User Reviews

This gets such a bad rap, but it is actually an interesting and amusing flick. With a cast including Dudley Moore, Richard Pryor, Madeline Kahn, and Dom Delouise, it has ample star power to get your viewing eyes and ears through with minimal disappointment. It may not be extremely well acted or directed, but the obvious improvisation acting is superb and carries the film. This movie does something rare to stay afloat, it never takes itself too seriously, even as comedies go. Perhaps not a great, but definitely a good flick, watch it once, you'll be glad you did. It's Dudley Moore and Richard Pryor for chrissake!! How could it be as bad as this site says it is??? It can't, and it is not, check it out.

This was a cute movie. That's about all I really can say for the movie itself. It was witty without being clever. It was amusing without being downright funny. It was neither cutting edge nor creatively inspired (George Burns starred in Oh, God! in 1977). But after nearly thirty years of being preached at (The Ten Commandments by Cecil B. DeMille in 1956, and on and on), it was nice to be able to sit back and laugh about something most people get totally uptight over.

From this release in 1980, we received Mel Brooks's, "History of the World, Part One." Now I'm not saying that Brooks copied this, or ripped it off. It is obvious that he did not do either of those. These are two totally different movies about different issues.

Wholly Moses is about Moses's "brother," Hershel (an invention) and is set during Biblical times. History of the World Pt1 is just that: a very witty take on the ancient history of the world. While sometimes they do cross paths, they never run completely parallel.

While I absolutely LOVE HotW1, I still enjoy watching Hershel dork his way through life.

If you enjoyed History of the World, you may enjoy this one.

It rates a 4.8/10 from...

the Fiend :.

Just speaking personally, this viewer would agree with one other review here: the material in this star-packed parody is amusing if never terribly funny. Screenwriter Guy Thomas and director Gary Weis have their hearts in the right place, but too many of the jokes fell flat and the movie became somewhat boring as a result, which is compounded by the fact that it's slowly paced and goes on a little too long. Now, that's not to say that there aren't some great moments, because there are. They just happened to mostly occur in the second half, so there was a bit of a wait.

Dudley Moore and Laraine Newman star as Harvey and Zoey, two tourists taking in the sights of the Holy Land who go off on their own and explore a nearby cave, where they find an ancient scroll. Harvey is able to translate it, so he spends the balance of the movie relating it to Zoey: it's the story of Herschel (Moore again), son of a slave named Hyssop (James Coco), who has many travels and at one point becomes a brother in law to Moses! When God entrusts Moses with the mission of freeing the Jews in Egypt from bondage, Herschel spends most of the movie thinking the request was directed at him. He meets many characters on his journeys: an Angel of the Lord (Paul Sand), a tailor (Jack Gilford), Shadrach (Dom DeLuise), an Archangel (John Houseman), a witch (Madeline Kahn), a beggar (David L. Lander), a pharaoh (Richard Pryor), and the Devil (John Ritter).

It's the earnest efforts of this capable comedy cast that make "Wholly Moses!" worth sitting through. This viewer personally found the appearances by DeLuise, Houseman, Pryor, and Ritter particularly delicious. There are also some little gags worth noting, such as when a character is turned into a pillar of salt, and Hyssop scrapes some of the salt into his food. The scenery and widescreen photography are gorgeous, and the production design / art direction / set decoration team certainly do their jobs well; the movie has a good look. In addition to the famous faces (also including Andrea Martin as Zipporah), the cast features some top notch character actors: Richard B. Shull, William Watson, Sandy Ward, Brion James, and Michael Champion. Walker Edmiston, who'd provided the incredibly creepy vocalizations for the Zuni fetish doll in the final segment of 'Trilogy of Terror', does the voice of God.

With so much talent assembled here, it's too bad this couldn't have provided more laughs. It's watchable but is never as hilarious as one might wish.

Five out of 10.

The other reviewer obviously has no sense of humor. This is satire at it's funniest. Before her wedding, her sister told her that she and her Hershel would do what sheep do in the field. So, Zorelda went "baaaa" to her new husband. When Hershel found her in Sodomm, in her room were a pair of the giant's shorts hanging to dry...the size of a picture window. When Zorelda is turned into a pillar of salt, Hershel carries her around, then introduces her to his father, who immediately covers her with a cloth so his daughter-in-law won't get chipped. Richard Pryor as Pharroh is hilarious. And so is John Ritter as the Devil. And we even have a barbershop quartet clad in red and white striped togas. This is a fine cast of award-winning actors and actresses, and it's well worth your time to see it.

