Why a page dedicated to Yul Brynner's role in The Ten Commandments? Aren't there other, lesser known, films that deserve recognition? There are, but no one has covered The Ten Commandments in the manner it deserves, plus you can never have too much Yul Brynner.

I am Yul Brynner and you are not.

Perhaps an explanation of why The Ten Commandments is such a good film is in order. Due to the Biblical nature of the movie's subject matter a number of people seem to be under the delusion that The Ten Commandments is a long, dry, respectful film of the book of Exodus. Instead, the film is a wild, energetic, monster of a film where testosterone plays as much of a role in deciding events as the Lord does. Seeing as how the film is hardly sacrosanct I doubt I'm doing anything off color by discussing the somewhat secular sections of the film.

For the few of you unfamiliar with the movie or it's source material here's a brief overview of the overly virile Sunday School lesson that is The Ten Commandments. To make sure there is no doubt as to the movie's lack of modesty the director Cecil B. DeMille himself not only narrates the film but appears at the start of the movie to introduce the opening credits. Born of Hebrew slaves but raised as an Egyptian prince, Moses [Charlton Heston] at first spends his days making time with Nefretiri and bickering with Rameses [Yul Brynner]. After discovering the truth about his heritage Moses goes native and is eventually booted out of Egypt. After meeting up with God Him/Her/Itself he heads back to lead the Hebrews out of slavery in style and generally give Egypt a hard time.

If there's one thing that's consistent in The Ten Commandments, it's that there's something large happening in every scene. Not necessarily good, mind you, but large. First there were the obvious spectacles -the toiling of the slaves, the various and assorted miracles- that were done in thundering fashion. The Hebrew didn't just work, they slaved away en masse on monstrous sets while wearing a thick coating of body oil. The miracles, at first, start out start out slowly with Moses' walking stick turning into a snake and duking it out with the rods of a pair of Egyptian priests. How the priests learned to turn sticks to snakes is not explained. It turns out, however, that the miracles were one of the few subtle things in the movie. The miracles get progressively more impressive until seas are being parted in full technicolor.

If you need to have a figurehead for a government, why not have one that dresses like this?

What's really odd is how ungrateful the Hebrews are. The Red Sea doesn't part every day but within a month or so of leaving Egypt a big pack of them are out dancing around a golden calf. While the actions by the Hebrews is in Exodus, the fact that they start engaging in a heretical hoe-down one scene after they dodge the Pharaoh's chariots makes them look like they are seriously lacking in patience.

When the Bible didn't provide for a show-stopping scene the movie manages to dream something up. My memory isn't always what it should be but I think I would of remembered mention of there being so many dancing girls and choreographed musical numbers showing up in Moses' life. I was also surprised to discover that so much of the strife between Moses [Charlton Heston] and Pharaoh Rameses [Brynner] was caused by the love triangle they had with Nefretiri [Anne Baxter]. It seems as if most of the strain in the movie is caused by a nation-wide case of sibling rivalry.

Check out the outfits on the guards behind Brynner.

From dancing girls to guards standing around in the most outlandish costumes seen this side of Flash Gordon, the movie always provides something to look at. The thing that provides the greatest visual hook, however, is the actors. Amazing sets are nothing without the right actors to properly chew on the scenery and The Ten Commandments delivers overdone performances in spades.

Cecil B. DeMille spent most of his movie career directing silent movies and in The Ten Commandments he appears to have encouraged his actors to act in an expressive, exaggerated manner that would work much better if they weren't actually speaking. Thankfully he was working with actors who were up to the task of not only acting, but over-acting. DeMille manages to get manic performances from everyone, even supporting characters such as Vincent Price [Baka] and Edward G. Robinson [Dathan] - two characters who seemed to be competing to see who could be the biggest weasel in Egypt. But when it comes to over-acting there's one name that instantly comes to mind: Charlton Heston.

Rameses, Nefretiri, and a shirtless Moses

In The Ten Commandments Charlton Heston takes his one-note acting skills to new heights in the role of Moses. Whether he's strutting about in a skirt or wearing a series of increasingly silly fake beards, Heston strides through each scene with an amazing level of confidence, especially considering how poor an actor he is. In fact, it's Heston's sense of bravado that propels him through the movie. The only reason you think of him as Moses is because he claims to the promised deliverer with such conviction that you finally decide you might as well play along.

The fact that no matter what part he's playing he's always Charlton Heston is Heston's biggest strength but also his weakness as well. Once you understand his fetish for playing larger than life martyrs and you realize that everyone except Heston is in on the joke that is Heston, you're left with nothing more than a guy who talks through gritted teeth. This is where Yul Brynner comes in to pick up the slack.

Rameses with his favorite weasel, Dathan

Anyone who has seen the King and I knows that, when he put his mind to it, Yul Brynner was The Man. In both that movie and The Ten Commandments Brynner was allowed to act in a broad, theatrical style that would have worked well if he were acting for a large audience, but when projected onto the screen his performances makes him come across as larger than life. This is, of course, perfect for The Ten Commandments. In fact, it's Brynner's performance that propels the film from being merely massive to cyclopean grandeur.

Even Vincent Price is in awe of the regal aura of Yul Brynner.

Yul Brynner in a gold chain mail skirt standing in front of horses and a projected back drop: if only all movies were this cool.

Plus, Brynner got to wear some insane outfits. True, Nefretiri had quite an extensive wardrobe and while Moses sported some spiffy duds in the first half of the film -including a loincloth and chains look that Heston would return to in Planet of the Apes- he was stuck wearing the same grubby robes for the entire second act of the film. But as Rameses, Brynner not only had an ensemble that fit every occasion, he even had people who dressed him. Nothing says style like having people dress you while you stand around and act like it's the most natural thing in the world. The old adage is that clothes make the man, but for this role it's Brynner that makes the clothes. On a lesser actor the outfits would of made them look like they were on the run from a bad costume party, but Brynner manages to look regal in an over the top sort of way.

Brynner's swagger is perfectly in step with the big, beefy tone of The Ten Commandments. What's strange is that not only does the movie manages to be both overdone and half-baked at the time, it somehow avoids being heretical. The movie is so ridiculously large that it manages to be an epic movie combined with a soppy love story that occasionally dabbles with religious themes all while never losing sight of it's own immense nonsense. For it's ability to keep that balancing act going for hours on end The Ten Commandments will be remembered as one of the biggest movies ever.

The local Pharaoh can be reached at gleep9@hotmail.com. If you are ready to leave for the Promised Land, start off by heading off to either the Second Movie or Main page. So let it be written, so let it be done!

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