The Life of Moses
“A Biblical Film-de-Luxe”
About The Life of Moses
Vitagraph released this biblical picture in five parts. The first, The Persecution of the Children of Israel by the Egyptians, opens with Pharaoh's decree against the Hebrew firstborn. Later reels take Moses through forty years in Midian, the plagues and the deliverance of the Hebrews, the victory of Israel, and the Promised Land, ending with his death. Pat Hartigan plays Moses.
Cast & crew
More about The Life of Moses
Reverend Madison C. Peters, a New York clergyman, was engaged in August 1909 to write and produce a biblical series for Vitagraph, with Rollin S. Sturgeon also credited on the scenario. Charles Kent and J. Stuart Blackton directed. The five reels were issued separately from 4 December 1909 to 19 February 1910: 981, 868, 976, 955, and 990 feet.
Themes
Background
Moving Picture World of 28 August 1909 announced that Vitagraph had hired Reverend Madison C. Peters for a series running from the decree against the Hebrew firstborn to the death of Moses.
In film history
Complete five-reel screenings of The Life of Moses were cited as one step away from the one- and two-reel program toward feature length.
Making
Theater owners resisted a five-reel subject because shorter films let them turn the audience over faster. Vitagraph told exhibitors they could run all five reels in one day, preferably on Sunday, or one reel a day.
Preservation
Preserved in the Library of Congress collection. Silent Era lists the survival status as unknown.
Notes
- Part titles were The Persecution of the Children of Israel by the Egyptians (4 December 1909), Forty Years in the Land of Midian (4 January 1910), The Plagues of Egypt and the Deliverance of the Hebrew (25 January 1910), The Victory of Israel (12 February 1910), and The Promised Land (19 February 1910).
- A Moving Picture World advertisement of 31 December 1909 called it a Biblical Film-de-Luxe.
- Vitagraph also issued a transcript of a Special Lecture on the Life of Moses, reprinted scene by scene in the 18 December 1909 Moving Picture World.
- The company timed the last reels so that all five would be with the exchanges before Lent.
- AFI lists the production date as September or October 1909 and an alternate title, Scenes from the Life of Moses.
- Cast also includes Julia Arthur, William Humphrey, Charles Kent, Edith Storey, and Earle Williams.
Scenes
- The series opens on Pharaoh's decree of death for the Hebrew firstborn.
- The last reel shows the death of Moses.
Influenced by
- The biblical book of Exodus, via a scenario by Madison C. Peters and Rollin S. Sturgeon
