THE TEN COMMANDMENTS: 4K Blu-ray (Paramount, 1956) Paramount Home Video
Cecile B. DeMille once claimed, “Give me any two
pages of the Bible and I'll give you a picture.” And, indeed, DeMille’s
single costliest and highest-grossing film of 1956 was The Ten Commandments,
an elephantine Bible-fiction super-spectacular, designed to dwarf all others
gone before it, including DeMille’s own 1923 silent epic. That the resulting picture
is eye-popping and star-studded is little wonder. On a purely visual scale, few
Biblical colossuses before or since can lay claim to as much staggering wealth
in production values. After a lengthy career, this proved to be DeMille’s final
cinematic hurrah. But what a cinephile’s whopper it is and has remained in these
intervening decades. Despite changing times and the steady erosion of God and
country, The Ten Commandments gets perennially revived every Easter as a
rite of passage for the young and old. DeMille’s approach to movie-making, even
in the ‘bigger is better’ era of stereophonic sound, Technicolor and widescreen,
nevertheless harks from his lengthy tenure in the silent era. The theatricality
of those never-to-be forgotten halcyon days, never quite left him; also, his
innate passion – nee, respect – for interpreting the ‘will of God’ – or
some would infer, the will of DeMille for which DeMille made absolutely no
apology. "You are here to please me," he often shouted at his
extras, "Nothing else on earth matters!" Undeniably, DeMille
could be heavy-handed and philosophical. Yet, he instinctively proved a showman
at heart, never above letting a good story go to waste. Once asked about his
‘exploitation’ of the Holy Scriptures, DeMille coolly replied, “The Bible
has been a bestseller for centuries. Why should I let two thousand years of
publicity go to waste?”
And yet, Paramount was not entirely certain DeMille’s
pitch to remake one of their biggest silent epics would do for the new-fangled
fifties. It was largely on his reputation, and, the Oscar-winning success of
the picture that preceded it (The Greatest Show on Earth, 1952), and
finally, Adolf Zukor’s say so, DeMille was granted the privilege to pursue this
passion project a second time around. And pursue it he most certainly did.
Mind-boggling are the statistics trumpeted by Paramount’s publicity department,
as lengthy and involved as the film’s main titles. Consider just one fact:
60,000 extras dressed in as many costumes to perform the exodus against the
largest free-standing set (Seti’s city) ever built for a motion picture to date.
The strain of micromanaging such a colossus took its toll on DeMille who
suffered a major heart attack while on location in Egypt, necessitating some
quick subbing in by no less than the film’s star, Charlton Heston – briefly
seated in the director’s chair. DeMille recovered from his coronary in a record
three days and was back on the set, in charge and most definitely in command.
But it was bittersweet. His ailment had gravely weakened him. A scant three
years later, DeMille – one of Hollywood’s founding fathers, and a mentor to
scores that dared to follow in his footsteps, was dead.
As cinema art, The Ten
Commandments is not without its flaws – some of them glaring. As far as
historians and Biblical scholars are concerned the research conducted has
yielded an inconclusive screenplay by Joseph Holt Ingraham, Arthur Eustace
Southon, Dorothy Clarke Wilson, Aeneas MacKenzie, Jesse L. Lasky Jr, Jack
Gariss and Frederic M. Frank in which many artistic liberties were taken. I'll
bite. But, so what? Given the task of distilling one of the most pivotal
passages in the Bible into a manageable movie, the screenplay is a veritable
wonderment in both its comprehensiveness and concision. If artistic liberties
have been taken, and – no doubt, they have – then these have
nevertheless produced a superlative text book example of the meticulously
crafted classical Hollywood narrative. While the scope and size of the project
is undeniably impressive, DeMille becomes a tad too preachy, too reverent as it
were, and too ensconced in the factoid information he crams into his film’s
voice-over narration to truly see The Ten Commandments for what it is –
or rather, what it aspires to be: pure entertainment for the masses and a spectacle
for the ages. And then, of course there is the acting to consider – and
reconsider. Stylistically, The Ten Commandments is straight out of the
silent era with extras and stars alike prone to grand gesticulating. This lack
of subtlety arguably serves our modern perceptions of antiquity. We never think
of people from the ancient world as just people going about their daily
business the same as ourselves, but see them as stoic, artfully placed
caricatures of human beings, more articulate than we and infinitely more
thought-provokingly inspired. DeMille’s
epic takes its swan dive into this misconception and as such, tends to lack any
genuine heart and soul. His story is a moving tableau, populated by waxworks
with the most fabulous oratory skills this side of Dale Carnegie. As such, The
Ten Commandments becomes the ultimate example of style trumping substance.
