being gone, Rameses just wants him to go away. The visuals are great in this one, and when Moses tells Sephora that he saw God, it's done very well, and a lot of it is portrayed through Heston's expression. There are also some scriptural problems in this film, like when Moses turns his staff into a snake, the high priests do the exact same thing. Isn't the Bible and this film supposed to portray that there is only "one God?" How did they change that? The expressing of emotions in this film is good, but at times it seems like a Soap Opera. I know this is pretty heavy material DeMille is working with, but something about the way they hold themselves and speak to one another does seem like a bit much. The few corny moments in this film does come out as just corny and don't really add anything in the long run. The corniness just comes from how overdramatic it is, not how funny it's trying to be. You'll also hear the line throughout this movie, "So shall it be written, so shall it be done."

Overall, despite some of the flaws I pulled out, you should still see this film. It's a great Biblical film that everyone should see if they are familiar with the Exodus chapter of the Bible. Watch out next week where I look at another film that could be technically a remake from the Biblical Trilogy, but isn't really related.