History Film / TheTenCommandments

Moses (Creator/CharltonHeston) and Rameses (Creator/YulBrynner) are in a LoveTriangle with Nefertari (Creator/AnneBaxter), whom Moses might have won, had the matter of injustice to Hebrew slaves not come up. Other important characters are, naturally, Pharaoh Sethi, the father of Rameses and adoptive father of Moses (Sir Creator/CedricHardwicke); Moses's brother Aaron (Creator/JohnCarradine); Baka (Creator/VincentPrice); Sephora ([[Series/TheMunsters Yvonne de Carlo]]), daughter of Jethro and Moses's eventual wife; Joshua (John Derek); and Liliah (Debra Paget), the woman Joshua loves--who happens to be the sex slave of the overseer Dathan (Creator/EdwardGRobinson, [[Film/LittleCaesar see?]]).

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tencommandments.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:''"Thus sayeth the Lord God of Israel: '''Let my people go!'''"'']]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tencommandments.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"Thus sayeth the Lord God of Israel: '''Let my people go!'''"'']]

* LargeHam: Of the WorldOfHam variety. It has Moses, Rameses, Nefretiri, Baka, The Narrator, and the biggest of them, {{God}}. And Sethi, just for the way he says "stricken" in the above speech. (Well, ''Sir Cedric Hardwicke''.) And Jannes, the OldWindbag...

** Somewhere the Egyptologists are crying, not because they got this wrong, but because it is ''[[TearJerker heartbreakingly right]]''. Traitors did have their names removed which ''removed their souls'', giving them no chance at an afterlife. [=DeMille=] knew this and inserted all those "Moses, Moses" lines in order to return to the real Moses his soul and light his path to heaven.

* HollywoodAtheist: Rameses. Possibly, Dathan as well.

** A major event of the first act is Seti's jubilee. A jubilee is a celebration of either twenty-five or fifty years. Seti I ruled for eleven.

'''Egyptian Soldier''': Hell, I hope.

'''Sethi:''' Leave me. You shall not see my face again!

* HarbingerOfImpendingDoom: Jannes, when he informs Pharoah Rameses I of the prophecy of a Hebrew Deliver being born. His Pharosh's attempt to prevent the prophecy results ironically in the baby Moses being discretely adopted by Rameses' daughter Bithia and growing up [[SelfFulfillingProphecy to actually make the prophecy come true]].

** Jethro who is the Sheick of Midian.

* INeverSaidItWasPoison: When Moses confronts Bithiah about the Levite cloth, she reprimands him for believing Memnet's lies. His response?
--> "I never said it came from Memnet."

** Unless you really believe Charlton Heston is slow of speech and thick of tongue...

** Dathan. Dathan. '''Dathan'''. From having Lilia as his SexSlave to being the one who made the infamous Golden Calf to many KickTheDog incidents inbetween, you'd think he was competing in some contest to crown the biggest cinematic dog-kicker.

** Also, when Moses is being dumped by Rameses in the desert, he is given a Levite robe spun by his mother who personally brought with her to prison to deliver to her son, only to die afterwards (presumably from a broken heart) which Rameses coldly delivers as a parting TakeThat to his rival.

** Eleazar, Aaron's younger son, when he has the more symbolic aspects of the first Passover meal explained to him by his elders, the bitter herbs (representing his people's bitter slavery) and the unleavened bread (the haste their Egyptian overlords will be driving them out).

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: When the Hebrews leave Egypt after being freed, some Egyptian guards in the background join them.

* TakeThatKiss: Nefretiri to Ramses and vice versa. An unusual example -- she did it to show how much she loves Moses and hates Rameses. "Did you think that was a promise of what you will have? No -- that was to show you what you will never have..."

** The 1923 film had the story of the Exodus only being during the first fifty minutes or so with it covering Moses' arrival in Egypt to the point of Golden calf.