Wholly Moses! (1980) is a movie that I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows a pair of tourists traveling through Israel who discover a scroll of the biblical Herschel who was the actual person behind the events in the bible that Moses received credit for. They discover Herschel's path to fame and how Moses stole all of the credit.

This movie is directed by Gary Weis (LA Law) and stars Dudley Moore (Arthur), Dom DeLuise (Blazing Saddles), Richard Pryor (Harlem Nights), John Ritter (Sling Blade), Laraine Newman (Coneheads) and James Coco (Murder by Death).

This cast is absolutely amazing - from the main characters to the side characters to the cameos, really impressive list of actors. Unfortunately, while this concept had potential, and the cast was awesome, it wasn't really that funny. There are a bunch of random and fun circumstances, and Ritter and Pryor were excellent in their roles. I just wanted this movie to be funnier.

Overall, this is a movie that should have been great...but wasn't. I would score this movie a 5/10 and recommend seeing it once.

Basically, 'Life of Brian' but with the story of Jesus swapped out with that of Moses. It tells the unfortunate tale of Herschel, an Israelite born around the same time as Moses, and whom he often crosses paths with over the course of his unlucky life as he goes about under the mistaken assumption of being 'The Chosen One'.

Toothless and mostly void of laughs, 'Wholly Moses' is such a waste of potential. Think the trend of lazy spoofs started with the Wayans? Oh no, even as far back as the 80s, we have a film built almost completely lame wit and even lazier slapstick, and when it tries to have a plot, it's just a nothing more than an excuse to stitch a bunch of different sketches together, all vaguely connected with the Old Testament (for no real reason, we're suddenly in the middle of David and Goliath, and then in Sodom) under a rather tepid 'what-if' telling of the Exodus story. Remember how 'Life of Brian', on top of being inventive and wacky, also discussed and satirized religion and the fanaticism that comes from it? 'Wholly Moses' has absolutely none of that, despite the premise being ripe for it with having a protagonist always conflicting with his faith.

Despite the all star comedy cast, no actor can salvage it, with Moore going through the motions as the lovable dweeb Herschel, while surrounding him in thankless cameo roles are the likes of Madeline Kahn, Dom Deluise, John Ritter and Richard Pryor, but they're on screen so little and the parts are so inconsequential it begs the question of why bother. SNL veteran Gary Weis' direction is lax and in no way tries to replicate the scope of old Biblical epics, draining even more life from the already bland gags. Even the score by Patrick Williams, while taking on an appropriately Egyptian flavour, never aspire to be more than kooky, and again, is a waste of a good musician. It makes me yearn more for John Morris' mastery of parody scores.

Honestly, I just can't think of more to say. 'Waste' really is the best word to sum this up, and the people involved should know and can do better. What could've be 'Brian' by way of Mel Brooks just amounts to a plod with no spine and even less joy. It says something when the little Moses segment from Brooks' 'History of the World' is better than this near two hour film.

What ho! The most recent box-office smash of a comedy is "Monty Python's Life Of Brian," re-igniting their popularity (as well as controversy).

In steps good ol' Hollywood, trying to cash in with a quickie ripoff. Taking the place of the Pythons is fellow Brit, Dudley Moore. Another comic masterpiece on the order of "Brian"? Not so fast.

Dudley Moore possesses none of the traits I find exemplary in British comedians. He lacks the sadism of Rowan Atkinson and the Monty Python gang; he doesn't have the lasciviousness of Benny Hill; he hasn't the surrealism of Peter Sellers and his fellow Goons, or the all-out silliness of the "Are You Being Served?" bunch. What Moore does have is a certain self-effacing charm that sometimes (or not) holds him in good stead as a leading man.

Does he make a good leading man to girlfriend Laraine Newman in the present pic? (Speaking of which—what happened to her?) Well, any positive answer rises or falls on the weakness of the material they have to work with. If this film deserves any plaudits at all, it's for gathering together such a cavalcade of great comedic talents. But they're shamefully wasted on a weak story.

The plot, such as it is, centers on an unearthed scroll representing the Book of Herschel (Moore), a relative to Moses. In flashback, Herschel's infancy parallels Moses', being sent up the river in a basket and all that jazz. (Old Testament, not New. We must be PC, right?) Dom DeLuise, Richard Pryor, Paul Sand, James Coco, Jack Gilford, John Ritter, Madeline Kahn, even tossing in John Houseman for a touch of class…..and what do they amount to here? Corny lines, a contrived story that's too contrived even for a comedy, and a motley staff of writers desperately trying to rouse a laugh from the apathetic audience.

