RARA-AVIS: RIP Charlton Heston

From: JIM DOHERTY ( jimdohertyjr@yahoo.com)
Date: 12 Apr 2008


Compared to other recent decedents from the movie world, like Richard Widmark and Jules Dassin, Charlton Heston, best-known for his roles in historical epics like THE 10 COMMANDMENTS, BEN-HUR, and EL CID, isn't a name that seems particularly connected to crime films, particularly the hard-boiled or noir variety.

Nevertheless, in a career spanning more than half a century, Heston inevitably wound up in a few hard-boiled/noir roles.

He made his movie debut (not counting a turn as Marc Antony in an independent semi-student production of JULIUS CAESAR) as a small-time hood named Danny Hale in DARK CITY. Years later, he made what is perhaps his best-known noir appearance as sternly upright Mexican narcotics detective Mike Vargas in TOUCH OF EVIL. Other hard-boiled noir roles include futuristic NYPD Detective Robert Thorn in SOYLENT GREEN; Los Angeles Police Captain Peter Holly in 2-MINUTE WARNING; Hugh Holmes, the mayor of a small southern town plagued by a serial killer through several generations of police chiefs in CHIEFS; mob kingpin Louis Manicini in ORIGINAL SIN; and a shadowy US intelligence chief who gave superspy Arnold Schwarzenegger his orders in TRUE LIES.

And, while it's not exactly hard-boiled, mention should be made of his turn as the most famous fictional detective of them all in CRUCIFER OF BLOOD, loosely based on Conan Doyle's second Holmes novel, THE SIGN OF FOUR.

A long and productive life.

JIM DOHERTY

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