Boy, this movie seems to be highly over-rated by practically everyone who sees it! I just watched it tonight for the first time and I was quite disappointed. The DVD cover described it as one of the greatest films of all time, so I sat down with this thought in mind. Because of the period in history it represented and the main actor involved I was expecting something on the grand scale of Ben Hur - which I do regard as one of the best films of all time - but instead I found this film to be substandard in several areas. Firstly the acting is melodramatic, and while it appears to be a purposeful style that Cecil has applied, it unfortunately comes off looking too comical to be taken seriously. Anne Baxter was unable to get into the role correctly at all, and she looks and sounds more like she's playing the part of some smug gangster's broad in a 1950's flick starring Humphrey Bogart. The next most irritating aspect was the constant use of a superimposed back drop in scenes clearly performed on stage. Sorry, but I've been spoiled by the wonderful production of Ben Hur, where the only obvious scene using superimposition or models was during the sea battle. Every other part of Ben Hur was done on enormous outdoor sets that were simply breathtaking to behold, where as with the 10 Commandments I found myself constantly listening to studio echo during conversations taking place in a desert setting, or backdrops of massive stone structures that looked too perfect and smooth to be anything other than small scale models. The river scenes suffered from the enclosed feel of a studio in both sound and appearance; Moses stumbling upon a sheep-herding group of beautiful young women was ridiculous (not one of these women was even remotely plain); and the music was totally unsuitable for the period or the importance of the story. I could mention a hundred other things but I'm beginning to feel bad about the negativity of my review. There were things that I did like however. The parting of the ocean was particularly well done, and Moses spewed out classic one liners for the first half of the film like I've never heard anyone do in a movie before. 6 stars, just slightly above average.
Review of The Ten Commandments
