Noah got drunk. David had an affair. Thomas was a doubter. Paul was a murderer. Moses had a stutter.

These declarations from one of my favourite memes candidly express how God uplifts the unlikeliest individuals to perform great deeds on His behalf.

How intriguing it would have been if the now 70-year-old epic The Ten Commandments had depicted Moses in all his complexity as a man “slow of speech and slow of tongue" (Exodus 4:10).

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More on that later.

The Biblical adventure film, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, was first presented to theatregoers on Oct. 5, 1956, and has since become an annual television staple during Holy Week, remaining an absorbing and majestic motion picture achievement.

While the Moses portrayed by Charlton Heston was not a precise scriptural embodiment, he delivers a lead performance of considerable power and gravitas. Yul Brynner is even better as the cunningly charismatic pharaoh Rameses II. And there is even comic delight in watching Anne Baxter as the queen Nefertiti — she utterly devours the scenery with over-the-top histrionics.

With ancient Egypt, the Red Sea and Mount Sinai as backdrops, and a story demanding an incredible multitude of characters, DeMille identified a project perfectly modulated to his spirit of cinematic maximalism.  

He was a director who believed “more is more.” Many of his best-known films, such as Cleopatra (1934) and The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), featured lavish sets, grand spectacle and immense casts, but too often the narrative themes, character design and story momentum would buckle under the weight of all that opulence. In The Ten Commandments, all the pageantry and innovative effects DeMille put on screen were underpinned by the most dazzling and indestructible source material of all time.

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Thanks to DeMille’s own Samson and Delilah in 1949, a Judeo-Christian religious film golden age took flight in the 1950s and sustained during the first half of the 1960s. Quo Vadis (1951), The Robe (1953), Ben Hur (1959), Solomon and Sheba (1959), The Story of Ruth (1960), Esther and the King (1960), Sodom and Gomorrah (1962) and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) are among the notable other productions of this era.

How thrilling it would have been to grow up at a time when Biblical stories were seen as the reliable box office draw rather than the comic book adaptations of today.

It has been a joy to discover the delights of The Ten Commandments through its annual airing on television (check your local listings). As a kid, I was impressed by the colours and the neat visual effects — the parting of the Red Sea was quite an accomplished feat of technical wizardry for 1956. Now, as an adult, I most admire the earnestness of the storytelling.

DeMille, nor anyone else involved, actively sought to infuse their personal politics into the story, an ever-increasing, unfortunate reality of the 2020s cinematic landscape. They tell the story straight, and mostly true, and allow viewers to come to their own conclusions.

Now back to my opening thought. While I understand that presenting a charismatic and commanding Moses through Charlton Heston was done to appeal to audiences, I believe that not presenting the Old Testament prophet’s real struggles with speaking is a missed opportunity. It would have really underscored a powerful message that God works through the unlikeliest of individuals. He challenges humanity’s oftentimes fatal draw towards power and prestige by gravitating towards the limited, overlooked and despised and thus all the glory for the miraculous deeds accomplished belongs to Him.

The movie depicted Moses as a man who was always prodigious and destined to become a formidable leader. Moses was a flawed, fearful man who became a great leader through faith, humility and a total reliance on God.

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And it must be noted that God also chose Moses as a vessel, as He sought to elevate other people, too. Because of Moses’ speech impediment, his brother Aaron served as spokesperson. God would then go on to appoint Aaron and his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar as the first priests of Israel.

Yes, this version of The Ten Commandments would have been appealing indeed. But I am very thankful nevertheless for the version that debuted seven decades ago