Fun Finds: Movie Stars Parade Magazine, June 1956

Back again right away with another Fun Find, purchased on the same day as the last one. And, wouldn't you know, the Butcher of Burlington was up to her old tricks again in this mag! While it's not quite the shambles of the previous publication, there were still several pages missing or messed with... I will be more attentive when searching for old periodicals in the future! I guess that beguiling cover of Miss Kim Novak distracted me. Fans of cheesecake photography might like this one especially. As usual, I'll be providing commentary along the way as I deem appropriate. Now let's get to it! 

The inside front cover featured this device, the likes of which could be found in magazines up through the 1970s at least! I don't know if anyone ever lost weight from it, but at least the vibrations could put a smile on your face if you aimed it right. LOL

I don't know why, but it struck me as odd that a mouthwash ad would be set at the counter of an ice cream parlor! She gets a luscious float and he gets Listerine?

I didn't cut these models' heads off. The ad was presented that way (to focus on the garments.) Interesting assortment of clothing (and bigger gals will pay an extra $1!) Number 542 is "on-or-off shoulder" which reminded me of Blanche from The Golden Girls: "Why everything I wear is off the shoulda'... sooner or later...!"

Grrr... the first page of this gossip section is MIA. We do love us some Guy Madison. And I had utterly forgotten that Cara Williams was once wed to John Drew Barrymore! They were split by 1959, but she did have his son, sometimes-actor John Blyth Barrymore. No need for any nursery over at Rock & Phyllis' house!

Russ Tamblyn's wife here, Venetia Stevenson, is the daughter of Anna Lee, though she and her mother were not close until Venetia was an adult because she lived with her father, actor Robert Stevenson in England. Her marriage to Tamblyn was finished after a year. Dale Robertson and Mary Murphy needn't have bothered with their upcoming nuptials. The union was annulled six months later! Serenade (1956) was a moderate hit, but Mario Lanza only made one more movie before passing away at 38 from the effects of stringent (and controversial) weight loss procedures. 

Milton Greene, shown on this page with Marilyn Monroe, was a famous photographer who, for a time, helped Monroe change career directions with movies like Bus Stop (1956) and The Prince and the Showgirl (1957), though there was a falling out after the second film. He is the man who took the iconic photo of her in a tulle ballet tutu, among many other shots.

His story has gone missing at the hands of the scissor-happy original owner, but this is Ben Cooper, a busy 1950s & '60s actor who is not particularly well-known now. He tended to play supporting roles in films which featured bigger stars like Joan Crawford or Burt Lancaster.

A small amount of his article remains intact in the back of the mag. Cooper did marry in 1960 to actress Pamela Raymond and they remained wed until 2008 when she passed away. Cooper acted up through the mid-1990s and passed away in 2020 at age 86. I recall the shock of seeing him in 1st & Ten as Delta Burke's husband who has a special fondness for one of the players!

Not sure what "The Wedding Clock" was, but Shirley Jones didn't make it. Her next movie, in fact, was Carousel (1956), whose soundtrack album she is holding.

She really must have been tight-lipped about spilling too much personal information, including about Jack Cassidy. The two were wed that August!

Now the cover story and the parade of cheesecake-y photos of the popular actresses of the day. At first glance I thought this was Elizabeth Taylor, but it's one Marla English. This is really a pretty revealing photo for a 1956 "family" publication! She was currently filming "White Nightmare" which became A Strange Adventure (1956) with the aforementioned Ben Cooper in the cast. She wed a businessman in 1957 and retired from the biz at only age 21!

Arlene Dahl famously advised ladies to never sleep on their faces, only on the back of their head, to avoid facial creases, etc... (She also infamously would rise before hubby Fernando Lamas and apply makeup, then slip back into bed, so that he would awaken to a vision instead of a slattern next to him! LOL) I had no clue on earth that that was (a brunette!) Martha Hyer at lower-right...

This is kind of a fun article with intriguing text and info along the way. I can barely envision cowboy Rory Calhoun amid all they endless frillery! Mamie Van Doren's towel has seen better days. I had one not quite that bad that I used to like to use at the YMCA to attract attention. Ha ha!

Heavens... those side-lamps of Debra Paget's! I think Marilyn Monroe once replied, when asked what she had on in bed, "the radio..." Or was it Chanel #5?

