Cecil B. DeMille has gone out of favor in recent years, if he was ever in favor among critics; and his legacy is problematic, with a number of forgettable productions; most of which are silent films, including the original Ten Commandments of 1923 . But, unlike most directors, he got out on top; Completed in 1956, The Ten Commandments was his last and best film. And true to the DeMille tradition; everything about it was bigger than life; the film is almost 4 hours long with: An unprecedented 13 million dollar budget. (Almost 100 million in today’s dollars); a mammoth 308 page script; a cast of “thousands” with a host of stars in 70 speaking parts and a staggering 5 years in the making. For authentic background shots, DeMille spent 10 weeks in Egypt. To accommodate the huge sets; the wall between Paramount and RKO studios was torn down so that two adjacent sound stages could be combined. Every detail in the film was thoroughly researched; often by calling on experts from the University of Chicago and the Metropolitan and Cairo Museums.
What makes this film such a classic is that it represents the personal of vision of DeMille; one he truly believed. He vividly recalls the epoch struggle of Moses leading Hebrews from bondage to the Promised Land and to the Covenant on Mount Sinai. Much of the story comes directly from the book of Exodus, but since the Bible does not give us any details of the years between Moses’ birth and adulthood, DeMille’s staff carefully researched ancient authorities such as Josephus, Philo and Eusebius.
Even though he had worked for DeMille in 1952 on The Greatest Show on Earth, Charlton Heston was not the first choice to play Moses; William Boyd, who is remembered as Hopalong Cassidy, declined the role. But Heston recalled that after seeing a photograph of Michelangelo’s Moses, DeMille remarked that Moses looks “a lot like Chuck Heston; “ and the role was set.
Audrey Hepburn was the favorite to play Nefertiti, but Anne Baxter was chosen over her because her figure fared better in the sheer Egyptian gowns. After seeing one act of The King and I on Broadway, DeMille was convinced that no one could play Ramses but the charismatic Yul Brenner.
Hollywood history is often filled with stories of irony as well as atonement. Jack Palance was the first choice to play the second heavy, Dathan; but, unbelievably, his agent had him refuse the part, because he did not want his client to play a villain. In his book, Edward G. Robinson credits DeMille for resurrecting his career. Robinson was among the many actors, writers and directors who were accused of having Communist sympathies by the House Committee on Un-American Activities, chaired by the infamous Senator Joseph McCarthy. Robinson was “blackballed” for many years and was unable to find work. It is ironic that, the staunch anti-Red, DeMille was head of a group of right-wing directors who tried to exclude a number of foreign born directors from the Screen Director’s Guild. Among those he singled out were: Billy Wilder, William Wyler and Fred Zinnemann; three of Hollywood’s greatest directors.
The cast of The Ten Commandments was completed with the excellently chosen ensemble of: Yvonne DeCarlo as the beautiful Sephbra, Dashing John Derek as the reckless Joshua, Sir Cedric Hardwicke as the Regal Sethi, Debra Paget as the provocative Lilia with John Carradine as Moses’ mouthpiece Aaron and of course Vincent Price and the scheming Baka.
Veteran film composer Victor Young was contracted to write the score; but, in very poor health, he convinced DeMille to give his young and unknown understudy, Elmer Bernstein the job. Bernstein recalled his first meeting with the director, who asked him if he could “become another Wagner.” A veteran of silent films, where the scores featured thematic identities for each character, DeMille, wanted Bernstein to compose a leitmotiv, in the Wagnerian sense, for each major role. A classically trained concert pianist, Bernstein would often embellish sample themes as he played them for DeMille and he would respond, “just play the tune.”
The composer later said that he had little difficulty working for the perfectionist, DeMille, who was often very hard on his staff. He could recall only one occasion when the director wanted to change his music. For the great Exodus scene as the Hebrews pour out of Egypt, Bernstein had composed a march using authentic Hebrew melodies but DeMille did not like it; he instructed him to create a more vigorous march in the manner of the hymn "Onward Christian Soldiers," and so he did.
The Ten Commandments was Elmer Bernstein’s first big picture. In the next 50 years was to go on to become one of Hollywood’s most brilliant composers; just a few of his credits: The Magnificent Seven, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Great Escape, Hawaii and Ghostbusters.
Although the dazzling special effects won the Oscar that year, they were often criticized as not being cutting edge technology, even for the time; since DeMille still liked to use the old “glass shot” technique where part of a frame is shot through a painting on glass. And actual granite tablets charged with gunpowder were used to create the shot of the carving of the Commandments by fire. But one of the greatest scenes in Cinema history which vividly interprets Exodus 15: 8: Moses’ commanding God to part the Red Sea: “And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.”
Halfway through shooting, year old DeMille suffered a heart attack. And, so he retired after making “The most important film I ever made.” He died four years later at the age of 79.
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