The Ten Commandments Overview:

The Ten Commandments (1956) was a Adventure - Drama Film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and produced by Cecil B. DeMille and Henry Wilcoxon.

SYNOPSIS

For DeMille's last picture, Hollywood's undisputed master of the cast-of-thousands epic pulled out all the stops, topping even his 1923 silent telling of the Exodus story. Heston, in a role that became his signature, gives a highly charged performance as Moses, the Hebrew who became an Egyptian prince and then led his people out of slavery, and there isn't a false note in the production. The parting of the Red Sea, an effect that manages to remain glorious even in our age of computer graphics, was accomplished by massive amounts of water being poured into a tank and then reversed (the effects took the Oscar). The 35th anniversary video edition features an uncut 245-minute version, with Dolby stereo sound and an on-screen introduction by DeMille. The collector's edition includes a signed card from Heston.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

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The Ten Commandments was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1999.

Academy Awards 1956 --- Ceremony Number 29 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Art DirectionArt Direction: Hal Pereira, Walter H. Tyler, Albert Nozaki; Set Decoration: Samuel M. Comer, Ray Nominated
Best CinematographyLoyal GriggsNominated
Best Costume DesignEdith Head, Ralph Jester, John Jensen, Dorothy Jeakins, Arnold FribergNominated
Best Film EditingAnne BauchensNominated
Best PictureCecil B. DeMille, ProducerNominated
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BlogHub Articles:

The Ten Commandments (1956, Cecil B. DeMille)

By Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 7, 2019 From The Stop Button

While Yul Brynner easily gives the best performance in Ten Commandments, until the second half of the movie Anne Baxter gives the most amusing one. She's an Egyptian princess and she's going to marry the next pharaoh. The next pharaoh is either Brynner or Charlton Heston. Cedric Hardwicke ... Read full article


The Ten Commandments (1956, Cecil B. DeMille)

By Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 7, 2019 From The Stop Button

While Yul Brynner easily gives the best performance in Ten Commandments, until the second half of the movie Anne Baxter gives the most amusing one. She's an Egyptian princess and she's going to marry the next pharaoh. The next pharaoh is either Brynner or Charlton Heston. Cedric Hardwicke ... Read full article


The Ten Commandments (1956, Cecil B. DeMille)

on Apr 7, 2019 From The Stop Button

While Yul Brynner easily gives the best performance in Ten Commandments, until the second half of the movie Anne Baxter gives the most amusing one. She's an Egyptian princess and she's going to marry the next pharaoh. The next pharaoh is either Brynner or Charlton Heston. Cedric Hardwicke ... Read full article


The Ten Commandments (1956, Cecil B. DeMille)

on Apr 7, 2019 From The Stop Button

While Yul Brynner easily gives the best performance in Ten Commandments, until the second half of the movie Anne Baxter gives the most amusing one. She's an Egyptian princess and she's going to marry the next pharaoh. The next pharaoh is either Brynner or Charlton Heston. Cedric Hardwicke ... Read full article


On the Set of The Ten Commandments ( 1956 )

By The Metzinger Sisters on Mar 31, 2018 From Silver Scenes - A Blog for Classic Film Lovers

Tonight, as part of television tradition, ABC will be airing The Ten Commandments in honor of Passover week. For those who are unfamiliar with the film ( were you wandering in the desert wilderness with Moses? ), this 4-hour production tells the story from the Old Testament of Moses, the prince of E... Read full article


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Quotes from

Commander of the Host: Let us go from this place, men cannot fight against a God.
Rameses: It is better to die in battle with a God, than to live in shame.


Nefretiri: Do not exhaust yourself, Great One.
Sethi: [on his deathbed] You are the only thing I regret leaving. You have been my joy.
Nefretiri: And you my only love.
Sethi: Now you're cheating. There was another. I know. I loved him, too. With my last breath, I'll break my own law and speak the name of... Moses.
[10 seconds]
Sethi: Moses.
[Sethi's last words, were spoken slowly, as he said Moses' name twice]


Rameses: You have rat's ears and a ferret's nose.
Dathan: To use in your service, true son of Pharaoh.
Rameses: Add to them, the eyes of a weasel. And find me this would-be deliverer.


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Facts about

At the concluding scene, when when Moses was saying goodbye, he gave Eliazar the 5 books (Torah) he had written under the direction of God. What Moses was holding in his hand was a worn but modern day portfolio. Charlton Heston said he tried to get Cecil B. DeMille to make them scrolls, which would be more suitable for them, but Cecil B. DeMille refused.
Actress, Nina Foch, had role of Bithiah, was actually one year younger than Charlton Heston, her 30-year on-screen son, Moses.
Audrey Hepburn was originally slated for the role of "Nefretiri". Cecil B. DeMille reluctantly decided to pass on her after it was judged that she was too "slender" (i.e., flat-chested). Anne Baxter, who was eventually cast in the role, had originally been a contender for the role of "Sephora."
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Best Picture Oscar 1956






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National Film Registry

The Ten Commandments

Released 1956
Inducted 1999
(Sound)




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