Goodbye to one of the all-time great movie stars, Charlton Heston, who has died at the age of 83. When I read "remembered chiefly for his monumental, jut-jawed portrayals of Moses, Ben-Hur and Michelangelo," I wondered, by whom? I'm pretty old but I've never seen those movies. I was alive when they came out, but too young to go to movies like that, and they weren't the kind of movies I was ever interested in over the decades I've spent catching up on old movies. So I don't believe Charlton Heston is remembered chiefly for his monumental, jut-jawed portrayals of Moses, Ben-Hur and Michelangelo. I think most people younger than 60 remember him chiefly for "Planet of the Apes." Ask the man on the street to imitate Charlton Heston and I bet he'd say "Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!"
Or maybe:
Ah, we loved Science Fiction Charlton Heston! It was Charlton Heston that turned me against Michael Moore. Remember this from "Bowling for Columbine" — taking advantage of the old man's deteriorating mind?
Horrible. Moore must have felt so self-righteous about his anti-gun agenda that he couldn't see why it was indecent to use that footage. [ADDED: Actually, I don't think that clip is "horrible" or "indecent." When I posted this, I was remembering it and the discussion around it at the time. After watching it just now, I think, given Heston's NRA activities, it was appropriate to interview him and push him, and Moore addressed him with an appropriate level of respect.][AND: I think the unfairness to Moore that I remember occurs outside of this clip, when Moore refuses to leave politely after Heston ends the interview.] The obituary outlines Heston's political career. He started out as a Democrat, and though he, like Ronald Reagan, served as president of the Screen Actors Guild, he never wanted to run for office.
He became a Republican after Democrats in the Senate blocked the confirmation of Judge Robert Bork, a conservative, to the Supreme Court in 1987. Mr. Heston had supported the nomination and was critical of the Reagan White House for misreading the depth of the liberal opposition.... In December of that year, as the keynote speaker at the 20th anniversary gala of the Free Congress Foundation, Mr. Heston described “a cultural war” raging across America, “storming our values, assaulting our freedoms, killing our self-confidence in who we are and what we believe.” The next year, at 73, he was elected president of the N.R.A. In his speech at the association’s convention before his election, he trained his oratorical artillery on President Bill Clinton’s White House: “Mr. Clinton, sir, America didn’t trust you with our health care system. America didn’t trust you with gays in the military. America doesn’t trust you with our 21-year-old daughters, and we sure, Lord, don’t trust you with our guns.”
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I guess you didn't make a point of watching the annual Easter TV re-runs of The Ten Commandments; too pedestrian and gauche, I suppose.
I think my favorite of his 70's movies is The Omega Man. That movie is almost a satire on Chuck's later life; love of guns, conservative values, unable to fit into modern culture.
He served his country in the Army Air Corps during WWII, stayed married to the same woman for 64 years, and marched with Martin Luther King when it was dangerous to do so. Along the way he played some iconic film roles.
I've dreaded this day ever since he announced he had Alzheimer's. My condolences to Mrs. Heston and the rest of the family.
Rest in peace, Chuck. I'll miss you.
There is simply no disputing the fact that the role he will always be best remembered for is Ben Hur.
If you're not old enough to remember, tough darts.
Remembered chiefly not at all, and I'm old enough.
I've heard the name, is all.
Jesus Gives Hope to Ben Hur
(and a centurion)
Ben Hur is the ultimate sprawling action movie. It's also a tale in which Christian forgiveness and salvation conquer hatred and the desire for vengeance.
What's more, the plot revolves around Ben Hur's love for his mother and sister and his desperate struggle to save their lives. You might like it, Professor.
Xan Brooks in the UK Guardian has a great paragraph about Heston:
To his detractors, Heston could be an inflexible, monolithic presence, weighed down by his own mantle of heroism and pious sense of virtue. Others took a more charitable view. Assessing the actor's cultural impact, the critic Pauline Kael hailed him as "a god-like hero, built for strength. He is an archetype of what makes Americans win. He represents American power - and he has the profile of an eagle."
Echoing Bob, (and being younger than 60), I remember Heston every year around Easter or so in The Ten Commandments.
