#The Ten Commandments (1956)

[livehorses]

Easter-Like classics that can never be missed in our Familiar Cinema Club

First, we have all the Hollywood-Sword and Sandal like classics that we watch between Lent, the Holy Week and Easter, being mainly and in a historically accurate chronological order:

Joseph King of Dreams

(Mandatory Prequel watching)

The Ten Commandments (1956)

Ben Hur (1959)

The Robe (1953)

Quo Vadis (1951)

Then we watch some other movies that we kinda relate with the celebration, like:

The Fiddler On The Roof (1971)

BBC's The Chronicles of Narnia series

(My mom doesn't like the Disney adaptation)

The Secret Garden (1993)

For a strange relation of ideas, because my oldest brother was transcribing in the middle of the Holy Week one year, the orchestration of the movie for a streaming with live orchestra,

Howl's Moving Castle

We even have for a traditional Easter Sunday breakfast, Sophie's eggs with bacon.

And the main event of Holy Saturday, the most expected movie of the season...

The Prince of Egypt

[oscarupsets]

I need it to be known that I had a 3-way split for 1956 between Giant, Friendly Persuasion, and The Ten Commandments. Especially during this time of year, I do not have an extra 100 hours to watch all of these epics. Plus I had the added layer of all of these being weirdly white-washed. The Ten Commandments seemed to fit the best for an upset.

Both epics were outrageous productions. Tens of thousands of extras, lavish sets, multiple locations, special effects, etc. Around the World in 80 Days filmed in every county that was depicted. The Ten Commandments parted the damn sea!

Around the World in 80 Days might have been a "jumbo extravaganza", but it wasn't life changing. I sat through 3 hours of this man taking 80 days to travel around the globe and I have nothing to show for it. There's a bit of drama, some romance, and plenty of random cameos, but they're all hidden underneath this ridiculously expensive production!

Surprisingly enough, I had never seen The Ten Commandments until now. It was the highest grossing film of 1956 (with 80 Days in the #2 spot) and is considered the 8th highest grossing film of all time, adjusted for inflation.

It was also Cecil B. DeMille's final film. I will admit, after suffering through The Greatest Show on Earth, I was about worried about DeMille's ability to keep my attention this time around. While I sat for almost 4 hours for this one, I was pleasantly surprised.

The special effects may be a bit comedic in 2024, and Anne Baxter's character is slightly annoying, but I still felt it was worth my time. If it was any shorter, I would consider watching it again. If you are simply looking for the story of Moses, dare I say go watch DreamWorks' The Prince of Egypt instead?

Around the World in 80 Days took home 5 Oscars at the 29th Academy Awards, including ones for screenplay and editing, but missed out on a directing win and any acting noms.

The Ten Commandments won solely for special effects, which makes sense if you read about the amount of time it took to film the parting of the sea.

Around the World in 80 Days is not highly favored among critics and the general audience. When discussing Best Picture winners, critics often bring up 80 Days as an example of buying the Oscar.

Not much else to add for these two.

Unofficial Review: You can probably watch any of the epics nominated this year and have an okay time. If you want to watch an epic at all, that is. If not, skip it.

[themousefromfantasyland]

My favorite part about Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments is that Moses has striking white hair and long beard.

Now this is for sure inspired by Western religious art that depicts Moses with white hair and beard.

But the thing is, in Abrahamic lore Moses is a super old man when he returns to Egypt, while Charlton Heston was 33 years-old during the film

This was Moses right before the burning bush

And this was right after

What the HELL is this supposed to mean? Speaking to God ages you fourty years? Am I supposed to believe this happened off screen? 😂😂😂

@ariel-seagull-wings @thealmightyemprex @tamisdava2

[historicalreusedcostumes]

This Ancient Dress is worn on Nina Foch as Bithiah in The Ten Commandments 1956 and worn again later on Florence Henderson as Carol Brady in The Brady Bunch: The Great Earring Caper 1973.

[atomic-chronoscaph]

The Ten Commandments (1956)

[daughter-of-sapph0]

okay jumblr. besides Prince of Egypt or The Ten Commandments (because everyone always says one of those two), what's the best passover movie?

[theglitterdome]

Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner on the set of The Ten Commandments - 1956

[mudwerks]

(via PEPLUM TV: Behind-the-Scenes)

Charlton Heston, as Moses, and Vincent Price on the set of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956). In the studio with blue screen. The exterior view will be added later in post-production.

[aiiaiiiyo]

[gracie-bird]

Princess Grace of Monaco in conversation in New York on October 5, 1956, with Cardinal Spellman, Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York, and Cecil B. de Mille, the film producer. They were attending a preview of the film "The Ten Commandments" which Mr. de Mille produced and directed.

Below is a picture of Cecil B. De Mille introducing Grace to Anne Baxter and Judith Anderson on the set of "The Ten Commandments" at the beginning of the year. Grace Kelly was De Mille's first option for the role of "Séfora" (Moises's wife) but she was unable to.

[abs0luteb4stard]

W A T C H I N G

[geezerwench]

The Ten Commandments.

Watch it for the history.

[spiritsdancinginthenight]

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Anne Baxter - The Ten Commandments (1956)

[incorrect-idolmastersidem-quotes]

It would take more than a man to lead the slaves from bondage. It would take a God.

Momohito

[jasonsutekh]

The Ten Commandments (1956)

A prophecy is fulfilled when god speaks to a man destined to free the slaves of Egypt.

For a religion film it’s surprisingly compelling since the pace is maintained by occilating action scenes, with many extras and great scenery, and character development parts and context breaks where the elements from the holy texts are explained. The opulence of the palaces contrasts well the poverty of the slaves and still has subtext relevant today.

Considering it’s an historical piece based on religious texts, one would expect at least some expression of Egyption and Hebrew culture outside of a tourist guidebook. The most glaring issue is that the people of Egypt are almost all white which doesn’t seem terribly accurate and the only actors of colour appear briefly but don’t speak.

It works partly as a fantasy adventure film since there are several effects which don’t disappoint visually. Even if they are less realistic by modern standards, they still have some charm, especially the striking image of the palace waterfalls turning to blood. The acting was a decent quality all round though the opportunities for subtle development were few due to the epic scale of the narrative.

Even though there are mentions of “mysterious ways” this has to be one of the stories where god intervenes the most amount of times since there are regular miracles to keep the audience interested. Given that divine intervention is proven to be so commonplace at this time it begs the question why not simply strike the pharoh down and end the problem without all the mass murder and light shows.

4/10 -It’s below average, but only just!-

-Due to the length of the film being nearly 4 hours long and the TV necessity for ad breaks, the televised version was editied down, leading some critics to say it had “been trimmed down to 7 commandments”.

-It is the most financially successful biblical movie, if one adjusts for inflation.

-Over 14,000 extras were used in the film, and another 15,000 animals.