Idle thoughts: The two sides of Charlton Heston? And his top 6.

It's interesting to think, in the wake of the passing of legendary actor Charlton Heston, that as famous as he was for his conservative politics, he was quite different politically as a younger man. He was a supporter of Adlai Stevenson and JFK, marched in Washington with MLK and was a supporter of civil rights in general (which could also have segued, a bit circuitously, to his gun rights support later) and in general was not what one would think of as conservative as a younger and middle-aged man. In fact, he didn't really become "right wing" until the 1980s, linked up with Ronald Reagan and the NRA in equal measure. But was that truly who Heston was?  While it's not uncommon for people to become more conservative politically as they get older, is that all there is to it?

This is merely conjecture, understand, but I'm curious about Heston's having suffered from Alzheimer's, a disease we now know can take years, even decades to progress to that point of no return. I know it may sound far-fetched, but bear with me for a moment.

It can be a very scary thing, losing one's memory, slowly, and bits of pieces of ones mental faculty, which is so much a part of the horrors, the gradual horror of Alzheimer's disease. Like more and more of us these days, I have some personal connection to people afflicted with Alzheimer's and it's clear that one of the side effects can be paranoia. Some of Heston's behavior in his later years fits into this a bit. Watching him get badgered by Michael Moore at the end of "Bowling for Columbine," an unfortunate choice for Moore marring what was otherwise an important film, was disconcerting to say the least. Of course, there's no way Moore could've known that Heston had Alzheimer's at that point, as it was still being kept a secret from the public. But it was pretty obvious he was dottering and bitter and not fully on top of his faculties, making Moore look more like a bully. Which is too bad because I couldn't disagree more with Heston's stance on guns in America and thought Moore had some crucial points he could've made without trying to go for the being punchline.

(By the way, this is not to say that you can't lean to the left and be paranoid too; I think that goes without saying.)

All this said, it's clear that Heston's politics were more libertarian throughout his life than anything else. In that sense some of his early beliefs don't conflict as much with his later activism as much as it would appear.

At any rate, as I said it's just idle chatter.

And in honor of Heston's passing and his long career as an actor, here's my...

Top Six Charlton Heston Films

1. Touch of Evil (Orson Welles). While it was disconcerting to think of Heston as "Mexican," in a way that adds to this noir's surreal atmosphere (plus it was shot near where I used to live, in Venice Beach, which I know isn't Mexico, either). A sleazy classic.
   
2. The Omega Man. Reworking of "I Am Legend" (one of three official film versions; read my review of the last here) has Heston holding his own when he's essentially on his own. It's an intriguing film with its faults, but it's one of Heston's best roles.
3. Planet of the Apes. "Get your paws off me, you damned dirty ape!" alone makes it one of Heston's best, too, but it's great stuff, and his presence is certainly missed when Mark Wahlberg took on the role for the misguided remake.
4. The Big Country. Underrated Western.
5. Soylent Green. Another near-classic Sci-Fi with many memorable moments and certainly a memorable punchline, as it were.
   
6. Ben Hur. Not generally a fan of the big historical and religious epics, most of which have not aged well in my  estimation, but this one is still huge and hugely entertaining and probably remains Heston's most iconic role ever.