* HollywoodCostuming: The women might seem to have obviously 1950s hair and makeup.... but the hair styles are all taken from period wall paintings, except that in Egypt those would all be wigs (most women as well as men shaved their heads). And Egyptian men ''and'' women wore elaborate cosmetics, especially eyeliner and shadow (which kept flies away and looked downright snazzy besides) which they skipped for the film (they managed to work in a reference to it in the well scene with Jethro's daughters). One detail [=DeMille=] hoped to get in but couldn't was the fact that palace servants wore ''lit candles'' on their heads at night. He actually put one on Bithiah's maid in the scene where Bithiah asks for her chariot so she can ride to Goshen, but he just couldn't get the continuity between takes matched up, and so they abandoned it.

''The Ten Commandments'' won one UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for its special effects, and was nominated for seven others, including Best Picture. The majestic score was written by Music/ElmerBernstein as his first major film project.

* MsFanservice: Anne Baxter's virtually see-through outfits are surprisingly risque for 1956. Again, by Ancient Egyptian standards, she is [[AdaptationalModesty way overdressed]].

** Dathan. Dathan. '''Dathan'''.
** Rameses certainly qualifies, as does Nefretiri after she's been married to him long enough.
** Baka the Master [[strike:Butcher]] Builder, both for letting Yochebel be nearly crushed to death and trying to make Lilia his SexSlave.

* TheLastThingYouEverSee:
** Bithiah says it to Memnet, when making her swear to keep quiet about Moses.
--->'''Bithiah''': The day you break that oath will be the last your eyes will ever see.
** And her proclamation comes true. Even though it's Bithiah threatening to kill Memnet should she open her mouth, it's Nefretiri who does so when Memnet spills the beans to her.

* WhateverHappenedToTheMouse: Applies to what happens to several characters in the film, but most notably Aaron and Miriam, who are never seen again in the film again after the Golden Calf incident, but it's sadly apparent that they never survived the forty years of extra wandering as punishment for their people's collective sin. Likewise Bithia, although she never took part in the tragedy, and did come over to Moses' side after his return thus escaping God's wrath.

* WhyDoYouMakeMeHitToDo: Sethi demands to know why Moses is forcing him to punish him.
* WalkingShirtlessScene:
** [[EvilIsSexy Rameses.]]
** Moses and Joshua.

* YouCantFightFate: Lampshaded by Yochabel, who warns Bithia that, no matter what, if God has a purpose, Moses will be unable to resist*.

-->'''Memnet''': You fools! Talk of empty hearts before the Pharoah's daughter.
** Nefretiri later does it in a more teasing way to Moses "...You stubborn, splendid, adorable fool..."

* EveryoneHasStandards: Pentaur the commander of the Egyptian army, as he protests in vain at seeing the former prince Moses he once served under in war and whom he respected being forced to cross the desert with only one day's ration of food and water. As he is made to put on Moses' Levite robe, a parting gift from his dying birth mother, Pentaur makes this comment:
--> '''Pentaur:''' I would rather this was your armor.
** He's also visibly stunned at how callously Rameses informs Moses that his birth mother is dead.

* HeartBrokenBadass: Rameses is genuinely devastated by the death of his son.

* {{Exposition}}:
** Several characters, but a great example is the "Blind One", a blind old man explaining aspects of the Exodus to his two grandchildren as they describe them to him, such as the funeral procession of their ancestor Joseph as it being borne by Jewish elders to be buried in the Holy Land as his deathbed request. Likewise he recognizes the golden image of a calf handed to him by a fellow slave as an object of pagan worship, which he rejects in horror, but it ironically will later inspire Dathan to creat a false god for his people to worship.
** Gershom, whom we see Moses telling the story of how his maternal ancestor Ishmael survives in the desert due to God's mercy, thus establishing that Moses has learned of his people's and Seporah's collective history during his time spent with her family.
** Eleazar, Aaron's younger son, when he has the more symbolic aspects of the first Passover meal explained to him by his elders, the bitter herbs (representing his people's bitter slavery) and the unleavened bread (the haste their Egyptian overlords will be driving them out).

