From Bronte to Ben-Hur: the late, great Charlton Heston

Hail and farewell, sir, and thank you. Others have written beautiful tributes and obituaries to Charlton Heston, so I'll only add a few random thoughts.

~TCM has rearranged its broadcast schedule to make this coming Friday an all-day tribute to Heston. See the schedule here. That was a classy thing to do, TCM. Good on you.

~BronteBlog notes how Heston was first discovered by Hollywood when he played Mr. Rochester in a production of "Jane Eyre." YouTube has a clip of this 1949 effort. Heston looks so young! But his voice is unmistakable.

~Libertas reminds us that Heston participated in the fight for civil rights in the 1960s. Yes, yes, I know that in his latter days, Heston's politics created some controversy, but I have no patience for self-absorbed, silly young celebrities who picked at Heston -- like yappy terriers biting at the ankles of a Great Dane.

~Heston is timeless, a true legend and icon. We will not see his like -- much less his equal -- again. Here's a slice of life from the weekend, when La Parisienne and I first heard of Heston's passing. Heston's glory days took place far before either she or I was born, yet there we were, on the phone, paying our own respects to the great man by lovingly naming our favorite Heston films. That has to mean something, if two young ladies of the 21st century are thinking fondly of an actor of 50 years past. I haven't been so affected by the death of a public figure since Bob Hope passed away.

~My favorite Heston film? I can't choose one. Heston was always larger than life, and his ability to play huge characters in faraway settings is amazing. I give you my favorite five films, in alphabetical order. What do you think? Do you have a favorite? (Oh, how I love old movies!)

1. "The Agony and the Ecstasy." (1965) Heston as the temperamental genius Michelangelo is brilliant, and his perfect foil was Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II. This just could be my favorite of all, if I had to choose. It's not Heston's most famous film (that honor is going to be an eternal fight between "Ben-Hur" and "The Ten Commandments," probably), but I really like it in an oddly warm, personal sort of way.
   
2. "Ben-Hur." (1959) Of course! This thing is a monument. The chariot race is one of the best scenes in movie history, full stop. Aside from that, though, Heston infused his Judah Ben-Hur with a real sense of character, of emotion and depth.
   
3. "El Cid." (1961) Charlton Heston, Sophia Loren, and the medieval Spanish hero El Cid. What's not to love?
   
4. "Planet of the Apes." (1968) Heston in outer space! Plus that immortal line about apes--in Heston's absolutely fantastic voice.
   
5. "The Ten Commandments." (1956) Spectacular. Anne Baxter, Yul Brynner, and Moses--I mean, Heston. But seriously, can you imagine anybody else playing Moses after you see Heston in that role?
   

Oh, plenty of people have criticized Heston's roles; some have claimed he had limited range as an actor. Well, depends. He was able to bring the towering epic stature to his grand roles, and I love him for it. He took cinema to a place of fantasy and movie magic -- a great Heston film was bigger than life, and isn't that why we go to the movies?

Requiescat in pace.