The Ten Commandments (1956)
ABC: Saturday, April 3 7:00 PM EDT
1956,
G, ***1/2, 03:40, Color, HD, English, United States
Moses (Charlton Heston) leads an exodus of those wacky Children of Abraham from Egypt to the Promised Land, complete with a pre-cgi -yet still unequalled- parting of the Red Sea, matte lines and all. Hilarity ensues as The Lord leads Moe and the gang on a 40-year meander through the desert, climaxing in Moses' demise just before their arrival in the only country in the Mideast without significant petroleum reserves. And some claim God doesn't have a sense of humor.
Cast: Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Edward G. Robinson, Anne Baxter,
Yvonne De Carlo, Debra Paget, John Derek, Cedric Hardwicke, Nina Foch,
Martha Scott, Judith Anderson, Vincent Price, John Carradine, Eduard
Franz, Olive Deering, Donald Curtis, Douglas Dumbrille, Lawrence Dobkin,
Frank DeKova. Watch for the cameo by Alfalfa
of "The Little Rasacals."
Director(s): Cecil B. DeMille
Producer(s):
Cecil B. DeMille
(I kid, but this is one of my favorite films and still the high-grossing film, adjusted for inflation, in its original release. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of airings I've missed since I've been a kid, even though I have it on laserdisc. For lots of interesting background and trivia on the making of this landmark film, go here, here, and here.
Great quotes:
Memnet: What have you found?
Bithiah: The answer to my
prayers!
Memnet: You prayed for a basket?
Sethi: Harden yourself against subordinates. Have no friend. Trust no woman.
Moses: The city is made of bricks. The strong make many, the starving make few, the dead make none. So much for accusations.
Nefretiri: You will be king of Egypt and I will be your footstool!
Moses:
The man stupid enough to use you as a footstool isn't wise enough to
rule Egypt.
Moses: Love cannot drown truth, Nefretiri.
Nefretiri: Oh Moses, Moses, you stubborn, splendid, adorable fool!
Rameses: You have a rat's ears and a ferret's nose.
Dathan:
To use in your service, son of Pharaoh.
Rameses: You will be mine, like my dog, or my horse, or my falcon, except that I shall love you more-and trust you less.
Nefretiri: You need have no fear of me.
Sephora: I
feared only his memory of you.
Nefretiri: You have been able
to erase it?
Sephora: He has forgotten both of us. You lost
him when he went to seek his god. I lost him when he found his god.
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