Although some of Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” did film in Egypt in October through December of 1954, most of the movie was shot at the Paramount lot (March to August 1955) including the famous parting of the Red Sea sequence. There’s Charlton Heston in his red Moses robes with a line of key lights in the background. Meanwhile, much braver extras face swirling waters gushing past them at what looks like quite a force. I hope they got hazard pay that day.
A shot from the finished sequence as it appeared in the movie.
My brother John had a paper route that included Paramount studio. We were able to see some of the filming but not this scene, Paramount workers entrance was on Van Ness Ave. We lived on the next street Ridgewood place. Our mother worked as a seamstress for Edith Head.
My historical novel “Beyond the Gates of Ani” is available at Amazon.
The gentleman to the right and below Heston on the front of the rock, facing those turbulent waters is no extra. That’s John Derek, the almost too handsome actor who came to fame in the forties, and became almost more famous for his marriages than for his movie roles. He eventually left acting to become a photographer, director, writer, and gained even more notoriety when he married Bo Derek, and directed her in the infamous Tarzan the Ape Man.
Thanks for pointing him out, Mary!