Up till now I only knew Cecil B. DeMille from his guest appearance in "Sunset Boulevard" (1950, Billy Wilder). He played there a director of epic dramas and after watching "The ten commandments" (1923) I knew how wel casted he was. DeMille made two films about the ten commandments, one in 1923 and one in 1956. This made me think of Yasujiro Ozu who also filmed the same story (the story of floating weeds) two times in his career (once in 1934 and a second time in 1959).
"The ten commandments" tells the story of the Old Testament (Mozes). It is noteworthy that both films that DeMille made about the Old Testament were followed within a few years by an adaptation of "Ben Hur", a story in which the character of Jesus Christ and thus the New Testament plays en important part. I am talking about the films of 1925 (Fred Niblo) and 1959 (William Wyler).
"The ten commandments" (1923) tells two story's: one situated in the time of Mozes and one situated in the present day (that is 1923). In this respect the film resembles "Intolerance" (1916, D.W. Griffith). In the present day story there are also two brothers. John is the righteous one (Mozes) and Dan the opportunstic one (Aaron). Doing business in a deceptive way is the modern variation of dancing around the golden calf.
In general the Biblical story is seen as more spectacular than the modern day story. I am of a different opinion. Through modern eyes the Biblical story is very bombastic. The set pieces of ancient Egypt may be impressive, but that is not true for the way the splitting of the Red Sea is captured. For this effect gelantine was used, and you can see it. On the other hand the scene on the contruction site in the modern story, and the way that the director makes use of the effect of height is very good. I don't want to say that it is on par with the way in which Alfred Hitchcock used height in "Vertigo", but it is remarkable still the same.
"The ten commandments" tells the story of the Old Testament (Mozes). It is noteworthy that both films that DeMille made about the Old Testament were followed within a few years by an adaptation of "Ben Hur", a story in which the character of Jesus Christ and thus the New Testament plays en important part. I am talking about the films of 1925 (Fred Niblo) and 1959 (William Wyler).
"The ten commandments" (1923) tells two story's: one situated in the time of Mozes and one situated in the present day (that is 1923). In this respect the film resembles "Intolerance" (1916, D.W. Griffith). In the present day story there are also two brothers. John is the righteous one (Mozes) and Dan the opportunstic one (Aaron). Doing business in a deceptive way is the modern variation of dancing around the golden calf.
In general the Biblical story is seen as more spectacular than the modern day story. I am of a different opinion. Through modern eyes the Biblical story is very bombastic. The set pieces of ancient Egypt may be impressive, but that is not true for the way the splitting of the Red Sea is captured. For this effect gelantine was used, and you can see it. On the other hand the scene on the contruction site in the modern story, and the way that the director makes use of the effect of height is very good. I don't want to say that it is on par with the way in which Alfred Hitchcock used height in "Vertigo", but it is remarkable still the same.