The Ten Commandments (1956 film)

The Ten Commandments (in English, 'The Ten Commandments' ) is a 1956 American epic film directed and produced by Cecil B. DeMille, shot in VistaVision (color provided by Technicolor) and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It dramatizes the story told in the Bible's book of Exodus, traditionally authored by Moses, an adopted Egyptian prince who becomes the leader of his people, freeing the enslaved Hebrew nation from Egyptian yoke, thereby leading the exodus to Mount Sinai, where he receives the Ten Commandments from God.

The film stars Charlton Heston as Moses, Yul Brynner as Ramesses II, Anne Baxter as Nefertari, Edward G. Robinson as Dathan, Yvonne De Carlo as Zipporah, Debra Paget as Lilia and John Derek as Joshua; and featured by Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Seti, Nina Foch as Bitia, Martha Scott as Jochebed, Judith Anderson as Memnet and Vincent Price as Baka.

Shot on location in Egypt, Mount Sinai, and the Sinai Peninsula, The Ten Commandments was the last and most successful film directed by DeMille. It is a partial version of his 1923 silent film of the same title, and featured one of the largest film sets in motion picture history. It was also the most expensive film made at the time of its release. It grossed over $65. million dollars at the US box office. It is the sixth-highest-grossing film of all time, with an inflation-adjusted total of more than $1 billion.

In 1957, the film was nominated for seven Oscars, winning Best Special Effects (John P. Fulton ASC) and nominated in the categories of Best Picture, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, to the best sound, and to the best costumes.. DeMille won the Foreign Language Press Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director. Charlton Heston was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama. Yul Brynner won the National Board of Review for Best Actor for this film, as well as Anastasia and The King and Me. Heston, Anne Baxter and Yvonne De Carlo won Laurel Awards for Best Actor in a Drama, Fifth Best Actress in a Drama and Third Best Supporting Actress, respectively. It is also one of the most financially successful films ever made, grossing approximately $122.7 million (equivalent to $1.17 billion in 2020) at the box office during its initial release; it was the most successful film of 1956 and the second highest-grossing film of the decade. According to Guinness World Records in terms of theatrical release it is the eighth most successful film of all time when the box office gross is adjusted for inflation. The scene of Moses opening a passage through the Red Sea is considered by many critics as a classic in the history of cinema. The film is part of AFI's 10 Top 10 in the "Epic Movies" category.

In 1999, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. In June 2008, the American Film Institute revealed the ten best films in ten American film genres, after surveying more than 1,500 people from the creative community. The film was listed as the tenth best film in the epic genre. Various television networks have broadcast the film in prime time during the Easter season every year since 1973.

Plot

Anne Baxter and Yul Brynner as Nefertari and Ramses II.

Olive Deering, Edward G. Robinson and Charlton Heston.

Charlton Heston as Moses at the scene of the Red Sea Pass.

Newborn Moses is picked up from the river by Pharaoh's daughter, Bithia. She adopts him and raises him at the royal court. When Moses is older, he earns the appreciation of Pharaoh Seti, Nefertari's father, and Ramses, which upsets him, the future Ramses II. But Moses one day discovers his Hebrew origin and meets his true family, which leads him to leave his life as a prince and become a slave.

Moses saves another slave, Joshua, from death by killing the cruel and abusive architect Baka, and is expelled from Egypt by Pharaoh Seti. He has to cross the desert to reach the lands of the shepherds of Midian, and he becomes a shepherd and forms a family with Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro, who is one of the sheikhs of Midian.

But God's desire is to free the Hebrews from slavery, and one day he calls Moses through a burning bush and reveals his Holy Word to him. Moses returns to Egypt, where Ramses, married to Nefertari, has become pharaoh on the death of his father. Moses asks him to free the people from him, but when Pharaoh refuses, he brings down the ten terrible plagues prepared by God. Only the last plague, which brings death to the firstborn of Egypt and therefore to his own, makes Ramses relent.

When the Jews in Egypt hear God's revelation, Moses leads his people into the desert after the harrowing night when the Angel of Death took the lives of Egypt's firstborn.

However, Ramses is again influenced by his wife Nefertari, and so his heart hardens again and he decides to finish off the Hebrews. But the divine power is very great and Ramses loses all his army in the Red Sea, which covers him with the waters. Ramses then understands that the God of Moses and the Hebrews is the only true God.

In the plains of Sinai, Moses ascends the sacred mountain to receive the Ten Commandments that will govern the lives of the newly liberated people of Israel. However, seeing that it takes 40 days and 40 nights on the mountain, the Hebrews despair and are tempted to build a golden calf to worship. When Moses returns and discovers them, his anger is unleashed and he throws the tables of the law at them, in addition to being condemned by God to wander for forty years in the desert.

