History Main / TheTenCommandments

* ThereAreNoCoincidences: During production, he man who designed Moses' distinctive rust-white-and-black-striped robe used those colors because they looked impressive--he only later discovered that [[GeniusBonus these are the actual colors of the Tribe of Levi]].

* [[NiceJobBreakingItHerod Nice Job Breaking It, Pharoah:]] Sethi I ordering the murder of all Hebrew newborns in an attempt to thwart the prophecy of the deliverer.

* RaceLift: Arguably the [[AmbiguouslyBrown Ancient Egyptians]].

This 1956 film from Creator/{{Paramount}} tells Literature/TheBible story of Moses and the Exodus. Charlton Heston plays Moses. YulBrynner plays Rameses. They are in a LoveTriangle with Nefretiri (Anne Baxter), whom Moses might have won, had the matter of injustice to Hebrew slaves not come up. Other important characters are, naturally, Moses's brother Aaron (John Carradine); Sephora ([[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 (Edward G. Robinson), see?

* DidNotDoTheResearch: We are pretty sure that Egypt did ''not'' have straight, double-edged swords. They instead used khopeshes, a weapon best described as a scimitar that got a straight section between the hilt and arc, without the arc changing angle with respect to the hilt; this gave the sword a look not unlike a lower-case "b". ''ThePrinceOfEgypt'', by the way, ''did'' portray Egyptians as using khopeshes.
** The inclusion of the straight, bronze sword was a ShoutOut to ''TheEgyptian,'' and knowingly done.
** Numerous sets and costumes from ''The Egyptian'' had been bought from 20th Century Fox by Paramount and were used by De Mille along with a handful of actors, creating unintentional as well as intentional continuity. This is especially noticeable in the throne room scenes.
** Averted slightly in that many of the odd "speeches", where Cecil B. De Mille is heard narrating with emphatic strings, are from Jewish midrash or legends about Moses -- just as the episodes where he saves the "grease woman", meets his family for the first time, or as an Egyptian gives the Hebrews one out of seven day of rest.
** Women probably didn't have '50s make-up and hairdos back then either. And they wore a lot less clothing back in Ancient Egypt as well.

This 1956 film from {{Paramount}} tells Literature/TheBible story of Moses and the Exodus. Charlton Heston plays Moses. YulBrynner plays Rameses. They are in a LoveTriangle with Nefretiri (Anne Baxter), whom Moses might have won, had the matter of injustice to Hebrew slaves not come up. Other important characters are, naturally, Moses's brother Aaron (John Carradine); Sephora ([[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 (Edward G. Robinson), see?

**** Bithiah even points this out: ''Would a God who's shown you such wonders let Moses die before his work was done?''

This 1956 film from {{Paramount}} tells Literature/TheBible story of Moses and the Exodus. Charlton Heston plays Moses. Yul Brynner plays Rameses. They are in a LoveTriangle with Nefretiri (Anne Baxter), whom Moses might have won, had the matter of injustice to Hebrew slaves not come up. Other important characters are, naturally, Moses's brother Aaron (John Carradine); Sephora ([[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 (Edward G. Robinson), see?

** In Yul Brynner's case, it's good to be the king. Prior to this role, [[TheKingAndI he's running Siam and wooing the English tutor]] in both the Broadway musical and later the film.

* BaldOfEvil: Rameses.
** DyeingForYourArt: Yul Brynner shaved his head for the part, and liked it so much that it became his signature "look" for the rest of his career.
** Actually, he shaved it while performing as the King of Siam during the Broadway run of TheKingAndI before doing The Ten Commandments. He did bulk up for the role of Rameses so that he did not look skinny in contrast to the imposing Charlton Heston.

* LargeHam: It's a toss up among Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner and Anne Baxter.

* TheVamp: Neferteri, so very much.

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

The last of the great [[CecilBDeMille Cecil B. DeMille]] epics.

This 1956 film from {{Paramount}} tells TheBible story of Moses and the Exodus. Charlton Heston plays Moses. Yul Brynner plays Rameses. They are in a LoveTriangle with Nefretiri (Anne Baxter), whom Moses might have won, had the matter of injustice to Hebrew slaves not come up. Other important characters are, naturally, Moses's brother Aaron (John Carradine); Sephora ([[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 (Edward G. Robinson), see?

You know the basic tale -- or if you don't, you need either to see this or read [[TheBible the source material.]] Moses hears the voice of God while out in the wilderness. It ages him about forty years -- hey, the film may be long, but to keep the cast of characters constant, the time in which it takes place is compressed. Moses goes to Rameses to tell him that God wants him to let His people go, or else. "Or else" happens. Nefretiri tries to seduce Moses out of this position; it doesn't work...

* {{Bowdlerise}}: In the movie, Moses angrily throwing down the tablets results in a chasm that many of the Jews fall into. In the Bible/Tanakh, Moses gets the Levites (priests) to grab some swords and get busy. Killing 3,000 total.

* ChekhovsGunman: Dathan all the way. From a minor role in TheBible to one of the major characters in the film.

** The inclusion of the straight, bronze sword was a ShoutOut to ''TheEgyptian,'' and knowingly done.
** Numerous sets and costumes from ''The Egyptian'' had been bought from 20th Century Fox by Paramount and were used by De Mille along with a handful of actors, creating unintentional as well as intentional continuity. This is especially noticeable in the throne room scenes.

* InsultBackfire:

--> '''Moses:''' Those who shall not live by the law, shall die by the law!

* BadassHair: Moses, with [[BadassBeard with the beard]] to match.

--> '''Moses:''' So let it be written.

* RomanticPlotTumor: Nefretiri and Moses; their love affair takes up an absurd amount of time in the first half of the film yet serves virtually no purpose in the greater plot.

** In Yul Brynner's case, it's good to be the king. Only next time, [[TheKingAndI he's running Siam and wooing the English tutor.]]
*** Brynner played the role of the King of Siam in the Broadway adaptation before playing Ramses.

* RaceLift: Arguably the [[AmbiguouslyBrown Ancient Egyptians]] and Tziporrah's tribe. They were Nubians.

* HeyItsThatGuy: [[BenHur Judah Ben-Hur]] is exiled to the desert by his brother, [[TheKingAndI The King of Siam]]. He also hooks up with [[TheMunsters Lily Munster]].

* PragmaticVillainy: Prince Moses has no problem using the Hebrew slaves to build the treasure city, but he knows that happier and healthier slaves are more productive. So he increases their rations and gives them one day in seven to rest, and construction thus accelerates to Seti's delight.

* EldritchAbomination: The Angel of Death. Rather than being a human looking angel (or TheGrimReaper,) it's portrayed as a cloud of bluish fog descending from the sky in the [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel shape of a creepy hand.]] It makes sense for the Angel to take on this kind of form, given the nature of its job but still, it's incredibly creepy....

* PragmaticEvil: Prince Moses had no problem using the Hebrew slaves to build the treasure city, but he knows that happier and healthier slaves are more productive. So he increases their rations and gives them one day in seven to rest, and construction thus accelerates to the Pharaoh's delight.