oyuki

Thursday, April 17, 2008

The Ten Commandments

Cecil B DeMille's 1956 masterpiece The Ten commandments was a movie I thought I had seen every part of. I was wrong. After Charlton Heston's death I decided to finally order the 50th Anniversary collection of this movie on DVD. At the beginning of this movie is an introduction by Cecil B. DeMille himself that I had never seen before. And what Mr. DeMille had to say then still has bearing today. Are men free souls under G_d? Or slaves to the whims of a dictator?

Let the curtain part.

2 comments:

Mike's America said...

DeMille was a great showman. And that voice!

I always watch portions of the Ten Commandments when it is shown every year. I probably know most of it by heart.

Anna said...

I know the DeMille/Heston version is a landmark, a light house, that stands tall amidst the wasteland that is television. I too have seen it many times and wow.

This edition comes with the DeMille 1923 silent. First part is of Moses and the Exodus. Then it is more a morality play of modern times where we see one brother Danny break every Commandment and seems to succeed for a few years and live the high life. While his brother John stays true to his beliefs and practices being a good carpenter. Things do not go well for Danny and his entire world comes apart.