The Ten

Commandments

Directed by

Cecil B. DeMille (1923)

With Live Improvised Accompaniment by

Peter Edwin Krasinski,

Organist

Monday, January 13th, 2020

7:30pm

Immanuel Baptist Church

Nashville, TN

—Program—

Prelude and Fugue in C minor

(BWV 549) J.S. Bach

—The Ten Commandments—

THE PRODUCTION

Directed by Cecil B. DeMille

Produced by Cecil B. DeMille

Story by Jeanie MacPherson

Cinematography

Bert Glennon

Peverel Marley

Archibald Stout

J.F. Westerberg

Edited by

Anne Bauchens

Production Company

Famous Players-

Lasky Corporation

THE CAST

Prologue

Theodore Roberts

Moses, The Lawgiver

Charles De Roche

Rameses, The Magnificent

Estelle Taylor

Miriam, The Sister of Moses

Julia Faye

Nefertari

Terrence Moore

Amun-her-khepeshef

James Neill

Aaron, Brother of Moses

Lawson Butt

Dathan, The Discontented

Clarence Burton

The Taskmaster

Noble Johnson

The Bronze Man

Story

Edythe Chapman

Mrs. Martha McTavish

Richard Dix

John McTavish, her son

Rod La Rocque

Dan McTavish, her son

Leatrice Joy

Mary Leigh

Nita Naldi

Sally Lung, a Eurasian

Robert Edeson

Redding, an Inspector

Charles Ogle

The Doctor

Agnes Ayres

The Outcast

—Program Notes—

Approaching the subject of history in Cecil B. DeMille’s

1923 The Ten Commandments is an issue not of

answering questions, but of determining which question

to ask. For instance, how concerned should viewers be

about the veracity of, say, the Star of David being

present on Moses’s staff when, in fact, the symbol is

predated by the Seal of Solomon, a symbol named for a

Hebrew king whose lifetime comes well after the events

of Exodus?1 Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times

says it best: “The movies just love, love, love history.

But history does not love the movies back. Not even one

little bit.”2

This one is easy to love, though, because this movie is

extraordinary! It is an amalgamation of three scripts

about morality from three separate genres into one

astounding adventure. Though it is all too easy to

consider the earliest films as experiments in the medium,

The Ten Commandments is better seen as an exciting

piece of cinema from a bygone era. This is where its

historical value lies; it comes from a time and a place,

with attitudes and social mores distinct to that setting.

Even better, it is from a time that pre-dates

bottlenecking genre definitions.

1 "Solomon." World Heritage Encyclopedia. World Public Library

Association. <http://cdn-

cache.worldlibrary.org/Articles/Solomon?&Words=seal+of+solomo

n#Seal_of_Solomon>. 2 Turan, Kenneth. "'Selma' Just Latest History Film to Face

Accuracy Questions." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 16

Jan. 2015. <http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-

mn-onfilm-turan-selma-historical-films-20150118-column.html>.

The film begins with the ancient story of Moses:

plagues, pursuit, parting of the sea, Ten

Commandments, destruction of the golden calf – all in

45 minutes! Clearly, few expenses were spared for

Moses’s story. From the costumes to the number of

people on screen, the special effects to the

choreographed action, this is in many ways a modern,

big-budget event film. DeMille’s first act is a proto-

Michael Bay experience; it is a familiar, predictable

story that moves from explosive set piece to explosive

set piece and spares no expense along the way.

All along, though, this had been a story within the story.

The words a mother had been reading from the Bible to

her two sons were coming vividly to life in 1923.

Really?! This is the opening misdirection of Psycho a

full 37 years before Psycho! This is Hitchcock before

Hitchcock! This is a big deal. Though the budget

favored Moses, it becomes apparent that this was only in

service of the dominant narrative, a story that is

paradoxically smaller in scope.

Having arrived in the film’s contemporary present, it is

here that we are presented with a truly historic

opportunity: experience this primary source of changing

social mores from the early 20th Century in the closest

approximation of its cinematic context, particularly with

Peter Krasinski’s accompaniment on the sonically

kaleidoscopic Immanuel Baptist Church organ as a

supporting “narration” of the film. In other words, step

out of our present and enter, for a moment, indeed, for

many moments because this is truly an epic production –

the world of 1923.

Much as DeMille shaped the cinematic landscape of the

era, F. Scott Fitzgerald documented it in word:

“So gaily were the peace and prosperity

impending hymned by the scribes and

poets of the conquering people that more

and more spenders had gathered from the

provinces to drink the wine of

excitement, and faster and faster did the

merchants dispose of their trinkets.”3

Not just a period of relief, the War to end all Wars

having conquered its foe, it was an era of promise.

Prophecy destined that the newly secured peace would

allow prosperity to follow suit. As described by

Fitzgerald, Americans were high on a borderline-

religious fervor of gratitude, wealth, and pride; they

were drunk on the wine of excitement. Perhaps the

character of Dan McTavish, the sly brother with the easy

grin, celebrated like none other at Fitzgerald’s

fictionalized parade.

