The film's cast was also complimented. "Variety" called Charlton Heston an "adaptable performer" who, as Moses, reveals "inner glow as he is called by God to remove the chains of slavery that hold his people." Powers felt that Heston was "splendid, handsome and princely (and human) in the scenes dealing with him as a young man, and majestic and terrible as his role demands it. He is the great Michelangelo conception of Moses but rather as the inspiration for the sculptor might have been than as a derivation." "Variety" also considered Yul Brynner to be an "expert" as Rameses, too. Anne Baxter's performance as Nefretiri was criticized by "Variety" as leaning "close to old-school siren histrionics," but Crowther believed that it, along with Brynner's, is "unquestionably apt and complementary to a lusty and melodramatic romance." The performances of Yvonne De Carlo and John Derek were acclaimed by Crowther as "notably good." He also commended the film's "large cast of characters" as "very good, from Sir Cedric Hardwicke as a droll and urbane Pharaoh to Edward G. Robinson as a treacherous overlord."