The Ten Commandments (1923 film) The Ten Commandments (1923 film) The Ten Commandments is a 1923 American silent religious, epic film and produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Written by Jeanie MacPherson, the film is divided into two parts: a prologue recreating the biblical story of the Exodus and a modern story concerning two brothers and their respective views of the Ten Commandments. Lauded for its "immense and stupendous" scenes, use of Technicolor process 2, and parting of the Red Sea sequence, the expensive film proved to be a box-office hit upon release. It is the first in DeMille's biblical trilogy, followed by "The
The Ten Commandments (1923 film) Michigan; the first line of his suggestion read: "You cannot break the Ten Commandments—they will break you." Production on the film started on May 21, 1923 and ended on August 16, 1923. Jeanie MacPherson, the film's screenwriter, first thought to "interpret the Commandments in episodic form". Both she and DeMille eventually decided on an unusual two-part screenplay: a biblical prologue and a modern story demonstrating the consequences of breaking the Ten Commandments. In a treatment for the film, MacPherson described the four main characters of the modern story: There are four people in the modern story of "The Ten Commandments",