Moses the Lawgiver is a six-hour television miniseries filmed in 1973/74 and starring Burt Lancaster as Moses. 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, released in 1977.
Contents
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
Burt Lancaster as Moses
Anthony Quayle as Aaron
Ingrid Thulin as Miriam
Irene Papas as Zipporah
Aharon Ipale as Joshua
Yosef Shiloach as Dathan
Marina Berti as Eliseba
Shmuel Rodensky as Jethro
Mariangela Melato as The Princess Bithiah
Laurent Terzieff as Pharaoh Merneptah
Michele Placido as Caleb
Antonio Piovanelli as Korah
Jacques Herlin as The Magician
Umberto Raho and José Quaglio as two of The Pharaoh's Ministers
Melba Englander as Merneptah's Wife
Marco Steiner as The Young Merneptah
William Lancaster as The Young Moses
Galia Kohn as The Young Miriam
Mosko Alkalai as Amram
Dina Doron as Jochebed
Yossi Werzansky as Eleazar
Richard Johnson as The Narrator
Production
As Charlton Heston'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 Jesus of Nazareth.
Soundtrack
The "Moses Theme" was composed by Ennio Morricone; 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.
Broadcast and home media
CBS committed to airing the series in America as it went into production. The six episodes aired on Saturday nights at 10pm from 21 June to 2 August 1975. In the summer of 1978, the show was rerun on Sunday nights at 10pm.
The six-hour miniseries was later edited into a 141-minute theatrical release version under the title Moses.
In 2004, the edited 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. The same original version was released on region 1 DVD by S'More Entertainment in the US on May 14, 2019.