Cheap Ten Commandments (1923) (Silent) (B&W) (Video) (Cecil B. DeMille) Price

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Customer Reviews of Ten Commandments (1923) (Silent) (B&W)

Not what you might be expecting!
I already had high expectations of this film to begin with, and was not disappointed when it turned out to be quite different from what I had expected. For a start, the famous "Ten Commandments" story (10 plagues of Egypt, Israelites leave via parting of the Red Sea, Moses receives 10 Commandments on Mt Sinai while Israelites misbehave and make a golden calf) later made famous by Charlton Heston as Moses, is actually only the PROLOGUE in this silent 1923 version, and the larger part of the story is a contemporary drama showing the modern-day relevance of the ten commandments with similar dire consequences to those who defy them. This might be a disappointment to those who expect a full Biblical epic and a famous Cecil B DeMille spectacle, but for those who value a brilliant story with poignant highlights to impress its ideas, this one rates the full 5 stars. The prologue (about 45 minutes) with its beautiful Egyptian sets and convincing special effects has a special feature, namely a 20-minute colour sequence of the highlight, the parting of the Red Sea, and although the colours look soft, weak and washed-out, it's interesting to see one of these first experiments with colour. <
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> The contemporary story shows a mother with two sons; one is a god-fearing and humble carpenter, the other an unbelieving go-getter determined to prove his mother's teaching of the Ten Commandments of no use in the modern world. Although you can guess that this defiant son's attitude will be proven wrong, being the parallel to the defiant Pharaoh of Egypt in the prologue, DeMille's direction of the story is still unpredictable and suspenseful enough to keep you enthralled and wondering exactly how it will turn out. He also gets the main message across several times in various effective ways, namely that defying God's AND man's laws only leads you to ruin, but far from feeling lectured or preached to, this excellent film gets you involved with the characters and the morale of the whole story.

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SILENT "COMMANDMENTS" MOVIE MELODRAMA AT IT'S PEAK
"The Ten Commandments" (1923) is grand scale entertainment which, in its time, served as a moral caveat against the excesses of the Jazz Age. DeMille, in my opinion, had more in common with P.T. Barnum than the Pope, and the film ends up being campy, solemn and riddled with eye-popping special effects. The parting of the Red Sea, done with Jello and water is definitely more effective than in the over-blown 1950's remake with Heston and Brynner. DeMille was always an entertainer first and not a theologian or historian, yet he sometimes wore the latters' hats just to give some authority to his films. DeMille always was most comfortable with highly theatrical and melodramatic plots, evidenced by his early associations with colleagues such as Jesse Lasky and David Belasco. The silent "Commandments" is an antique of another era, but is a great example of early movie magic and over the top melodrama. THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT!

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Its Smart! Its BRILLIANT! ITS A MASTERPIECE!
Well I've always been a fan of Bible films. And this will have to be named one of THE BEST! Its not really a Bible film. It cuts into two differn't storys. The 2nd story is Just as Brilliant as the first of moses.

Sure I think there could have been more added to the story of moses, but it ain't really about moses. Its about teaching What the world has turned into after The Ten Commandments.

All in All, It is just Brilliant.

The Story starts out as you see the story of Moses, and your going along the lines of when Moses coming back after meeting god. We don't get to see many of the stuff we see in the Remake. We don't see the firstborn of every child, we don't see the snake coming out of the rode. We only hear about it. But when Moses is leading his people out of Egypt, I can kinda put that Scene right to the remake. They then take it to the Ten COmmandments.

And then they switch to the time, and You meet to Men named John and Dan. One Will Follow to Ten Commandments, One will break all 10. And when I first thought of the idea, I knew it was a good idea, but frankly I was hoping it would just be about Moses. and thats what I wanted. But this story is just as Brilliant as Moses story, and Just as thrilling.

Its a Rewatchable film!