Charlton Heston, RIP
April 6th, 2008 at 12:41pm Will Pfeifer
When I posted that picture of Charlton Heston from SOYLENT GREEN a few days ago, I never would’ve thought I’d be writing about his death today. Heston was one of those actors who, love him or hate him, seemed like he’d be around forever. Even though he had Alzheimer’s and hadn’t appeared in a movie in half a decade, his death still doesn’t seem quite right.
I mean, if the total breakdown of society – in triplicate! — couldn’t bring him down, what could?
I realize Heston is best known for playing Moses in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, and that he won his Best Actor Oscar for BEN HUR, but I’ve always liked him best in what I call his World Gone Wrong Trilogy: SOYLENT GREEN, THE OMEGA MAN and PLANET OF THE APES. In each movie, Heston played the last real man in a world gone mad, either thanks to overcrowding, a disastrous pandemic or highly evolved apes. Whatever the calamity, Heston faced it the only way he knew how: Fists and jaw clenched tightly, bravely (and sometimes recklessly) facing the enemy.
Oscar or not, Heston wasn’t exactly the greatest actor in the history of cinema — but he was a heck of a screen presence. His politics aside (and with Heston, the politics were part of the package), I always enjoyed watching him onscreen. Even when things had collapsed around him, he seemed to be enjoying himself on some level, and in all three movies in the World Gone Wrong Trilogy, he brings a sly sense of humor to the role, no matter how humorless it might have been written. The glee with which his detective loots a rich guy’s apartment in SOYLENT GREEN brings added dimension to a character that, in the script, barely had one.
And, let’s give the guy credit for one more thing: Back in 1958, when he was a major movie star (having played Moses two years earlier), he was cast as the hero in TOUCH OF EVIL. He asked who was going to direct, and the producers said they didn’t know yet, but Orson Welles was playing the villain. Heston, an obvious master of understatement, Â said “You know, Orson Welles is a pretty good director.” So they hired Welles to direct and TOUCH OF EVIL turned out to be one of his masterpieces. And Heston was delighted to work with him, seeing a genius in Welles that the rest of Hollywood had ignored for years.
Now that, my friends, is a movie star.
Entry Filed under: Classic movies, Deaths
11 Comments Add your own
1. Pete Albert | April 6th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
I wanted to share with you a fond memory that I have of Charlton Heston, which may provide a timeline tick-mark to something he was famous for saying whenever he ended a speech while acting on behalf of the NRA.
Back in 1989 or perhaps it was 1990, years before he was to become the President of the NRA, Chuck Heston was, for the first time, the keynote speaker at the annual NRA convention, that year being held in St. Louis. I was sent there from Chicago to cover the convention for the ABC network news as a photographer.
On the night of the big, formal dinner, Chuck had already given a stirring speech, and other convention business had also been concluded when the (then) President of the NRA, Wayne LaPierre, stood to address the membership. He reminded the gathered crowd that it was a tradition to close the evening’s events by presenting that years keynote speaker with a gift of thanks. In this case, the gift was a hand-made long rifle, worth about $15,000.
This thing was huge. I’ll guess six or seven feet long, inlaid with a lot of gold. I believe it was representative of a similar rifle that he used in one of his movies called The Mountain Men. Chuck comes up to the podium and graciously receives the rifle. The President then turns the microphone over to Chuck, who is standing there in silence, cradling and caressing the long rifle with gentle, sweeping strokes of his free hand, his eyes traveling up and down its steely length. After what seemed to be about two minutes of his drinking in the splendor of the rifle, Chuck brings the rifle across his chest, holding it now with both hands. He moves in toward the mic, where he quietly, yet firmly attests, “I have only one thing to say.” He then triumphantly raises the rifle high above his head, as if once again about to part the Red Sea with the mighty staff, and in his greatest, deepest Moses voice he declares (for the first time,) “From my cold, dead, hands.”
The place went NUTS! I mean hundreds of people on their feet, in an instant, applauding, shouting and whistling with delight and affirmation of everything NRA. I saw several people stand on their chairs, and even a few jump onto the dining room tables, stomping their feet to cheer on Chuck and his message. It was clearly this moment in time that Chuck Heston became destined to lead the NRA in the coming years. The raucous applause easily lasted over five minutes. The floor itself was shaking…and NO ONE had their cameras rolling during this “routine” gift presentation.
I was fired the next day.
- Pete Albert
Los Angeles
Former TV news photographer
2. John N | April 7th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Great story, Pete. Great tribute, Will. Mr. Heston, you are missed already.
3. Will Pfeifer | April 7th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Seconded, Pete — that was a great story. You know, I’ve been reading a lot of postings on various sites about Charlton Heston, and there’s a common thread — he seems to have been a genuinely nice, courteous guy who acted like anything but the stereotypical egotistical star. He will definitely be missed.
4. Greg G | April 8th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
I suppose this question may seem insensitive. I don’t mean it to be so — may he rest in peace. But, can I ask, not being the movie genius that the Movie Man is….why, oh why, oh why is he about to French kiss an ape? Movie, doncha think maybe that’s a little much?
5. Brew Haus | April 8th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
I have to admit, that is pretty disgusting. May he RIP.
6. Lend Him a Hand | April 8th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
I think this is a scene from BJ and the Bear.
7. Will Pfeifer | April 8th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
C’mon, guys, it’s from the end of PLANET OF THE APES when Heston has learned to respect the apes — or at least his buddies, the chimps, Cornelius and Zira. It’s a touching moment.
Trivia note: When Heston saw Kim Hunter (who played Zira) at a premiere of the movie, he reportedly didn’t recognize her, having never seen her without makeup.
8. Greg G | April 9th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Movie, I told you I wasn’t THAT much of a movie man. I just didn’t know! Don’t beat me up. But…don’t you think maybe a handshake mighta sufficed?
Lend: BJ and the Bear? What?
9. Javan | April 10th, 2008 at 8:25 am
BJ and the Bear was a show about a truck driver and a monkey, I think. Maybe a bear. Not sure.
10. Greg G | April 10th, 2008 at 9:34 am
I would think it would be about a bear. Hence the name, BJ and the Bear. Movie Man, can you help settle this? You must know.
11. Will Pfeifer | April 10th, 2008 at 9:57 am
It’s about a trucker and a chimp (which, if you want to get technical, is an ape, not a monkey.) The chimp’s name was Bear, though I can’t remember why.
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