The Red Sea parts as Charlton Heston raises his arms

Date

1956

Description

Creator of the image: Cecil B. DeMille
Date of the image creation: 1956
Medium: Film
Person depicted: Charlton Heston as Moses

This still-frame is captured from the 1956 Paramount Pictures’ religious epic ‘The Ten Commandments’. Moses parts the Rea Sea beneath a stormy sky. Played by Charlton Heston, Moses spreads his arms wide. A fierce look of magisterial focus plays on the parts of his face that are not obscured by his plastic beard, and the Red Sea opens to reveal a dry passage way for the Israelites to cross to safety. The film dramatizes the biblical story taken from the Book of Exodus, which describes Moses’ leading the enslaved Hebrews out of Egypt on their Exodus to Mount Sinai, whereupon he receives the Ten Commandments from God.

The film’s special effects in making this scene were considered the most difficult effects ever performed. It took six months of filming in Egypt and Hollywood, as well as the construction of an enormous and custom-shaped water-tank and a studio waterfall. All of these elements were stitched together in an elaborate post-production procedure.

The film was directed and produced by Cecil B. DeMille. It was enormously successful, making it the seventh largest box-office grossing film of all time, adjusting for inflation. Just as well, as it was also the most expensive film ever made.

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