And there was a disturbing point when Jesus of Nazareth appeared on the scene (and on at the same time) in NYC in the late 1970's and I think my parents thought we were not getting enough Jesus and made us watch that instead.
But when we did watch The Ten Commandments, I would sit quietly rooting for Yul Bryner, who struck me as a real man, and less pompous given his actual job (as Pharaoh) in comparison with Heston's messianic choseness.
We always watched Ben Hur, and by the time Planet of the Apes rolled around I was shocked to find Heston in there. My dad kind of sprung one of the movies on me, though I do remember being uncomfortable during scenes of one scantily clad woman and wondering if I should be looking away or not (my parents not keen on us seeing anything too robustly interesting).
He was a great one, Heston. From oddities like Soylent Green to western classics like The Big Country, which also starred Jean Simmons,Gregory Peck, Burl Ives and Chuck Connors.
A man of presence and now just a soylent wafer.
I most remember him in films like "Omega Man", "Soylent Green" and "Planet of the Apes". Later I discovered gems like "Touch of Evil" and realized how he earned his reputation.
read the lew wallace book ben hur and remember that wallace was a civil war general.. if memory serves me right, the complete title of ben hur was "Ben-Hur, A Tale of the Christ".
Heston's sad display with the NRA in his later years tarnished his image I'm sure. I liked him best though in a movie made from the story Lannigan and the Ants.
That's enough memory lane for me this fine raining sunday morning in the hamptons. off for my times and some fresh bagels. enjoy the day everyone.
I remember watching all those Heston movies when I was young on TV.
I'd say that his image was only tarnished amongst those who disagreed with his opposing leftwing ideas and ideals.
Michelangelo, no. The other two, certainly, and even more so than Planet of the Apes.
I'm old enough to have watched the Ten Commandments when it came out in a theater in St. Paul, MN. One thing about the evening that I most remember, was when we were walking to the theatre, we passed by a bar called Alary's. A man was going into the bar, and I looked inside and saw a woman with what could be called a g-string on with tassels on both of her breasts, and she had those tassels rotating in a clockwise direction, very fast. I thought the movie was pretty good too. I must have been about 10 years old.
Hard to believe you've never seen the Ten Com's. I'm under 60, but have seen it several times. Any time it's on, I get sucked in to watch for awhile. There's just something compelling about it.
hd - You can be pretty sure Heston's work with the NRA did not tarnish his image with any of the millions of gun owners and 2nd Amendment supporters in this country. It greatly enhanced it.
The idea that you have to watch something because it's on tv... I don't get it. Lots of stuff is on tv. No one watches it all. There are channels. You're always picking. My consistent failure to watch that pretty clearly says I don't want to watch it. I didn't say I lacked the opportunity. I'm not interested.
I'm 40, and I definitely remember Heston in Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments and The Planet of the Apes. I'd say that because of all the reruns, The Ten Commandments is probably his most well-known role. All three are excellent movies, though. They were standard fare for us growing up. The slaver scenes in Hur stand out - and not just for Heston: "Row well and live"
My daughter, 13, has seen the first two, but I don't think she's seen Apes.
I was surprised to hear he had passed - honestly because I thought he had already left us. I must have been remembering his Alzheimer's announcement.
Ann Althouse: The idea that you have to watch something because it's on tv... I don't get it. Lots of stuff is on tv. No one watches it all. There are channels. You're always picking.
True these days, not so true when you or I were growing up, and there were only three channels on the TV, unless you lived close enough to a town to get the PBS broadcast. You were probably already in college when I and other children watched The Ten Commandments annually at Easter; it was one of the times we were allowed to stay up late before school the next day. Huge nostalgia for us younger Boomers.
Bob, as Seti would have said, "So let it be written. So let it be done."
I was in junior high (now called middle school) and living in Fort Lauderdale when it came out. There weren't any movie theaters in Fort Lauderdale big enough for such a spectacle so my Latin teacher arranged a trip for her students to see it in Miami. For us it was a very big deal indeed.
I didn't know he had an opinion about gays in the military.
I only saw him in Planet of the Apes; I loved that movie.
I didn't like Moses, or Ben Hur, of POTA. After a while I stopped seeing Heston movies because it occurred to me I didn't like them -- not sure if it was his acting or just the type of movie he was interested in being in.
