The big story here is Charlton Heston as Moses, the prince of Egypt who discovers that he was born a Hebrew and chosen by God to liberate his people and pass down God’s laws unto them. They were required only to show up and go through their paces in the stilted manner he preferred, and as a result, one can practically see the actors counting beats in their heads as they talk at - never to - each other. According to Katherine Orrison, a film scholar who provides the commentary on the DVD, DeMille directed “from the office,” meaning that by the time he began principal shooting, he had already mapped out his actors’ line readings and character motivations. DeMille was a master of set and scope but as a director of actors he left entire worlds to be desired. It is also one of the silliest damn movies ever made, in which mediocre actors cram King James Version dialogue into their mouths while their more accomplished co-stars are trying not to look embarrassed in the costumes. They truly don’t make ’em like this anymore. In terms of its spectacle, it is nothing short of incredible, with skyscraper-high sets and a cast of literal thousands. As a technical achievement, it is stunning. The 1956 epic was DeMille’s final and greatest film, the capper to a long career as one of the giants of the Golden Age of Hollywood.
#TEN COMMANDMENTS MOVIE INTERMISSION MOVIE#
In the movie it’s not God who hardens Pharoah’s heart, but rather Anne Baxter. DeMille’s epic retelling of Exodus, The Ten Commandments, circumvents the conflicting motivations of the Almighty, whom DeMille considered the real hero of the film. What is God’s deal?Īlthough its credits give big-font props to “THE HOLY SCRIPTURES,” Cecil B. But then God “hardens Pharoah’s heart” and Moses has to keep going back with his demands like some Biblical Norma Rae. Moses goes before Pharoah with signs and wonders and plagues and after each round, Pharoah agrees to let the Hebrews go. Even when He relents and calls upon Moses to deliver the Hebrews out of bondage, it’s not until after God plays a few mind games with all concerned.
After having promised Abraham that his descendents will be His Chosen People, He finds them naughty and consigns them to centuries of slavery in Egypt. The book of Exodus is Yahweh in his adolescent phase, surly and contrary and bossy as hell.
Kind of the way Star Wars turned out in the end to be all about Hayden Christensen growing up to be James Earl Jones. The Bible, she said, chronicles the arc of God’s development from childhood (in Genesis, li’l Jehovah is playing with light, making mudpies that walk and talk, letting the water run and overflow the planet) to adulthood (He settles in, has a kid, and works on His anger issues). During a recent evening of margaritas and casual blasphemy, my wife posited a theory concerning the radical difference between the vengeful God of the Old Testament and the loving God of the New Testament.
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