Recently on Facebook, a clatch of friends began to discuss the 1956 epic The Ten Commandments and the banter about it led me to watch it again just before Easter for the first time in a while. I've long wanted to write about it here, but it's such an incredibly gargantuan undertaking that I never got around to it. (I have featured some of its actors here, though, such as Anne Baxter and John Derek.) Needless to say, I still don't have the time to do my usual microscopic tribute to a film of this magnitude, but I am going to try to make due with this unusual approach. I have come up with ten of my own commandments in relation to the movie so that it will allow me to expound on some of my favorite aspects of it. No, I'm not actually commanding anyone to do anything. It's a gimmick. The Ten Commandments isn't everyone's cup of tea, though I will say that it's just reverent enough to inspire devotion from believers and more than spectacular enough to hold the attention of other viewers who are in the right frame of mind for such an offering. I find it practically spellbinding myself.
Thou Shalt Admire the Music:
Neophyte composer Elmer Bernstein, who'd scored several films including Sudden Fear (1952) and The Man with the Golden Arm (1955, for which he was Oscar-nominated), was commissioned to provide music for the various dances in the film. Ultimately, he was selected by commanding director Cecil B. De Mille to score the entire movie and he crafted some unforgettable themes. Bernstein emerged as a busy, highly-regarded composer (The Magnificent Seven, 1960, anyone?) who shockingly only won one Academy Award over the course of his 50+ year career. It was for 1967's Thoroughly Modern Millie.
Thou Shalt Be Amazed at the Cast:
If you watched the above-linked video, you not only heard the music, but caught a glimpse of the amazing collection of performers who were put together for the film. De Mille not only selected his leads very carefully, but he was practically obsessive when choosing other people down to the smallest of roles. He saw dozens, sometimes even hundreds of performers for certain key parts.
Director C. B. De Mille is surrounded by his star triad of Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter and Charlton Heston.
Heston as Moses and Brynner as Rameses go from adoptive brothers to mortal enemies over the course of the film. Heston's five-inch height differential was creatively disguised throughout the filming. Heston, who'd worked for De Mille on The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) resembled Michelangelo's statue of Moses, giving him a leg up on the part.
Baxter was in the enviable position of being desired by both characters. De Mille, fearful of anyone cracking bosom jokes (!), had her character's name adjusted from Nefretiti to Nefretiri...! The role was first earmarked for Audrey Hepburn (!), but De Mille didn't find her buxom enough.
Rameses wound up with Baxter on screen, though it was hardly a match made in heaven for the characters. Her heart always belonged to Moses (Moses, Moses.)
Heston and Baxter were paired up again directly following Commandments in the western Three Violent People (1956), with Tom Tryon playing the third member of that triangle.
Pretty Yvonne De Carlo had lineage portraying exotic seductresses, but wound up being successfully cast against type as Moses' appealing, but ultimately neglected, wife. Initially called Zipporah, again De Mille worried about untoward titters from people associating "zippers" with the name and opted for the Greek spelling Sephora. Other cast mates were forced to wear brown contact lenses over their light eyes, but De Mille chose to allow De Carlo's luminous ones to remain as is.
Edward G. Robinson, known for his urban roles, seemed a surprising choice for the craftily villainous Dathan. Initially, De Mille was confused and dissatisfied with Robinson's acting style, but once it was assembled, he recognized the sly, fox-like humor he'd been imbuing the slimy part with and he greatly appreciated it.
In 1993, Rob Schneider did a send up of Robinson and his New York-ish persona in The Ten Commandments on Saturday Night Live. No less than Moses himself showed up to seal the deal! Heston and Robinson later worked closely together in Soylent Green (1973), Robinson's final film.
Here we see the put-upon lovers Lilia and Joshua. De Mille was keen on Pier Angeli for Lilia, but MGM wouldn't release her. She had little luck with movies like this, having done the awful The Silver Chalice (1954) and later appearing in the not-great Sodom and Gomorrah (1962.) Beauteous Debra Paget was then chosen, but the only way De Mille could get her from 20th Century Fox was to also take John Derek. They make a stunning pair, but the casting of Derek meant that Cornel Wilde (who'd been in Greatest Show and was set to play Joshua) was shown the door.
I thought they were both just gloriously beautiful. They were both compelled to wear brown contact lenses for their roles, though it seemed to make the biggest difference in Paget, whose regular eye color was a luminous blue.
The talented Nina Foch, who'd been a 1940s ingenue in a variety of thrillers, was cast as Pharaoah's sister Bithiah, who rescues Moses from the river and raises him as her own. Foch had just enjoyed success in Executive Suite (1954), but lost an Oscar for it to Eva Marie Saint in On the Waterfront. De Mille's right-hand man Henry Wilcoxon recommended Foch for the part, having worked with her in Scaramouche (1952.) Practically all the roles in the movie were coveted by various known actors. One close call in this case was...
...our patron saint Miss Joan Crawford was in contention for this part! Strangely enough, I can sort of see it, but in 1956, before she had done any "prestige billing" supporting roles, it likely would have upset the focus and balance of the picture. But, God... they talk about Commandments being campy as is. The mind reels. This was in her Johnny Guitar/Torch Song era!
The reigning Pharaoh as the film begins was played by the prolific and highly-acclaimed British stage actor Sir Cedric Hardwicke. He'd been knighted for his services to drama back in 1934! Apart from his remarkable career on the stage, he wound up making many, many movies, too, and was in-demand as a character actor once he moved to the U.S. in 1948.
Another performer who was to be honored by the Queen of England is Judith Anderson, made Dame Judith Anderson in 1960. This role, believe it or not, had first been assigned to longtime De Mille collaborator Gloria Swanson, but she departed the project while caught up in the demands of trying to get a musical version of Sunset Boulevard (1950) off the ground. Bette Davis (!) was considered for it, too. Can you imagine Bette & Joan on the Nile!??!?! As it was, Anderson was deliciously craggy and bitter in the part and was the recipient of some amusing insults from Baxter's desperate character.
Portraying Moses' birth mother, who must give him up in order to save him from the mass killing of all Hebrew newborn boys, is Martha Scott. Scott figures into one of my most favorite moments in the film, when her character is about to be crushed by the gargantuan stones of a pyramid but is saved by Heston, who has no idea who she is to him. She played his mother again in 1959's Ben-Hur, though she was only 11 years older than Heston in real life. Most people know, but in case you don't, that's Heston's real-life baby son Fraser playing Moses as a baby in the basket.
The cast goes on and on and on, but I'll finish this section with Vincent Price, as the sneering slave master Baka. When the snarlingly evil Price is given his due by Heston, we are treated to the sight of one Cardinal Richelieu (Heston in The Three Musketeers, 1973) strangling another Cardinal Richelieu (Price in The Three Musketeers, 1948!)
