I will be watching tonight, on ABC, remembering that night I first saw it, and hoping to reignite the joy that filled my heart and soul, when I was a young and naive "Jesus freak." It's not very likely that today's teens will find anything about this film to be very exciting. Even so, I still joyfully and highly recommend it. It was released in 1956, the year I was born, so it was considered old, when I first saw it. Perhaps it was a 15-year anniversary showing that I saw, and I would have been 15 years old and a sophomore in high school. That would be about right. When you consider how much movies had changed in those 15 years, this movie would have seemed old in 1971. Hollywood had most recently brought us "Airport," "Five Easy Pieces," "Love Story," "M*A*S*H," "Patton," "A Clockwork Orange," "The French Connection," and "The Last Picture Show."
I remember a night, after I had seen "The Ten Commandments," when I saw another Charlton Heston movie being shown on TV, "Number One." In this film, he plays a has-been quarterback who turns to booze and women to try to solve his problems. My father warned me that it was not the kind of movie I was accustomed to seeing Charlton Heston in; that his character in this movie was not a good guy. I don't think I watched the movie all the way through; it was a bit too brash and worldly for my cloud 9 view of life. But it didn't thwart my desire to see more movies he was involved in.
So, if you're interested in seeing Charlton Heston on film, long before he was the President of the NRA or publicly embarrassed by Michael Moore in "Bowling for Columbine," here is my list of must-see, probably-should-see, and it-wouldn't-hurt-you-to-see films starring or featuring Charlton Heston, in chronological order, starting from the oldest:
"The Greatest Show on Earth" (1952) (Won the Academy Award for Best Picture and features Jimmy Stewart as a man who killed someone hiding out in the circus as a clown)
"Ruby Gentry" (1952) (He plays a bad boy who Jennifer Jones can't seem to resist)
"The Naked Jungle" (1954) (An early disaster film)
"The Ten Commandments" (1956) (He plays Moses)*
"Touch of Evil" (1958) (Directed by Orson Welles)*
"The Big Country" (1958) (Also starring Gregory Peck and Burl Ives)
"Ben-Hur" (1959) (Another Best Picture winner, for which he also won the Oscar)*
"El Cid" (1961) (I believe this was the first movie I saw him in)
"The Agony and the Ecstasy" (1965) (where he gets away with playing Michelangelo, a much shorter man than he)
"Planet of the Apes" (1968)*
"The Omega Man" (1971) (He plays a man who might be the last man on earth)
"Soylent Green" (1973) ("It's people")*
"The Three Musketeers" (1973) and "The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge" (1974) (Two of my favorite movies, also starring Faye Dunaway and Oliver Reed)
"Airport 1975" (1974) and "Earthquake" (1975) (both part of the big disaster film craze of the 1970s)
*Now showing on Amazon Instant Video
In the 80s and 90s, he was seen more in TV movies, playing Long John Silver, Sir Thomas More, and Sherlock Holmes. He also played Jason Colby, in "Dynasty" and its spin-off, "The Colbys," as well as playing himself in "The Bold and the Beautiful." And he had cameo roles in "Tombstone" (1993) and "True Lies" (1994).
Charlton Heston died in 2008, after having been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, in 2002. He was married to the same woman for 64 years. His son, Fraser, is close to my age, as he plays the baby Moses in "The Ten Commandments." He is my favorite actor of all time. I admired him for his loyalty to his family, his morals, and his defense of civil rights. I think he was one of the last great actors from the days of studio bosses and contract players. I will always enjoy watching his films.
Until next time,
Teah
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