Epic Spectacle...I Can't Believe I Watched the Whooooole Thing!
To paraphrase the old commercial, “I can’t believe I watched the whooooole thing!” But I did. By this time in my life I had surely seen every scene in it, but this time I rented the ultra high definition restored version on YouTube. I never recalled seeing the overture, the opening remarks by Cecil B. DeMille, the Entr’Acte, or the Exit Music. Everything about the production is epic including the music. For all I know, some of the movie may also have been cut for commercials back when I previously viewed it. This time I watched Part 1 on one night and Part 2 the next. It may even have been shown that way on network TV when it would come on around Easter.
Watching this was nostalgic, remembering watching with my family as a child. I was especially freaked out back then by the Angel of Death. I knew my dad had an older brother who died, leaving him the oldest, and my mom had an older sister who died, leaving her the oldest. My sisters are younger, so I’m thinking, “I am the only firstborn in this room! It’s after meeeee!” At the same time it was fun to be scared. This sequence was very well done and holds up wonderfully.
The Ten Commandments is based on the Bible and several other credited sources. For such a long movie it doesn’t drag much. I was surprised that it was more interesting than I expected. Naturally it would hold the attention of an adult better than a young child. Of course for pageantry and spectacle it can scarcely be rivaled. The sets alone are impressive—what did they do with all that stuff when the movie was over?
As for the acting, it was said that Charlton Heston was cast because he resembled Michelangelo’s Moses, but he certainly played the part well. Even as a kid I appreciated seeing the beautiful Yvonne De Carlo, as I knew her only as Lily Munster. Yul Brynner looks magnificent and is the very embodiment of Pharaoh Ramses, so much so that he influenced the animation of Prince of Egypt years later. But to cut to the chase I was really watching to see Vincent Price. He has a fairly large role considering the length and scope of the film. As Baka, the Master Builder, he is in all his glory, playing a fascinatingly menacing schemer. He appropriates an attractive young slave girl, designs to have his wicked way with her, and meets his comeuppance. This movie is well worth watching anyway but he adds a crowning touch.
The movie mostly looks and sounds beautiful but there are a few downsides to a large modern TV and ultra high definition picture vs. a small older TV and broadcast picture. Every scene which is back projected is glaringly obvious. The actors have a sort of unnatural outline around them, and there is also a definite line between the surface they are standing on and the screen behind them. In the scene where Moses approaches the Burning Bush, tire tracks clearly appear behind him which must have been made by the vehicle pulling the camera in front of him. I never saw any of this on a small older TV but it must have been visible in the theater. Another little nitpick, when the Red Sea parted the wind must have dried the sea bed because the Israelites walk through dry sand rather than mud. The special effects were groundbreaking for the time and are impressive now. A few things I couldn’t figure out how they were done.
A couple of things I hate no matter how many times I see it: the man hurling the golden calf to the little boy. He could have put an eye out or killed the kid, those things are heavy and sharp! Moses hurling the stone tablets into the crowd where they could have killed people rather than breaking them on the foot of the mountain. Mostly well done, though.
As for suitability for children, obviously no smoking. Quite a bit of drinking and partying while Moses is communing with God on the mountain. Some violence, with a couple of killings and whippings. Obviously Pharaoh’s army was drowned, which was very sad for the horses and may upset sensitive children. But heck, it is from the BIBLE, so I say, GO FOR IT! Recommended for all ages.