Thou Shalt Marvel at the Use of Color:
Sure color movies had been around since the late-1930s, but still in 1956 there were many, many releases in black & white. Color was most often reserved for important or highly scenic releases. The Ten Commandments made damned darned sure to exploit the eye-popping hues of Technicolor in VistaVision. The backdrop may have been the burning sand of Egypt or the dreary quarters of the slaves, but upon that were vividly arresting shades of saturated color.
The color of this helmet against the dimly-lit set is just perfection.
Thou Shalt Appreciate the Special Effects:
Does every effect in Commandments hold up today? Perhaps not. The parting of the Red Sea, a legendary and once awe-inspiring moment, is one of the less-convincing sequences now. We've become more able to discern its trickery than we could in 1956. (Nonetheless, it was still done with extraordinary creativity and I'll always prefer it over anything CGI, which is today's norm.) There are still many moments in this spectacle whose effects work still dazzles.
Hordes of slaves work to raise an obelisk in Pharaoh's honor.
Multiple pieces of film coming together to capture the moment from afar.
Bluescreen and artwork combine to set the background.
The glow of The Burning Bush.
Moses transforms his staff into a cobra.
Burning hail (actually painted popcorn) falls from the sky.
Moses' right-hand man Aaron turns the Nile River into blood.
Rameses thinks his sacred water will be exempt, but is stunned to learn otherwise.
Backed up against the Red Sea?
No sweat. Just part it and race across the ground.
(The remarkably dry ground!)
The enemy is hot on their tail...
So you let them catch up, some, then allow the water to careen back in on them!
Looks like it's time for the title tablets to be made.
One of several instances in which animation is used.
The lighting and cinematography create a painterly effect on Heston as he watches the tablets being zapped into existence.
Real pyrotechnics at this stage.
Derek's horn-blowing signifies that they're all ready!
Thou Shalt Honor the Work of the Costumes:
Five (!) costumers, along with a fleet of assistants, provided the eye-popping clothing in The Ten Commandments. Many have already been depicted above, but to show off a little bit more of them...
The intricate detailing of the collars, gloves, closures, etc... can be glimpsed in this close-up of Heston during his princely-period.
Aspects of birds and snakes show up often in the designs for the Eqyptian costumes.
Freed of his Siamese makeup from The King and I, Brynner probably never looked better on screen.
Baxter was given some rare finery to parade around in.
The neck-wear anticipates the "chandelier necklaces" which would become
popular over the next decade.
Check this one out!
Baxter and Brynner in palatial splendor and each with their asps out!
Hardwicke had his share of gilding, too, naturally.
The task of outfitting the many extras must have been monumental.
There's always so much going on and so much to look at that it can be easy to miss details such as the priest on the left who is wearing not only leopard print, but the HEAD of the beast on his torso as well!
Thou Shalt Gape at the Scope of the Production:
The production took two years to make. (Heston even lensed another movie, The Private War of Major Benson, 1955, during the summer in-between location shooting in Egypt and the return to the studio!) While process shots did combine bits of film to make the spectacle more sensational, it doesn't change the fact that teeming hordes of extras were employed to bring the story to life. Now, someone at a computer would create the bulk of the crowd scenes in order to fill out the screen. But in 1956, each of the people shown was a fully costumed and made-up extra! Many of the set pieces were practical, not imaginary.
14,000 people and 15,000 animals were employed on this movie.
The cost of this today would be utterly insurmountable.
This was, at $13 million, the most expensive movie ever made to that time, and it was a complete sensation, thankfully, earning all of its money back and then some. Adjusted for inflation (yeah, I've heard of that...) only six other films have ever taken in more at the box office.
Imagine being hired as an extra for this movie and then straining to ever find yourself on screen (in the days long before video, freeze-framing, etc...!)
Seriously...?!?!
Thou Shalt Revel in the Dialogue:
Biblical epics have a tough row to hoe in that they need to sound ancient enough to have not happened a couple of years ago, yet not so authentic that we have no clue what in the hell's being said. Then there's the tendency to want to be profound. And add in the passage of time since the film itself was contemporary (and in the meantime acting styles have changed.) It's easy to slide into camp. But so what?! Almost everything Baxter says is a hoot whether it's the dialogue itself or the silky, intense way she delivers it. Some delicious soul composed a video which is nothing but her reciting lines with the word Moses in them. It might save you from watching the full movie again! Stunning as this sounds, it is merely 1 minute, 38 seconds long!
Just a few more lines of note:
Nefretiri: Did you think my kiss was a promise of what you'll have. No, my pompous
one. It was to let you know what you will not have. I could never love
you.
Rameses: Does that matter? You will be my wife. 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.
Sephora: She was very beautiful, wasn't she? This woman of Egypt, who left her
scar upon your heart. Her skin was white as curd, her eyes green as the
cedars of Lebanon, her lips, tamarisk honey. Like the breast of a dove,
her arms were soft... and the wine of desire was in her veins.
Moses: Yes. She was beautiful... as a jewel.
Sephora: A jewel has brilliant fire, but it gives no warmth. Our hands are not so
soft, but they can serve. Our bodies not so white, but they are strong.
Our lips are not perfumed, but they speak the truth. Love is not an art
to us. It's life to us. We are not dressed in gold and fine linen.
Strength and honor are our clothing. Our tents are not the columned
halls of Egypt, but our children play happily before them. We can offer
you little... but we offer all we have.
Nefretiri: [nodding to her servants]
Go then, while I hear what this puckered old persimmon has to say.
. . .
Memnet: Bithiah drew a slave child, from the Nile, called him son and Prince of
Egypt, blinding herself to the truth and the pain of an empty womb.
Nefretiri: Were you alone, with, Bithiah?
Memnet: A little girl led me to the Hebrew woman, Yochabel, that the child might be suckled by his true mother.
Nefretiri: Take care, old frog. You croaked too much, against Moses!
Rameses: You have rats' ears and a ferret's nose.
Dathan: To use in your service, son of Pharaoh.
Rameses: Add to them the eyes of a weasel and find me this deliverer.
Rameses: So it shall be written. So it shall be done.
Thou Shalt Delight in the Magnificent Squalor:
The production was gargantuan. The sets immense and impressively appointed, the clothing opulent, the accessories and props eye-catching. But even beyond that there is more to behold. Parades of colorful excess, dance numbers, an "orgy" before a golden calf... No wonder there were repeat viewings. No one's eye could take everything in the first time!
After months of having to wear the same distressed costume, which became more and more rank as her character's condition worsened, Miss Paget began to feel frustrated by the goats chewing on it and camel dung here and there, but she felt privileged (like virtually everyone) to be working for De Mille.