And DeMille, for all his reverence, cannot help but
occasionally transgress into pontificating. Even in interviews to promote the
movie, DeMille ostensibly saw himself as Hollywood’s undisputed authority on
the Bible. “Man has made thirty-two million laws since the Commandments were
handed down to Moses on Mount Sinai more than three thousand years ago,”
DeMille explained, “…but he has never improved on God's law. The Ten
Commandments are the principles by which man may live with God and man may live
with man. They are the expressions of the mind of God for His creatures. They
are the charter and guide of human liberty, for there can be no liberty without
the law.... Our modern world defined God as a ‘religious complex’ and laughed
at the Ten Commandments as old-fashioned. Then, through the laughter came the
shattering thunder of the World War. And now a blood-drenched, bitter world —
no longer laughing — cries for a way out. There is but one way out. It existed
before it was engraved upon Tablets of Stone. It will exist when stone has
crumbled. The Ten Commandments are not rules to obey as a personal favor to
God. They are the fundamental principles without which mankind cannot live
together. They are not laws — they are The Law.” And to many a
God-fearing/Bible-thumping mid-westerner of a certain generation, DeMille
appeared as God’s emissary in La La Land, using the medium of motion pictures
to disseminate the gospel on the largest canvas in the world.
Very loosely based on the Holy Scriptures, our story
begins in the time of Ramses I (Ian Keith) who declares ever Hebrew man child
shall be put to death to stave off rumors about a Messiah having been born
among them. One child slated for the slaughter is Moses (a role played as an
infant by Heston’s newly born son, Fraser).
To spare his life, the child’s mother, Yochabel (Martha Scott – and only
11-years older than Chuck Heston) casts Moses upon the Nile in a floating
basket quickly discovered by Egyptian princess, Bithiah (Nina Foch), who also
happens to be Seti’s sister. Bithiah’s lady in waiting, Memnet (Judith
Anderson) spied the Hebrew cloth the child is wrapped in and tells Bithiah she
will not see this son of slaves reared in the royal house as one of their own.
But Bithiah is a compassionate widow who orders Memnet to sink the basket and
swear an allegiance to their secret or die for divulging the truth. Fast
forward: an adult Moses (Charlton Heston) returns triumphant to Egypt to honor
Seti II’s (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) jubilee. Although the aging ruler of the two lands
has a son, Ramses (Yul Brynner) he favors Moses for his humility and
compassion. Whoever rules Egypt will also marry Nefritieri (Anne Baxter), a
sultry temptress who prefers Moses to Ramses and who kills Memnet to keep Moses’
birthright from him. Through a merciless twist of fate, Moses comes to realize
he was not born to the royal house and vows to seek out his people and his real
family.
Meanwhile, the wily overseer, Dathan (Edward G.
Robinson) is seconded by Ramses to snuff out the true identity of the Hebrew’s
‘deliverer’. After Seti’s master builder, Bacca (Vincent Price) is found
murdered the Egyptian guard launch into a manhunt to find the stone cutter,
Joshua (John Derek), the last man to have supposedly seen Bacca alive, having
come to the rescue of his beloved water girl, Lilia (Debra Paget). But Dathan
was hiding behind a pillar when Bacca was murdered by Moses. He relays this
message to Ramses who exposes Moses as a fraud at Seti. The benevolent
patriarch is crushed by this discovery, ordering that Moses’ name be stricken
from every book, tablet and obelisk.
Nefritieri is betrothed to Ramses and Moses exiled into the desert where
presumably he will die. Instead, he receives his true calling from God and is
discovered by Sephora (Yvonne DeCarlo), a lowly peasant girl tending flock with
her sisters. Moses and Sephora are married and Moses returns to Egypt after
Seti’s death to challenge Ramses as supreme ruler. Moses is commanded by Ramses
to prove his God is God. In response, Moses transforms his staff into a
serpent. A court mystic challenges the transformation as a cheap magician’s
trick by transforming his own staff into another serpent. However, when Moses’
snake devours the mystic’s, the court is horrified. Ramses, however, is unmoved
and unimpressed.
