There are times in this film I want to hide my face because I am so embarrassed for their performances. While the leads are able to pull off these lines, many actors and actresses with less presence struggle to deliver these epic lines in a way that doesn’t elicit laughter. It just feels natural coming out of their mouths.īut this is where “The Ten Commandments,” begins to struggle, in my opinion. I don’t even really know if it is their acting that is good or if it is just their presence but Heston and Brynner have a power on screen that is so palpable that they can actually deliver lines like “So let it be written, so let it be done,” and “Thus sayeth the Lord, let my people go,” and it feels like the sort of thing they would probably be saying even if cameras weren’t rolling. Of course our standards of acting are dramatically different today than they were in the ‘50s but this film is a grand film, an epic featuring epic characters in need of epic performances. Having just seen this film just yesterday on the big screen, I can attest that his performance, and Heston’s as well, hold up remarkably well. It is the performance by Brynner that sells this character. I know that my emotional reaction to Rameses is only half the armor, probably less even. As a child, my definition of wicked awesome battle gear was Boba Fett and this… By contrast, the the armor worn by Rameses, is brilliant.
One particular skull cap worn by Moses is seared into my brain from an early age as what I imaged must be the most rank and foul article of clothing ever worn. The royal costumes feel rich and laden with excess while the slaves feel like their clothes are literally stuck to their bodies by the mud they tread. The number of animals, chariots, and buildings which are really there is staggering.Ī particular favorite of mine is the costuming. In an age where vistas and extras alike are rendered by computers there is a magnificence about seeing hundreds of real people stretching into the background of a scene. It was nominated for 7 Oscars and won the Academy Award for Best Special Effects (effects we might laugh at today were cutting edge in their day) and was such a huge production that while it went over budget by over 50% of its original budget, you can really see the reasons see why. It still ranks as the 6th highest grossing film (adjusted for inflation) of all time. This last of Cecille B DeMille’s features was also his grandest spectacle. It’s accidental that this movie holds such nostalgia for me but like many accidents the causes of it are easy to see.
#TEN COMMANDMENTS MOVIE INTERMISSION TV#
This film aired on TV every year, so in some ways it doesn’t feel like Easter to me unless I have kielbasa, ham, potatoes, and Charlton Heston ('“ Ben-Hur”, “ The Agony and The Ecstasy”). I remember watching this film as a child on Easter Sundays in the little living room of my Grandma Quick.
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