Hardwicke overlooks the splendor that Heston has brought back to him after conquering Ethiopia. SO MUCH to see in the frame.
This dance was rather fascinating, with Busby Berkeley-ish configurations and pelvises grinding, all the while the red pom-poms at the end of each ponytail bobbing everywhere; just like The Bible says...! LOL
Thou Shalt Spot the Future Stars:
There were many people in The Ten Commandments who were yet to be known commodities or who were at the dawn of their careers. Actress-turned-prolific soap opera producer Gail Kobe was a slave girl, stuntman-turned-Oscar-winning actor Richard Farnsworth drives a chariot and people as diverse as Robert Fuller, Patricia Hitchcock, Irene Tedrow, Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer (!), Kathy Garver, Robert Vaughn and future hairdresser Jon Peters are in there as well! Here are a couple more of my own favorites.
In the back, beating a kettle drum above the orgy is none other than famed musician Herb Albert (of The Tijuana Brass!) De Mille found someone who could keep time and still doff his shirt...
When Heston kicks as at De Carlo's well, taking on three selfish Amalekite herders at once, one of them (closest to the well) would later become a TV star who was usually beat up once a week.
That's Mike Connors of Mannix! He was one of Henry Willson's clients at the time and was thus dubbed (and credited as) "Touch" Connors.
Making the trek back with Heston from Ethiopia is this impressive couple. This brief moment is rather saucy because the princess on the left (played by Esther Brown) is very sensual and gets Baxter a little riled. The character Tharbis was written about as Moses' first WIFE, who he wed in order to secure the city of Meru. This being 1956, there could be no depiction of that, but the implication is subtly present that something might have happened. Heston, an active civil rights advocate, did later have an on-screen interracial romance in The Omega Man (1971.)
As the King of Ethiopia, Woody Strode is a sight to behold. De Mille thought so as well and put him in another role later in the film as one of Foch's charioteers.
Seen here standing among the slaves is prolific actor Michael Ansara, who portrayed many a menacing or commanding sort over his long career. He was married to Barbara Eden for some years and popped up on her show I Dream of Jeannie, too.
Of course my favorite is the sight of our beloved Clint Walker, who is present in most of the palace scenes. He's just under Wilcoxon's elbow in the horned helmet.
He has no lines, but pops up in the tableau quite a bit along the way. We get to see a section of his incredible physique as he stands next to Brynner, but never too closely.
This is about as close to a good look at him as we ever get. He has a couple of instances in which he is dispatched and makes some moves with his sword, but generally he's in place as decoration. And this brings us (at last!) to our tenth commandment regarding this movie!
Thou Shalt Bask in the Glow of the Beefcake:
Now we come to one of the best features of all! There's already been plenty of muscle on display in this (ungodly lengthy!) post, but naturally I wanted to end with more of the same. There would seem to be something for everyone here, be it the tall, lean, hairy build of Heston or the smooth ripples of the sturdy Brynner. Then there is Derek, a hybrid of slimness, muscles, smoothness and hair. Plenty of sweaty extras along the way, too!
Is that a scabbard in your hand or are you happy to see me?
"Pump it up, go ahead go ahead!"
For me, this was Derek's finest hour.
It wasn't just The Bible that put butts in seats. Paramount knew to sell beefcake as part of the package, too.
I really don't think Heston ever looked any better than he does in the early part of this movie either. Even in Ben-Hur, a scant 3 years later, he'd somehow lost a bit of his already limited softness.
Calling all armpit fetishists!
You just know that Price adored shooting this scene...
Heston wore loincloths in several movies, from this to Ben-Hur (1959) to Planet of the Apes (1968) and its sequel.
Heston and Derek are frequently touching throughout the movie. Derek's adoration of "the deliverer" inadvertently comes across as homoerotic at times when only looking at the visuals. But intentional or not, there are indeed a couple of times when that certain symbolism pokes through.
Here an agitated Brynner has a snake bobbing at crotch level as his trusty manservant Wilcoxon is grasping nearby. That one might be accidental, but...
...there isn't the slightest doubt in my mind about the sadomasochistic sexuality implied here when Price is about to whip his bound-up prisoner and takes a good look at the dangling, phallus-like handle of his weapon!
For those into mud-wrestling.
Hey, I'd give my home A/C a break if I could get someone like this to fan me with ostrich feathers...!
The movie is saturated with brawn and beefcake, be it guards, priests or the leads. (Even Edward G. Robinson was showing nip in his early scenes. LOL)
Note the spelling of Brynner's name on this foreign postcard. He was not then the commodity he'd soon become. Apart from one 1949 flick, he'd never made a movie and was known for his work on Broadway. In 1956 alone, he saw the release of The King and I, The Ten Commandments and Anastasia. He was poised for movie success thereafter.
The instant he found out he would be next to naked throughout most of Commandments, he began conditioning his physique like mad, giving him a far more muscular appearance than he'd shown on stage. His body language in this movie is spellbinding.
So it has been written, so this post is finally DONE!
This is great. I always wonder why I'm content to re-watch this when it comes on, and you remind me that the cast is really good - Nina Foch, Cedric, Yvonne. At my house we use an expression "Tarry at the well" which is derived from this movie. It means just to hang out, have a drink, and shoot the sh*t. Thank you!! (Maybe someday we can all tarry at the well!)
This may be a minor point considering the grandness of the topic but Nefertari and Nefertiti were two different Egyptian queens. Nefertari was the wife of Rameses II and Nefertiti was the wife of Akhenaten. DeMille actually had it right here.
Mind blowing, you matched the detail for detail. This movie is endless and endlessly beloved. I actually gave it a rest this year but watch it every Easter. You've croaked your last is one of my favorite lines, (I am sure I've mentioned here one of the Waiters at an old job of mine used to put a white tablecloth on and say "I'll wear this on my wedding night"). The gays love this movie enough, Joan as Bithiah is too much to think about. Love Nina Foch in this, she looks so different with long hair. Herb Alpert is a scream, where was Pat Hitchcock? I adore her. So Andrew Lloyd Webber was not the first to musicalize "Sunset Boulevard? Fascinating. That is a gorgeous shot of Charlton Heston and the tablet, his beard is beautiful. Staggering movie trivia, so much camp and yet touching. I was trying to remember all the corny things the Shepherds were saying as Yvonne's sisters danced. "Catch one wife, yours for life" or something like that. Love this gimmick, the movie deserved the full treatment and we are the richer.
This movie had such an impact on American culture, it's insane. How many religious organizations have put out instructional films, plays, pamphlets and all other forms of media, where visual influence can be traced back to this film? For the churchy people, it must have been an extra powerful experience. But the joke has always been on them, taking this stuff seriously.