Next, Moses uses his staff to turn the Nile as red as
blood. The inhabitants are petrified and plead with Ramses to release the
Hebrew slaves from bondage. But when Ramses learns of a mountain in the
Cataracts that spewed red clay into the river, he blames the Nile’s redness on
a natural occurrence. Moses returns to Ramses court, declaring that forty days
of darkness shall fall upon the land. Indeed, after a brief interlude the skies
become dark. Hail falls to the ground, turning to fire upon the earth. Ramses
threatens Moses, declaring that if another plague comes to Egypt, he will turn
the Nile red with the blood of first-born Hebrews. Realizing that Ramses has
brought about the ultimate death, Moses instructs his followers to smear lamb’s
blood across their doorways to prevent the pestilence from entering their
homes. Instead, the plague murders Ramses and Nefritieri’s only son.
Emotionally destroyed, Ramses releases the slaves from bondage. But as Moses
leads the Israelites into the desert, Nefritieri goads her husband with the
promise he once made to her – to destroy Moses. Inflamed by her words, Ramses
calls the Egyptian guard to amass for the slaughter of the Hebrews who have
been led to the edge of the Red Sea.
Dathan attempts to woo the terrified masses to his
side with promises of clemency. But Moses draws his staff against the waters
and parts the sea so that they may escape to the other side. Ramses forces are
consumed when these walls of water tumble back onto the ocean floor. He returns
alone to Nefritieri, humbly declaring that Moses’ “God is God!” Yet, all is not
well within the camps made at the foot of Mount Sinai. While Moses is up in the
mountains receiving the divine word, his followers are seduced by Dathan to
build a golden calf for worship. They indulge in all forms of debauchery.
Repelled by what he sees, Moses raises the stone tablets given to him in anger.
He casts the word of God to the ground, the tablets shattering and creating an
earthquake that swallows up all the nonbelievers. Unfortunately, Moses actions
have also displeased God. He is instructed to show the Israelites the path to
the Promised Land but is not to follow them himself. At the crossroads of the
past and the future Moses bids farewell to Joshua and Sephora, telling them to
go forward with God’s blessing.
The Ten Commandments is a monumental achievement by any
standard one may ascribe to it. DeMille’s perfectionism was, in fact, in
overdrive throughout, though especially during pre-production, reportedly flinging
an early draft of the screenplay onto Jesse L. Lasky Jr.’s desk, saying “What
I have crossed out I didn't like. What I haven't crossed out I'm dissatisfied
with.” And yet, Biblical scholars
have been particularly tough in their criticisms and condemnation of the
picture ever since – even as an entertainment. DeMille’s interpretation of
God’s voice in particular (actually Charlton Heston’s in slo-mo) is a
particular bone of contention. Indeed, upon reflection, it sounds creepy,
rather than motivational, yet strangely lacking in the sublime. John L. Jensen
and Arnold Friberg’s costume design also gets picked apart as a nod to fifties’
chic re-envisioning of ancient Egyptian clothes. And then, of course there is
the narrative structure to consider. Many historians feel the first half of the
picture plays like a Peyton Place retrofitted for the chariot and toga
sect with palace intrigues, family incest, and other sundry infidelities
abounding in glorious Technicolor. By comparison, the latter half of the picture
is slavishly devoted to pure spectacle, capped off by the parting of the Red
Sea, achieved using a full-scale miniature photographed in long shot: two clear
glass boxes filled with blue tinted water. By gradually removing the clear side
panels from each box and photographing the spillage at very high speeds (later
played back at a regular 24 frames per second) the effect of a towering and
thunderous curtain of water thrashing down on the invading Egyptian charioteers
proves utterly complete and jaw-dropping.
