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Film Writer Explains Why Cecil B. DeMille Made 2 'Ten Commandments' Films

By Steve Goldstein
Published: Thursday, December 14, 2017 - 4:29pm
Updated: Friday, December 15, 2017 - 12:13pm
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Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 version of "The Ten Commandments" featured Charlton Heston as Moses fighting against the oppressiveness of Rameses II, played by Yul Brynner.

But DeMille directed a different incarnation of "The Ten Commandments" — a silent version — three decades earlier. And, recently, archaeologists in Southern California found a Sphinx used in that 1923 film. It was from the set that was buried there by DeMille — at least in part because it was too difficult to move.

Scott Eyman is DeMille’s biographer and is here to explain more about why the set was buried and why DeMille made two different "Ten Commandments" films.

Eyman is a film writer. One of his books is "Empire of Dreams: The Epic Life of Cecil B. DeMille."

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