I'm not having a brunette Mitzi Gaynor! LOL And though I love her, this hard-looking period is one of my least favorite of Joan Crawford's. As for the text in the story, is it "moo-moo" or "muu-muu?"

Here is cover girl Kim Novak at last. Jan Sterling was one of the lightest blondes ever, next to Jean Harlow and latter-day Monroe.

There's our other Joan (Collins), all ready for bed in full makeup and large earrings! Ha! The caption is on the opposing page, but that's Julie Adams and humpy hubby Ray Danton above-right.

Lastly, we find curvaceous Anita Ekberg and former child-star Margaret O'Brien. (I can't with the dolls...)

The accompanying story (about her dreams of marriage) was rendered from the magazine, but this pinup of Natalie Wood remains. In 1957, Wood married Robert Wagner for the first time, which was hardly the dream she had in mind. But they later re-wed ten years after their 1962 divorce.

Audie Murphy had a family-oriented spread in the other recent Fun Find and now here he is again, out and about at Universal-International Studios for the day with his two little boys.

I don't know a thing about these two sweet boys, but I hope they had happy lives. Things got rough for their father near the end of his life.

Y'all pay attention to this so you can look more presentable when you visit Poseidon's Underworld...! Ha ha!

Funny how things change... now everyone WANTS a pouty lip! The owner of the mag snipped out the photo of Grace Kelly and her perfect nose. And it was the unkindest cut of all...

...because in the process, she hacked away a large portion of John Derek's cranium!

At least the rest of the spread was left alone, though these training photos sadly have him all covered up in a sweatsuit.

Jacques Sernas got what ought to have been a considerable break with Helen of Troy (1956), but it wound up only making back half its money at the box office. Before too long, he was back making multiple European costume epics in what was a long career there. (Among his films were also La dolce vita, 1960, and 55 Days at Peking, 1963.)

Sernas managed to survive Buchenwald concentration camp and, like many others who made it through such an ordeal, lived a long life. He retired in 2007 and passed away in 2015 at age 89. 

Despite being an alleged cinema aficionado, I'm ashamed to admit that I have never seen any of these films! By the way... read about Zonitors at your own risk! Ha ha!

Some remaining tidbits from the opening gossip section. Gary Cooper did perform in at least two more westerns, The Hanging Tree (1959) and the excellent Man of the West (1958), which is a favorite of mine. Janet Leigh was able to deliver her baby, Kelly, and proceeded to have Jamie Lee about two years later. Jerry Lewis, by the way, was biological father to six children (that we know of!) Rita Hayworth did not end up marrying Raymond Hakim.

Keep learning, kids...

Lord, Janet, is there anything else you'd like to know about Natalie?!? There were stories in this magazine about both Sal and Tab, but they were missing! Aaarrgh! But in any case, I think Tab liked his girls real quiet, like asleep. But I suspect he liked blonds versus blondes...

If you're not familiar with Kay Starr, she sang the Christmas hit "(Everybody's Waitin' For ) The Man with the Bag" along with many other songs. She lived to be 94. "Rock Island Line," a smash in the UK, reached number 8 in the US. Many of the vocalists mentioned here would soon enough find themselves washed away by the influx of rock 'n roll artists.

There are a number of people in this section with fan clubs who I have never heard of! For what it's worth, Gordon MacRae has my favorite singing voice ever. I just loved the way he sounded in his prime. He and Sheila were married from 1941-1967 and had four children together before divorcing. He immediately re-wed and they were together until his death in 1986 from pneumonia at age 64.

Here is the back cover of the magazine. For whatever reason it took me FOREVER to recognize the artwork shown...! I thought it was a red toothbrush at first! I guess I'm just not one to appreciate art. Ha ha!

::::BONUS PICS::::

I felt the least I could do under the circumstances of this magazine's vandalism was to try to show Mr. Derek's pinup unmolested by scissors. However, I could NOT find that exact shot. This is very, very close. 

I have yet to see The Leather Saint, but now I really want to. I ask you to examine the unbelievably hairy legs of John Derek in this photo...!

"There, there... let mama make it all better for you."

All the long, wavy locks that Derek had sported for The Ten Commandments (1956) were shorn off for this movie. It's likely the shortest hair the actor-turned-director ever had.

The beatific lighting is because he plays a priest who secretly and temporarily takes to the ring in order to raise funds for both an iron lung and a community swimming pool.

The End.

"Ten" Commandments

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!