Sunday, April 06, 2008

RIP, Charlton Heston


You'll be able to read all manner of enconia to Charlton Heston, who died yesterday, if you search the internet. I don't have a lot to add to what's already been said (but if you want more, try Mitch Berg, for starters). I will say this -- Heston was awfully good at everything he did. And he left enormous footprints. The poster above is from my personal favorite Heston film, which he did with Orson Welles, "Touch of Evil." If you haven't seen this one, go get it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am eternally grateful to Mr. Dilettante for introducing me to Touch of Evil in my Chicago apartment in the late 1980's, when on weekends when not engaging in fruitless bachelor ventures into Division Street bars we used to go through a private great film festival that included the great Welles movies, including The Lady from Shanghai. I, of course, like to think of Welles as a typical guy from Kenosha. Last year I purchased the new Touch of Evil DVD that included Welles uncut plan for the movie, and watched it on a Friday night with my son and daughter, who now usually accompany me on my late night film fests since my wife usually falls asleep before the rest of us. My daughter loved it. My son fell asleep. He stayed awake for (my) edited version of Chinatown, and didn't like that because he thought it wasn't right that the good guys didn't win in the end. I just told him "It's Chinatown, Jake."

I think Welles described Heston as "a Great Big American Movie Star," and he meant it. I don't know that there are any left. Do you remember Heston's appearance on Saturday Night Life, where they had him do a dramatic reading from Madonna's new book, though he indicated to the person playing the director that the book repeatedly used a word he did not want to repeat, and requested that he use "vagina" as a substitute. Heston would then gaze off in the distance, and begin reading a page with his deep voice whistfully intoning "My Vagina..."

A. Truck Driver