This masterpiece of heroic vulgarity represents the Hollywood epic at the peak of its all-American powers. Cecil B DeMille's remake of his 1923 silent movie, about the life of Moses and his leadership of the Israelites in their exodus from Egypt, adds over an hour to his first telling of the story, but, with untypical restraint, sticks to the original total of just ten commandments. It's a movie to savour, less for the sparkle of its dialogue or the complexity of its characterisations than for the sheer magnificence of its set pieces and its casual deployment of 25,000 extras at the drop of a tablet. But was Moses the muscular hero Charlton Heston portrays him to be, or does DeMille's biblical vista only extend as far as a certain Michelangelo statue?

Escaping death, a Hebrew infant is raised in a royal household to become a prince. Upon discovery of his true heritage, Moses embarks on a personal quest to reclaim his destiny as the leader and liberator of the Hebrew people.