Ever since the dawning of motion pictures, epics and blockbusters have been a mainstay of the industry. The Ten Commandments (1956) set a new standard for the genre, and is still a perennial favorite. It’s a big, big movie, even by today’s standards, with its star-studded cast, lavish sets and costumes, ground-breaking special effects...all masterfully orchestrated and synchronized by a visionary movie maestro.
The story of Moses as told by director Cecil B. DeMille is a visual feast. Part sword and sandal epic, part soap opera, part history lesson, the bombastic super-superlative spectacular is pure escapism in polychromatic technicolor and Cinemascope (correction, Vista Vision!).
It’s also a battle of the bodies beautiful with the macho, muscular Charlton Heston squaring off against the lithe and angular Yul Brynner. Throw in a tanned, shirtless, earringed John Derek and you have a film that’s as much a celebration of male power and sexuality as a Biblical morality tale. There’s female pulchritude as well, in the pleasing, perfumed and powdered forms of Anne Baxter, Yvonne deCarlo and Debra Paget.
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| Hunky Heston in chains |
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| Derek woos Paget |
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| Heston, flanked by DeCarlo and Derek |
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| Lovely Yvonne DeCarlo |
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| Charlton Heston as Moses |
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| Heston and Baxter |
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| Yul Brynner and Anne Baxter |
Who knew the Bible could be so stunningly entertaining? Thank God for Cecil B. DeMille!
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