As stated above, the extra star I gave it's just for the impressive cast.

So bad that it doesn't deserve a review so much as a warning.

I mean, not one laugh. Okay, now if you are a mormon or something and think the Mr. Bean movie was funny because it was mainly inoffensive than this could be for you. There really is no other audience...except maybe precocious pre-adolescents. This MIGHT be worth their while.

Dudley Moore - made me smile once. Richard Pryor - funniest thing in this, and still I did not laugh. Lorraine Newman - the less said, the better. James Coco - seems like a terribly nice guy...I'll leave it at that. John Ritter - no physical comedy for him to do so...basically wasted.

The writer had a single previous writing credit.

I hate to sound conspiratorial, but one does sort of imagine that someone said, "hey, let's capitalize on the popularity of Life of Brian and use this new (or was it old?) script".

Life of Brian had 6 good writers and a cohesive comedic troupe. This movie, seems to have had nothing go right for it.

Watch at your own peril. :-)

Herschel (Dudley Moore) is an idol maker who ends up on the mountain with his brother-in-law Moses is getting a message from God. Herschel thinks God was talking to him and heads to Egypt with his wife Zerelda (Laraine Newman) to free his people in bondage. This is rough stuff and I don't think a single joke worked. Director Gary Weis got big directing for SNL and this proves the cast on that show may have been the sole reason for its success. I tried to think of a joke to use as an example, but there are all so terrible. Okay, here you go - Zerelda asks her sister what to do on her wedding night and she says, "You do what the sheep do in the fields." So that night Hershel comes in, blows out the candles and in pitch black we hear her go, "Baaaaah." Yikes! They apparently thought this joke was so riotous, that it is repeated two more times in the next scene.

Poor Moore was coming off the smash success of 10 (1979) when he started this. According to an article in Variety, 10 came out on October 5th and Moore signed onto this for 30 times his salary on the Blake Edwards film and started filming October 22nd. Hey, nice work if you can get it. He tries but his charm can only go so far. Lucky for him, he rebounded with Arthur (1981). If the film has any redeeming feature, it is there are a ton of cameos from folks like Dom DeLuise, John Houseman, Madeline Kahn, David "Squiggy" Lander, John Ritter, and Richard Pryor. But they are all wasted in their bits too (Pryor probably literally). Example: DeLuise's one-scene cameo involves him running into Hershel in the vast desert and they have a "let's do lunch" type Hollywood talk. Wah, wah, waaaaah. There is a modern day wrap around with Moore and Newman as American tourists in Israel who discover a scroll that allows them to tell the story. This plus Moore's narration makes me think it was added later by the studio to help. It didn't. The big comedy gag in the modern footage is that Moore's character gets his head stuck in the tour bus door...twice. Ouch!

I really liked this movie! It's a light satirical comedy. It doesn't try to be academy award material with a heavy story, overpowering special effects, or raw suspense, that seem to be the requirement to impress critics today. This movie achieves its goal very well; a couple of hours of zany humor. The comedic acting is very good, with a notable scene by Richard Pryor as Pharaoh. I really enjoyed Dudley Moore, Laraine Newman, and James Coco in this movie. There are also several funny celebrity cameos. The directing, film editing, camera work, and soundtrack were also very good. The humor has occasional adult content. If you want a break from heavy Hollywood blockbusters, and just want to enjoy an afternoon of chuckles and light humor, I recommend this movie.

This film is for people with different tastes. I actually like this movie. In fact it's the only film I like of Dudley Moores. (RIP) It has a couple amusing moments, maybe not laugh out funny, but the comedy is restrained. Anyway I do recommend this movie for a Saturday afternoon, sort of along the lines of Abbott and Costello.

7 out of 10. I liked it.

Moore plays a shepherd who's somehow two steps behind Moses when a famous incident occurs. The film is sporadically funny with Moore working in some mildly comic routines and there are fine cameos from Pryor, Kahn and Coco, but altogether, the film needs some side splitting laughs.