Bill, one thing I feel I shortchanged in this (big!) post is the contribution of Yvonne De Carlo. I thought she was SO pretty and tender and earnest in the film, but she didn't really fit in much with the categories I laid out (no amazing clothing, not showy or campy or the like.) I adore Nina, too. My only slight moment of "cringe" with her is when she actually thinks that after defecting with Moses, she can run out into the path of a line of chariots and stop Brynner, whose son has just been killed! LOL Thanks!!
A, It probably seems lunatic that I felt the need to explain that my "commandments" were just part of the post's concept, but there are so many flaky people out there in cyberland, crouched on all fours waiting to pounce any time something doesn't exactly line up with their own thinking. I don't get too much of it here because even with my snark I try to retain a modicum of respect for people, but I've seen other sites where these whack-a-doodles come out swinging over the slightest thing. And I didn't want any "How dare you command me to like ______" or what have you. If you sell those T-shirts, I want 10% commission! LOLOL
Jimbo, I appreciate the info, though I hate the idea of letting facts get in the way of an amusing anecdote (De Mille trying to avoid the sound of "titi" when presenting a buxom seductress!) ha ha! (And he didn't spell the name either of the ways it appears in history. It's "Nefretiri" in the movie.) I could have worked on clearing all that up, but you've done it, so... Thanks.
Trippy Trellis, I doubt that anyone who ever heard that line could forget it, and I surely never did. I figured that embedding a video filled with Baxter's lines containing the word "Moses," with that one an unmitigated highlight, would do the trick without repeating it further.
Gingerguy, I LOVE that line of the waiter and the tablecloth!! HYSTERICAL! Sounds about like me whenever I have occasion to toss anything small across a table. I usually say, "These have always brought me luck..." ala Liz Taylor's White Diamonds perfume commercial. I did not spot Pat Hitchcock, but I believe she is in the palace sequences. You'd have to search for someone who resembles a young Elsa Lanchester? LOL Daddy Alfred worked at Paramount then, so I suspect that had something to do with her showing up in it. I haven't cracked open my Funk & Wagnall sized auto-bio of Gloria to refresh myself on the details of her failed attempt to musicalize "Sunset." I might have to do that soon for my own sake and I can let ya know more about it.
BryonByronWhatever, amazingly enough, I really only scratched the surface of this movie....! It's so long and full of things to touch on. But with 120+ photos in it, I finally had to stop. Ha ha! Mental health break. Thank you!!
Shawny, my grandparents were strict Southern Baptists and they always watched this on TV each year. But... they'd spoil it all by constantly pointing out this or that which "isn't in The Bible!" I think De Mille even states at the beginning that it's based on more than The Bible. And even so... it's all strained through a Hollywood prism!!! But didja ever notice that whenever TV or movie projects go for "realism" instead, they are never as fun, entertaining or deliciously watchable as the squalid clap-trap of old? HA!
Hey Poseidon, you tackled a big one! I have seen the epic to end epics many times, but only in bits and pieces.
Have you ever seen Billy Crystal's comedy bit on Eddie G. from this? He also does a quick impression of Yul. A hoot, it's on YouTube.
Have you ever seen pics of Baxter in costume floating around social media with very prominent nipple-age? Yes, some industrious souls get carried away with their Photoshop coloring books and give her nipples that would rival Seinfeld's Elaine's Xmas cards!
And yes, Charlton and Yul were specimens circa '56. Heston at his most athletic and with that classic profile that made him perfect in epics. And yowsa Yul! His intense face looks like an Egyptian work of art, and Brynner loved to flaunt his bod... thank God! OK, excuse me while I go to hell now!
Cheers and I can't wait to RE-READ this, great fun!
This movie is ridiculously pompous and self important, but is also so self confident that it somehow works. I describe it as less a motion picture and more a series of Dramatic and Instructive Tableaux. The early scenes with Brynner and Heston are great, the way they thrust their nipples at each other. Despite her filmy gown, Baxter just isn’t in their league. Thanks again, this was great fun.
I haven't seen this one in years, but I always used to catch the annual TV showings and even saw it in the theater during its 1972 re-release.
(It's absolutely amazing in a theater, where you can really appreciate all the spectacle, though large-screen TVs and HD digital prints are a close approximation.)
I had never heard before about Joan Crawford, Audrey Hepburn, Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson being briefly considered for various roles, and the mind boggles at the "alternate versions" that would ensue. (Ironically, Audrey Hepburn *does* have a strong resemblance to the famous bust of Nefertiti-- the swan-like neck and profile, the large doe eyes.)
The shot of the two guards leading Heston in chains contains two guys who had just been part of Mae West's bevy of bodybuilders in her stage act. On the right is Gordon Mitchell, who went on to do about 200 B-movies, mostly in Italy.
The guy on the left is Joe Gold, who later went on to found Gold's Gym and later World Gym, and is considered, along with Joe Weider, to be one of the fathers of modern bodybuilding. (Gold's Gym was later sold to Kenneth Sprague, AKA "Dakota" in his early gay porn career.)
I'd love to know who the shaggy-haired blond carrying the front of Anne Baxter's litter was-- he looks like the prototype for He-Man, down to the harness! The curly-haired blond fanning her is another I'd like an ID on-- he seems familiar.
I always love your posts, Poseidon, so here's a "commandment" from me: Thou Shalt Keep Up The Great Work!" Love you guys, and be safe and well!
Let's face it. The "special effects" that keep a lot of viewers watching this movie time and time again is the beefcake of Heston, Brynner, and Derek on full display in their early scenes. No doubt the sight of so many handsome bare chested actors on screen was a thrilling experience in 1956! DeMille discovered the perfect formula to get the movie going public to the theaters .. sex and the Bible! Too bad there wasn't more of Woody Strode in the film. Even when Strode was in his 40s and 50s he had one of the best physiques in Hollywood! Apparently DeMille thought so too since he cast Mr. Strode in two different roles in this film!
What a fantastic run down of such an iconic film! Being Southern Baptist the yearly showing of this was mandatory in my house since as far as I can remember. I know I praised God whenever Yul strutted across the tv in those strange Egyptian shoes he wore. Like a panther. What a powerhouse of looks Heston and Brynner provided. Man oh man. Both men were totally unafraid of displaying themselves on film and I truly believe Heston was an exhibitionist considering how many times he caked his beef during his career; (his run through the streets practically naked in "Julius Caesar"!). The special effects are still mind blowing after all these years, the raising of the obelisk being my personal favorite. This, "Spartacus" and "Ben Hur". Masterpieces. Nobody will ever make films like that again. Thank you.
