Bank holiday afternoon fare it might be, but DeMille's remake of his 1923 silent is a marvellous epic of the kind they don't make any more.
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:28
Fresh:26
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7.4/10
Consensus: Bombastic and occasionally silly but extravagantly entertaining, Cecil B. DeMille's all-star spectacular is a muscular retelling of the great Bible story.
Runtime: 4 hrs 5 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: This spectacular biblical epic from legendary showman Cecil B. DeMille tells the story of Moses from his infancy to the triumphant moment when he led the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt. The... This spectacular biblical epic from legendary showman Cecil B. DeMille tells the story of Moses from his infancy to the triumphant moment when he led the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt. The film begins as the pharaoh's daughter (Yvonne De Carlo) discovers the abandoned infant Moses and takes him to the shelter of her family. Charlton Heston stars as the young man raised by the pharaoh as an Egyptian prince. Moses is righteous and kind, the favored successor to the kingdom, which results in the deep-seated jealousy of Prince Rameses (Yul Brynner). Rameses and Moses compete for the throne and the love of the young princess, Nefretiri (Anne Baxter), until Moses learns the truth about his origins and joins the Jewish slaves in their fight for freedom. After receiving the Ten Commandments from God, Moses helps free the Jews from the pharaoh's tyrannical rule, surmounting all obstacles in his way--including the parting of the Red Sea, in one of the movie's most famous scenes. Cecil B. DeMille's extravagant final film--and remake of his silent 1923 version--is a legendary combination of the master showman's love of historical realism, spectacle, lavish scenic design, and dizzying crowd sequences. The exodus alone is a stunning feat of modern cinema, featuring thousands of actors trekking through the arid desert as Pharaoh's chariots chase after them. [More]
Starring: Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson
Starring: 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, H.B. Warner, Henry Wilcoxon
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Screenwriter: Aeneas MacKenzie, Jesse Lasky, Jack Gariss, Fredric M. Frank
Producer: Cecil B. DeMille
Composer: Elmer Bernstein
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Reviews for The Ten Commandments
An epic soap opera of an event -- the running time is longer than any church service -- that still impresses more than it amuses.
It's the gigantic vulgarity, the obsessive righteousness of the director himself, which keeps the show on the road and suffuses the movie with its daft power.
A great big wallow, sublime hootchy-kootchy hokum, peppered with lightning that does automatic writing and an unsurpassed homage to the joys of jello.
With a running time of nearly four hours, Cecil B. De Mille's last feature and most extravagant blockbuster is full of the absurdities and vulgarities one expects, but it isn't boring for a minute.
DeMille remains conventional with the motion picture as an art form. The eyes of the onlooker are filled with spectacle. Emotional tug is sometimes lacking.
Still the definitive depiction of the Exodus in the popular imagination.
As much a testament and a fixture of traditional American ideals and affections as a courthouse display of the stone tablets, and as weighty and solid.
Anything worth doing is worth overdoing in DeMille's ponderous, yet still colossal, Biblical soap opera.
Still a grand biblical epic that's just a notch below "Ben-Hur" in terms of its performances, narrative drama, and special effects.
...there is something touching in the mechanical hauteur of some of the performances.
Is there anyone who can picture Moses without thinking of Heston dramatically lifting his staff to part the Red Sea?
DeMille's film fairly bursts with color and hugeness, even when the characters sit around on one set and talk at one another -- which happens a lot.
Latest News for The Ten Commandments
October 12, 2009:
Fox Preps 300-Style Story of Moses ![]()
What do you get when you cross the story of Moses with a "300"-style green screen modern action style? Producer Peter Chernin aims to find out with a project scripted by Adam... More...
May 14, 2008:
Ten Commandments for Sale ![]()
The fake granite tablets used by Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments will be among the more than 1,000 pieces of Hollywood memorabilia auctioned off by Profiles in History... More...
April 07, 2008:
Charlton Heston's Most Memorable Performances
With his classically chiseled looks and basso profundo speaking voice, Charlton Heston was an icon of old-school Hollywood. In remembrance of Heston, Rotten Tomatoes has... More...
April 07, 2008:
Charlton Heston: 1924-2008
Charlton Heston has passed away at the age of 84. More...
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