‘The Ten Commandments’: At the Top of His Game: Cecil B. DeMille’s Triumph

[JakeHolman]

“The Ten Commandments” (1956) has kept several generations of kids glued to the TV around Passover and Easter time, but Cecil B. DeMille’s epic is rarely taken seriously. Seen on a small screen, faded, panned and scanned, interrupted by toothpaste commercials, it can look pretty corny.

But a 2010 restoration revealed the film to be, for all its well-known flaws, as visually splendid as a medieval cathedral, created like a cathedral by a brilliant team of faith-inspired artists and craftsmen. Seen on a big screen or on Blu-ray, minus the toothpaste, the restored movie stakes a claim for itself as a major work of religious iconography, a populist Sistine Chapel.

Cecil B. DeMille (1881–1959) began in the theater, acting and writing. He shot his first movie in a rented barn: “The Squaw Man” (1914). Fame and success came quickly. In 1922, he invited fans to write in with suggestions for his next picture. The surprise winner was 1923’s “The Ten Commandments.”

DeMille and his scenarist concocted a two-part story. The first hour dealt with Moses and the Exodus, followed by a cautionary tale about a modern atheist whose scorn for religion leads to tragedy. The movie was a hit.

READ MORE >> ‘The Ten Commandments’: At the Top of His Game: Cecil B. DeMille’s Triumph (theepochtimes.com)