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Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 29, No. 8. 1966.

Heston Not To Be Mistaken

Heston Not To Be Mistaken

The Visit of Charlton Heston has undoubtedly raised a lew sceptical eyebrows. Some have dismissed the proposed poetry reading as a farce, forgetting that he has proved himself an excellent reader in such projects as the recorded version of Copland's A Lincoln Portrait. He also distinguished himself by being one of the first (of many) Hollywood stars to take an active interest in the civil rights movement.

Propaganda

On the other hand, he has been narrator for at least two Usis propaganda films, and the political implications of his visit are far from clear. The only safe comment one can make in this respect is that Heston is as far removed from the Hollywood Left as he is from the antics of John Wayne and his Commiebaiting pals in the Motion Picture Alliance.

Film position

His position in filmdom has been obscured by a succession of Messianic portraits in good and poor spectaculars. In this sense he has become supremely type-cast, but removed from this setting he has shown himself capable of performances of intelligence and restraint (eg in the recent The Warlord). When it comes to films one can always rely on the French for an unusual viewpoint. Michel Mourlet. in the critical. Marxist film journal Postif. writes:

"Charlton Heston is an axiom. By himself alone he constitutes a tragedy, and his presence in any film whatsoever suffices to create beauty. The contained violence expressed by the sombre phosphorescence of his eyes, his eagle's profile, the haughty arch of his eyebrow, 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 … Charlton Heston by his existence alone gives a more accurate definition ot the cinema than films like Hiroshima Mon Armour and Citizen Kane.

This undoubtedly overstates the role of the personality in the aesthetic of the commercial cinema, but it is certainly provocative.