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Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson, Yvonne De Carlo ... see more see more... , Debra Paget , John Derek , Nina Foch , Cedric Hardwicke , Martha Scott , Judith Anderson , Vincent Price , John Carradine , Olive Deering , Douglas Dumbrille , Frank de Kova , Henry Wilcoxon , Eduard Franz , Donald Curtis , Lawrence Dobkin , H.B. Warner , Julia Faye , John Miljan , Francis McDonald , Ian Keith , Paul De Rolf , Tommy Duran , Eugene Mazzola , Joan Woodbury , Woody Strode , Ramsay Hill , Esther Brown , Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer , Dorothy Adams , Luis Alberni , Lillian Albertson , Eric Alden , E.J. Andre , Michael Ansara , Joel Ashley , Baynes Barron , George Baxter , Mary Benoit , Robert Bice , Henry Brandon , Olive Carey , Fred Coby , Peter Coe , Edna Mae Cooper , Henry Corden , Tony Dante , Steven Darrell , Frankie Darro , Ken Dibbs , Edward Earle , Abbas El Bougbdadly , Matty Fain , Franklin Farnum , Anthony George , Mimi Gibson , Gavin Gordon , Nancy Hale , Kay Hammond , Peter Hansen , Ed Hinton , Richard Kean , Walter Woolf King , Gail Kobe , Fred Kohler Jr. , Frank Lackteen , Emmett Lynn , Kenneth MacDonald , Barry Macollum , Peter Mamakos , Joanna Merlin , John Merton , Paula Morgan , John Parrish , Rodd Redwing , Adeline de Walt Reynolds , Addison Richards , Onslow Stevens , Irene Tedrow , Joyce Vanderveen , Robert Vaughn , Clint Walker , Frank Wilcox , Jeane Wood , Robert Carson , Robert Clarke , Michael Connors , Cecil B. DeMille , John Hart , Fraser C. Heston , George Melford , Stanley Price , Kathy Garver , Noelle Williams , Irene Martin , James Coburn , Maude Fealy , Keith Richards (II) , Herb Alpert , Moe DiSesso , Eugenia Strauss , Keith Richards (I)

Based on the Holy Scriptures, with additional dialogue by several other hands, The Ten Commandments was the last film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The story relates the life of Moses, from the time h... read more read more...e was discovered in the bullrushes as an infant by the pharoah's daughter, to his long, hard struggle to free the Hebrews from their slavery at the hands of the Egyptians. Moses (Charlton Heston) starts out "in solid" as Pharoah's adopted son (and a whiz at designing pyramids, dispensing such construction-site advice as "Blood makes poor mortar"), but when he discovers his true Hebrew heritage, he attempts to make life easier for his people. Banished by his jealous half-brother Rameses (Yul Brynner), Moses returns fully bearded to Pharoah's court, warning that he's had a message from God and that the Egyptians had better free the Hebrews post-haste if they know what's good for them. Only after the Deadly Plagues have decimated Egypt does Rameses give in. As the Hebrews reach the Red Sea, they discover that Rameses has gone back on his word and plans to have them all killed. But Moses rescues his people with a little Divine legerdemain by parting the Seas. Later, Moses is again confronted by God on Mt. Sinai, who delivers unto him the Ten Commandments. Meanwhile, the Hebrews, led by the duplicitous Dathan (Edward G. Robinson), are forgetting their religion and behaving like libertines. "Where's your Moses now?" brays Dathan in the manner of a Lower East Side gangster. He soon finds out. DeMille's The Ten Commandments may not be the most subtle and sophisticated entertainment ever concocted, but it tells its story with a clarity and vitality that few Biblical scholars have ever been able to duplicate. It is very likely the most eventful 219 minutes ever recorded to film--and who's to say that Nefertiri (Anne Baxter) didn't make speeches like, "Oh, Moses, Moses, you splendid, stubborn, adorable fool"? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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91% liked it

32 critics

G, 3 hr. 39 min.

Directed by: Cecil B. DeMille

Release Date: October 5, 1956

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DVD Release Date: March 30, 1999

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Stats: 3,105 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (3,105)

  • spielberg00
    February 2, 2012
    spielberg00
    With the full technicolor, the increased setback, and the whopping length, we expect an epic such as GONE WITH THE WIND: melodramatic, yes, but thoroughly engaging. Instead, we are shocked to receive something completely different: a melodrama that succeeds in its entirety with ... read moreinformation, but not much else. In fact, not even an hour has passed before you are just beginning to feel mentally asleep.

