The Ten Commandments (1923)

Every once in a while, there's an epic filmed. An epic to end all epics. Until the next epic comes along... And while this film was not the first epic, this was quite possibly one of the most memorable epics in the silent era. OK, we'll stop saying "epic" now...

This cinematic masterpiece was the result of a contest, in which the public was asked to send in suggestions for the next Paramount film to be directed by the cantankerous Cecil B. DeMille. The winner of the contest was a man from Lansing, Michigan, whose suggestion began with,

"You cannot break the Ten Commandments - they will break you."

Unsurprisingly, this very line was used in the film! Screenwriter Jeanie MacPherson was charged with the task of turning the stories found in Exodus into a riveting, 2-part storyline that showed both the Old Testament and a modern (well, 1920's) life moral. We'll talk more about Jeanie in a future post! The film was banned in 1930's China for being a "superstitious" (Western religious) film - but in today's day and age it's widely accepted by people of all beliefs, simply for the masterpiece that it is!

ABOVE & BELOW: advertising for the film

The biblical desert scenes were shot at the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes in California, just south of San Francisco. The modern-day scenes were shot in and around the San Francisco area. After filming concluded, a rumor was started that the massive sets and props at the Dunes were dynamited (!) - but this is probably more myth than fact. It's more likely that everything was bulldozed and buried in the dunes. Because the film had gone way over budget, disassembling everything and hauling it 160 miles back to Hollywood was NOT happening!

1923: "the head" being built...

2017: "the head" (possibly the very same one!) unearthed!

In 2012, archaeologists uncovered the head of one of the sphinxes, and in 2014, a second sphinx was discovered. In 2017, an 8-foot, 300 lb. plaster head that had retained it's terra cotta color was also excavated. Several other small props have also been found and restored! More info on the exciting archaeological digs in the last 2 links below.

"Pharoah" and his "son" getting some direction on set!

"The Ten Commandments" premiered in December of 1923, at (who else's??) Sid Grauman's Egyptian Theater. Critics were impressed with the Old Testament story - including a Technicolor scene - but some were less than impressed with the modern-day parallel story, in comparison with the knock-your-socks-off, Bible-comes-to-life, Red-Sea-parting scenes. Speaking of the parting of the Red Sea...

HOW DID THEY DO THAT SCENE??

Well....it was Jell-O. *crickets* ....Yes, you read that right. It. Was. Jell-O. The "walls" of the ocean were, in actuality, Jell-O slices. The slices by themselves were filmed "jiggling", and were broken down by water. Then they simply ran the film backwards - and voila! The Red Sea parted! The Israelites walking on dry land was filmed separately, then overlaid on the Jell-O footage. Pretty slick, right? What can you do with Jell-O? Everything. You can even part the Red Sea with it.

The cast and crew on lunch break

The massive set

"The Ten Commandments" became the second highest-grossing film of 1923. The top spot went to another Paramount film, "The Covered Wagon". Third place went to Harold Lloyd's renowned comedy, "Safety Last". The movie was also very expensive to make. So expensive in fact, that at one point during filming, Paramount's New York office told Jesse L. Lasky that Cecil was spending too much money - and he needed to knock it off. Paraphrasing, of course! But Cecil's response?

"What do they want me to do, stop now and release it as 'The Five Commandments'?!"

Not long after, Cecil and his attorney made an offer to purchase the film they'd already shot - and release it independently (not through Paramount). Jesse did some fancy footwork with the New York office and convinced them to keep "The Ten Commandments" as their own, even if it was getting expensive. He told them if they lost the project, they'd lose a fortune! Jesse, being a vaudeville veteran, knew a hit when he saw one - and he was right! But, as he said in his book...

"...during the rest of the shooting the wrath of God didn't match the wrath of DeMille."

To get an idea of the expense, the film features 21 sphinxes (each sphinx head alone was about 12 feet, not counting the body), and a city entrance gate that stood 109 feet tall and 750 feet wide. At the time, it was the largest movie set ever built. Can you imagine how much this cost? Well, in 1923 dollars, the film ended up costing Paramount around 1,500,000.00, even though the original budget Paramount approved was only half of that. Luckily, the movie paid off it's debt and made much more! Saved by the Jesse.

In recent years, this film masterpiece fell into the public domain - which means everyone can now watch it for free! View below!