The Ten Commandments (1956) | |
| Director(s) | Cecil B. DeMille |
| Producer(s) | Cecil B. DeMille, Henry Wilcoxon (associate) |
| Top Genres | Adventure, Drama, Epic, Historical |
| Top Topics | Ancient World, Book-Based, Exotic Lands, Religious, Sibling Rivalry |
Featured Cast:
The Ten Commandments Overview:
The Ten Commandments (1956) was a Adventure - Drama Film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and produced by Cecil B. DeMille and Henry Wilcoxon.
SYNOPSIS
For DeMille's last picture, Hollywood's undisputed master of the cast-of-thousands epic pulled out all the stops, topping even his 1923 silent telling of the Exodus story. Heston, in a role that became his signature, gives a highly charged performance as Moses, the Hebrew who became an Egyptian prince and then led his people out of slavery, and there isn't a false note in the production. The parting of the Red Sea, an effect that manages to remain glorious even in our age of computer graphics, was accomplished by massive amounts of water being poured into a tank and then reversed (the effects took the Oscar). The 35th anniversary video edition features an uncut 245-minute version, with Dolby stereo sound and an on-screen introduction by DeMille. The collector's edition includes a signed card from Heston.
(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).
.The Ten Commandments was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1999.
Academy Awards 1956 --- Ceremony Number 29 (source: AMPAS)
| Award | Recipient | Result |
| Best Art Direction | Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Walter H. Tyler, Albert Nozaki; Set Decoration: Samuel M. Comer, Ray | Nominated |
| Best Cinematography | Loyal Griggs | Nominated |
| Best Costume Design | Edith Head, Ralph Jester, John Jensen, Dorothy Jeakins, Arnold Friberg | Nominated |
| Best Film Editing | Anne Bauchens | Nominated |
| Best Picture | Cecil B. DeMille, Producer | Nominated |
BlogHub Articles:
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1923)
By Dan Day, Jr. on May 31, 2025 From The Hitless Wonder Movie BlogI've mentioned a few posts ago how I had been reading Scott Eyman's EMPIRE OF DREAMS, a biography of Cecil B. DeMille. Ironically last month Edward R. Hamilton Booksellers had on sale the Paramount DVD of DeMille's silent 1923 version of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, a version I had not yet seen. Being in a... Read full article
The Ten Commandments (1956, Cecil B. DeMille) (2)
By Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 7, 2019 From The Stop ButtonWhile Yul Brynner easily gives the best performance in Ten Commandments, until the second half of the movie Anne Baxter gives the most amusing one. She's an Egyptian princess and she's going to marry the next pharaoh. The next pharaoh is either Brynner or Charlton Heston. Cedric Hardwicke ... Read full article
The Ten Commandments (1956, Cecil B. DeMille) (1)
By Andrew Wickliffe on Apr 7, 2019 From The Stop ButtonWhile Yul Brynner easily gives the best performance in Ten Commandments, until the second half of the movie Anne Baxter gives the most amusing one. She's an Egyptian princess and she's going to marry the next pharaoh. The next pharaoh is either Brynner or Charlton Heston. Cedric Hardwicke ... Read full article
The Ten Commandments (1956, Cecil B. DeMille) (3)
on Apr 7, 2019 From The Stop ButtonWhile Yul Brynner easily gives the best performance in Ten Commandments, until the second half of the movie Anne Baxter gives the most amusing one. She's an Egyptian princess and she's going to marry the next pharaoh. The next pharaoh is either Brynner or Charlton Heston. Cedric Hardwicke ... Read full article
The Ten Commandments (1956, Cecil B. DeMille) (4)
on Apr 7, 2019 From The Stop ButtonWhile Yul Brynner easily gives the best performance in Ten Commandments, until the second half of the movie Anne Baxter gives the most amusing one. She's an Egyptian princess and she's going to marry the next pharaoh. The next pharaoh is either Brynner or Charlton Heston. Cedric Hardwicke ... Read full article
See all The Ten Commandments articles
Quotes from
Lilia: Water, Noble One?
Baka: No, wine. The wine of beauty.
Lilia: What beauty can my lord find in these mud pits?
Baka: A lotus flower blooms out of the muck. Dathan, she will do well as a house slave.
Lilia: Please, do not take me from my people! There will be danger.
Baka: Danger? From such lovely hands?
Lilia: There are other hands! Strong enough to kill.
Baka: Our mud flower has a thorn.
Lilia: Please, Lord Baka, I beg of you!
Jethro: You have come far.
Moses: From Egypt.
Jethro: You crossed the desert on foot? He has no name surely guided your steps.
Moses: He who has no name? Do you Bedouins know the god of Abraham?
Jethro: Abraham is the father of many nations. We are the children of Ishmael, his firstborn. We are odedient of God.
Moses: My people look to him for deliverance, but they are still in bondage.
read more quotes from The Ten Commandments...
Facts about
At the concluding scene, when when Moses was saying goodbye, he gave Eliazar the 5 books (Torah) he had written under the direction of God. What Moses was holding in his hand was a worn but modern day portfolio. Charlton Heston said he tried to get Cecil B. DeMille to make them scrolls, which would be more suitable for them, but Cecil B. DeMille refused.
Several shots that appear throughout the movie are shots that were matted together from scenes shots on location in Egypt and scenes shots at the Paramount Studios in Hollywood. Most notable scenes featuring this multi-location matte-shooting are the scenes which Moses and Sethi watch the Obelisk being raised; the slaves in the background were shot in Egypt, the foreground with Moses and Sethi shot in Hollywood, and the background pylons being matte paintings.
read more facts about The Ten Commandments...
