Filmmaking – In Praise Of Charlton Heston
One of my favorite movie stars, the great Charlton Heston has died, at 83.
His birth name was John Charles Carter, and he was from Evanston, Illinois.
I won’t dwell on his illness, other than say it’s a dirty trick when our powers are taken, and one of the quick and strong is laid low. Which happens to us all.
And I won’t discuss his politics, except to say any Hollywood movie star, of whatever political bent, who stands up for personal liberty, in this dark age, gets my vote.
I interviewed Charlton Heston for tv, at a 1997 Palm Springs Tennis Tournament. I’ve met lots of movie stars, but he was in a class by himself, perhaps the starry-est.
I learned something extremely valuable from him. I asked him some silly question, one he just didn’t want to answer, and you know what he did? He just smiled. That’s all he had to do.
A wide, white movie star smile, beaming out to everybody, like the spotlights on the 20th Century Fox emblem. He waited, smiling, until the question dissolved like smoke.
I was caught in the high beam, recovered from being transfixed, and said to myself, “So that’s how it’s done.”
Rest in Peace, Mr. Heston. What a career you had! Moses, Michaelanglo, El Cid, Ben Hur. Any one of those…But, he did them all.
I’ve heard some belittle Mr. Heston’s acting. Those persons always reveal, in that, how remarkably little they know about anything.
There are many Actors. There are only a few who are fascinating to watch. He was one of those. A Movie Star. People plunk down money to watch him, do…anything.
If you can do that, then you can criticize.
Oh, and Oscars for Best Actor don’t just fall down from the trees. Mr. Heston earned his in 1959’s “Ben Hur.”
Bigger than life, bigger than other movie stars. He worked in a lot of Big Pictures, and he made them bigger.
He made the silly Planet of the Apes movies something remarkable. He made them entertaining.
Goodbye Mr. Heston,
Sam Longoria
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© 2008 Sam Longoria, All Rights Reserved
Tags: charlton heston, Hollywood
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Thanks Sam… we needed that post!
RIP.
- Remembering Charlton Heston: The Man In The Arena
by Mark McIntire
April 9, 2008 11:42 AM
Charlton Heston kept his promises. He was good to his friends. He believed in a merciful God, and he loved his country. As though that was not enough to separate him from today’s Hollywood elite, he was married, too, and lived with the same woman for over 60 years.
Chuck well may be the last iconic gentleman of his era about whom all of the preceding statements were true.
Many will recall Chuck’s epic stage, movie and TV triumphs, and think he actually was Moses or Ben Hur or Will Penny or Mark Antony. That would amuse as much as bemuse him. “My dad pretends to be other people for a living,” his only son, Fraser Heston, would tell his classmates.
Chuck was an actor’s actor whose only complaint was: “I never got it right. I always thought I could have done that role better.”
Some will recall meeting Chuck at a premiere, posh party, political convention, or just on the street. They’d be struck to find he had the same commanding presence and honest grit, and the same gentlemanly manners, on screen and off. He was a gentleman’s gentleman. “Daddy lives by his principles, not by the costumes he wears in movies,” his only daughter, Holly, would tell all who asked what he was really like as a person.
Once a liberal Democrat who campaigned with Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy, Chuck later became identified with the conservatism of his friend Ronald Reagan. “I didn’t change . . . my party did,” he’d explain to those who asked about his transformation.
Of all the things that will be written and said of Chuck now that he is dead, a most important key to his character will be overlooked. Charlton Heston derived his moral and political values from ethical principles that did not change over the course of his spectacular life. His detractors argued this only proves he was a fool. But when we look at what his detractors have accomplished in their lives by comparison, we are left with the suspicion that Chuck was no fool. He was a centered man, comfortable in his own skin.
At their 50th wedding anniversary dinner, some upstart (that would be me) had the impertinence to ask his beloved wife, Lydia: “How did you manage to stay married to that man for so many years?” In her typical serenity and graciousness, she replied: “Through Chuck, I learned to keep a center of my being to myself . . . else there would be no one there for him to love.”
The Holy Bible and the complete works of William Shakespeare were never far from Chuck’s fingertips in his study. It’s hard to think of my friend Chuck now without remembering these lines from “Romeo and Juliet,” Act 3, Scene 2:
“And when he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars. And he shall make the face of heaven so fine, that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun.”
Mark McIntire, a Santa Barbara resident, knew
Charlton Heston for 27 years.
a few words, words of wisdom. Thanks, Sam.
Thank You Sam.That was a very good post also educative:)
Great Post Sam, i was waiting for this. I think those who belittle his acting, have not seen his full range. One of his best movies was Major Dundee directed by Sam Peckinpah, where he played a nihilistic, egoistic Civil War Major, who does not hesitate to get rid of people, whom he feels are comming in his way. It was a fascinating role with gray shades, and Heston gave a wonderful performance in it.
Regarding Planet of Apes, the difference can be seen in the way the newer version starring Mark Wahlberg and directed by Tim Burton, was such a sorry mess, inspite of having better special effects.
I did not agree with his views on Gun Control, and his conservative stance on some issues, but politics is one thing and movies is another thing. I never agreed to John Wayne’s political views, but that does not stop me from admiring him as an actor and a legend. Also people forget the fact that he was the first to campaign for Civil Rights, much before Hollywood made it a fad. And he was a major opponent of the Vietnam War.
While people identify him with those Biblical and historic dramas, they are not aware that one of his earlier movies was a noir thriller directed by Orson Welles.
Or that his Soylent Green was one of the finest sci fi movies ever made.
Or that he gave a memorable performance in The Big Country.
Or that he actually put a splint in his nose for the role of Michaelangelo in The Agony and Ecstasy to replicate his broken nose.
Much before method acting became the norm in Hollywood, he was one of the first method actors. He spent hours studying the statue of Moses to get the details right. Honestly when i was seeing 10 Commandments, i did not see Charlton Heston, i saw Moses. For me most of my life, the image of Moses was fashioned after Heston.
This man is a legend, an institution. And he deserves a full salute.
Thanks for this post Sam. I have not seen many of Charles Heston movies, but for Michaelangelo and off course Ben=Hur..what a royal presence he has..just as you mentioned about that tit-bit from your interview..guess, he was a vaery confident man in real life too, which showed on the screen…you could totally sense the aura when he was on the scrren and i guess he could make silence to do the talking…
Sam..do you have that interview posted anywhere? any links or footage?
Charles Heston..RIP!
ve seen only 1 movie of heston^:)^
RIP
heston rules,and so did planet of the apes!
Thanks for these kind words. He was indeed a great person and a wonderful actor. We will miss him.
there are some actors who should thank the camera for what the camera did to them ,and then there are some who should have the camera thank them .
Heston was one of them ,may be not the greatest of actors but his presence certainly lit up the whole stage , the action scenes in Ben-Hur are still the best comparable to the best hollywood can offer in this age of VFX. ^:)^ ^:)^ ^:)^
I agree he might have been a great actor to me his poor politics overshadowed all his other achievements.
I am sorry cannot share the same opinion about him as an human being.