The most famous scene in my mind is the last scene in POTA. "YOu maniacs..." And he was so good in so many other movies:
1) El Cid
2) The War Lord
3) Will Penny
4) Treasure Island
5) Khartom
6) Naked Jungle
Looking at the list, I think Heston was more a man's actor.
I find it interesting that Heston was a liberal democrat in the 60s, who lead the Hollywood contingent in the March on Washing, but by 1980s he was considered an arch-reactionary because he believed in the 2nd Amendment and
attacked the toxic filth in some rap songs.
Thank you, Mr. Heston - for "El Cid", for "Will Penny, AND for the
wonderful quote about Slick Willie - “Mr. Clinton, sir, America didn’t trust you with our health care system. America didn’t trust you with gays in the military. America doesn’t trust you with our 21-year-old daughters, and we sure, Lord, don’t trust you with our guns.”
The loss of a legend. I love Heston.
Incidentally, I just watched The Ten Commandments last night.
It's remarkable how the proprietor of this blog thinks being bored by so many things somehow makes her interesting and being ignorant of so much somehow makes her smart.
Regarding the Michael Moore movie:
Heston announced that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in 2002. Surely, he had symptoms before then.
The Moore movie was released in 2002.
If Moore had reason to know at the time of the interview that Heston was suffering from the disease, interviewing him would have been a cruel thing to do.
Heston had substantial involvement in the civil rights movement in the early 1960s. He was a brave man, many of whose best known movies reflect his belief in the dignity and worth of all people, and especially their right not be turned into wafers and eaten.
"I find it interesting that Heston was a liberal democrat in the 60s, who lead the Hollywood contingent in the March on Washing"
It's a shame he could never get those damn dirty hippies to clean up.
Your list is right on the money RC especailly The War Lord and Will Penny. But I would include Major Dundee as one of my favorites as well as The Bucaneer where he played Andrew Jackson and Yule Brenner played Jean Lafite (with hair no less).
So I don't believe Charlton Heston is remembered chiefly for his monumental, jut-jawed portrayals of Moses, Ben-Hur and Michelangelo. I think most people younger than 60 remember him chiefly for "Planet of the Apes."
Just because you don't remember things a certain way doesn't make that the case for other people. I'm a long way from 60 (37, to be precise), and I definitely remember Heston as Moses and Ben-Hur (Michelangelo, not so much) to a greater degree than Planet of the Apes. The Ten Commandments around Eastertime were part of the standard television fare of any American household from the late 60s through the 80s, particularly those with any pretensions to mainstream religion, even though it isn't exactly the most Biblically accurate of films (it took me awhile to realize that Dathan was actually not a major figure in Exodus). Hell, I remember Heston coming on the Arsenio Hall show and being asked by Hall to do the "live by the law, die by the law" monologue, to the audience's delight.
As much as I love Planet of the Apes, it's the other films that made him an icon. I'd imagine that's the case for most people. Also, remember that a lot of those older films were played all the time on cable movie channels like TBS in the 70s and 80s, before the explosion of cable channels that we now have, so old films like the Ten Commandments or Spartacus (for me, Kirk Douglas will always be Spartacus) had a cultural currency to them that they didn't have in the 60s.
He was a classical liberal, and he rubbed the snouts of modern liberals in it.
1) The recent Wil Smith movie I am Legend was a remake of Heston's "Omega Man". I still like Omega Man better.
2) The Agony and the Ecstacy is actually a pretty good film by the standards of the time it was made. The interplay between Heston and Rex Harrison is very good.
3) There are certain movies that are simply part of our common American culture, and everyone should see them at least once. These would include films such as Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz and It's a Wonderful Life. The Ten Commandments is another one of those movies. You ought to see it at least once Ann, it really has had an impact on American culture.
There is no finer example of the power and majesty of the Lord than seeing what happens to Edward J. Robinson who is leading the worship of Golden Calf while Moses is on the mount and utters the immortal phrase:
"Waddaya think of your Moses now, see?"
Co-staring John Carradine who was in between fathering mediocre actors and Vincent Price in a rare non vampire role. And of chose the immortal Yvonne De Carlo as Sephora before her interest in make up led to her role as Lily Munster and her career in business in the opening of the cosmetic chain that bears her characters name.
