The Ten Commandments (Three-Disc 50th Anniversary Collection)
by Cecil B. DeMille
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Charles de Rochefort, Charlton Heston, Estelle Taylor, Theodore Roberts, Yul BrynnerDirector: Cecil B. DeMille
Brand: Paramount
Writer: A.E. Southon
Writer: Dorothy Clarke Wilson
Writer: Fredric M. Frank
Writer: J.H. Ingraham
Writer: Jack Gariss
Writer: Jeanie Macpherson
Writer: Jesse Lasky Jr.
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Published)
Format: Black & White, Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 356 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-03-21
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Paramount
Movie Reviews of The Ten Commandments (Three-Disc 50th Anniversary Collection)
Movie Review: AN EPIC HISTORICAL-BUT-FICTIONALIZED TRIBUTE TO THE OLD TESTAMENT ON FILM
Summary: 5 Stars
***** ABOUT THE 50th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION 3-DISK DVD SET *****
ABOUT THE DVD: 1923 + 1956 Editions + OUTSTANDING COMMENTARY & 6 FEATURETTES
Over the years I have seen this film dozens of times, but this is by far the best rendering I have seen yet. The 1956 edition is as pristine a restoration as I have ever seen. It is "Widescreen" and plays in either English or French with English subtitles available.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
***** 6-PART DOCUMENTARY: 'MOSES', 'THE CHOSEN PEOPLE', 'LAND OF THE PHARAOHS', 'THE PARAMOUNT LOT', 'THE SCORE', 'MR. DE MILLE'
***** TRAILERS: - 1956 'MAKING OF', '1966 RE-RELEASE', '1989 RE-RELEASE'
***** NEWSREEL: - NY PREMIERE
***** COMMENTARY: KATHERINE ORRISON for both the 1923 & 1956 film included -- This is about as good as movie commentary gets. Many subjects, like camels 1300 years before any were in Egypt and Biblical errors, are discussed in detail. I suggest seeing the film without commentary first and listening to the commentary during a subsequent viewing, because she speaks non-stop for 3.5 hours.
1923 EDITION - FULLSCREEN 1956 EDITION - WIDESCREEN
FIRST THOUGHTS: COMPROMISES WERE MADE BUT A GREAT HISTORIC TRIBUTE WAS STILL CREATED
To make a relatively-modern film regarding the story of Moses would have been much easier if it DID NOT have to appeal to such a broad audience. With its huge epic scope and the tremendous cost that came with "THE TEN COMMANDMENTS," certain compromises were necessary so that the huge costs could be recouped. However, I believe the film, like the message of the Ten Commandments within the Bible, is meant to be available and, hopefully, compelling for a universal audience. Therefore, certain compromises were probably justified for that purpose.
IN A NUTSHELL:
For the sake of creating a bridge to connect today's audience to the story of Moses which took place around 1300 B.C.), Cecil B. De Mille needed modern references and some added sex appeal. Most of this fictionalized "hook" material was presented in the first half of the film. It is interesting to note that over the years larger audiences have been recorded, via the T.V. ratings. for the more historically-accurate second half of the film, indicating that people were tuning in rather than tuning out for this nearly four-hour (longer with commercials) epic.
Plenty of sex appeal and motivation was provided by the relationship between Moses and Nefertiri [Anne Baxter] for the adults and by Jethro's dancing daughters for the younger set. There was as much in "The Ten Commandments" about breaking the Ten Commandments as there was about keeping them. Over and over again, we see the chosen people behaving hedonistically, which has always been most disturbing to me since they witnessed the miracles and proof of God's existence and Moses' role as patriarch first-hand. We also see that even the children can become victims of the wrath of God, as was Rameses' son [Eugene Mazzola]. This served as a meaningful cue for many a young viewer.
WHAT THE "TEN COMMANDMENTS" IS ALL ABOUT: 2 EPIC FILMS INCLUDED IN SET
"IF YOU BREAK THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS WILL BREAK YOU!" - This theme was imprinted into the original 1923 silent film by DeMille [included in this set] and is repeated in the 1956 version. Unlike the 1923 edition which uses the Exodus solely as a long and elaborate prologue before the story proper begins (set in the present of its time, 1923), the 1956 film stays in the time of Moses, thus resisting the jump to modern times and perhaps explaining the need for 20th-century references.
-----> MAJOR CAST MEMBERS OF 1956 FILM <-----
Charlton Heston - God (Uncredited) [Voice] / Moses
Yul Brynner - Rameses
Anne Baxter - Nefertiri
Edward G. Robinson - Dathan
Yvonne de Carlo - Sephora
Debra Paget - Lilia
John Derek - Joshua
Nina Foch - Bithiah
Cedric Hardwicke - Sethi
Martha Scott - Yochabel
Judith Anderson - Memnet
Vincent Price - Baka
John Carradine - Aaron
Olive Deering - Miriam
Douglas Dumbrille - Jannes
Frank de Kova - Abiram
Henry Wilcoxon - Pentaur
Eduard Franz - Jethro
Donald Curtis - Mered
Lawrence Dobkin - Hur Ben Caleb
H.B. Warner - Amminadab
-----> MAJOR PRODUCTION TEAM - 1956 <-----
Cecil B. DeMille - Director / Producer
Henry Wilcoxon - Producer
Fredric M. Frank - Screenwriter
Rev. J.H. Ingraham - Book Author
Jesse Lasky, Jr. - Screenwriter
Aeneas MacKenzie - Screenwriter
Rev. G.E. Southon - Book Author
Dorothy Clarke Wilson - Book Author
Loyal Griggs - Cinematographer
W. Wallace Kelley - Cinematographer
J. Peverell Marley - Cinematographer
John F. Warren - Cinematographer
Elmer Bernstein - Composer (Music Score)
Anne Bauchens - Editor
Ray Moyer - Production Designer / Set Designer
Albert Nozaki - Production Designer
Hal Pereira - Production Designer
Walter Tyler - Art Director
Sam Comer - Set Designer
Edith Head - Costume Designer
Dorothy Jeakins - Costume Designer
John Jensen - Costume Designer
Ralph Jester - Costume Designer
Frank McCoy - Makeup
Frank Westmore - Makeup
Wally Westmore - Makeup
John P. Fulton - Special Effects
LeRoy J. Prinz - Choreography
-----> THE MAJOR AWARDS 1956 <-----
Best Color Art Direction (nom) Comer, Sam M. 1956 Academy
Best Color Art Direction (nom) Moyer, Ray 1956 Academy
Best Color Art Direction (nom) Hal Pereira 1956 Academy
Best Color Art Direction (nom) Albert Nozaki 1956 Academy
Best Color Art Direction (nom) Walter Tyler 1956 Academy
Best Color Cinematography (nom) Loyal Griggs 1956 Academy
Best Editing (nom) Anne Bauchens 1956 Academy
Best Picture (nom) 1956 Academy
Best Sound (nom) Loren L. Ryder 1956 Academy
Best Special Effects (nom) John P. Fulton 1956 Academy
Best Actor - Drama (nom) Charlton Heston 1956 Golden Globe
Best Actor (win) Yul Brynner 1956 National Board of Review
BOTTOM LINE: TERRIFIC TWIN EPICS WITH SPECIAL FEATURES
Summary of The Ten Commandments (Three-Disc 50th Anniversary Collection)
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 03/21/2006Similar DVD Movies
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