P I do prefer a trashy adaptation over the realism for sure. I would pic this movie over the awful transphobic Passion of the Christ any day. That was hours off my life I will never get back.
FILMS IN REVIEW described this pic as "Wretched script, poor cast, only fair DeMille." True, the picture is overdone and campy, but it still provides a feast for the eyes in the beautiful old tri-strip Technicolor. It cost about $13 million - and those were not the inflated, worthless dollars of today! Every dollar spent shows on the screen. The sets are superb, although the costumes look more like Las Vegas than ancient Egypt. Question: Why is the film always shown on TV around Easter, when the story takes place 1,000 years before the birth of Jesus, and has nothing to do with Him? Is it because Easter also occurs near Passover?
Yeah, you'd think that if the network wanted to celebrate Easter with a big '50s Charlton Heston Biblical-era epic, they'd run BEN-HUR (1959) instead-- which at least features a few "back of the head" appearances by Jesus, as well as a big climactic scene featuring the Crucifixion itself!
(And like THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, it was a remake of a big-budget silent-era spectacle; the 1925 version of BEN-HUR was even subtitled "A TALE OF THE CHRIST," like its source novel.)
However, somehow a long-term contract for THE TEN COMMANDMENTS got established, and they chose Easter weekend to run it. The rationale must've been that Christians would embrace it because it was "Biblical" and fairly reverential, while Passover was generally close enough to Easter weekend to make it even more appropriate to Jewish audiences, giving it a "two-fer" appeal. (And since Moses features prominently in the Koran, you get even a "three-fer" these days, I guess.)
Ironically, the 1923 silent version of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS-- also a huge Cecil B. DeMille mega-production-- features a quick "back of the head" appearance by Jesus towards the end-- which, like both versions of BEN-HUR, involves lepers being cured.
The 1923 TEN COMMANDMENTS is now in the Public Domain, and there's a beautiful (but music-free) print on Wikipedia, as well as other prints with various music tracks on YouTube.
DeMille's silent version is even more insane and campy than his 1956 remake, given that it spawned from a magazine's contest to suggest the topic of his next epic film.
The winning entry from a reader in Michigan read: "You cannot break the Ten Commandments-- for they will break YOU!" And amazingly, this phrase actually turns up on a title card at a crucial point in the film.
Like a number of other silent films, the film is broken into two parts: a "Biblical" parable contrasted with a "Modern" story with a moral lesson (to make up for all the visual excesses and wallowing in limits-pushing sleaze the audience just got treated to).
"The Prologue" begins with Moses dropping the last Plague on Pharoah (the royal first-born is such an obnoxious kid actor that audiences must've given a standing ovation), followed by the massive Exodus, the Pillar of Fire and Parting of the Red Sea (believe it or not, this effect involved Jello), the creation of the Tablets, and the Orgy of the Golden Calf-- with the addition of leprosy inflicted on the wicked.
This part actually comes close to matching the 1956 version for spectacle, even having a few dashes of primitive Technicolor and boasting costume/production design by Paul Iribe, and with a fair amount of beefcake from Charles De Roche, giving Yul Brynner a run for his money as Rameses-- though Moses is here an old geezer with long white hair and beard, like a derelict Santa Claus.
"The Story" picks up as this is all revealed to be a dinner-table Bible reading by a *literal* Bible-thumping widow with two sons: one reverential, one an unbeliever she casts out after he mocks God and pledges to break all the Commandments. And yeah, this thing manages to hit *every single cliche* before it's over with, and even manages to come up with a few new twists that are lulus.
It's a long slog (2 hours and 16 minutes!) if you aren't into silent films, but the jaw-dropping excesses keep it moving along and make it a worthy hoot-fest if you can handle it.
Rick, I think it was in the early-'90s that I made a vow only to watch movies from start to finish with NO commercials (and no editing!), so watching TTC is a commitment! LOL Sure, if I happen to come across something I've already seen many times, I may join in (or be unable to resist!), but most often I immerse myself in the whole thing. I sort of recall Billy and his impressions. And, yes, I've seen those Baxter pics! Thanks so much!
Dan, I have to agree that the early part of the film works better for me. Not only for the more prominent beefcake, but as it goes along Moses seems to get more and more pompous and stony and, while I support his efforts to free the Hebrew, it starts to grate a bit. LOL And those later wigs & beards... egads! I didn't focus on it, but I like his mid-movie shepherd look. It suited CH.
hsc, I can only imagine this in the theater! Wowza. It doesn't surprise me that you can spot the specific bodybuilders in this! ;-) Thanks for the extra info.
Unknown, Woody Strode was just like a carving or something. Physical art. When he came on screen it was always an eye-popper. You'll recall him taking on Kirk Douglas in "Spartacus" to great effect.
Ptolemy1, that's HILARIOUS about praising the lord whenever Yul came on! And I'm so glad you mentioned his footwear as I neglected to... Fascinating. I love the way he moves here. I have read a few times about Heston's love of showing off. He would wear a very brief bikini (which wife Lydia made him!) to tan in...! And I have documented that traipse through the streets you mention elsewhere on this site. So glad you liked this!
Shawny, I never even considered watching "Passion." I don't do that type of blood-porn, no matter what context it is in or how revered the movie may be. I can imagine how horrible something was without being led through each horrifying detail...!
Laurence, I enjoy epics, but I have to say that this is really the only C.B De Mille movie I am devoted to. He was so driven to make a mark with it that he was a man obsessed (and suffered a heart attack in the middle of it!) and I think that comes across in the finished product. And you simply cannot beat the way certain saturated reds come through in Technicolor. Love, love, love it. Thank you!
hsc, thanks for the further explanation about TV airings and about the original movie. I didn't mention it but H.B. Warner, who played Jesus in De Mille's "King of Kings," appears in TTC as the old man who Bithiah offers a ride in her litter to. I will have to find a way to watch the original... never have done so to date. (BTW, with your wealth of information, you ought to consider blogging yourself!! I'd say it's a cinch, but you'd soon find out that, unless you limit yourself to brief posts, it really is NOT...!) Thanks!
Yeah, I've considered blogging for years, but realize I'd constantly be stressing out over NOT blogging something often enough. I'm astonished by-- and immensely grateful to-- people like you who manage to do it so well.
Posting bits of additional info in comments sections-- okay, *reams* of additional info-- is about the limit I can handle. I don't think I'd be able to produce if I had to do the whole thing myself, constantly coming up with new topics. (I'm even too lazy to get a photo-and-gif Tumblr going, which says a lot!)
And I *highly* recommend the 1923 TTC-- it's basically everything anyone associates with silent melodrama, but on steroids.
