The Ten Commandments (1923) Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: The Ten Commandments
Year: 1923
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Country: US
Language: English

Cecil B. DeMille’s 1923 The Ten Commandments is quite the landmark for the now beloved director of Golden Hollywood. While not technically his first historical epic (that was the 1916 Joan the Woman), it was his first Biblical pageant and his first financially successful epic. It also marked a transitional period for the man. A witty director of sex farces and sexy romantic comedies with jazz-age sensibilities, DeMille was becoming more pious and humorless in his work. Perhaps he had a life crisis and thought that he had to please God with his work. 

The first part of The Ten Commandments tells the story of Moses leading the Jews from Egypt to the Promised Land, his receipt of the tablets and the worship of the golden calf. The second part shows the efficacy of the commandments in modern life through a story set in San Francisco.

DeMille spends a mere 45 minutes (of the film’s 135-minute running time) in ancient Egypt with Moses the Law Giver, who has already unleashed nine plagues as the film opens. Viewers will find themselves a little disappointed, considering his 1956 remake dwells on the more shocking events of the story for a much longer time. In this part the director demonstrates his showmanship; stunning special effects bring about the parting of the red sea, the wall of fire, and many great pyrotechnics. 

The second part of the film, which takes place in the Jazzy 1920s, is brighter, snappier, driven by the pace of life in the twenties and the lively energy of the jazz-age character. It's certainly funner (albeit less of an epic spectacle) to revel in sin rather than live among Moses. DeMille is more judgmental here than in his other jazz-age melodramas, which at least appreciated the sexual energy of his lively characters even as they brought everything back to the comfort of the status quo: home, hearth, family, responsibility.

This silent version of Cecil B. Demille's The Ten Commandments is entertaining, but lackluster compared to his 1956 Oscar winning remake. It's technically well-made but those expecting to be fully engulfed in the story of Moses will be disappointment. Hard to review this on its own, because it works better as a companion piece to the bigger epic.