The Ten Commandments: Difference between revisions

{{quote|Thus sayeth the Lord God of Israel: let my people go!|'''Moses'''}}

This 1956 film from [[Paramount]] tells [[The Bible]] story of Moses and the Exodus. Charlton Heston plays Moses. Yul Brynner plays Rameses. They are in a [[Love Triangle]] 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 ([[The Munsters|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?

=== Tropes: ===

* [[Actor Allusion]]: On behalf of the two main leads.

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

* [[Ancient Egypt]]

* [[Arc Words]]: "So let it be written, so let it be done."

** [[Dyeing for Your Art]]: 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 [[The King and I]] 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.

* [[Betty and Veronica]]: Sephora and Nefretiri. Unfortunately, God is the [[Third Option Love Interest]].

* [[Big No]]

** 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.

** It gets better. The Ten Plagues were actually recorded on the stele of Ahmose. The current most probable theory is that a climatic variation caused extremely heavy rainfall in the Ethiopian highlands, resulting in the Nile being choked with red, acidic mud. The river became as blood, fish died, frogs left the river, and so on. The same variation resulted in unusually dry weather in the locusts' spawning grounds, hence the plague of locusts, and the enormous sandstorm that hid the sun. The deaths of the firstborn of Egypt? All those dead fish sank, then the water became supersaturated with toxic gasses, and when they came out of solution, the firstborn sons, who alone among the inhabitants of Egypt slept inside, at ground level, smothered. Everyone else was fine because the custom was to sleep outside, on the roof. Imagine [[wikipedia:Lake Nyos#1986 disaster|this]] on a nation-wide scale. They say God works in mysterious ways...

** Although, in [[The Movie]], since Rameses actually sees Moses turn the water into blood, without a volcano being involved, this comes across more as a [[What an Idiot!]] moment.

* [[Have a Gay Old Time]]: The Isrealites were released from their bondage

* [[Happily Adopted]]: After he finds his birth family, Moses still assures Bithia he's her son and will always love her. Aww.

* [[His Name Is]]: Seti on his deathbed breaks his own decree by saying Moses' name.

* [[Historical Villain Upgrade]]: Dathan played a much more minor role in the Exodus account, leading a revolt against Moses and getting swallowed up by the ground. Here, he becomes [[The Quisling]], is responsible for the Golden Calf incident, and was responsible for driving Moses out of Egypt to begin with.

* [[Mass "Oh Crap"]]: Seen on the side of those who worshipped the golden calf as Moses pass judgement.

{{quote| '''Moses:''' Those who shall not live by the law, shall die by the law! }}

* [[Old Windbag]]: Sethi's court announcer is kind of the [[Trope Namer]].

* [[Oh Crap]]: The look on Baka's face when he sees that the slave who is about to strangle him is actually Moses.