It’s a classic, you must see it!
I'm younger than 60 (barely)and I remember Charlton Heston from Ben Hur. I read the book first at the age of 9 Ben-Hur A Tale of The Christ by Lew Wallace 1880. . I remember him from his portrayal of the last man on earth in Omega Man. Also a book that I read before seeing the movie I am Legend, Richard Matheson 1954
I read everything I can get my hands on.
Looking at RCs list. I saw almost all of those movies. Heston wasn't just a man's actor, he was also a figure (at least in the movies and it seems in real life as well) that most women would love to have in their lives. Although modern feminism has dissed and discarded these values. Manly, principled, protective, physically strong, tender, a strong sense of justice, self reliant.... did I mention sexy and handsome? What a fabulous voice.
He represents a type of man and a generation of men that are now few and far between. We will miss him.
I agree with Kael. The male stars who have replaced Heston pale in comparison.
As for Moore, his pious nattering is all over the place; Heston, even in his reduced persona, sounds most reasonable and consistent.
"But I would include Major Dundee as one of my favorites as well as The Bucaneer where he played Andrew Jackson and Yule Brenner played Jean Lafite (with hair no less)."
I liked Dundee and I'll give the "Buccaneer" a try. But Yule Brenner with hair? Sounds scary.
By whom? Jeebus. I'm 43, and I've seen most of Heston's movies--from 'Touch of Evil' to the cameo he did for 'Wayne's World 2'.
Althouse wrote:
Moore must have felt so self-righteous about his anti-gun agenda that he couldn't see why it was indecent to use that footage.
As I understand it, Moore has an anti-gun violence agenda. That is far different from an "anti-gun agenda." Perhaps you should correct that error too.
Major Dundee was a classic.
Heston was a mensch!
From My Cold Dead Hands!
Chuck on gun laws 1989
I don't remember him as Michelangelo, but I have seen the Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur many times.
I get him mixed up with Jack Parlance.
The segment starts with Moore's intrusion into Heston's home. That's where the effrontery began. Moore attempted to contrast his own false humility with Heston's presumed colossal ego in the form gigantic posters. Actually, at that point all Heston had left were his memories, that and the phrase "2nd amendment," which Moore holds in contempt, and those memories are colossal, nearly as large as Moore's own imposing intrusive waddling bulk. It was at that point that I came to despise Moore and my opinion confirmed with his contrasting positively fawning interview of Marilyn Manson, one of the few individuals allowed to actually make sense in that film, if you discount the Canadian kids who cheerfully agree gun-related crimes don't occur in loveliest of all countries, Canada.
I had expected a documentary to lead to something and to get somewhere, to end up a little smarter at the end of it, but in that I would be disappointed. Moore is a putz, and that was the last I ever allowed of him.
No one has yet mentioned Touch of Evil? All right, I will. It was Heston's star power that let crazy old Welles make such a cool picture...and people make fun of Heston as a Mexican! Oy! For the great opening 4 minute tracking shot, (even commented on by Fred Ward in The Player) and the beginning of a great run for Janet Leigh, (Touch of Evil, Psycho, Manchurian Candidate) Chuck Heston can play a Mongol for all I care, if he gets the picture made... oh and a nice bit between former lovers Welles and Marlene Dietrich in Evil too!
Cross the river Jordan, Moses...
Eric! I just saw your Touch of Evil remark! Thanks! It wasn't there when I started writing...
One big difference between Mr. Heston and his critics is that he had a sense of humor about himself. I recall those beer commercials where he made fun of his over wrought acting style. What a hoot.
I'll always remember Mr. Heston best as the elegant and menacing Cardinal Richelieu in Richard Lester's Three Musketeer films. He made Darth Vader look like Santa Claus by comparison!
Jeff with one 'f' said...
I'll always remember Mr. Heston best as the elegant and menacing Cardinal Richelieu in Richard Lester's Three Musketeer films. He made Darth Vader look like Santa Claus by comparison!
I fully agree. He played Richelieu with a very light touch, though, and a great deal of humor. He didn't over-emote or engage in any histrionics in that role.
