Getting ‘Close Up’ with DeMille’s Ten Commandments

James D'Arc, curator of BYU's Motion Picture Archive, showcases some of the concept art from Cecil B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments," including the frog plague (center) and the parting of the Red Sea (right).

For a classic cinemaphile like myself, few things beat getting a close-up of Hollywood history - especially when it involves one of the film industry's biggest icons, Cecil B. DeMille.

To get such a close-up in my own backyard? Even better.

This week I had the unique opportunity to attend the first public screening of "The Ten Commandments: Making Miracles," a new feature-length documentary that showcases the making of DeMille's epic film, at Brigham Young University.

The DeMille-BYU connection may not seem apparent at first, but under the direction of James D'Arc, curator of BYU's Motion Picture Archives, BYU acquired DeMille's papers in the 1970s. The sheer mass of items in the collection is staggering: 1,263 boxes of items, including 91 boxes through which a team from Paramount sifted last fall for the documentary.

Before the film, D'Arc showed off five of the 1,100 pieces of concept art from "The Ten Commandments." Most impressive in the bunch was a scaled-down set of tablets engraved, of course, with the 10 commandments. These tablets, which were given to dignitaries and others in the film's promotion by DeMille, were made of red granite from Mt. Sinai itself.

An epic story like that of Moses and the children of Israel is a natural fit for the big screen, but to do it well takes the right touch, and that was DeMille's specialty. Unlike most filmmakers of the day who churned out multiple films a year, DeMille only made one - but audiences knew that the one DeMille film would be something special.

"The Ten Commandments" was no exception to that rule. Making the film pushed the limits of Hollywood's special effects, leading to several innovations and an Oscar. The film's logistics required organization of epic proportions as well, particularly the Exodus scene. DeMille insisted on filming in Egypt, and so the thousands upon thousands of extras who played the Children of Israel were pulled from local villages. Each extra had to be fed, and arrangements had to be made for their animals - the set became a city unto itself in the middle of the desert.

Watching the documentary, I was struck by the true miracle of Moses and the Exodus. Hollywood could only imitate God's miracles, and even their top-notch attempts pale compared to the reality. In fact, the frog plague was planned for the film but scrapped - the mechanized frogs wouldn't work despite all the time and money poured into the effect, and real frogs weren't an option. Keeping tabs on all the cast and crew was a monstrous task, too, and on a Hollywood budget at that! It truly took the hand of God and Moses' guidance to lead Israel to the Promised Land.

If you're interested in seeing "The Ten Commandments: Making Miracles," it's included in the newly released Blu-Ray and special edition versions of DeMille's classic that came out Tuesday, just in time for Passover.

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