Posted on 04/06/2008 6:10:40 PM PDT by Congressman Billybob
Charlton Heston died this week at the age of 84. He had two careers, and both were “larger than life.” His family used that phrase in the statement they issued about his death. They spoke the simple truth.
With his furrowed brow, his chiseled chin, his stentorian voice, he was cast in heroic roles from early in his career. But he took on similar roles in life, as the head of the National Rifle Association for five years, but also as a campaigner for issues that mattered to him, such as color-blind rather than color-driven civil rights. He was a major contributor to the Martin Luther King Memorial in Los Angeles.
The part of his career that moved seamlessly from the silver screen to real life and back, was the role of the hero, standing up against all odds. Speaking the truth. Facing death unafraid, for a worthy cause. There is entirely too little of that kind of leadership in American society today. It is nearly unknown in civilian society, though still commonplace among the military and in police departments.
Heston was a student of history, and of the citizens who created this nation, 232 years ago for the Declaration of Independence, 221 years ago for the Constitution. He knew that the signers of the Declaration mutually pledged “our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor” by their approval of that “treasonous” document.
Of course, modern students aren’t encouraged to read the Declaration of Independence, First, there is the tendency of high school history classes to discard all of American history prior to the Civil War. Then, there is that pesky reference to “divine Providence” just prior to the mutual pledge. Modern teachers in public schools do not encourage students to ask questions about such subjects as “sacred Honor” or “divine Providence.”
By contrast, both the film and real world careers of Charlton Heston were wrapped up in such matters. Charlton Heston was a great man, not because he played great men on screen, but because he was a great man by example. There is tremendous irony in the fact that the Associated Press devoted a paragraph in its obituary of Heston to talk about Michael Moore’s contretemps with Heston.
Moore had the class to post a photograph of Heston on his website, the years of his life, and Heston’s family’s request that donations be made to the Motion Picture and Television Fund. The AP had the lack of class to include in Heston’s obituary Moore’s website address and the fact that Moore had declined to comment. Michael Moore had the decency to recognize the difference between him and Heston. The AP lacked that decency.
Most of Heston’s roles placed him at turning points in history (“The Ten Commandments” and “Ben Hur”) or worse, at points after history had turned ugly, explaining the loss after the fact (“Planet of the Apes” and “The Omega Man”). I prefer to use one of his lesser films to explain his essential role on screen and in real life.
“Soylent Green” (1973) takes place in the crowded, brutish and nasty world of 2022. Natural foods like vegetables and meat have disappeared, except for the very wealthy. Heston plays Police Detective Thorn, investigating the murder of an official of the Soylent Corporation, which manufactures “food” for the 40 million people now in New York, and across the world.
Sol Roth is a researcher and friend, played by Edward G. Robinson. He discovers the beginnings of the terrible truth, and then he goes to one of the Death Centers, where he gets his favorite colors, favorite pictures, and favorite music, as the poison courses through his body. Thorn then follows the corpse of his friend to the manufacturing plant where he discovers that “Soylent Green is people!” He states that with his arm upraised from his stretcher as he is carried out of a tattered church the floor of which is filled with sick and dying people.
In short, great men see beyond the here and now. Great men warn us about the vile futures that await us if we pay to little attention to where we are headed. In most instances, great men die unheeded, and the awful visions they foresaw, then tragically come to pass. A prime example of this was Winston Churchill and his warnings about Adolf Hitler when there was still time to stop him with minimal bloodshed, though Churchill did live to lead his nation through the war that should have been avoided.
Was Charlton Heston in a league with Winston Churchill? I don’t go that far. Was he a far greater man than most who aspire to and hold public office today? Beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Charlton Heston, 1924-2008.
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About the Author: John Armor practiced in the US Supreme Court for 33 years. John_Armor@aya.yale.edu He is running for the 11th Congressional District of North Carolina.
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Even better was the final scene at the Statue of Liberty, “You bastards. You did it, you finally did it. You blew it all to Hell!” And, remember, he took out the whole planet in the sequel.
No one could do anger like Heston. Only George C. Scott and Al Pacino come close.
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EL CID IS NOW OUT ON DVD!
The Omega Man was very cool too. But I like the Vincent Price version the best.
thanks for the tribute to mr heston... definitely a class act even in his dimentia... allowing an up and coming fellow nra member a chance to interview a legend... too bad it was the lowlife michael moore...
Moses finally made it to the Promised Land.
remember the scene in wayne’s world...
classic
teeman
What about Howard Dean: Eaaaaaiiiaaaarrrgggh!!!!
Do you remember the opening scene? When he complains of the year long heat wave due to “global warming”! That was back in ‘73.
Well said, John! Thanks for posting this.
I repeated this line to my kids for years.
"All I can say is, McKay, is you take a hell of a long time to say goodbye."
(From "The Big Country," 1958)
Thank You for your great tribute to Charlton Heston - you always do that best!
RIP Charlton Heston a class act.
One of my favorite lines from one of Heston’s best films:
Quintus Arrius: Your eyes are full of hate, forty-one. That’s good.
Hate keeps a man alive. It gives him strength.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052618/
"Political correctness is tyranny with a happy face.”
I've played three presidents, three saints and two geniuses - and that's probably enough for any man”
"You who inherit the heavy privilege to serve in freedom's name. You who must brace for battle surely to come.”
"I intend to dedicate my remaining time as president of the NRA to ensure that the Second Amendment is safe from Al Gore and all those who threaten it,”
"A clear enunciation of these rights needs to be enshrined in the constitution to guarantee that this basic right of law-abiding gun owners and sportsmen shall not be infringed upon by anti-gun public officials,”
While I was being prepped for hand Surgery two seeks ago I stated that “Soylent Green is People” to the nurse and anthestheiologist. Neither had a clue as to what it meant.
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