''Moses the Lawgiver'' is a 6-hour Italian/British television miniseries filmed in 1973/74 and starring

Burt Lancaster Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor and producer. Initially known for playing tough guys with a tender heart, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-yea ...

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

. It was an ITC/ RAI co-production filmed in Rome and on location in Israel and Morocco. Many of the writers, cast and crew contributed to another ITC/RAI Biblical co-production, the ambitious miniseries ''

Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

'', released in 1977.

Plot summary

The Story of the Exodus or freedom of Hebrews from Egypt is told in a perspective which highlights Moses' efforts to persuade first the stubborn Pharaoh Merneptah, who was his adopted cousin, to release his work force of slaves. Then, once free and in the wilderness en route to the Promised Land, Moses must prove to be a pious and patient leader or lawgiver to a people who still think they want more out of him or God. For 40 years, Moses (Burt Lancaster) must carry on this load and challenge for God and Israel. With the help of his brother Aaron (Anthony Quayle), and Joshua (Aharon Ipale), the nation or people of Israel are officially born or created after centuries ago God promised and vowed Jacob/Israel that he would be the father of a mighty nation.

Cast

* Anthony Quayle as

Aaron According to Abrahamic religions, Aaron ''′aharon'', ar, هارون, Hārūn, Greek (Septuagint): Ἀαρών; often called Aaron the priest ()., group="note" ( or ; ''’Ahărōn'') was a prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of ...

* Ingrid Thulin as

Miriam Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus. The Tor ...

* Irene Papas as Zipporah *

Aharon Ipale Aharon אַהֲרֹן is masculine given name alternate spelling, commonly in Israel, of ''Aaron'', prominent biblical figure in the Old Testament, "Of the Mountains", or "Mountaineer". There are other variants including "Ahron" and "Aron". Aharon ...

as Joshua * Yosef Shiloach as Dathan * Marina Berti as Eliseba * Shmuel Rodensky as

Jethro Jethro is a male given name meaning "overflow". It is derived from the Hebrew word ''Yithrô''. People named Jethro * Kenneth C. "Jethro" Burns (1920–1989), mandolin player in satirical country music duo Homer and Jethro * Jethro Franklin ...

* Mariangela Melato as The Princess Bithiah * Laurent Terzieff as Pharaoh Merneptah * Michele Placido as

Caleb Caleb (), sometimes transliterated as Kaleb ( he, כָּלֵב, ''Kalev'', ; Tiberian vocalization: Kālēḇ; Hebrew Academy: Kalev), is a figure who appears in the Hebrew Bible as a representative of the Tribe of Judah during the Israelites' ...

Antonio Piovanelli Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...

as Korah * Jacques Herlin as The Magician * Umberto Raho and José Quaglio as two of The Pharaoh's Ministers *

Melba Englander Melba may refer to: * Dame Nellie Melba (1861–1931), Australian soprano opera singer ** ''Melba'' (film), a 1953 musical biopic drama film about Nellie Melba ** ''Melba'' (miniseries), a 1988 Australian mini series about Nellie Melba * Melba M ...

as Merneptah's Wife * Marco Steiner as The Young Merneptah * William Lancaster as The Young Moses *

Galia Kohn Galia may refer to: People Given name *Galia Ackerman (born 1948), French-Russian writer and translator *Galia Angelova (born 1972), Bulgarian tennis player *Galia Dvorak (born 1988), Spanish table tennis player *Galia Moss, Mexican adventurer * ...

as The Young Miriam * Mosko Alkalai as

Amram In the Book of Exodus, Amram (; ) is the husband of Jochebed and father of Aaron, Moses and Miriam. In the Bible In addition to being married to Jochebed, Amram is also described in the Bible as having been related to Jochebed prior to th ...

* Dina Doron as

Jochebed According to the Bible, Jochebed (; hbo, יוֹכֶבֶד, translit=Yōḵeḇeḏ, lit=YHWH is glory) was a daughter of Levi and mother of Miriam, Aaron and Moses. She was the wife of Amram, as well as his aunt. No details are given concerning h ...

* Yossi Werzansky as Eleazar * Richard Johnson as The Narrator

Production

Charlton Heston Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist. As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film ''The Ten C ...

's son Fraser acted out the infant Moses in the 1956 Hollywood production of '' The Ten Commandments'', so Burt Lancaster's son Bill, credited as William Lancaster, acted out the role of Moses as a young man in ''Moses the Lawgiver.'' The Italian government suggested to the series' producer, Lew Grade, that he should meet Pope Paul VI, and subsequently did so at his wife's insistence. Grade and his wife Kathie had a private audience with Paul who told them of his pleasure at the film and offered his endorsement to be used for publicity purposes. Paul suggested to Grade that his next film should be called 'In the footsteps of Jesus', the Pope's suggestion developed into the miniseries ''

''.

Soundtrack

The "Moses Theme" was composed by

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classica ...

; the original music was performed by Gianna Spagnulo and Coro e Orchestra dell'Unione Musicisti Romani.

Novelization

In 1975, a tie-in book, written by Australian author Thomas Keneally, was published by Harper & Row.

Theatrical and DVD releases

The 360-minute-long mini-series was later edited into a 141-minute version for theatrical release under the title "Moses." In 2004, this shortened version was released as a one-disc DVD. A 300-minute version (two-disc set) was released in 2012 for Latin America (but not dubbed into Spanish and compatible in both Regions 1 & 4); it was packaged (somewhat deceptively) as ''Moises y los 10 Mandamientos''-Extended Version. Contrary to the above-mentioned information, the 300-minute version may in fact be the complete version. This was aired as (6) one-hour episodes on television originally. Subtracting for commercials, the average running time for a 60-minute TV program in the mid 1970s was around 50 minutes; 25 minutes for a 30-minute program. This would make 300 minutes the proper uncut running time, since (6) 50-minute episodes equals 300 minutes. There is no source available claiming that the (6) hour-long TV episodes ran commercial-free, which would be the only way the total running time could be 360 minutes, as claimed in the first paragraph. In addition, Shout Factory TV has the 6 episodes available and they all run 50 minutes plus a few seconds each. The miniseries was released on Region 1 DVD by S'More Entertainment in the US on May 14, 2019. It is 2-discs with a total running time of 300 minutes, which does seem to be the complete version.

References

External links

* * {{ITC Distributions Chronology Television series by ITC Entertainment 1974 films Films based on the Book of Exodus Films set in ancient Egypt Films set in the 13th century BC Television shows based on the Bible Cultural depictions of Moses British television films Television series by ITV Studios Films scored by Ennio Morricone 1970s English-language films