Apr 10, 2008
The Reel Dad:
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by MARK SCHUMANN
Father of Three
Charlton Heston’s death, early this week, brings to mind a long list of memorable performances. For most moviegoers, he will always be Moses because of his memorable work in this Cecil B. DeMille epic. But there was so much more to this actor’s life and career than this one performance.
Many years ago, I had the chance to ask Charlton Heston if he felt any pressure to live up to the image created by the roles he played on screen. I questioned how any mortal, especially the one who parted the Red Sea, could live up to audience expectations. He smiled that famous smile, and replied, “Well, the truth is, I can’t part the waters in a bathtub.”
That this iconic actor would spend his final years battling the ravages of Alzheimer’s Disease tragically brings a larger-than-life image to earth. How sad that he likely could not remember the unforgettable moments he created in more than 80 films. Here are a few of the best Heston moments over the years.
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952). Critics love to make fun of this surprise winner of the 1952 Best Picture Oscar. Despite its preposterous story and ponderous direction, the film makes Heston a star as the practical manager of the doomed circus. Overlook some of the worst dialogue ever written (certainly for an Oscar winner) and enjoy how the man can act.
Touch of Evil (1958). Unappreciated and overlooked when first released, this crime thriller is now considered one of the last true examples of film noir. Without a hint of screen ego, Heston delivers a magnetic turn (with an authentic Mexican accent) as a deeply flawed police officer.
Ben-Hur (1959). Any review of Heston’s career must include his exaggerated performance in this Oscar-winning epic. While his Ben-Hur is not as over-the-top as his Moses in The Ten Commandments, it did not deserve winning an Academy Award over Jack Lemmon in Some Like It Hot or James Stewart in Anatomy of a Murder. Heston’s best moments are the quiet ones, such as when Ben-Hur comforts his ailing mother or confronts his lifetime rival.
El Cid (1961). Heston delivers a commanding performance as a military hero who saves Spain from the Muslims in the 11th Century. His presence fills the wide screen with enough power and sensitivity to balance the sweep of the action and the intensity of the romance opposite a breathtaking Sophia Loren.
The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965). Heston majestically recreates the great artist Michelangelo painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel for Pope Juluis II. He thoughtfully brings the artist’s struggle to life in a series of memorable moments such as when he destroys part of the work, and utters a classic line, “If the wine is sour, throw it out.”
Khartoum (1966). By the mid 1960s the predictability of a Heston epic undermines this enlightening epic about the last months of the British stand in Sudan. Heston is brilliant — opposite the great Laurence Olivier — in a complex characterization of a military general who recognizes duty as he hopes for peace in a turbulent world.
Planet of the Apes (1968). Just when it seems Heston might be “old hat” for a changing movie landscape, he reinvents his persona with a striking performance as an astronaut tossed into an unfamiliar world. Few screen moments of the 1960s compare to his discovery, in the film’s final moments, of what has happened to his beloved civilization.
Will Penny (1968). That same year Heston delivers his finest screen performance as an aging cowboy who meets the love of his life on the open range. This larger-than-life actor — who made a career of playing heroes — is pitch-perfect as an illiterate loner who is mortally afraid of being happy.
Julius Caesar (1970). For most of the next decade, Heston would primarily appear in disaster films (the camp classics Airport 1975 and Earthquake), military epics (the tedious Midway) and science fiction yarns (Soylent Green and The Omega Man). He also offers a definitive performance as Mark Antony in this underappreciated screen version of the Shakespeare classic. This, for any doubters, proves he can act.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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