This thing doesn't *just* have a "vamp" creating conflict-- it's got a half-French, half-Chinese vamp who enters the story *by smuggling herself into the country in a bag of illegally shipped jute from Calcutta*. And amazingly, that's just for starters, because her story arc gets even weirder.
When I was a little boy in the early 80's,my Mum used to sit us down infront of these lavish OTT epics at Easter with beefy hairy guys and glamorous bejewelled goddess,as a child i assumed they we're real people from far off exotic locations and in a way they we're
Anne Baxter's "Moses Moses Moses" is a line i've yet to repeat in real life despite looking for a b/f called Moses,in my little part of the Uk fat chance.
Thankyou for this blog,I look everyday for the hair,the headpieces,Donna Mills,the funnies,the gossip,the jewels,the glam,the hunks and the adoration of all things kitsch.
Al in PDX, hell yes! LOL I cannot tell you how many times I have headed to a counter or a tabletop with several boxes or something like that and one slips off before I get there and I say, "FIFTEEN... TEN commandments!" Ha ha ha!!
hsc, sometime when I'm settled in (will probably be winter!), I will have to watch the 1923 version. At minimum the prologue. Thanks!!
mrripley, I appreciate your comment SO MUCH. Thanks!!! I've never met a Moses in my life! But I set out in the 1990s to kiss one person from every member of the Barkley family from "The Big Valley!" Ha ha!! Funny thing is... I have tackled the really tough ones (Victoria, Audra, Heath!!!), but have yet to get my paws on a Nick or a Jarrod.... Best wishes!
So much fun to read this. I, too, was in a Catholic family that watched this ever Easter. Charlton Heston and especially John Derek, never disappointed.
Great movie and great read. We the readers COMMAND you to make more content!
Forever1267, thank you for visiting the mountain and taking time to comment! I'm glad you enjoyed this. I strive to post often, but still can't seem to make it happen with the regularity I wish for. But I'll plug along the best I can. Take care!
"To Jon-I really enjoyed your blog! Love Joan" -- Dame Joan Collins (via autographed menu supplied by a mutual friend!) Photos of Menu & Joan
"Thank you for your nice message, and for the link to your blog. I had actually seen your blog before - a friend showed it to me a year or two ago. You clearly have an intense and wonderful passion for cult and genre cinema... Thank you for joining my page, and for sharing your passion for EARTHQUAKE and other films of that remarkable era in our industry. My husband would have gotten a huge kick out of it! With love, Monica"-- Monica Lewis Tribute to Monica
"I just discovered your profile about me and my career. I was flattered and very happy with the photos (some I had never seen) and your talented style of writing. As a gesture of thanks, I would like to send you a signed copy of my book. I think you would enjoy it. So if you would like one or a signed photo, let me know with an address I can send it to. - Sincerely, Mark Goddard" (via e-mail) Tribute to Mark
23 comments:
This is great. I always wonder why I'm content to re-watch this when it comes on, and you remind me that the cast is really good - Nina Foch, Cedric, Yvonne. At my house we use an expression "Tarry at the well" which is derived from this movie. It means just to hang out, have a drink, and shoot the sh*t.
Thank you!! (Maybe someday we can all tarry at the well!)
I'm going to get a t-shirt made with "It's a gimmick!"printed on the front of it.
Thanks for the great post, Poseidon!
A.
This may be a minor point considering the grandness of the topic but Nefertari and Nefertiti were two different Egyptian queens. Nefertari was the wife of Rameses II and Nefertiti was the wife of Akhenaten. DeMille actually had it right here.
You left out of this terrific post my favorite line in the movie: "Oh, Moses, Moses, you stubborn, splendid, adorable fool."
Mind blowing, you matched the detail for detail. This movie is endless and endlessly beloved. I actually gave it a rest this year but watch it every Easter. You've croaked your last is one of my favorite lines, (I am sure I've mentioned here one of the Waiters at an old job of mine used to put a white tablecloth on and say "I'll wear this on my wedding night"). The gays love this movie enough, Joan as Bithiah is too much to think about. Love Nina Foch in this, she looks so different with long hair. Herb Alpert is a scream, where was Pat Hitchcock? I adore her. So Andrew Lloyd Webber was not the first to musicalize "Sunset Boulevard? Fascinating. That is a gorgeous shot of Charlton Heston and the tablet, his beard is beautiful. Staggering movie trivia, so much camp and yet touching. I was trying to remember all the corny things the Shepherds were saying as Yvonne's sisters danced. "Catch one wife, yours for life" or something like that. Love this gimmick, the movie deserved the full treatment and we are the richer.
Staggering! I don't know how you do it but please keep on.
This movie had such an impact on American culture, it's insane. How many religious organizations have put out instructional films, plays, pamphlets and all other forms of media, where visual influence can be traced back to this film? For the churchy people, it must have been an extra powerful experience. But the joke has always been on them, taking this stuff seriously.
Bill, one thing I feel I shortchanged in this (big!) post is the contribution of Yvonne De Carlo. I thought she was SO pretty and tender and earnest in the film, but she didn't really fit in much with the categories I laid out (no amazing clothing, not showy or campy or the like.) I adore Nina, too. My only slight moment of "cringe" with her is when she actually thinks that after defecting with Moses, she can run out into the path of a line of chariots and stop Brynner, whose son has just been killed! LOL Thanks!!
A, It probably seems lunatic that I felt the need to explain that my "commandments" were just part of the post's concept, but there are so many flaky people out there in cyberland, crouched on all fours waiting to pounce any time something doesn't exactly line up with their own thinking. I don't get too much of it here because even with my snark I try to retain a modicum of respect for people, but I've seen other sites where these whack-a-doodles come out swinging over the slightest thing. And I didn't want any "How dare you command me to like ______" or what have you. If you sell those T-shirts, I want 10% commission! LOLOL
Jimbo, I appreciate the info, though I hate the idea of letting facts get in the way of an amusing anecdote (De Mille trying to avoid the sound of "titi" when presenting a buxom seductress!) ha ha! (And he didn't spell the name either of the ways it appears in history. It's "Nefretiri" in the movie.) I could have worked on clearing all that up, but you've done it, so... Thanks.
Trippy Trellis, I doubt that anyone who ever heard that line could forget it, and I surely never did. I figured that embedding a video filled with Baxter's lines containing the word "Moses," with that one an unmitigated highlight, would do the trick without repeating it further.
Gingerguy, I LOVE that line of the waiter and the tablecloth!! HYSTERICAL! Sounds about like me whenever I have occasion to toss anything small across a table. I usually say, "These have always brought me luck..." ala Liz Taylor's White Diamonds perfume commercial. I did not spot Pat Hitchcock, but I believe she is in the palace sequences. You'd have to search for someone who resembles a young Elsa Lanchester? LOL Daddy Alfred worked at Paramount then, so I suspect that had something to do with her showing up in it. I haven't cracked open my Funk & Wagnall sized auto-bio of Gloria to refresh myself on the details of her failed attempt to musicalize "Sunset." I might have to do that soon for my own sake and I can let ya know more about it.
