Katherine Orrison

Takes readers behind the scenes of The Ten Commandments, from the movie's inception to its distribution, covering its casting, writing, storyboarding, special effects, music scoring, and acting. Moves between Hollywood and Egypt to capture filmmaking on its grandest scale and Hollywood during its golden era. In-depth interviews of personnel on the film, from stars to extras to researchers, offer unique perspectives on both the film and its director. Includes rare b&w photos taken on location.

Unique and entertaining! I am not a fan of Cecil Blount De Mille's second filming of The Ten Commandments, in my view a Victorian bore peopled with the most ludicrous cast this side of The Greatest Story Ever Told. Katherine Orrison's behind-the-scenes look at the epic, in contrast, is thoroughly entertaining, well-researched and beautifully illustrated by set photographer Ken Whitmore. Miss Orrison went about interviewing surviving crew and cast members, each of whom offer a different point of view of film-making in the last days of the old Hollywood studio system. The book is filled with surprising and amazing tidbits -- Shirley Booth (Hazel) was actually up for a role later essayed by Yvonne de Carlo! -- but is most importantly a warm and insightful look at the man who had been there from the beginning -- if not during the Exodus then certainly when Hollywood was little more than an orange grove. The book's most surprising revelation (at least to me) is that William Boyd was actually DeMille's first choice to play Moses! I personally agree with old C.B. and would have paid good money to have witnessed Hopalong Cassidy part the Red Sea. Rather him than that blowhard Charlton Heston!
The Real Story Behind the Making of The Ten Commandments. This is a first rate rendition of how the movie The Ten Commandments was produced from interviews with the actors through the outstanding direction by C.B. De Mille. I especially commend the chapters by Henry Wilcoxon, producer and actor, and actor Clint Walker. Wilcoxon wanted Clint for the role of Joshua and ended up the Captain of the Sardinian Guard when De Mille decided he was too tall and dominated his scenes when compared to the other more famous (at the time) actors. Artist Arnold Friberg had even completed a color sketch of Clint as Joshua. An outstanding piece of work by the author. An interesting list of the actors and actresses considered for the various roles is provided. It would have been interesting to see how the movie would have turned out with William Boyd as Moses, De Mille's first choice. Or Jack Palance as Dathan, the role eventually taken by Edward G. Robinson. I highly recommend this work to anyone interested in Cecil B. De Mille and Company. Five star rating.
C.B. De Mille fans have been waiting 40 years for this book! Outstanding. Katherine Orrison has made a long-awaited contribution to the memory of a phenomenal motion picture and the "world's greatest showman... ever" with the release of this book. Only two regrets: 1) although the reflections presented by the various participants were in chronological order for the most part, a narrative thread by the author taking us through the entire production process may have improved the impact of the eyewitness accounts, and 2) from Ken Whitmore's commentary, I'd guess we have only seen a fraction of the photo collection. I would love to read more and see more. Finally, I have yet to hear or read an explanation of why the final cut of the film was allowed to show Moses' staff jump magically from one hand to the other during the Exodus. All that aside, this book is wonderful reading for anyone who remembers the first time they saw this picture unfold on a movie screen.
Indispensible for fans of De Mille and epic films. This book is a series of behind-the-scenes interviews with people who worked on Cecil B. DeMille's masterpiece The Ten Commandments (1956), almost none of whom had ever before been interviewed about their contributions to the film.

Among the interviews are associate producer Henry Wilcoxon, screenwriter Jesse Lasky, Jr., and actors Woody Strode, Yvonne De Carlo and Joan Woodbury. Special-effects wizard William Sapp describes how he turned the Nile to blood (with a garden hose) and made it hail (popcorn). A highlight is exclusive Egyptian location photographs by Ken Whitmore, never before seen in print.

Did you know that Charlton Heston was NOT De Mille's first choice for Moses? The book reveals that the part was offered to (and turned down by) William Boyd, a longtime friend and associate of De Mille's best known as Hopalong Cassidy. This is one of many fascinating revelations in this unique book.