In the sometimes questionable comedy vein of Mel Brooks, "Wholly Moses!" tries to take the Bible story of Moses and make fun of it, resulting in the unfunniest Biblical spoof ever filmed. There is no real plot here, just excuses to trot out stalwart comedy talent in underwritten roles. Harvey (Dudley Moore) and Zoey (Laraine Newman) are on a bus tour of the Holy Land, when they stumble across an ancient scroll in a cave. There they read the story of Herschel and Zerelda, also played by Moore and Newman. Herschel's life parallels Moses'. He was sent down the river to be found by the pharaoh's family at the same time Moses was. Herschel's birth father, Hyssop (James Coco), becomes Herschel's slave after Herschel is rescued by idol makers and works as a sculptor. Eventually Herschel comes to work for the pharaoh as an astronomer, is banished, and ends up tending Moses' flock of sheep. Herschel and Moses are brothers-in-law, marrying sisters, and Herschel thinks God has chosen him to free his people in Egypt. Of course, Moses was receiving the Divine Word, but Herschel misunderstood. I'll pause here to laugh hysterically...pause...anyway, the rest of the film is a series of badly written scenes involving Moore and actors who are making "special appearances." These scenes do not propel the plot forward, they bring what little story there is to a grinding halt. Jack Gilford plays a tailor. Dom DeLuise has maybe three lines when he meets Herschel in the desert. John Houseman is an archangel, just giving the same line readings he gave in "The Paper Chase." David L. Lander is a fake blind man "healed" by Herschel. Andrea Martin is one of Zerelda's sisters. I was not sure who Madeline Kahn was supposed to be, she gives a ride to Herschel, and has about a minute and a half of screen time. John Ritter plays a very unfunny devil. Richard Pryor has one scene as the pharaoh, but it was obviously shot at a different time than Moore's scene because the two do not appear onscreen together. In the end, Zerelda turns into a pillar of salt after looking back on New Sodom's destruction, ha ha. Herschel writes the Ten Commandments, and gives them to Moses, who is basking in all the glory. In the final scenes, the screenwriter decide to try and salvage this shallow film by having Herschel bait God into an argument. God comes off as an all powerful bully who was leading Herschel around for his own amusement, speaking through him only to give him the Ten Commandments. We even have Zerelda quip "God works in mysterious ways," thereby excusing everyone's very un-Christian behavior during the film.

This film is not funny. There is nary a laugh to be found anywhere. At least Monty Python made fun of many established religious mainstays in "Life of Brian" in addition to their take on Jesus' life, but here the humor consists of poo-poo jokes and characters constantly bumping their heads. This makes Mel Brooks look like Merchant/Ivory. Churchgoers will be offended, not by the film's attitude toward religion, but by the smugness the movie exhibits, impressed with their own hoitytoityness (I know, not a word) on a subject they obviously know nothing about. "Wholly Moses!" is wholly bad, and an embarrassment to all involved. I suggest you read the Book instead.

Probably inspired by Life of Brain this film gives an account of Mozes' brother-in-law. His life is somewhat similar to that of Mozes. He floats in an ark at exactly the same time as Mozes. He marries a sister of Mozes wife. He stands just around the corner when god speaks to Mozes and thinks he is addressing him. So he tries to do the same as Mozes without much success. In the end he is the writer of the commandments which are based on his own life experiences. The film plays fast and loose with the Bible to convey only one message: Don't take your religion more seriously than your particular god does. He may be more of a prankster than you are. The film feels like a couple of skits woven together. Which makes for a couple of jolting breaks between scenes. However, in this time of people taking religion much too serious again, this really is a breath of fresh air.

Released the year before The History of the World: Part One, Dudley Moore took his own crack at a biblical spoof: Wholly Moses! In it, a group of modern tourists are being bused through Israel, and during a lunch break, two of them (Dudley and Laraine Newman) wander off and come across an ancient scroll telling the tale of a man who lived through Biblical times but wasn't included in any text. Parts of it are really funny, like when Dudley does all the classic things Moses did in the Bible - but not really. He thinks he parted the waters, but really someone else dammed up the river with boulders. He thinks he can cure the blind and lame, and when he comes across a beggar with both afflictions, he declares his intention to fix his ailments. The beggar is faking it to get money from the townspeople, so when Dudley pokes his eye, he exclaims, "What are you trying to do, blind me?" Everyone is impressed because he can "now" obviously see. Other parts aren't that great, as it's easy to imagine the screenwriters just thought the jokes were funny while sitting around the table or rehearsing. Some jokes are milked too much, and if you don't like anachronistic humor, you don't stand a chance at laughing.

