Five Things About the Movie "The Ten Commandments"-- Part 2: About Michelangelo, Charlton's Baby Son and the Matterhorn

2.  Charlton Heston landed the Moses role after Cecil DeMille saw Michelangelo's statue of Moses which he thought resembled the actor.

Heston also voiced God in the burning bush scene.

3.  Fraser Heston (Charlton's then 3-month-old son) played baby Moses.

4.  For the movie's opening credits, Paramount's signature mountain. the Matterhorn, was recolorized red to represent Mount Sinai.

5.  Jewelry worn by Anna Baxter (Queen Nefretiri), among others, was based on authentic designs from the time of Ramses I.

Thou Shalt Not....  --CootBurn

Five Things You Might Not Have Known About the Movie "The Ten Commandments"-- Part 1: Parting the Red Sea

From the March 8, 2020, Parade magazine.

I saw part of this movie this past Sunday on ABC.  This 1956 movie showed how Moses (Charlton Heston) turned his back on a life of privilege in the land of the Pharaoh (Yul Brynner) to set his Hebrew people free.

It was filmed in Egypt, Mt. Sinai and the Sinai Peninsula and was one of the most financially rewarding movies ever, grossing around $122.7 million in its run (equivalent to $1.15 billion in 2019).

Here are some facts about this Bible-based blockbuster which received an Oscar for its jaw-dropping special effects.

1.  The illusion of the Red Sea Parting was achieved by filming large tanks flooded with 350,000 gallons of water (with gelatin added to thicken it) and wind machines, then showing the footage in reverse.

--Cooter

Obama and Lincoln's Bible

I touched on this in the Bits O' History entry, but here is more detail.

The December 24, 2008, Chicago Tribune had an article by John McCormick in regards to the Bible he will be sworn in as president on Jan. 20th. It will be the same one Abraham Lincoln used for his first inauguration in 1861. This is in keeping with Presisdent-Elect Obama's practice of encouraging comparisons (though neither were born in Illinois, they are both from Illinois as well).

When he announced he was running for president in Feb. 2007, he did it in front of the old state capitol building where Lincoln served. He also announced his vice presidential pick there as well. I'm surprised he didn't hold his acceptance celebration there as well.

He will also take a train to Washington, DC, for his inaugural.

He will be the first president to use this Bible, which is usually located in the Library of Congress. This was not the Lincoln family Bible which had been packed away among belongings which were being shipped to the White House.

This one was originally purchased by William Thomas Carroll, clerk of the Supreme Court, for the March 4, 1861 ceremony. It is described as being printed by the Oxford University Press in 1853 and bound in heavily gilded burgundy velvet.

Incoming presidents are not required to be sworn in on a Bible, but most do, often using their family Bible.

One More Lincoln Connection. --Coot