IMDb RATING
6.8/10
2.7K
YOUR RATING
After hearing the story of Moses, the sons of a devout Christian mother go their own ways, and the atheist brother's breaking of the Ten Commandments leads to tragedy.After hearing the story of Moses, the sons of a devout Christian mother go their own ways, and the atheist brother's breaking of the Ten Commandments leads to tragedy.After hearing the story of Moses, the sons of a devout Christian mother go their own ways, and the atheist brother's breaking of the Ten Commandments leads to tragedy.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 1 nomination
Charles de Rochefort
- Rameses the Magnificent - Prologue
- (as Charles De Roche)
Pat Moore
- The Son of Pharaoh - Prologue
- (as Terrence Moore)
Leon Beaumon
- Egyptian Calvaryman
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe enormous sets of ancient Egypt have become a Hollywood legend in themselves. The "City of the Pharaohs" was constructed of wood and plaster in the Guadalupe Dunes, an 18-mile stretch of coastal sand 170 miles north of L.A. The sets featured four 35-foot-tall statues of the Pharaoh Ramses, 21 five-ton sphinxes, and city walls over 120 feet high. An army of 2,500 actors, extras, carpenters, plasterers, painters, cooks, staff, and film crew members inhabited the set for three months, housed in a virtual army camp that featured nearly 1,000 tents. (3,500 animals, used in recreating the scenes of ancient Egypt, were housed in a huge corral downwind of the camp.) When shooting wrapped, Cecil B. DeMille simply had the massive Egyptian city sets bulldozed, and buried in a huge pit beneath the sand, where they remain to this day. For years, the legendary "Lost City of DeMille" was spoken of by locals in Guadalupe who had worked on the film set. Artifacts from the Egyptian sets were found in the dunes, and can sometimes be found in local houses in the area. (DeMille even said in his autobiography, "If 1,000 years from now, archaeologists happen to dig beneath the sands of Guadalupe, I hope that they will not rush into print with the amazing news that Egyptian civilization extended all the way to the Pacific Coast of North America.") In 1983, documentary filmmaker Peter Brosnan located the remains of the DeMille sets, still buried beneath the dunes. The site is now recognized as an official archaeological site by the state of California, and it is against the law to remove artifacts from the site. Brosnan has been trying for many years to raise money from the Hollywood studios to excavate the site, but so far has been unable to do so.
- GoofsThe type of staff used by Moses and his followers has a Star of David on the end. The Star of David didn't become a symbol of Judaism until the Middle Ages.
- Quotes
Mary Leigh: I was passing by Dugan's lunch wagon when a hot dog ran out and bit me.
- ConnectionsEdited into Forgotten Commandments (1932)
Featured review
Ten Commandments, The (1923)
*** (out of 4)
DeMille's first attempt at this story tells two different stories. The opening prologue, running just under and hour, sees Moses (Theodore Roberts) freeing the slaves, parting the Red Sea and eventually correcting those who wish to worship the Golden Calf. The second half of the story centers on two brothers; one good (Richard Dix), the other bad (Rod La Rocque) and both in love with the same woman (Leatrice Joy). The bad brother ends up marrying the girl and becoming quite rich by breaking the law in his building contractor position but all of his sins are eventually going to catch up with him. This is certainly a strange mixture of a film because I was a little surprised to see DeMille spend most of its 136-minute running time with the two brothers. The beginning stuff with Moses is pretty much just a prologue but it's a rather interesting one needless to say. While the special effects can't hold a candle to the eventual remake what we have here is still a treat for the eyes. The parting of the Red Sea certainly sticks out and while it's somewhat obvious how it was done the effect still holds up and manages to impress. The chariot crashes, which were apparently real, also stand out as does the large number of extras to carry out the Pharaoh scenes. Roberts, a DeMille regular, is pretty good in the role of Moses even though he comes off a tad bit too passionate. The second half of the film is rather hit and miss but for the most part I enjoyed it as well. The real standout here is the performance by Richard Dix who would of course go on to have an impressive career in film. He steals the film as the more timid brother who puts God before everything and his passion, a deep one, comes across very well with Dix hitting all the right notes. La Rocque is also devilishly good in his role and very believable as well. Joy makes for a good "woman in the middle" as well. Edythe Chapman, another DeMille regular, plays the boys mother but doesn't fair as good. Her character is so poorly written and over the top in her religious beliefs and demands that you can't help but start to hate her when she's suppose to be the one holding the family together. I wasn't impressed with the performance either but I'm going to guess much of this is more to do with the screenplay than anything else. The biggest problem with the film is that the second half is pretty common for the type of melodrama of the day. While it's told very well by DeMille it still comes off rather predictable and straight forward. With that said, this 1923 silent still holds up quite well on all levels and folks should certainly check it out to see what DeMille would later remake. The director would fair better several years later with The King of Kings.
*** (out of 4)
DeMille's first attempt at this story tells two different stories. The opening prologue, running just under and hour, sees Moses (Theodore Roberts) freeing the slaves, parting the Red Sea and eventually correcting those who wish to worship the Golden Calf. The second half of the story centers on two brothers; one good (Richard Dix), the other bad (Rod La Rocque) and both in love with the same woman (Leatrice Joy). The bad brother ends up marrying the girl and becoming quite rich by breaking the law in his building contractor position but all of his sins are eventually going to catch up with him. This is certainly a strange mixture of a film because I was a little surprised to see DeMille spend most of its 136-minute running time with the two brothers. The beginning stuff with Moses is pretty much just a prologue but it's a rather interesting one needless to say. While the special effects can't hold a candle to the eventual remake what we have here is still a treat for the eyes. The parting of the Red Sea certainly sticks out and while it's somewhat obvious how it was done the effect still holds up and manages to impress. The chariot crashes, which were apparently real, also stand out as does the large number of extras to carry out the Pharaoh scenes. Roberts, a DeMille regular, is pretty good in the role of Moses even though he comes off a tad bit too passionate. The second half of the film is rather hit and miss but for the most part I enjoyed it as well. The real standout here is the performance by Richard Dix who would of course go on to have an impressive career in film. He steals the film as the more timid brother who puts God before everything and his passion, a deep one, comes across very well with Dix hitting all the right notes. La Rocque is also devilishly good in his role and very believable as well. Joy makes for a good "woman in the middle" as well. Edythe Chapman, another DeMille regular, plays the boys mother but doesn't fair as good. Her character is so poorly written and over the top in her religious beliefs and demands that you can't help but start to hate her when she's suppose to be the one holding the family together. I wasn't impressed with the performance either but I'm going to guess much of this is more to do with the screenplay than anything else. The biggest problem with the film is that the second half is pretty common for the type of melodrama of the day. While it's told very well by DeMille it still comes off rather predictable and straight forward. With that said, this 1923 silent still holds up quite well on all levels and folks should certainly check it out to see what DeMille would later remake. The director would fair better several years later with The King of Kings.
- Michael_Elliott
- Feb 7, 2009
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $1,475,837 (estimated)
- Runtime2 hours 16 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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