I have to point out, too, that he played a pretty good Long John Silver in his 70's, and Patrick O'Brien, upon meeting him, though he would have made a great Jack Aubrey.
chip ahoy wrote:
I get him mixed up with Jack Parlance.
And that, sadly, is the most intelligent of Chip's comments.
Althouse --
I can't believe you've never seen an iconic film like Ben Hur. It's as if you'd announced that you've never seen Citizen Kane, and you have no interest in seeing it.
I'd actually put Ben Hur above Citizen Kane -- and as you can guess from my screen name, I'm no Christian, so this opinion isn't based on my religious fervor.
And for the record: Michael Moore is a big, dumb, fat, lazy idiot from Michigan, who the left have embraced as a "documentarian" because they agree with the message of his propaganda.
What he did to Heston in his piece-of-filth "Bowling for Columbine" was sickening: He cut and spliced different sentences together to modify speeches given by Heston; he altered the order of events to make the NRA appear callous or tone-deaf; he goes so far as to splice together sentences from entirely different speeches. A careful viewer will note that Heston occasionally changes shirt-and-tie mid-speech.
A mention of this spittle-spraying pussbag shouldn't appear a blog post noting the death of Charlton Heston.
I just wanted to mention that Heston did a superb job as a narrator on several books on tape. His version of the "Old Man and the Sea" is fantastic.
Heston's acting style was very much of an era and one I can't stand watching. (Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster and John Wayne all had the same, over-the-top, scene chewing style. It's wasn't as much acting as blustering.)
That's a very persceptive comment Joe. Just think of the contrast with our finest actors of the present day like Robert Deniro and Al Pacino.
"Heston's acting style was very much of an era and one I can't stand watching. (Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster and John Wayne all had the same, over-the-top, scene chewing style. It's wasn't as much acting as blustering.)"
Yep, kinda like Nicholson, Pacino, and Daniel Day Lewis.
Whoo-ah!!!
Lets not forget, in order to be accused of "over-acting" you have to be able to "act".
Which lets Richard Gere off the hook.
Sad day to hear that one of the titans of Hollywood have passed. RIP, sir.
I loved The Ten Commandments and The Agony & the Ecstasy, as well as some of his other flicks.
Better than anything Man-Mountain Moore or silly-boy Clooney, who ridiculed his Alzheimers, has ever put on the screen.
Heston was an all-round hero, unlike the epigoni strutting in Hollyweird nowadays.
Ten Commandments was a contest between Heston and Anne Baxter to see who could eat the most scenery.
"Moses, Moses!"
Who else remembers the "Charlton Heston is My President" bumper stickers?
Yeah, those were the Clinton years. Are we heading into more Clinton years?
Who will be our president-in-exile?
Not Sen. McCain--he's always been about working with the opposition. We need someone more divisive.
It won't be Mike Huckabee. He will be too willing to work with the Dem president to get big government/big conservative programs passed.
Tom Selleck (also with the NRA) probably lacks the gravitas to fill the role.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is too moderate.
Mitt Romney is too Mormon.
Fred Thompson is too lazy and too genial. I expect he will make a few more YouTube web statements during the election campaign (in support of Sen. McCain, whenever the moment is right), but he's just not the right person to wage a scorched earth Hillary-hating shadow government.
Of course, just like with Bush Derangement Syndrome, (Bill) Clinton Derangement Syndrome struck otherwise normal, reasonable, rational people. So who knows how many of these nice guys will go off the deep end hating Hillary Clinton if she gets to be president? Maybe one of them can step up, and fill the role of divisive hate-monger who can't stand the president. Or maybe a new face will emerge from the Senate to embody hatred of Clinton or Obama.
As I understand it, Moore has an anti-gun violence agenda. That is far different from an "anti-gun agenda."
Was Heston "pro-gun violence"? Is anybody who's normal "pro-gun violence"?
The recent Wil Smith movie I am Legend was a remake of Heston's "Omega Man". I still like Omega Man better.
Even better was the book on which both were based. Much better, actually.
And let's not forget the understated original, "Last Man on Earth".
Interesting comments regarding acting. For me, about the only thing that makes the original Star Trek series watchable is the dramatic stylings of Mr. Wm. Shatner.
