The Ten Commandments’| remains the granddaddy of all biblical epics.| Here’s why?
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- čas přidán 29. 03. 2024
- ‘Yul Brynner and Anne Baxter (seated, left) as Rameses and Nefretiri and Charlton Heston (center) as Moses in the 1956 film "The Ten Commandments."Netflix trots out a drama/documentary hybrid this week titled “Testament: The Story of Moses,” mixing a Turkish production with religion experts discussing the biblical story. The three parts total more than four hours.If you’ve a mind to invest that kind of screen time in Moses, though, accept no substitutes, especially with the granddaddy of all biblical epics, Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 version of “The Ten Commandments,” just around the corner, keeping its annual date with viewers on ABC.
Indeed, watching Netflix’s modern knockoff only heightens a sense of appreciation for DeMille’s efforts at a different time in the evolution of the movie industry, when TV was still relatively new and special effects hadn’t reached their digital heights.
There are plenty of reasons to savor the original movie, most of them having to do with the casting, some of it campy and awful in a truly wonderful way, some just plain spectacular.
As Moses, Charlton Heston brought a sense of conviction to this epic role (see also “Ben-Hur”) that anchored the movie in a way few actors could, before or since. Yet at the top of the heap look no further than Yul Brynner as Moses’ rival and eventual foe Rameses, who tells his reluctant bride-to-be with princely swagger and sexuality, “You will come to me whenever I call you, and I will enjoy that very much. Whether you enjoy it or not is your own affair… but I think you will.”On the other end of the spectrum there’s Anne Baxter as Nefretiri, Moses’ first love and Rameses’ reluctant bride when he ascends to pharaoh. Famous for her role in “All About Eve,” Baxter chews through much of Egypt, repeating “Moses” so often (as in “Oh Moses, Moses”) that one might be forgiven for concluding that’s both his first and last name.Avi Azulay (center) as Moses in Netflix's "Testament: The Story of Moses," which mixes interviews and drama. The supporting cast is equally delicious, including Edward G. Robinson sounding like he’s in a gangster movie and still stealing every scene he’s in as the traitorous Dathan, Vincent Price as pharaoh’s master builder and Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Rameses’ father, Sethi, who loves Moses more than he does his own son.
ABC has aired the film more than 40 times since 1973, making it a solid Easter and Passover staple. Already 220 minutes long, the broadcast window with commercials has ballooned to four hours and 44 minutes, spilling out of primetime before Moses can descend from Mount Sinai with the you-know-what.Although broadcast TV doesn’t possess the only-game-in-town clout that existed when ABC first showed the movie, “The Ten Commandments” has remained a potent draw, perhaps because it’s the kind of film that can be watched - certainly in bits and pieces, if not all the way through - over and over. Last year’s telecast averaged more than 3 million viewers opposite NCAA tournament coverage, which it will face again this year.
DeMille, of course, became practically synonymous with lavish, star-studded costume productions, starting with a silent version of “The Ten Commandments” in the 1920s and including “Samson and Delilah” in the ‘50s.
Even by those standards, “The Ten Commandments” stands apart, both for its visual effects (the parting of the Red Sea is still a landmark sequence) and the soap-opera qualities wrapped up in the Moses-Nefretiri-Rameses triangle.
Given that, even with broadcast television having become a shadow of what it was, there’s something reassuring about seeing the movie return year after year, marking the calendar in a way only a few Christmas specials and movies can rival.As TV traditions go, perhaps that’s why this one has proven so enduring. Or as Brynner’s Rameses might say, “So let it be written. So let it be done.”
“The Ten Commandments” will air March 30 at 7 p.m.
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WANT TO C AGAIN !! LET IT BE WRITTEN
No
The finest movie of its kind ever
❤️🔥
I like this movie, BUT,, JESUS of Nazareth and the ten commandments are tied because if no ten commandments Jesus of Nazareth can't happen, Moses was the old testament, Jesus is new testament,so if John the Baptist isn't born,no Jesus this is the way I was raised, even the actors, especially Robert Powell who portrays Jesus said during an interview,that when the cast did the sermon on the Mount,he never saw the film until 3 years ago,and he is wayyy 80!
Five and even more sins were committed in this film by removing the lessons of salvation in the great story of the Exodus.
1. They made the LORD a liar by removing 3 verses (87 words) from from the Sabbath of the 4th Commandment. The church to this day only teach the first 8 words, and thus cut out the heart of the Commandment declaring Christ as Creator of Heaven & Earth that over 800 verses confirm!
2. The first request the LORD made of pharaoh was not honored, and thus slandered the character of GOD: "The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God." Exodus 3:18. After the three days, which would include the Sabbath, the Hebrews were to return to serve pharaoh. It was not GOD'S intention to bring the nation to ruin.
3. Pharaoh drowned with his chariots and horsemen crossing the Red Sea: "For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea."
4. The first warning given to Pharaoh was the 10th and final plague, even before the first plague began: "And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn." Ex.4:22,23. 9 plagues unfolded, reminding pharaoh of the 10th & final plague. But "pharaoh hardened his heart."
5. Deuteronomy 4:2 forbids of adding to or removing from "the holy Scriptures" any counsel pertaining to how GOD deals with the sin problem: "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you."
Go ahead, champ. Show us all how it's done. You can do it! Good luck.