RIP Charlton Heston

For purposes of this post, I will forget, for the moment, the fact that Charlton Heston became a right-wing, fascist spokesman for the National Rifle Association. I will put out of my mind the image of him as a conservative watchdog for all things I detest.

No, when I think of Charlton Heston, I will think of Ben-Hur. And Moses. And the boss of the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey circus, whatever that character's real name was. And, of course, Taylor, the iconic main character of the orginal "Planet of the Apes", the only version that truly mattered.

When I was a kid, before I knew the difference and understood anything about the art of acting, Charlton Heston was my favorite actor. He played heroic characters who fought for justice and all things good and pure. His portrayal of the stalwart, macho and triumphant Jewish prince in the time of Christ, Ben-Hur, was a role model for every Jewish kid who had ever been picked on or put down, myself included. And from the first time I saw "The Ten Commandments", he was forever the image of Moses: strong, righteous, and the messenger of God. My grandmother told me he was Jewish, and I, of couse, had to believe that, since for crying out loud, he was "Moses", wasn't he? He became my Jewish role model, which for some reason, was pretty important to me when I was 10. Of course, I subsequently found out that he was about as Jewish as Yasser Arafat. Oh well.

The most interesting film he made, and ironically one of the worst performances of his career, was in Orson Welles' masterpiece, "Touch of Evil." By that time, Welles, of course, had burned all his bridges in Hollywood. The legendary director of "Citizen Kane" couldn't direct a television episode in Tinseltown, and had become a Hollywood pariah. Heston was at the peak of his career, having recently starred in "The Greatest Show on Earth" (widely believed today to be the worst movie ever to have won the Oscar for Best Picture) and "The Ten Commandments." Heston was enamored by the "Touch of Evil" project, and agreed to do the film with the assurance that Welles would direct. The studio had signed Welles on to play the part of the corrupt cop, Quinlan, and had no intention of letting him direct. Heston refused to budge, and threatened to walk off the film if Welles was not allowed to direct. The studio gave in, and Orson Welles directed his final Hollywood masterpiece, a moody, atmospheric, absorbing film noir that simply explodes off the screen. From the opening four-minute unbroken crane shot to the brilliant characterizations by Hollywood luminaries like Marlene Dietrich, Joseph Cotton and Akim Tamiroff, "Touch of Evil" is one of the most brilliant cinematic works of art of the '50's. The truly ironic thing is that Heston's portrayal of a Mexican detective is laughable. He's no match, acting-wise, for the beautiful, but hardly talented, Janet Leigh. And he is absolutely blown away by Welles himself, who is terrifying and pathetic as Hank Quinlan. The fact that Welles was not nominated for an Academy Award for his acting, let alone his incredible job of directing, is one of the great embarassments of the Academy. Nevertheless, "Touch of Evil" is one of the greatest films ever made, and its existence is owed in no small part to Charlton Heston. For that reason alone, he should be regarded as an icon of the American cinema.

In the '60s, Heston became a star of offbeat, science fiction films, the best of which was "Planet of the Apes." I think I was 10 years old when "Apes" came out, and every kid I knew saw the movie multiple times. Today, the film is regarded as a true classic, filled with wonderful paradoxes, intelligent dialogue (courtesy of Rod Serling's script), excellent photography, great performances by veteran actors in perfect ape make-up, and a legendary, powerful final image. The scene where Heston's character, Taylor, and his fellow astronauts find themselves in a group of mute humans, being hunted by talking apes with guns and horses, is truly terrifying. Heston followed that role with films such as "The Omega Man" and "Soylent Green", and if those movies were not quite as good as "Apes", they were nonetheless interesting and provocative.

So, for giving us "Touch of Evil", and his legendary roles as Ben-Hur, Moses, Taylor and the circus boss, not to mention a whole bunch of others, like Andrew Jackson, and the futuristic characters in "Soylent Green" and "The Omega Man", there will always be a warm spot in my heart for Charlton Heston. Rest in peace, Mr. Heston, and thank you.