DeMille seems to be saying that this era was in need of

guidance, something to help maintain priorities while

making the best of opportunity – in other words, a quick

dose of Sunday school. In the portrayal of brothers Dan

and John McTavish, DeMille gives us a populist

dissertation on the place of religion in post-WWI

America. He presents two perspectives and futures: the

financial growth and modern improprieties of Dan (a

literal boom and bust), and the steadiness and

conservatism of John, who, though a rival to the same

desires as his brother, is balanced by a credo stronger

than short-term gains. He may have been at Fitzgerald’s

fictionalized parade with his brother, but John did not

party quite so hard.

3 Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "May Day." 1922. Tales of the Jazz Age. N.p.:

Amazon Kindle, 2014. 40. A Public Domain Book.

And then the movie upends itself once more – this time

into an all-out, madcap descent into criminal madness.

Watching The Ten Commandments is a lot like watching

scenes from the Bible, Seventh Heaven, and The

Godfather molded into one, unbelievably cohesive

narrative. Historically, Dan’s fall reminds us of the

harsh reality that coexisted his rise: “One-tenth of 1

percent of families at the top took in as much income as

42 percent of families at the bottom,”4 reminding us that

the Roaring Twenties only roared for a few.

Through his portrayal of Twentieth Century

interpretations of the Ten Commandments (if at times

caricaturized in performance for dramatic effect),

DeMille has given us a window into another time and

place. Knowing of the 1929 stock market crash as we

do, we may want to wonder just why DeMille was

cautioning such temperance. Though the spectacle of the

Exodus story may have drawn the crowd, this is (and

always has been) a tale of a time and place in history

that needed a reminder of lessons learned millennia ago.

Patrick Moran teaches prehistory through the American

Civil War at Saint Paul's Choir School in Harvard

Square, Cambridge. He holds a master’s degree from the

University of New Hampshire in history education.

He can be reached at pmoran@choirschool.net.

4 Musser, Rick. "Social Climate." History of American Journalism.

University of Kansas, School of Journalism & Mass

Communications, 31 Dec. 2007.

http://history.journalism.ku.edu/1920/1920.shtml

—Biography—

PETER EDWIN KRASINSKI is broadly recognized as

a motivating consultant for the pipe organ community,

and as a conductor, organist and music educator, whose

imaginative and energetic performances elevate and

inform audiences. Well respected in both secular and

sacred genres of his field, he has taught the enchantment

of music to both public and private institutions in the

greater Boston area for many years. The press has said

of Mr. Krasinski’s silent films accompaniments: “the

best I have ever heard”; “a great marriage of movie and

music”; “it was as if Krasinski became one with the

elements”; and “his original score makes for nonstop

entertainment worth repeating.”

Specializing in the art of live silent film accompaniment,

worldwide, some of his many appearances have

included such venues as Irvine Auditorium at University

of Pennsylvania, Trinity Wall Street (NYC),

Wanamaker’s-Macy’s Greek Hall (Philadelphia), St

Joseph’s Cathedral (Hartford), Old South Church

(Boston), National City Christian Church (Washington,

DC), St Joseph’s Oratory (Montreal), The Kotzschmar

Organ at City Hall (Portland), The Great Organ at

Methuen Music Hall, and major concert halls in the

cities of Yokohama, Fukui, Miyazaki, and Kanazawa,

Japan.

A multiple prizewinner, he is the recipient of the First

Prize in Improvisation from the American Guild of

Organists National Competition. A seasoned performer,

he has played recitals at Wanamaker’s (Philadelphia),

the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels (Los Angeles),

Notre-Dame Cathedral (Paris), Trinity Church (Boston),

Holy Name Cathedral (Chicago), and Saint Agricola

Church (Helsinki).

Mr. Krasinski was past Dean of the Boston Chapter

AGO. He is currently Organist of First Church of Christ,

Scientist in Providence RI, accompanist at Beth El

Temple Center Belmont MA, and last summer was a

faculty member at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki,

Finland.

He holds both a Bachelor of Music Degree in Music

Education and Organ Performance, and the Master of

Sacred Music Degree from Boston University.

WWW.KRASINSKI.ORG

—Special Thanks—

Robert Klingbeil,

Allen Organs of Tennessee and

Steinway Piano Gallery, Nashville

Hank Elliott and Hannah McDonald,

Channel 5 news

Caroline Kimrey, Steven Meriwether, and

Richard Shadinger,

Immanuel Baptist Church

Dennis Milnar, Milnar Organ Company

Marsha Scheusner, Nashville AGO

Sophia Agtarap, Joan Brasher, Stephanie

Budwey, Julia Jordan, Dave Perkins, mike

Todd, and Emilie Townes,

Vanderbilt University

and especially to our sponsors:

Allen Organs of Tennessee and

Steinway Piano Gallery, Nashville

Nashville Chapter of the

American Guild of Organists

Religion and the Arts in Contemporary

Culture Program,

Vanderbilt Divinity School

Religion and the Arts in Contemporary

Culture Program