I have a special column up at PJ Media on the passing of Charlton Heston:
Charlton Heston will not be remembered as one of the best actors who ever lived. But he is right up there with the greatest movie actors of all time.
If that sounds counterintuitive, forgive me. The fact is, film acting is, by and large, hugely dependent on others for the quality of an actor’s performance. It is why most Hollywood stars seek to control so many aspects of production when they finally achieve the clout to do so. A bad editing job can be death to a brilliant performance. A bad director can doom a performance from the outset. And few actors can take a bad script and make it work. Continuity, sound design, set decoration, and even the way the film is lit, shot, and filtered can spell the difference between an academy award and a critical disaster.
But Charlton Heston, who died yesterday at the age of 83, could overcome almost any of those drawbacks by the sheer force of his gigantic personality that filled up the big screen to overflowing, making his co-stars, extras and the film itself seem small by comparison. It wasn’t his intensity but it was. It wasn’t his physique, but it was. It wasn’t the tilt of his head, the granite jawed profile, the steely eyed glares he gave everyone from the Pharaoh of Egypt to a “damn dirty ape” but it was.
There are many times over the years I have seen an historical figure portrayed on film and wished they had cast Charlton Heston instead. Heston filled up the screen with his dominant personality and whenever I see George Washington on film I find the portrayal lacking in stature. Heston may have been the only American who ever lived who could do justice to Washington’s presence when in a crowd which was said to be electric and humbling. It’s a shame he never played our first president.
Heston is one of the last of the great Hollywood movie stars of the 50’s and 60’s. His passing is a reminder of what movies used to be and will probably never be again; epic journeys into the human imagination.
1:58 pm
He was one of the greatest up there with Jimmy Stewart, they broke the mold when they made this man among men. Thanks for honoring this great American.
3:40 pm
Arnold Schwartzennegger, Ron Reagan, now Charlton Heston. Why do conservatives fall in love with actors from Hollywood but hate Hollywood itself?
You guys should probably stop living by scripts ( Invasion of Iraq for example) and live day to day.
Not unlike Baba Ram Dass.
10:40 pm
The only people in love with Arnie are democrats (take it from an x Californian).
As far as Ronnie and Charlton, they grew up in a time when people believed their country was GOOD (like the conservatives of today) and fascism and marxism were bad, unlike the actors of hollywood and democrats of today.
As far as living by scripts…..if you mean the Constitution, I’ll pass on the hallucinations of Richard Alpert and take the founding documents…..
Have a good trip Manana!
11:16 pm
Heston made more truly memorable films than most of his peers. Epic will always be associated with his name. Perhaps his ability to convince you in his roles steemed from his honesty and integrity that he brought with him to his films. Characteristics the Left will never value or understand.
5:42 pm
It should be noted that Charlton was a proud and outspoken member of the liberal left during the prime of his epic film career, back when his roles “steemed from his honesty and integrity”.