# Recommend me some new Charlton Heston **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 7, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556 "2005-12-07T20:19:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556/1 "2005-12-07T20:19:43Z")
Millions, I’ve only recently realized how thoroughly unbelievable Charlton Heston is. He’s good & doog at the same time. He’s enjoyable on nearly every level. And I think he says “Oh……my……God….” in every single movie. Which, hey, how can you complain? Here’s the thing: I’m 25. I wasn’t alive when most of his best stuff came about. I knew him primarily for his NRA speeches, which is like knowing Paul Newman for his salad dressing, but, sadly, that was once true. Now my eyes are open. I’ve seen the light. My request: Tell me your favorite Heston work. My girlfriend & I are in marathon mode & nothing can deter us from loads of ferocious Heston-ing. So far I’ve tackled: -Planet of the Apes: obviously. And good lord, how excellent. -Soylent Green: too many parodies ruined this one for me, but still awesome, mainly because of Heston. -Omega Man: Unbelievable. On every level. -10 Commandments: Heston AND the Bible. God smiles. We’ve got Touch of Evil on the way, but that about clears me out. What next? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556/2 "2005-12-07T20:29:11Z")
Well, there’s Ben Hur, of course. Then there’s “The Agony and the Ecstasy”, which is about Michelangelo, and, if you’re in the mood for a western, “Major Dundee”, which was just remastered and restored, where he’s a commander of a really divided army troop who has to hunt down Apache raiders. Heston, Richard Harris, James Coburn, and Slim Pickens. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556/3 "2005-12-07T20:32:39Z")
You also might like “The Buccaneer”, in which Yul Brenner plays pirate Jean Lafitte, who has to decide whether to ally with the Americans to defend New Orleans during the War of 1812. Heston plays General Jackson. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556/4 "2005-12-07T20:33:41Z")
I think you peaked too soon. The four you listed are my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556/5 "2005-12-07T20:38:25Z")
[How about this one?](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077629/) Peaked too early, eh? I was afraid of that. But that man can carry a movie on his back, for better or worse, so I think I might even enjoy the years when he was just mailing it in. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556/6 "2005-12-07T21:06:01Z")
I really liked the episode of Saturday Night Live that he hosted, back in 1993. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556/7 "2005-12-07T21:42:14Z")
The Naked Jungle[yes, the “ant” movie] The Greatest Show on Earth[ye, the “circus” movie] ---
**Author:** ![Just1Lurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@Just1Lurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just1Lurk)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556/8 "2005-12-07T21:46:58Z")
If you can, track down the TV-movie adaption of \*Treasure Island \* with Heston as Long John. Arr Matey! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556/9 "2005-12-07T22:19:34Z")
This being December 7th\*, why not rent **Midway**? Heston had about as much screen time in **Midway** as any other actor in it, although the real star were the fighter and bomber skirmishes. \*…and the 64th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Today, of course, the Japanese are no more a threat to us than your pet Airedale… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556/10 "2005-12-07T23:02:17Z")
Or if you are into Westerns there is _Will Penny_. Heston himself said this was one of his favorites, and it is very well regarded. Naked Jungle has one bit of neat writing, when his mail order wife is playing the piano. Watch it to find out why her statement about the piano being out of tune is so good. _The War Lord_ is a different film, rather odd. But there’s a neat bit of trivia associated with it. Some swamps in California stood in for the bogs and fens of medieval England. Heston says there was a sixteen year old boy who kept sneaking onto the set to watch the movie making. Everytime he was found he was thrown out, until the director realized he was really causing any trouble, he was just a movie geek that wanted to learn. So they let him hang around. The rest of the story? It was Steven Spielberg ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556/11 "2005-12-07T23:21:51Z")
Private War of Major Benson. (I know, I’m a sap.) ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556/12 "2005-12-08T21:16:17Z")
I second the excellent **Will Penny** , Heston’s best performance, and add **The Big Country**. Heston is second lead to Gregory Peck in this sprawling epic, and turns in a fine somewhat villainous performance. Anybody, what was the early Heston film set, I think, in South America, where he comes in like a proto-Indiana Jones, fedora and all? Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556/13 "2005-12-08T21:29:51Z")
You’ll enjoy **Ben Hur** even more when you realize that Gore Vidal, who wrote a big chunk of the script, added the subtext of a homosexual relationship between Judah Ben Hur and Massala. Apparently no one told Heston, but the other guy was in on the fun and played it to the hilt. I always expect Massala to drop to his knees and start giving Ben Hur a hummer when they’re reunited for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556/14 "2005-12-08T21:31:42Z")
> [@Sir Rhosis](#): > > Anybody, what was the early Heston film set, I think, in South America, where he comes in like a proto-Indiana Jones, fedora and all? Taking a stab after reading an IMDB description: Secret of the Incas? Sounds pretty Indiana Jonesy to me. Plus it was back in '55. Does that ring a bell? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556/15 "2005-12-08T21:47:21Z")
**Will Penny** and **Major Dundee**. By far his strongest non-epic performances. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556/16 "2005-12-08T21:51:36Z")
> [@Birdmonster](#): > > Taking a stab after reading an IMDB description: Secret of the Incas? Sounds pretty Indiana Jonesy to me. Plus it was back in '55. Does that ring a bell? Yes, thanks. The description brought some points back to memory. Saw it on a late show three decades ago. No great action sequences like “Raiders,” really, but just evocative of the latter film. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556/17 "2005-12-08T23:44:40Z")
I’d like to second _The War Lord_, my favorite Heston movie and a project he wanted to do for years. The tower from that movie remained at the Universal Studios park in California for decades until it was torn down a few years ago. For a bigger-scale medieval story, try _El Cid_. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556/18 "2005-12-08T23:49:43Z")
His two greatest roles were in: Airport75 Grey Lady Down 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556/19 "2005-12-08T23:54:23Z")
I’ve always liked Heston but El Cid was laugh-out-loud funny it was so wretched. Here’s an interesting article about him written by the actor Richard Dreyfuss. [http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-dreyfuss082002.asp](http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-dreyfuss082002.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556/20 "2005-12-09T00:22:32Z")
I’m just as curious about the laugh-out-loud badness. It’s why I watch Keanu Reeves movies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-new-charlton-heston/334556.md?page=2)