A remake of his own 1923 film of the same name and with cinematographer J. Peverell Marley and editor Anne Bauchens also returning for the epic encore, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956) marked the 70th and final film for legendary director Cecil B. DeMille. The film was named, appropriately, #10 on AFI’s list of cinema’s greatest epics and appears at #79 on AFI’s list of the most inspiring movies of all time, with Charlton Heston performance as Moses ranked #43 on AFI’s list of the greatest heroes in movie history. While it covered the same material as his earlier effort, “950 books, 984 periodicals, 1,286 clippings and 2,964 photographs were studied” to create the script according to DeMille’s researcher Henry Noerdlinger – and the massive production employed between 7,000 and 10,000 extras (estimated by contemporary sources) and required 88 assistant directors – six from Hollywood and 82 from Egypt – to help with crowd control during the exodus scenes. Cast partially due to his resemblance to Michelangelo’s renowned statue of Moses – and later in his career cast as Michelangelo himself in THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY (1965) – Charlton Heston’s leadership was not limited to Biblical ancient Egypt; he would serve as the third Chair of the American Film Institute’s Board of Trustees from 1973 – 1983.

Visit the AFI Catalog to learn more about THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.