The Ten Commandments (1990)

Like a handful of reviewers here, I first encountered "The Ten Commandments" in the theater on a parochial school class trip to the movies. As a Catholic, we had already been instructed on the life of Moses and how he rose to prominence to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt and slavery. As a kid, I would have been eight or nine years old at the time, and was looking forward to seeing how the baby Moses was found floating in the river, and how the adult Moses turned his staff into a snake. It goes without saying that the burning bush scene and parting of the Red Sea had to be in the picture as well. I recall some disappointment that there were no plagues of frogs or locusts on screen, but after all, the film ran over three and a half hours as it is.Watching the movie the other night brought back a lot of those reminiscences, and I was pretty amazed at how colorful and full of pageantry the picture was. The cast of thousands was indeed a cast of thousands, epic in scope of course, and one of those reminders that 'they just don't make 'em like that any more'. But with an adult eye, some of the film's glaring downsides are more than noticeable. Like the stilted dialog that hearkens all the way back to the birth of talkie films, and the wooden performances of characters portrayed by the likes of John Derek (Joshua), Vincent Price (Baka) and John Carradine (Aaron). I also had to laugh during that scene when Sephora (Yvonne De Carlo) and her sisters met Moses (Charlton Heston) for the first time. The goo-goo eyes directed at Heston were embarrassingly anachronistic even for the 1950's; why director Cecil B. DeMille allowed that to stand I'll never know.But the story pretty much kept faith with the Biblical version of Moses, and gives a good accounting of his break with the Pharaoh and the wandering in the desert on the way to Sinai. Upon studying the opening credits, I had my eyes open for appearances of unlikely actors like Mike (Touch) Connors and Clint Walker but they apparently weren't sharp enough. It's my understanding that Walker got his 'Cheyenne' gig on the basis of his appearance in this film. It was easy to catch Woodrow 'Woody' Strode though as the Ethiopian King bearing gifts for Rameses I (Cedric Hardwicke). And what can you say about Edward G. Robinson? On paper, his casting in a Biblical epic seems rather mindless, but by the time Moses' followers languished in the desert, he really hit stride trying to undermine the whole enterprise. And for cinema fans, the coup de grace of course is the parting of The Red Sea in all it's pre-CGI glory. I read about how DeMille did it once, using combined footage of the Red Sea with scenes from the Paramount backlot using a huge water tank split by a U-shaped trough. It was the most difficult special effect ever to be attempted at that time, and to it's credit, is still impressive to watch today. It's got 'how did they do that' written all over it.

In the theater when I was around 9 or 10, this was a grand visual and aural treat, complete with an intermission and about 10 minutes of credits at the start of the movie. Imagine that. Now, on a 65 inch flat-screen TV and with decent home sound system, it still holds up pretty well. (Just saw it again at Easter.) Sure, the acting is...well...it's very obvious acting. Over-the-top, a bit cartoonish in the poses and facial expressions. But that's how they made movies in the 1950's. They even got awards for these efforts. Oh, and some of the special effects are about as true as some of the computer-generated Junk today. Marvel and DC have gotten carried away, I think, and I can't help but see it all as a big cartoon (which these movies are.) But again, in the mid 50's, the sea parting, the river's waters turning to blood, the staffs becoming serpents: eye-opening stuff to a young family. Required viewing.

I found The Ten Commandments to be the most enjoyable film I have seen that was 4 hours long. It was a beautiful historic masterpiece on The Story of Moses. I was captivated by the magic of the cast, particularly Moses. His character was interesting and the acting was superb. I think I enjoyed his performance just as much as his performance in The Planet of The Apes, if not more. Even if you are unfamiliar with the story of Genesis, you will likely enjoy this film since it is so easy to follow and understand.

I have learned through the years to remit myself to facts. The Ten Commandments has been shown on ABC for almost 35 years .....most of the times beating all the other spectacles shown at the same time . It has become an Easter tradition . And this last year (2017) , it has been seen by 20 % more people than last year . The highest audience in the last seven years ! So .................what does this mean ? Just one thing ...........it is indisputably a movie people loves ........and there must be something to it for this to happen after more than 60 years....... Conclusion , who are we to judge works of art that have endured time ? We may like Ten Commandments better than other movies ,or not , just as we prefer some paintings or sculptures to others ..............but in the long run.............it is the public s acceptance ......and time who decide what is worthy or not. I think we should face reality.............something our opinions cannot change.