* ActorAllusion: On behalf of the two main leads.
** Creator/CharltonHeston's [[Film/BenHur1959 other best-known role]] also has him playing a Jewish character, who returns after being years away to set things right.
** In Creator/YulBrynner's case, it's good to be the king. Prior to this role, [[Theatre/TheKingAndI he's running Siam and wooing the English tutor]] in both the Broadway musical and later the film. Ironically in that role, Anna tells the story of Moses, and he responds,"This Moses is a fool." Three years later, Brynner would go on to play [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_and_Sheba King Solomon.]]

Creator/CharltonHeston plays Moses. Creator/YulBrynner plays Rameses. They are in a LoveTriangle with Nefertari (Creator/AnneBaxter), whom Moses might have won, had the matter of injustice to Hebrew slaves not come up. Other important characters are, naturally, Pharaoh Sethi, the father of Rameses and adoptive father of Moses (Sir Cedric Hardwicke); Moses's brother Aaron (Creator/JohnCarradine); Baka (Creator/VincentPrice); Sephora ([[Series/TheMunsters Yvonne de Carlo]]), daughter of Jethro and Moses's eventual wife; Joshua (Jon Derek); and Liliah (Debra Paget), the woman Joshua loves--who happens to be the sex slave of the overseer Dathan (Creator/EdwardGRobinson, [[Film/LittleCaesar see?]]).

** Pharaoh Rameses I is proclaimed by Jannes as "Pharoah Rameses I" which he was would not have been addressed in his lifetime. He would only be referred to Rameses I posthumously, after a successor with the same name (Rameses II) take over the throne.

* TheAtoner: Bithia, after she joins her adopted son Moses and his people in the Exodus. We see offering an ailing Hebrew slave her seat on her litter, then agreeing to take a sapling fig tree from him to plant in the Holy Land as he unable to travel there, and he can at least be assured he can leave a legacy there. We also see her offering to stop her nephew's charging army (which would be futile), and guiding Hebrew children through the Red Sea.

* BefriendingTheEnemy: Despite his initial suspicion of her being from the Royal Family that oppressed his people, Moses' Hebrew slave friend Mered quickly becomes a loyal friend to Moses' adopted mother Bithia, to the point that he prevents her from her risking her life by attempting to halt her nephew's charging army. According to Jewish legend, Mered and Bithia [[TheyDo actually become a couple]]!

* AintTooProudToBeg: A young guard (the captain's son) pleads Rameses II to let Moses' people go as he lies dying.

* AintTooProudToBeg: A young guard pleads Rameses II to let Moses' people go as he lies dying.

* TheAtoner: Bithia, after she joins her adopted son Moses and his people in the Exodus. We see offering an ailing Hebrew slave her seat on her litter, then agreeing to take a sapling fig tree from him to plant in the Holy Land as he unable to travel there, and he can at least be assured he can leave a legacy there. We also see her offering to stop her nephew's charging army, and guiding Hebrew children through the Red Sea.

* TheChosenOne

* WindsAreGhosts: ''The Ten Commandments'' depicts the final plague of taking the first born sons of the Egyptians as being represented as wind taking the children's souls.

* EveryoneHasStandards: Pentaur the commander of the Egyptian army, as he protest in vain at seeing the former prince Moses he once served under in war and whom he respected being forced to cross the desert with only one day's ration of food and water. As he is made to put on Moses' Levite robe, a parting gift from his dying birth mother, Pentaur makes this comment:

** Rameses II lays his dead son in the arms of an idol he addresses as "Dread Lord of Darkness". The lighting, background music and Brynner's attitude suggest he's praying to some evil guy. Actually, this is Sokar, better known as Seker, the guide of the dead, a kindly disposed deity who is also a form of the risen Osiris [[note]]i.e., an Ancient Egyptian equivalent of ''Jesus Christ''[[/note]] and patron of craftspeople and builders. De Mille did the research on this too. Both Seti I and Rameses II had art depicting Seker in their private chambers. He is one of the oldest Egyptian deities.