BryonByronWhatever, amazingly enough, I really only scratched the surface of this movie....! It's so long and full of things to touch on. But with 120+ photos in it, I finally had to stop. Ha ha! Mental health break. Thank you!!
Shawny, my grandparents were strict Southern Baptists and they always watched this on TV each year. But... they'd spoil it all by constantly pointing out this or that which "isn't in The Bible!" I think De Mille even states at the beginning that it's based on more than The Bible. And even so... it's all strained through a Hollywood prism!!! But didja ever notice that whenever TV or movie projects go for "realism" instead, they are never as fun, entertaining or deliciously watchable as the squalid clap-trap of old? HA!
Hey Poseidon, you tackled a big one!
I have seen the epic to end epics many times, but only in bits and pieces.
Have you ever seen Billy Crystal's comedy bit on Eddie G. from this? He also does a quick impression of Yul. A hoot, it's on YouTube.
Have you ever seen pics of Baxter in costume floating around social media with very prominent nipple-age? Yes, some industrious souls get carried away with their Photoshop coloring books and give her nipples that would rival Seinfeld's Elaine's Xmas cards!
And yes, Charlton and Yul were specimens circa '56. Heston at his most athletic and with that classic profile that made him perfect in epics. And yowsa Yul! His intense face looks like an Egyptian work of art, and Brynner loved to flaunt his bod... thank God! OK, excuse me while I go to hell now!
Cheers and I can't wait to RE-READ this, great fun!
Rick
This movie is ridiculously pompous and self important, but is also so self confident that it somehow works. I describe it as less a motion picture and more a series of Dramatic and Instructive Tableaux. The early scenes with Brynner and Heston are great, the way they thrust their nipples at each other. Despite her filmy gown, Baxter just isn’t in their league.
Thanks again, this was great fun.
I haven't seen this one in years, but I always used to catch the annual TV showings and even saw it in the theater during its 1972 re-release.
(It's absolutely amazing in a theater, where you can really appreciate all the spectacle, though large-screen TVs and HD digital prints are a close approximation.)
I had never heard before about Joan Crawford, Audrey Hepburn, Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson being briefly considered for various roles, and the mind boggles at the "alternate versions" that would ensue. (Ironically, Audrey Hepburn *does* have a strong resemblance to the famous bust of Nefertiti-- the swan-like neck and profile, the large doe eyes.)
The shot of the two guards leading Heston in chains contains two guys who had just been part of Mae West's bevy of bodybuilders in her stage act. On the right is Gordon Mitchell, who went on to do about 200 B-movies, mostly in Italy.
The guy on the left is Joe Gold, who later went on to found Gold's Gym and later World Gym, and is considered, along with Joe Weider, to be one of the fathers of modern bodybuilding. (Gold's Gym was later sold to Kenneth Sprague, AKA "Dakota" in his early gay porn career.)
I'd love to know who the shaggy-haired blond carrying the front of Anne Baxter's litter was-- he looks like the prototype for He-Man, down to the harness! The curly-haired blond fanning her is another I'd like an ID on-- he seems familiar.
I always love your posts, Poseidon, so here's a "commandment" from me: Thou Shalt Keep Up The Great Work!" Love you guys, and be safe and well!
Let's face it. The "special effects" that keep a lot of viewers watching this movie time and time again is the beefcake of Heston, Brynner, and Derek on full display in their early scenes. No doubt the sight of so many handsome bare chested actors on screen was a thrilling experience in 1956! DeMille discovered the perfect formula to get the movie going public to the theaters .. sex and the Bible! Too bad there wasn't more of Woody Strode in the film. Even when Strode was in his 40s and 50s he had one of the best physiques in Hollywood! Apparently DeMille thought so too since he cast Mr. Strode in two different roles in this film!
What a fantastic run down of such an iconic film! Being Southern Baptist the yearly showing of this was mandatory in my house since as far as I can remember. I know I praised God whenever Yul strutted across the tv in those strange Egyptian shoes he wore. Like a panther. What a powerhouse of looks Heston and Brynner provided. Man oh man. Both men were totally unafraid of displaying themselves on film and I truly believe Heston was an exhibitionist considering how many times he caked his beef during his career; (his run through the streets practically naked in "Julius Caesar"!). The special effects are still mind blowing after all these years, the raising of the obelisk being my personal favorite. This, "Spartacus" and "Ben Hur". Masterpieces. Nobody will ever make films like that again. Thank you.
P
I do prefer a trashy adaptation over the realism for sure. I would pic this movie over the awful transphobic Passion of the Christ any day. That was hours off my life I will never get back.
FILMS IN REVIEW described this pic as "Wretched script, poor cast, only fair DeMille." True, the picture is overdone and campy, but it still provides a feast for the eyes in the beautiful old tri-strip Technicolor. It cost about $13 million - and those were not the inflated, worthless dollars of today! Every dollar spent shows on the screen. The sets are superb, although the costumes look more like Las Vegas than ancient Egypt.
Question: Why is the film always shown on TV around Easter, when the story takes place 1,000 years before the birth of Jesus, and has nothing to do with Him? Is it because Easter also occurs near Passover?
Yeah, you'd think that if the network wanted to celebrate Easter with a big '50s Charlton Heston Biblical-era epic, they'd run BEN-HUR (1959) instead-- which at least features a few "back of the head" appearances by Jesus, as well as a big climactic scene featuring the Crucifixion itself!
(And like THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, it was a remake of a big-budget silent-era spectacle; the 1925 version of BEN-HUR was even subtitled "A TALE OF THE CHRIST," like its source novel.)
However, somehow a long-term contract for THE TEN COMMANDMENTS got established, and they chose Easter weekend to run it. The rationale must've been that Christians would embrace it because it was "Biblical" and fairly reverential, while Passover was generally close enough to Easter weekend to make it even more appropriate to Jewish audiences, giving it a "two-fer" appeal. (And since Moses features prominently in the Koran, you get even a "three-fer" these days, I guess.)
Ironically, the 1923 silent version of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS-- also a huge Cecil B. DeMille mega-production-- features a quick "back of the head" appearance by Jesus towards the end-- which, like both versions of BEN-HUR, involves lepers being cured.
The 1923 TEN COMMANDMENTS is now in the Public Domain, and there's a beautiful (but music-free) print on Wikipedia, as well as other prints with various music tracks on YouTube.
DeMille's silent version is even more insane and campy than his 1956 remake, given that it spawned from a magazine's contest to suggest the topic of his next epic film.
