Charlton Heston, R.I.P.

Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh in Orson Welles' Touch of Evil (1958)

Yes, like Matthew Yglesias and most other people, I like Planet of the Apes too -- it's a hoot. And Soylent Green is a lot of fun as well.  And I've also heard Major Dundee and Ruby Gentry are worth a look.

But the one Charlton Heston film that is truly essential is Orson Welles' dazzling noir Touch of Evil. In fact, we may have Charlton Heston to thank for getting the film made in the first place. According to IMDB (the reliability of which is admittedly shaky):

Orson Welles was originally hired only to act in the film, but due to a misunderstanding, Charlton Heston understood that Welles was to be the director. To keep Heston happy, producer Albert Zugsmith allowed Welles to direct.

I want to check this but I can't find my copy of This Is Orson Welles.

Oh well. I'll leave you with this, without comment:

By himself alone he constitutes a tragedy, and his presence in any film whatsoever suffices to create beauty. The contained violence expressed by the somber phosphorescence of his eyes, his eagle’s profile, the haughty arch of his eyebrows, his prominent cheekbones, the bitter and hard curve of his mouth, the fabulous power of his torso; this is what he possesses and what not even the worst director can degrade. It is in this sense that one can say that Charlton Heston, by his existence alone, gives a more accurate definition of the cinema than films like Hiroshima, Mon Amour or Citizen Kane, whose aesthetic either ignores or impugns Charlton Heston. Through him, mise en scène can confront the most intense of conflicts and settle them with the contempt of a god imprisoned, quivering with muted rage.
    -- Michael Mourlet, Cahiers du Cinéma, May 1960

UPDATE: Commenter Jim, esteemed film critic Dave Kehr and esteemed film blogger Self-Styled Siren all credit Heston with helping to get Touch of Evil made with Welles as director, so I'll take that as gospel. Cinephiles around the world owe Heston an incalculable debt.

Jim also points us to the wonderful site Wellesnet, an essential stop for all of us Wellesians. And the Siren is your go-to gal for the single best analysis of Heston's film career and Heston the actor. I especially appreciate her take on Heston in Touch of Evil -- I wanted to write about Heston's acting in that film as well, but it's been a while since I've seen it and specifics are not fresh in my mind. But the Siren covers that and more. Brava!

Comments

[Jim]

According to Wellesnet.com, Heston actively pressed the case for Welles to direct Touch of Evil. They've got relevant extracts from the Heston diaries (and I think you'll like the rest of the site too): http://www.wellesnet.com/?p=220

[Boronx]

Touch of Evil: One of the best (and technically most amazing) opening shots ever.

[Frank]

kathy,
Did you know that Rod Serling wrote the screenplay for Planet of the Apes? I think it was supposed to be some kind of social commentary about how humanity in the nuclear era was regressing to the Stone Age. Campy stuff. Kind of like a bad Twilight Zone, but enjoyable, I agree.

[lola]

I'll never really warm to Heston as an actor overall, but for the run-time of a "Touch of Evil", he wins me over, every time.

He's somehow valiant in this role (in a way his Moses never was) because he's fighting against so much in this flick-- his accent, his mustache, the going up against Welles' great performance--and also striving to meet Leigh's work, which is stellar.

She's modern and fresh and crisp and vibrant: all the "girly-stupid" plot contrivance shit she's asked to do, she dispatches neatly and intelligently.
Whether following an unknown note-bearer through darkened streets or fearing a 50's biker (and cartoonish) dyke with a needle in her hand, Leigh moves through it all with a sense of being cagey and smart and curious, and never wifey-dumb.

She's the heart of the movie--and since it's very much a smart and knowing heart (and one given to Heston's character) he ends up being elevated by her performance: if she loves him, well, maybe we should cut him a break.

And I do, in this one movie, because of her--and because of Welles--and because of all that, Heston, for me, is not just locked away into a 1974-Easter-Sunday-afternoon Moses, or a Planet of the Apes "Damn dirty apes" line-by shooting: he's the guy who dared a bad accent & a worse mustache just to work with Orson Welles and Janet Leigh, in both their primes.

[Kurzbein]

My understanding is that though Welles directed it, the studio didn't like his final cut and recut it. The recut is the version that first appeared in theaters. Welles was irate about this and immediately submitted something like a 50-page of memo critiquing the studio's cut. It's from this memo that a revised cut was done and is considered Welles' cut. It's the one that Turner Classic Movies shows.

All of the above via my recollection of Robert Osborne's introduction to the film on TCM.

[Campaspe]

A belated thank you for the link! and am I thrilled to get the same adjective attached to me as Mr. Kehr.

If you find Heston sexy in his youth, as I certainly do, then by all means, Ruby Gentry.