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ORIGINS: OF BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS – ‘THE TEN COMMANDMENTS’ TURNS 60

The Ten Commandments

DAVID ADAMS takes at look at where it started for Cecil B DeMille’s Biblical epic…

A piece of cinematic history marked its 60th anniversary this year: Cecil B DeMille’s Biblical epic, The Ten Commandments.

Released by Paramount Pictures on 5th October, 1956, the film stars Charlton Heston in the role of Moses and Yul Brynner as the Egyptian Pharoah Rameses and follows the story of Moses as, in what is known as the Biblical story of the Exodus, he leads the Hebrew people out of Egypt and across the Red Sea to Mount Sinai where he receives the 10 Commandments from God.

The Ten Commandments

THE PARTING OF THE RED SEA: A scene from the film.

The film, which was DeMille’s last and most successful film, was shot on location in Egypt and on the Sinai Peninsula – including at Mount Sinai – as well as in Paramount Studios in Los Angeles. It featured what was one of the most sophisticated special effects ever attempted – the parting of the Red Sea (filmed both on location and using a special tank in the studio).

It was DeMille’s second effort at putting the story on screen – his first version, which cost $US1.4 million, was released as a silent movie in black and white in 1923. As well as drawing on a cast of thousands (including thousands of animals), it saw him employing 1,600 craftsmen to create a massive set representing Egypt in the desert to the north of Los Angeles, including 21 sphinxes (some of these were later plundered but there is currently a bid to dig out what is believed to be the last of the sphinxes still located there).

The second film – described at the time in LIFE magazine as “a gigantean series of spectacles” – was released in Technicolor and not only cost significantly more – $US13.5 million, then the highest sum ever spent on a film – but also ran for a whopping three hours and 40 minutes.

In 1957, the second film, which earned $120 million worldwide in its initial release, was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture but in the end it only won one – for Best Visual Effects.

The film, which has spawned a host of imitators including Ridley Scott’s relatively recent release Exodus: Gods and Kings, has been re-released several times and still regularly appears on TV around Easter or Christmas. It remains a highpoint of 20th century cinema.

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