Easter special: COMMANDMENTS OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

One of my favorite things about Easter, nearly as far back as I can remember, is The Ten Commandments. They ran this every year on TV, in the B.C. of my childhood - "Before Cable." It's just the greatest. Maybe one of the reasons it's so perfect for Easter is that it's so loaded with ham. There is some amazing scenery-chewing in this picture. And boy, is there scenery. Charlton Heston, John Derek, Yul Brynner, Cedric Hardwicke, Yvonne De Carlo (Lily Munster!), Anne Baxter, Vincent Price and Edward G. Robinson!

It started to occur to me that The Ten Commandments has some eerie similarities to another famous Charlton Heston movie, Planet of the Apes. You think I'm monkeying around with you? Ha! You tell me:

Moses enters the world of the Pharaohs discovered in the water...

Taylor and the astronauts discover the Ape world by crashing in water.

Great Pharaoh Sethi grows suspicious of Moses' origins...

Great scientist Doctor Zaius grow suspicious of Taylor's origins.

Fierce Egyptian Generals wear large domed helmets...

Fierce Gorilla Generals wear large domed helmets...

Moses taken prisoner and chained like a slave...

Taylor taken prisoner by apes and chained like a slave...

Ape society ruled by The Lawgiver's Sacred Scrolls...

Human society ruled by The Ten Commandments...

Moses finds his fate in the desert...

Taylor meets his fate in the Forbidden Zone...

Okay, some of that's from Beneath the Planet of the Apes, but you get the idea. Two very similar bearded men look to find meaning by escaping out of bondage. Maybe I should let their words speak for themselves...

Moses: "Let my people go!"

Taylor: "Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!"


Happy Easter, everybody!