#charlton heston
Sophia LorenandCharlton HestoninEl Cid (Anthony Mann, 1961)
I like to tell visitors this: The guy who posed for the statue of Cecilius Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, outside the the Mitchell Courthouse on St. Paul Street was a Baltimore-born actor who played the bad guy in the Hollywood epic “Ben-Hur” of 1925. His name was Francis X. Bushman, and 100 years ago, he was huge.
Bushman learned to drive a horse-powered chariot for that remarkable long-ago movie, and he somehow got through the filming of its famously brutal chariot race unscathed.
In fact, when Hollywood remade “Ben-Hur” in the late 1950s, the star of that production, Charlton Heston, was reported to have said, “The only man in Hollywood who can drive a chariot is Francis X. Bushman, and he’s too old!”
Bushman died 50 years ago this month in California.
Once upon a time, he was a matinee idol, the highest-paid screen actor of his era, known at the peak of his career as “the handsomest man in the world.” He built a mansion near Baltimore. His name was up in lights all over the country.
He took the role of Messala in MGM’s “Ben-Hur,” at $4 million the most expensive film of the silent age. It is an amazing work for its time. Bushman plays opposite another silent-movie beefcake, the Mexican-American actor Ramon Novarro, who had the title role.
I mention it because of the release Friday (Aug. 19) of a new “Ben-Hur,” starring Jim Huston as Judah Ben-Hur and Toby Kebbel as his former buddy, now arch-rival, the villainous Roman nobleman and commander, Messala.
Intoday’s episode of the Roughly Speaking podcast, film critics Linda DeLibero and Christopher Llewellyn Reed talk about the various productions of “Ben-Hur” over the years, and the long line of lavish movies rightfully called Hollywood epics. We trace that lineage back to “Ben-Hur” of 1925 and the buff Baltimore guy whose likeness jurors and judges pass whenever they enter the Mitchell Courthouse from the west.
To many, the statue is Calvert. To me, it’s Bushman.
–Dan Rodricks ([email protected])
Dr. Zaius: You are right, I have always known about man. From the evidence, I believe his wisdom must walk hand and hand with his idiocy. His emotions must rule his brain. He must be a warlike creature who gives battle to everything around him, even himself.
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Behind the scenes of ‘Planet of the Apes’ Franklin J. Schaffner,1968
Geraldine Chaplin-Charlton Heston-Frank Finlay “Los cuatro mosqueteros” (The four musketeers) 1974, de Richard Lester.
SIMILARITIES: A new series of art inspired by The OG Planet of the Apes and the right wing response to the Parkland shooting.
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Charlton Heston at the NRA conference: “From my cold, dead hands.”
Stephen Boyd and Charlton Heston in the set of Ben Hur
Stephen Boyd in the set of Ben-Hur, 1959
i love the juxtaposition between the way the Ten Commandments and the Prince of Egypt portray God.
the Ten Commandments use reds and warm colors, and His theme is powerful with deep horns and trumpets. it’s strong and bold and invokes awe and authority, like His majesty is on display. this is an intimidating but loving God. (0:38)
the Prince of Egypt uses blues and cool tones, and His theme is quiet echoing choral notes. it gives a more personal mysterious feeling to Him. but when it builds in strength it feels overwhelming, like unimaginable wonders. (1:15)
they both highlight particular attributes of God, and yet neither of them are incorrect. God is fierce and loving, kind and merciful, holy and powerful, and all of these things and more. combining these two portrayals is only the beginning of forming an idea of the complexity of Yahweh.
“ ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega- the beginning and the end,’ says the Lord God. ‘I am the One who is, who always was, and who is still to come- the Almighty One.’ “ ~Revelation 1:8
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On January 14, 1972, the American National Space Administration (ANSA) launched the Liberty 1 (nicknamed ICARUS) to journey to another star. With the crew in stasis, the ship travelled 2000 years into the future, landing on what the crew thought was an alien world, dominated by a society of intelligent apes. Much to the surprise of astronaut George Taylor, he discovers that he is, in fact, on Earth, long after a war destroyed the planet. You see, they blew it up. The maniacs. They blew it up! God, damn them! Damn them all to hell!!!
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