Thus, Moses ends his life on the plains of Moab having failed to obey God in the waters of the fray, leading the liberated Hebrews towards a land promised by God, and after leaving Joshua as his successor on the gates of the Jordan River dies in peace proclaiming freedom to all the Earth and its inhabitants.

Cast

• Charlton Heston is Moses, prince heir of Egypt and adopted son of Bitia, sister of Pharaoh Seti I. Later, through Nefertari, he learns of his Hebrew origin and knows that he is the son of Amram and Jocabed. He joins her in Midian, and later returns to Egypt and frees her people, becoming a great leader ordained by God.

• Yul Brynner is Ramses II, prince heir of Egypt, son of Pharaoh Sethi and queen consort Tuya, who later became Pharaoh and husband of Nefertari when Moses returned to Egypt.

• Anne Baxter is Nefertari, princess of the throne of Egypt and the first love of Moses. It is favored by Pharaoh Seti, and later becomes a consort queen of Egypt, wife of Ramses and mother of his son.

• Edward G. Robinson is Datanthe Hebrew chief supervisor of the slaves in Goshen. Through Ramses, he rises to Goshen governor and gives him the Hebrew girl Lilia as a concubine. Rebel and tyrannical, dies shortly after the cult of the golden calf began.

• Yvonne De Carlo is Séfora, the eldest daughter of Jethro and later the wife of Moses and mother of his son Gershom. She taught Moses how to take care of the sheep, and showed her fervent belief and faith in God. He travels to Egypt with Moses, where he meets Nefertari, who then sends her back.

• Debra Paget is Lilia, Hebrew girl whose job is to give water to the slaves, the love of Joshua and later concubine of Datan.

• John Derek is Joshua, Hebrew singer who becomes the successor of Moses.

Cast and dubbing into Spanish

Original Actor (USA) 1956	Character	Voice actor (Spain) 1959	Voice actor (Hispanoamérica) 1982	Voice actor (Hispanoamérica - redoblaje) 1986
Charlton Heston	Moses	Rafael Navarro	José Lavat	Blas García
Yul Brynner	Pharaoh Ramses II	Manuel Cano	Blas García	Carlos Segundo Bravo
Anne Baxter	Nefertari	Elvira Jofre	Rocío Garcel	Rocío Garcel
Edward G. Robinson	Datan	Joaquín Díaz	Carlos Rotzinger	Pedro D'Aguillon
Yvonne De Carlo	Séfora	Victoria Maria Durá	Dulcina Carballo	Andrea Cotto
Debra Paget	Lilia	María Dolores Gispert	Mónica Manjarrez	Gabriela Willert
John Derek	Joshua	Miguel Angel Valdivieso	Arturo Casanova	Martin Soto
Cedric Hardwicke	Pharaoh Seti I	José María Ovies	Carlos Magaña	Jesus
Nina Foch	Bithiah	Teresa Cunillé	Alma Nuri	Liza Willert
Martha Scott	Yochabel	Carmen Robles	Dolores Muñoz Ledo	Alma Nuri
Judith Anderson	Memnet	Hope of the Barrier	Carmen Donna-Dío	Rosario Muñoz Ledo
Vincent Price	Baka	Arsenio Corsellas	Martin Soto
John Carradine	Aaron	Julio Gallego	Alejandro Villeli
Douglass Dumbrille	Jannes	José María Caffarel	Jorge Roig
Olive Deering	Miriam	María Luisa Solá		Romy Mendoza
Ian Keith	Ramses I	Miguel Alonso		Ruben Moya
Cecil B. DeMille	God.	Felipe Peña	Eduardo Borja	Narcissus Busquets

Production

Script

Cecil B. DeMille announcing the film next to the tables of the commandments used in one of the scenes.

The screenplay was written by Aeneas MacKenzie, Jesse L. Lasky Jr., Jack Gariss, and Fredric M. Frank. Also included was material from the books "Prince of Egypt" by Dorothy Clarke Wilson, "Pillar of Fire" by Joseph Holt Ingraham, and "On Eagles Wings" by Arthur Eustace Southon. The most important sources were the Bible, especially the Pentateuch, and the work of Flavius Josephus (a Jewish historian of the century). I) Jewish Antiquities.

Casting

Charlton Heston, who had previously worked with DeMille, on The Greatest Show on Earth, won the role of Moses after impressing DeMille at an audition with his knowledge of ancient Egypt and Biblical stories.. Interestingly, William Boyd was also considered. Heston acted as a Hebrew character, and won the audition to be Moses in the film.