    I award points to THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, though difficult to watch, for its grand historical value. DeMille is certainly not one to say he knows nothing about Moses. Clearly, a film that goes as far as to inform about, say, Mosesâ(TM)s love life, can carry on endlessly with notice about more importantâ"but previously unheard ofâ"events (and it did).
  • rayman0071
    November 28, 2011
    rayman0071
    This was Cecil B.De Mille's last theatrical feature,with a running time of nearly four hours(basically the running time of 3 hours and 40 minutes which includes the opening overture,intermission, and exit music),this stunning and most extravagant blockbuster is full of absurditie... read mores and vulgarities,but in all aspects this star-studded widescreen Vista Vision and Technicolor spectacle is ravishing,and De Mille's form of showmanship,which includes his own narration,never falters. Charlton Heston might be said to achieve his apotheosis as Moses-unless one decides that it's Moses who's achieving his apotheosis as Heston-and most of the other in the star-studded epic which is based on the Holy Scriptures are comparably mythic. Simultaneously ludicrous and splendid,this epic is driven by the sort of personal conviction one almost never finds is subsequent Hollywood monoliths. The scenes with includes the parting of the Red Sea is one of the best special effects ever made. With its all-star cast that includes Yul Brenner(Rameses), Anne Baxter(Nefertiri), with Yvonne De Carlo(Sephora), Debra Paget(Lilia), John Derek(Joshua),
    Edward G. Robinson(Dathan), Cedric Hardwicke(Sethi), Nina Foch(Bithiah),
    Martha Scott(Yochabel). The film was nominated for an impressive Nine Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director(but lost the Best Picture Oscar to "Around The World in 80 Days"),and won the Oscar for Best Special Effects(John P. Fulton,with some of the effects coming from the Disney studios). If you want to see "The Ten Commandments",my advice is not to see this on television(since seeing it on TV around Easter time doesn't do any justice,or for that manner seeing it on DVD),but see this movie the way it was suppose to be seen.....in a movie theater equipped with full 70MM projection and experience it in full six-track stereophonic sound.
  • SajinPA
    May 28, 2011
    SajinPA
    A ceremonious 4 star.
    Watching the Red-sea parting sequence, you just cant stop wondering how they achieved that, with the kind of technology they had in the 50s.
  • moonrivers
    May 20, 2011
    moonrivers
    practically everyone i've ever known has seen this film at least once as network television used to show it twice a year. cecil b. demille's denunciation of the sinful life while gloriously wallowing in it is nonetheless glorious, a big movie that has BIG implanted into it's ver... read morey DNA, hollywood style grandeur and fun.
  • bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb1
    April 24, 2011
    bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb1
    I was bored through most of this. Its so long and cheesy. I know its old and I enjoyed parts of it but I was falling asleep by the end of it but come on its almost 4 hours.

    Grade: C
  • skeletonking101
    December 31, 2010
    skeletonking101
    The movie was very, VERY long to sit through and by the time it was done i thought it was OK it wasn't as good as the "Prince of Egypt" but i thought it was pretty good
  • ajv2688
    November 14, 2010
    ajv2688
    I know it's a remake and I'd love to see the original, but this movie is still worth watching if not for the spectacle, then for the all star cast, or the brilliant way the story is brought to life.
  • ScoopOnline
    December 13, 2009
    ScoopOnline
    This is the only The Ten Commandments version I like to watch. The Remakes or the recent version are just nothing comparing to this one.
  • danperry17
    March 14, 2009
    danperry17
    I will admit, I was nodding off by the end of it, but this is still a great movie. Yes, it's incredibly hammy, but that's sort of the point isn't it? The sets are opulent, the colours just pop off the screen, the score is enchanting and the acting... well, they tried hard... a si... read moregnpost film, in the running with Ben-Hur for the title of "template of the modern epic". Stagy and dated by now, but something you simply must see once... even if it will take four hours!
  • FireStormStudios
    January 5, 2009
    FireStormStudios
    I will have to rewatch this one as it has been so long since I have seen it.

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Critic Reviews

Jonathan Rosenbaum
March 4, 2008
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

With a running time of nearly four hours, Cecil B. De Mille's last feature and most extravagant blockbuster is full of the absurdities and vulgarities one expects, but it isn't boring for a minute. Full Review

Variety Staff
October 19, 2007
Variety Staff, Variety

DeMille remains conventional with the motion picture as an art form. The eyes of the onlooker are filled with spectacle. Emotional tug is sometimes lacking. Full Review

Bosley Crowther
May 20, 2003
Bosley Crowther, New York Times

The crammed contents are linked ponderously in a long, warning movie sermon that has authority but little power. Full Review

Leonard Maltin
April 21, 2011
Leonard Maltin, Leonard Maltin's Picks

It seems as if some films are perpetually being restored, with each new version touted as better than the last. That said, I can assure you that the new DVD and Blu-ray edition of... Full Review

Emanuel Levy
March 25, 2011
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

DeMille's last film (he died in 1959) is also his biggest, most spectacular epic, excessive and lurid, displaying him as a showman--must see for Hollywood students Full Review

Charles Cassady
December 15, 2010
Charles Cassady, Common Sense Media

Stirring, even if it's as much showbiz as Bible. Full Review

March 4, 2008
Film4

Bank holiday afternoon fare it might be, but DeMille's remake of his 1923 silent is a marvellous epic of the kind they don't make any more. Full Review

March 4, 2008
TV Guide's Movie Guide

A great big wallow, sublime hootchy-kootchy hokum, peppered with lightning that does automatic writing and an unsurpassed homage to the joys of jello. Full Review

Peter T. Chattaway
November 2, 2006
Peter T. Chattaway, Christianity Today

Still the definitive depiction of the Exodus in the popular imagination.

Tom Tunney
May 6, 2006
Tom Tunney, Empire Magazine

An epic soap opera of an event -- the running time is longer than any church service -- that still impresses more than it amuses. Full Review

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Facts

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    • Joshua: God made men. Men made slaves.
    • Rameses I: So let it be written. So let it be done.
    • Rameses: Better to die in battle with a god than to live with shame.
    • Nefertiri: I'll have you torn into so many pieces, even the VULTURES won't be able to find them.
    • Nefertiri: I'm surprized you noticed me.
    • Nefertiri: Oh, Moses, Moses, you stubborn, splendid, adorable fool!
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The Ten Commandments Trivia

  • 1980s. a conteporary take on the ten commandments. it is about 10 hours long.  Answer »
  • From the movie "The Ten commandments" the name Moses means:  Answer »
  • "Have the days of darkness helped you see the light?", is from what movie?  Answer »
  • What 1956 film has this tag line : It would take more then a man to lead the slaves from bondage . It would take a God ?  Answer »
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