The winning entry from a reader in Michigan read: "You cannot break the Ten Commandments-- for they will break YOU!" And amazingly, this phrase actually turns up on a title card at a crucial point in the film.
Like a number of other silent films, the film is broken into two parts: a "Biblical" parable contrasted with a "Modern" story with a moral lesson (to make up for all the visual excesses and wallowing in limits-pushing sleaze the audience just got treated to).
"The Prologue" begins with Moses dropping the last Plague on Pharoah (the royal first-born is such an obnoxious kid actor that audiences must've given a standing ovation), followed by the massive Exodus, the Pillar of Fire and Parting of the Red Sea (believe it or not, this effect involved Jello), the creation of the Tablets, and the Orgy of the Golden Calf-- with the addition of leprosy inflicted on the wicked.
This part actually comes close to matching the 1956 version for spectacle, even having a few dashes of primitive Technicolor and boasting costume/production design by Paul Iribe, and with a fair amount of beefcake from Charles De Roche, giving Yul Brynner a run for his money as Rameses-- though Moses is here an old geezer with long white hair and beard, like a derelict Santa Claus.
"The Story" picks up as this is all revealed to be a dinner-table Bible reading by a *literal* Bible-thumping widow with two sons: one reverential, one an unbeliever she casts out after he mocks God and pledges to break all the Commandments. And yeah, this thing manages to hit *every single cliche* before it's over with, and even manages to come up with a few new twists that are lulus.
It's a long slog (2 hours and 16 minutes!) if you aren't into silent films, but the jaw-dropping excesses keep it moving along and make it a worthy hoot-fest if you can handle it.
Rick, I think it was in the early-'90s that I made a vow only to watch movies from start to finish with NO commercials (and no editing!), so watching TTC is a commitment! LOL Sure, if I happen to come across something I've already seen many times, I may join in (or be unable to resist!), but most often I immerse myself in the whole thing. I sort of recall Billy and his impressions. And, yes, I've seen those Baxter pics! Thanks so much!
Dan, I have to agree that the early part of the film works better for me. Not only for the more prominent beefcake, but as it goes along Moses seems to get more and more pompous and stony and, while I support his efforts to free the Hebrew, it starts to grate a bit. LOL And those later wigs & beards... egads! I didn't focus on it, but I like his mid-movie shepherd look. It suited CH.
hsc, I can only imagine this in the theater! Wowza. It doesn't surprise me that you can spot the specific bodybuilders in this! ;-) Thanks for the extra info.
Unknown, Woody Strode was just like a carving or something. Physical art. When he came on screen it was always an eye-popper. You'll recall him taking on Kirk Douglas in "Spartacus" to great effect.
Ptolemy1, that's HILARIOUS about praising the lord whenever Yul came on! And I'm so glad you mentioned his footwear as I neglected to... Fascinating. I love the way he moves here. I have read a few times about Heston's love of showing off. He would wear a very brief bikini (which wife Lydia made him!) to tan in...! And I have documented that traipse through the streets you mention elsewhere on this site. So glad you liked this!
Shawny, I never even considered watching "Passion." I don't do that type of blood-porn, no matter what context it is in or how revered the movie may be. I can imagine how horrible something was without being led through each horrifying detail...!
Laurence, I enjoy epics, but I have to say that this is really the only C.B De Mille movie I am devoted to. He was so driven to make a mark with it that he was a man obsessed (and suffered a heart attack in the middle of it!) and I think that comes across in the finished product. And you simply cannot beat the way certain saturated reds come through in Technicolor. Love, love, love it. Thank you!
hsc, thanks for the further explanation about TV airings and about the original movie. I didn't mention it but H.B. Warner, who played Jesus in De Mille's "King of Kings," appears in TTC as the old man who Bithiah offers a ride in her litter to. I will have to find a way to watch the original... never have done so to date. (BTW, with your wealth of information, you ought to consider blogging yourself!! I'd say it's a cinch, but you'd soon find out that, unless you limit yourself to brief posts, it really is NOT...!) Thanks!
I hope you've seen Mel Brooks' true story of the 10 Commandments, from "History of the World Part 1"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w556vrpsy4w
Yeah, I've considered blogging for years, but realize I'd constantly be stressing out over NOT blogging something often enough. I'm astonished by-- and immensely grateful to-- people like you who manage to do it so well.
Posting bits of additional info in comments sections-- okay, *reams* of additional info-- is about the limit I can handle. I don't think I'd be able to produce if I had to do the whole thing myself, constantly coming up with new topics. (I'm even too lazy to get a photo-and-gif Tumblr going, which says a lot!)
And I *highly* recommend the 1923 TTC-- it's basically everything anyone associates with silent melodrama, but on steroids.
This thing doesn't *just* have a "vamp" creating conflict-- it's got a half-French, half-Chinese vamp who enters the story *by smuggling herself into the country in a bag of illegally shipped jute from Calcutta*. And amazingly, that's just for starters, because her story arc gets even weirder.
Thanks again for all you do!
When I was a little boy in the early 80's,my Mum used to sit us down infront of these lavish OTT epics at Easter with beefy hairy guys and glamorous bejewelled goddess,as a child i assumed they we're real people from far off exotic locations and in a way they we're
Anne Baxter's "Moses Moses Moses" is a line i've yet to repeat in real life despite looking for a b/f called Moses,in my little part of the Uk fat chance.
Thankyou for this blog,I look everyday for the hair,the headpieces,Donna Mills,the funnies,the gossip,the jewels,the glam,the hunks and the adoration of all things kitsch.
Al in PDX, hell yes! LOL I cannot tell you how many times I have headed to a counter or a tabletop with several boxes or something like that and one slips off before I get there and I say, "FIFTEEN... TEN commandments!" Ha ha ha!!
hsc, sometime when I'm settled in (will probably be winter!), I will have to watch the 1923 version. At minimum the prologue. Thanks!!
mrripley, I appreciate your comment SO MUCH. Thanks!!! I've never met a Moses in my life! But I set out in the 1990s to kiss one person from every member of the Barkley family from "The Big Valley!" Ha ha!! Funny thing is... I have tackled the really tough ones (Victoria, Audra, Heath!!!), but have yet to get my paws on a Nick or a Jarrod.... Best wishes!
So much fun to read this. I, too, was in a Catholic family that watched this ever Easter. Charlton Heston and especially John Derek, never disappointed.
Great movie and great read. We the readers COMMAND you to make more content!
Thank you!
Forever1267, thank you for visiting the mountain and taking time to comment! I'm glad you enjoyed this. I strive to post often, but still can't seem to make it happen with the regularity I wish for. But I'll plug along the best I can. Take care!
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