day 93 - The Ten Commandments

Editor's Note: I've been suffering from some web issues, again, but I'm back for more. Here's my post from April 4th.

Ok film fans I've got to get running again, things to do and people to see on this Easter Sunday. But since its Easter, now is a good time to bring out a classic that just happens to be one of the greatest epic films ever made.

The Ten Commandments is the epitome of the adage "they just don't make them like that anymore." This epic blockbuster is #5 on the adjusted for inflation all time domestic box office sales list. If you add the restriction of first runs only, because this film was never re-released for the big screen, it's actually #1. It's been shown on ABC since 1973 with the exception of 1999 when some programming genius decided they should pull it. Unsurprisingly, a shit ton of pissed off people called them and they put it back on the air. My own streak of continuous viewing runs from approximately 1975 to 1993, but I've reincorporated it into my Easter viewing over the last couple of years.

I'm not going to explain the story here; if you're not familiar with the story of Moses I recommend you go to church, heathen. Of course there is a version for the heathen in all of us as well. The final film directed by old school Hollywood icon Cecil B DeMille, this grand epic is filled with grandiose images and old-fashion special effects that still stand the test time (ok, not all of them do, but they're still pretty cool). There's so many to choose from sometimes you forget the smaller scale effects, e.g. the water turning red, in the face of the larger effect like the classic parting of the Red Sea.

It's an epic story with the best visuals money could buy at the time (a whopping $13 million in 1956), overly dramatic performances from Charlton Heston (only in the 50's would this guy get to play a Jew and a Mexican), Yul Brynner and Edward G Robinson in addition to a film set in Egypt with almost no black faces visible. My sister and I devised a game as kids to see if we could find black people in the background, kind of like an early Where's Waldo.

Despite what now appears as campy or even stilted acting, this is still a timeless classic that tells a wonderful biblical tale in a manner we no longer see. But at least every Easter we can still plop down on the couch and watch a classic. And with HDTV now it looks so good it's like rediscovering it all over again. Next year make sure to add it to your Easter weekend, you won't be disappointed.