Heston's newborn son, Fraser (born February 12, 1955), was included by DeMille at the suggestion of Henry Wilcoxon, who told him, "The time is right. If it's a boy, who better to play baby Moses?'; as soon as Heston was announced, DeMille agreed that Heston's newborn son would be the one to play Baby Moses. Fraser Heston was three months old during filming.

The character of Nefertari, the princess of the Egyptian throne, was considered "the most wanted of the year" in Hollywood in 1954. Ann Blyth Vanessa Brown, Joan Evans, Rhonda Fleming, Coleen Gray, Jane Griffiths, Audrey Hepburn, Jean Marie, Vivien Leigh, Jane Russell, and Joan Taylor were considered for the role. DeMille liked Audrey Hepburn, but she fired her because of her figure, which she considered too thin for the tight "Egyptian" dresses she wore. of the character. Anne Baxter, who was initially considered for the role of Moses' wife, was ultimately chosen and carried it out successfully.

Judith Ames, Anne Bancroft, Anne Baxter, Shirley Booth, Diane Brewster, June Clayworth, Linda Darnell, Laura Elliot, Rhonda Fleming, Rita Gam, Grace Kelly, Jacqueline Green, Barbara Hale, Allison Hayes, Frances Lansing, Patricia Neal, Marie Palmer, Jean Peters, Ruth Roman, Barbara Rush and Elizabeth Sellers were considered for the role of Sephora. Grace Kelly, DeMille's first choice, was unavailable. DeMille was "very impressed" with Yvonne De Carlo, who ultimately landed the role.

Reception

Acknowledgment

Differences between the Bible and the film

Although overall it supposedly tries to be faithful to the Bible, there are numerous discrepancies between the film's plot and the biblical text:

• The film highlights the role of Joshua during the captivity, including by adding that Joshua escapes from Egypt to go to search for Moses in Midian, none of which appears in the Bible. In the Biblical account Joshua is not mentioned until after liberation. Even as a film license, Joshua is portrayed as the Hebrew who is beaten by the Egyptian (Baka) who ends up dead at the hands of Moses, according to Exodus 2:11,12. This is completely uncertain, since it is possible that Joshua would not even be born when this happened taking into account that, according to the Bible, Moses was probably between 40 and 60 years older than Joshua and the scriptures say he was 40 years old when he killed the Egyptian.
• In the Bible, the kings of Egypt are all called "Faraon." In the film, they have names like Ramses I, Seti I, Ramses II. These identifications are completely theoretical and none has been confirmed by archaeology. There is no evidence that Ramses II had to deal with the plagues of Egypt, or with a massive escape of slaves. On the contrary, he had a very long and prosperous kingdom. On the other hand, it is never understood in the Bible that Moses was a opponent of the throne of Egypt, although this appears in the Apocryphs as the Book of Jaser and in Josephus, who also recounts the military campaign of Moses in Ethiopia.
• Nor does it seem likely that his Hebrew mother, who raised him as a nurse for the princess, would not speak to him about his Hebrew ancestry.
• The Bible never speaks of a loving relationship between Moses and Nefertari.
• According to the Scriptures, Moses does not return to avenge his enemies as it happens in the film, for all had died when Moses returned 40 years later (Exodus 4:19).
• According to the Bible, Moses completely disregarded the circumcision of his son and this operation had to be done by Emergency Sephore. None of this is shown in the film.
• The plague of frogs is not seen in the film because there is no way to film this episode without it being comical.
• The waters open all night, not for a moment.
• In the Bible, Pharaoh drowns in the Red Sea, in front of his troops. In the film, Ramses II cautiously stays in the rear and saves his life. He also does not say that his god is God, but in the Bible before the Egyptian armies die they cry "we flee from all contact with Israel, for Yahweh certainly fights for them against the Egyptians" (Exodus 14:25).
• The earth does not swallow those who worshiped the golden calf; they were executed by the Levites. Neither is Israel condemned to wander 40 years in the desert for that matter, nor to "see if they would fulfill their commandments" as the film says. That happened because the people despised God in another episode that is not shown in the film (Numbers 14).
• Coré, Datan and Abiran do not die for the bullfighting issue, it is later along with other rebels who question the leadership of Moses (Numbers 16).
• Moses had two children; in the film only one is shown.

Gallery

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  Cecil B. de Mille fixed himself in the Moses of Michelangelo and chose Charlton Heston for the paper.

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  Séfora: Yvonne De Carlo

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  Lilia and Joshua: Debra Paget and John Derek

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  Datan: Edward G. Robinson

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  Nina Foch: Bithiah

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  Jocabed: Martha Scott

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  Ramses: Yul Brynner

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  Memnet: Judith Anderson