Sometimes you gotta sell it. The universe--or in Mr. Heston's case--the very Human Soul Itself was at stake, we are supposed to believe.
He was a shadow of Paul Scofield in Man for all Seasons, tho'.
But Althouse wouldn't know about that either.
Zeb Quinn wrote:
Was Heston "pro-gun violence"? Is anybody who's normal "pro-gun violence"?
What inspired this bit of illogic?
"Was Heston "pro-gun violence"? Is anybody who's normal "pro-gun violence"?"
I believe 50 Cent will pop a cap in yo ass if you cross him. His acting ability is about on a par with Mr Heston's, although it has to be said that Mr Cent does not have the looks.
"Sometimes you gotta sell it."
You mean like this
Oh, yeah, especially for that episode.
Althouse,
Of course Moore DOESN'T show Heston the level of respect he deserves. You left out one part of Moore's video and one important fact:
Fact: Heston went to Flint Mich 6 months after the shooting and the Flint rally was to "get out the vote" not rally for 'gun rights'. So if Chuck seems puzzled when Moore asks him to apologize - thats why.
Left out Moore Video: After Heston walks away, Moore follows him, holds up a picture of the dead girl, and asks him if wants to apologize. Of course, Heston just keeps on walking. Why? Because he an 78 year old man whose hard of hearing and probably never heard Moore's question!
I'm really sad that on Heston's death you even brought a money grubbing parasite like Moore onto your website and gave him credibility.
"Left out Moore Video: After Heston walks away, Moore follows him, holds up a picture of the dead girl, and asks him if wants to apologize. Of course, Heston just keeps on walking. Why? Because he an 78 year old man whose hard of hearing and probably never heard Moore's question!"
Oh, yes, I remember that part now. He wouldn't leave nicely when asked. The clip I have shows Moore winning over his confidence before that. I was surprised at how inoffensive the clip was compared to my memory of the movie. Thanks.
And, by the way, I though Heston was pretty articulate and rational in that clip (except when he couldn't explain why he was talking about different ethnicities, which made him look terrible).
Ann Althouse: And, by the way, I though Heston was pretty articulate and rational in that clip (except when he couldn't explain why he was talking about different ethnicities, which made him look terrible).
People of a certain ethnicity, which constitutes less than 13% of the population, are responsible for committing about half of all violent crime.
Ask a rich old NRA-supporting white guy, on camera, why our murder rate is twice that of most European countries, and he may elude to ethnicity having something to do with it, but he won't be specific, lest he be branded a racist hater for pointing out the purple elephant in the room.
Go dig around the FBI's uniform crime reports and you'll understand what Mr. Heston was referring to.
So I don't believe Charlton Heston is remembered chiefly for his monumental, jut-jawed portrayals of Moses, Ben-Hur and Michelangelo. I think most people younger than 60 remember him chiefly for "Planet of the Apes."
I'm 52, and I consider Heston's "Planet of the Apes" role to be an anomaly in his career (not that it was bad, just not representative).
"When will you make an end?"
"When it is finished!"
RIP.
Ditto on his Cardinal Richelieu. He could play a bad guy tremendously well.
Another tidbit that I remember him for is his characters all having a habit of dying at the end in the '70s. We were all like "Oh yeah, another Charleton Heston movie where he dies at the end."
Thanks for your work, CH. Requiescat in pace.
Quote:
Moore has an anti-gun violence agenda. That is far different from an "anti-gun agenda."
But the problem is that Moore's solution to gun violence is to reduce/restrict gun ownership/use.
This is "anti-gun" agenda that people are identifying with Moore.
Go dig around the FBI's uniform crime reports and you'll understand what Mr. Heston was referring to.
Exactly. If the United States had Canada's demographics, our murder rate would only be marginally higher than theirs.
Ann, as a guy who wants to sleep with you it pains me to be honest, but a man with Heston's civil rights record has little to apologize for to the likes of you. Or Moore. Shame!
Tony Powell on Imus says they'll be able to get that gun out of his fingers now.
Heston once smashed a rifle to pieces in SECRET OF THE INCAS, the film which inspired RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, where Indiana Jones was looking for Moses' Ark of the Covenant.
Ok
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