Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1956)

idav, October 5, 1956 Motion Picture Daily of i lent )eMilleMagic *roved Again wonjj OT. J By WILLIAM R. WEAVER HOLLYWOOD, Oct. 4 Four les before now in as many disguished decades Cecil Blount Delle has blent scripture and specie magnificently. There was the ;t "Ten Commandments," there s "The King of Kings," there was he Sign of The Cross" and there s "Samson And Delilah." It has jved in all times a magic blend, ■ndrously received and richly rerded by the multitude, world nind. Monday night in Hollywood, Polder the severest test it will en|unter, it proved its magic again. 'Sincerest Applause' Monday night the new "Ten Commdments" was screened for tradeess reviewers at the Paramount audio in the projection room where, long months of closeted considera>n, its original 1,000,000 feet had en trimmed to 19,710. By explicit struction of the producer-director lo had spent more than $13,500,000 make his production perfect, a |jj idio that commonly surrounds with owmanly ceremonies a film costing 1 per cent as much was required to reen this one cold. It had been Kjej Acle, its makers said, to stand alone ■fore all audiences everywhere, the ijjUlgh and the mighty, the lowly and ' e meek, in luxurious lounge seat '.. id a-squat on bare hills in jungle earing. He wanted to know it could ind alone before the hard eyes of ese trade-seasoned men and women, )t unanimously DeMille-minded, id he found out that it could. They y Id him so in the language of sheer ence, 219 minutes of total, rapt ence— the sincerest applause of all. Benefit of Time Apparent As the great story of Moses began unfold on the familiar studio 'reen, for the second time in the i s of most journalists in attenince, there came into recognition an vareness of things that time hath ^jrought. Time has given Vista Vision td Technicolor as new and superior ][} ols for the hand of a DeMille liose first "Ten Commandments" is <<le now to seem merely to have _ >rrcast his second. And time has ' v en the DeMille of the two "Ten oinmandments" a firmer hold, a Jjroader concept, a far deeper fervor. nia m sn till supreme among his fellows in le staging of Bacchanalia, and still <pert in the marshaling of magnifi?nce in support of flat dialogue, he ems to have gained in the years etween then and now a finer feeling >r his subject, a stronger talent for s treatment and a profound knowlige of its importance. DeMille asks in his foreword, "Are ten the property of the state or are icy free souls under God?" He says, j This battle continues today throughut the world." His picture will be force of heroic proportions in that attle until it is won. The Ten Commandments (CONTINUED FROM PAGE I) as Joshua, escapes from the Egyptian copper mines and comes at last upon Heston, the latter responds to his urgings after God's message is given to him from the Burning Bush on the mountainside. Moses returns to Egypt and when Rameses defies God His punishments come upon Egypt. Finally in an attempt to save his son, Rameses orders the Israelites from the land. The Exodus begins and it is a spectacle of thousands of people, animals, fowl, conveyances, sights, sounds and confusions, spreading out across the desert. Nefretiri (Anne Baxter) taunts Rameses because he has been bested by the "God of the slaves" until in anger he calls up his warriors and pursues the Israelite tribes, coming upon them at the shores of the Red Sea where the Pillar of Fire bars the pursuers until the sea has opened and made a path for the fleeing Israelites. When they have reached the opposite shore and the barrier of fire has disappeared, Rameses' warriors continue their pursuit and the waves of the sea close over the Egyptians. Moses leads his people to the slopes of Mt. Sinai and going alone to its upper reaches, after 40 days sees spelled out in fire on the mountain side the Ten Commandments. Returning to his people he finds them given over to debauchery and idolatry. He calls upon them to choose between God and sin, and the unrepentant are destroyed. «E5 «3 The miracles are visually credible, expertly done technical feats. The difficult staging of God's Words being given to Moses has been accomplished with dignity, even reverence, by means of an off-screen voice and visually by atmosphere effects— lightning, thunder, swirling clouds and flame. In addition to the pertinent books of the Old Testament, DeMille went to a number of works by theologians and historians for his source material. The screen writing credits go to Aeneas MacKenzie, Jesse L. Lasky, Jr., Jack Gariss and Fredric M. Frank. Much of it is imaginative, filling in interludes in Moses' earlier years about which little is known. Performances are all of a high order, through major roles to bit parts. Edward G. Robinson as the conscienceless Dathan is memorably evil. Martha Scott as the Israelite mother of Moses, Nina Foch as his royal Egyptian foster-mother, and Judith Anderson as the latter's servant who alone shares her secret that Moses not only is not her son but was born of Hebrew slaves, give fine performances. Ian Keith is good as the old pharaoh, as is Vincent Price as a despotic Egyptian overlord. Debra Paget is memorable as the slave girl beloved by Joshua but despoiled by Price and Robinson. Others in the huge cast include John Carradine as Moses' brother; and Douglass Dumbrille, Henry Wilcoxon, Donald Curtis, H. B. Warner, Olive Deering, Julia Faye, John Miljan, Joan Woodbury and many others in supporting roles. The technical and crafts contributions to the success of the production are considerable, especially the photography, directed by Loyal Griggs; the Technicolor, for which Richard Mueller was consultant; the special and process photography, costume, sets, properties and makeup. Sound recording and effects, too, are superb. In short, every care that could be exercised to make this production superior in its every department has been taken. It is indeed the master work of a master craftsman. DeMille's production associate was Wilcoxon. «S3 Not to be ignored are the many recognizable DeMille "touches" throughout. His flair for employing to effective advantage the lavish and spectacular is never absent from the screen for long. It is expressed in hordes of extras as Israelite slaves building the Pharaoh's city of Goshen; in the Exodus and pursuit previously referred to; in the impressive staging of the miracles; in the authentic exteriors, in the reproduction of ancient Egyptian palaces and the ceremonies therein, and in the scenes of abandon that brought death to idolaters at the foot of Mt. Sinai. There has been no dulling of the justly famous DeMille showmanship. Finally, it needs to be reported that despite its unusual length, the picture is not lacking in sustained interest. Like all superior pictures its length fades into insignificance alongside its compelling story. Running time, 219 minutes. General classification. Release, special. SHERWIN KANE V> CECIL B. DeMILLE, producer and director of "The Ten Commandments," reviewed in adjoining columns, regards the work as the greatest human story encountered in his 43 years of picture making. It is, he believes, of special significance to today's world. SMPTE Meet (Continued from page 1) the equipment exhibits and the presentation of Society awards. Papers on the principles and applications of transistors in motion pictures and television equipment will be read for the first time at an SMPTE convention. Other highlights of the technical meetings will be the first reports on the Ampex Videotape Recorder, a tour of the NBC color tv studios in Burbank, and a field trip to the U. S. Navy Electronics Laboratory at San Diego. Dr. John G. Frayne, president of SMPTE, will convene the gathering at a Monday luncheon. George Sidney, president of the Screen Directors' Guild, will be guest speaker. Results of the SMPTE national election are scheduled to be announced at that time. Ohio ITO Will Honor Martin Smith at Dinner COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 4 A testimonial dinner honoring; Martin Smith s 43 years of service in the film industry will replace the traditional annual banquet of the state convention of the Independent Theatre Owners of Ohio at the DeshlerHilton Hotel here Nov. 13, it was announced by Robert Wile, secretary of ITO of Ohio. "Martin Smith has just relinquished another of his theatres," said Wile, "and members of the association felt they wanted to felicitate him while he is still in business. He declined the honor of a dinner in Toledo, his home city, believing that having it in conjunction with the state convention would be a good idea, organization-wise." Smith is past president of the Ohio association.