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The Media Librarian gave a DVD of The Ten Commandments as a birthday gift on Saturday night, and then hours later, heard of Charlton Heston's death. Very weird. This, after the ritual viewing of the film over the Easter weekend, during which the Media Librarian screamed with laughter at the dialogue, much of it spoken by Charlton Heston.
It has been easy to scoff at Heston over the years, especially in his role of president of the National Rifle Association. But that wasn't all he was. He wasn't even always a conservative, having been a Kennedy-style liberal during the 60's.
And if his Moses seems comic today, it is more the datedness of Cecil B. DeMille's over-the-top style that strikes us funny. Heston did the best he could under the circumstances--and can you imagine any other actor in that role?
Heston won an Oscar for his work in Ben-Hur (we have it on DVD--DVD 529), and the chariot scene is still one of the great action scenes in film. He spent 5 weeks learning to drive a chariot, which he described as "a hard-won and mostly useless skill, but I can't help taking pride in it."
Other films in the collection featuring performances by Charlton Heston include:
El Cid (V 1815)
Planet of the Apes (DVD 1034)
Touch of Evil (DVD 198)
Airport 1975 (DVD 528
and Earthquake (V 3374)