I thought James Coco was very cute as Dudley's father and devoted slave. You'll see tons of familiar faces in the supporting cast, from cameos to larger parts: Richard Pryor, Dom DeLuise, Jack Gilford, John Houseman, Madeline Kahn, Paul Sand, and John Ritter. You can give it a shot, and if you laugh at about fifty percent of the jokes, you'll probably enjoy it. If you can't stand it after about twenty minutes, it won't get any better for you.

Another British comedian takes on the Bible with similarly funny results. If you enjoy satirical pseudo-biblically based films, then you can't go wrong with Wholly Moses!

Dudley Moore plays Hershel, a Jewish boy who lives his whole life in the shadow of the biblical figure, and his own brother in law, Moses. Some very funny bits, and as i said before along the lines of Life of Brian and as others have said Mel Brooks' History of the World. Parodying several bible stories, this film is not as funny as LoB, but it's still a very enjoyable film. Stand out performances from Moore, Richard Pryor, Laraine Newman, Dom DeLuise, and including John Ritter as Satan.

I don't understand how this movie got such a low score. I can appreciate that everyone has there own opinion but the score definitely does not fit the movie. I have seen this movie many times and each time it makes me laugh just as much as the first time I saw it. I love this movie. If you want to just sit back relax forget your troubles and have a good laugh then this movie is an excellent choice. It's absolutely worth watching and giving it a chance if you have not seen it before. In any case as I said above the low score surprised me so for anyone out there considering watching it don't let that score stop you because you will miss out on a really good movie. And if you're still in doubt just check out the cast.I think that says it all.

The pantheon of religious spoofs includes "Wholly Moses!", about a man who almost did everything that Moses did. While Richard Pryor (as the Pharaoh) and John Ritter (as the Devil) turn in some cool performances, Dudley Moore as Herschel basically plods. Therefore, he drags down the whole movie. It probably would have come out funnier had they cast someone like Chevy Chase or Steve Martin in the role; I mean, they already had one "Saturday Night Live" cast member (Laraine Newman). Granted, Moore isn't terrible. His scenes on Mt. Sinai are to die for. It's just that I've always considered him sort of weird, and so it's hard to interpret him as laugh-out-loud funny.

So, it's OK once, I guess. Also starring Madeleine Kahn, James Coco and Dom DeLuise. My two favorite religious spoofs are Monty Python's "Life of Brian" and Mel Brooks's "History of the World Part I".

After 34 years of only knowing about this movie and some negative reviews it got, I finally got from Netflix Wholly Moses! Dudley Moore stars as both a tourist and as Herschel, a brother-in-law to Moses. Yes, you read that right. Larraine Newman is another tourist and Herschel's wife Zerelda in the ancient scenes. James Coco is the father of Herschel. Then there are cameos by various comics like Dom DeLuise, John Ritter, Richard Pryor, Paul Sand, Madeline Kahn, oh, and dramatic actor John Houseman also appears. I'll just now say that I found the whole thing highly amusing, if not completely hilarious, and wasn't as bad as I'd feared it'd be. So on that note, I say Wholly Moses! is worth a look.

2 Americans touring the Holy Land stumble upon the lost Book of Herschel, and in some time warp way, act it out for us; with not so hilarious consequences.

If you're like me, and I hope for many reasons that you are not, but if you are you tend to get really irritated when you see knock-offs in film and television. You know, like how all 3 TV networks whipped up 3 inane fraternity comedies in the wake of Animal House circa 1980. You heard me all 3 networks. Pathetic isn't it? The intelligence insulting is almost hard to believe, but not as hard to believe for me at least as the multitudes who sit and watch whatever is fed to them!!!! So when Monty Python made Life of Brian, I guess it only natural to expect this counterfeit Hollywood answer. The jokes are OK, a few are pleasant surprises, and the cast isn't really that bad. But you get that I'm wasting my life feeling when this mercifully ends. I love old Dudley Moore, one of the truly just likable actors of all time i.e. Jimmy Stewart. How he got stuck in this thing I'll never know. Probably a game of cards that went badly. Watch anything but this.

Required: Must have an open mind to view this movie.

This is the type of film that one has to set aside all religious feelings, thoughts and beliefs. You must have an open mind and heart as well as a deep love and appreciation of comedy to ever enjoy it.

This is one of the funniest films ever made. It is about a fictional Book of Herschel... and as they say 'it is not fit for either testament". The movie has an all star cast in which each of the actors gave some of their most comical performances ever on film.

This is a good Saturday movie and could make a good double feature with "History of the World: Part I" or "The Meaning of Life".

9/10