Despite academic criticisms, most film critics of the
day were exceedingly kind to The Ten Commandments as highly
fictionalized movie art. Audiences too were overwhelmed by the spectacle and
flocked to see the movie over and over again. Adjusted to today’s inflation, The
Ten Commandments has earned roughly $446 million worldwide, making it the
fifth highest grossing film of all time. It remains among the most beloved
movies ever made and a perennial favorite on Palm Sunday TV broadcasts. Regrettably,
DeMille, who wrapped principal photography on August 12th -
ironically a date to coincide with his own 74th birthday - never entirely
recovered from the strain of making it. Arguably, his reputation never did
either. While evangelist, Billy Graham regarded DeMille as Hollywood’s “prophet
in celluloid”, movie critic Pauline Kael rather murderously referred to
DeMille as a “sanctimonious moralizer”; …and she should know! The most
ingratiating of the backhanded compliments came from DeMille’s contemporary;
director, William Wellman who suggested that “…I think his films were the
most horrible things I’ve ever seen in my life. But he put on pictures that
made a fortune. In that respect he was better than any of us.” Yet, perhaps
the most astute and heartfelt of these eulogized observations are those from
director, Martin Scorsese who, in hypothesizing upon the kernel of endurance in
DeMille’s legacy, summarized that in spite of his sermonizing, “…the
marvelous superseded the sacred. He presented such a sumptuous fantasy that if
you saw his movies as a child, they stuck with you for life.” Had he lived,
DeMille would have likely concurred with this posthumous accolade. Unfortunately,
on January 20th, 1959, DeMille, experiencing chest pains, was attended
at home by his family physician who suggested immediate hospitalization.
“No,” DeMille quietly replied, “I think I’ll go to the morgue instead.”
The next day, he did.
It took Paramount Home Video a while to get around to a
fully restored and remastered hi-def release of The Ten Commandments.
But in 2010, the wait was over. Now, comes the 4K release with HDR. And
sincerely, it only seems to serve the point, how utterly miraculous the
earlier release in standard hi-def was. Both the 2010 disc and this 4K release
are sourced from the same 4K master created in 2010. In fairness, there are
decided improvements here – especially when viewing the picture on a massive
screen in projection. Then, one is acutely aware of not only the considerable
advances in razor-sharp color reproduction, but also the marginal advances to
overall image fidelity. There is a crispness here that the standard Blu-ray
release can only guess at and it’s grand. Alas, now we come to a question – and
arguably, a quandary of releasing any movie in 4K: namely, how many will actually
be viewing The Ten Commandments on a screen size greater than 100
inches? In projection, the movie in 4K is every bit the exhilarating spectacle DeMille
first envisioned 64 years ago. But even on an 85-inch monitor, you really do
have to look and study the screen to see these improvements. Is it worth the upgrade?
Arguably, yes, as VistaVision, the fifties’ ultimate in motion picture high
fidelity, has finally found its contemporary counterpart in 4K. Contrast is
extraordinarily nuanced, but black crush remains, and, the SFX matte work,
extremely well-concealed on the Blu-ray, looks just as exquisite in 4K, without
any untoward digital tinkering to finesse it. The restoration work done by Paramount 5+
years ago still holds up spectacularly well. The DTS 5.1 audio, particularly Elmer
Bernstein’s underscore, is satisfying. As for dialogue, it’s crisp and clean.
Extras here are the only disappointment. Shorn from this release is DeMille’s
silent classic, plus virtually all of the extras the deluxe gift set from 2010
possessed – including the making of the movie, and comprehensive outtakes,
vintage interviews, plus the fabulous swag Paramount invested in to truly make
the home video release an event. This included actually housing the discs in a
reproduction of the tablets Moses brought down from the mountains, and, a
gorgeously manufactured hardbound book, and exquisitely reproduced program and production
stills/costume sketches. None of this gets ported over here. Retained:
Katherine Orrison’s comprehensive audio commentary, and trailers for this and
the silent version. For shame! The Blu-ray release of The Ten Commandments
was an event-styled box set DeMille would have taken immense pride in sharing.
The 4K disc is merely an excuse to peddle a previous master, just, in the
format it was originally produced – but never made available…until now. Judge and buy accordingly. But for God’s sake,
as well as your own, do not part with the 2010 box – a treasure trove of
goodies for true inspiration!
FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)
4
VIDEO/AUDIO
5+
EXTRAS
1 - very disappointing!
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