Wholly Moses! is a 1980 American Biblical spoof film written by Guy Thomas and directed by Gary Weis. Dudley Moore plays Old Testament-era idol maker Herschel, whose life and adventures seem to parallel that of the more famous Moses, all the while being misled to think he is the prophet of God. The film also stars Laraine Newman, James Coco, Paul Sand, Jack Gilford, Dom DeLuise, John Houseman, Madeline Kahn, David Lander, Richard Pryor, and John Ritter. Plot Harvey and Zoey, two tourists travelling through Israel, discover an ancient scroll describing the life of Herschel, the man who was almost Moses. Herschel thinks he hears God commanding him to go to Egypt, but actually, he has overheard God giving His instructions to Moses at the burning bush. He tries to obey this command, but Moses always seems to be one step ahead of him. Several other biblical stories, such as Lot and his wife, David and Goliath, and the miracles of Jesus, are also parodied in this story of the life of a man trying to follow the path to God, but somehow always seeming to lose his way. Cast Dudley Moore .... Harvey Orchid/Herschel Laraine Newman .... Zoey/Zerelda James Coco .... Hyssop Paul Sand .... God's Angel Jack Gilford .... Tailor Dom DeLuise .... Shadrach John Houseman .... The Archangel Madeline Kahn .... The Witch David L. Lander .... The Beggar Richard Pryor .... Pharaoh John Ritter .... The Devil Richard B. Shull .... Jethro Tanya Boyd .... Princess Ruth Manning .... Landlady Walker Edmiston .... God (voice) Reception The film received poor reviews. Because of a production hiatus imposed on their television show by WTTW, Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel did not review the film on Sneak Previews upon its initial release. Of the film, Ebert wrote in print: In another print review, Siskel wrote: When the film was released on DVD, John Sinnott of DVD Talk echoed Siskel's comparisons: In a guest review for Entertainment Weekly regarding the same DVD release, and that of another film starring Moore, Crazy People, Ty Burr of The Boston Globe gave the film a D grade, describing the film as a "wholly unfunny comedy". Five orthodox Jewish groups protested the film for mocking their religion. Wholly Moses holds a 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on seven reviews. References External links 1980 films 1980 comedy films 1980s parody films American comedy