Home Media Magazine - April 13-19, 2008 - (Page 8) NEWS www.homemediamagazine.com was in 1952 best picture Oscar winner The Greatest Show on Earth, directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The DVD is available from Paramount Home Entertainment. Heston re-teamed with DeMille for 1956’s The Ten Commandments (on DVD from Paramount), in which he played Moses, touching off a longstanding association with religious epics that continued with Ben-Hur and as John the Baptist in The Greatest Story Ever Told (MGM) in 1965. In 1958, Heston teamed with director Orson Welles to play a Mexican in Touch of Evil (on DVD from Universal Studios Home Entertainment). Staying with the epics, Heston portrayed the title character in 1961’s El Cid, which finally was released for the first time on DVD by Genius Products and The Weinstein Co. in January. He played a cavalry officer in Sam Peckinpah’s 1965 Western Major Dundee, on DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Heston in the late 1960s and early 1970s became an icon in the sciencefiction genre as well, starting with his appearance in the original Planet of the Apes in 1968. Heston reprised his role as astronaut Taylor in the 1970 sequel, and paid homage to his association with the franchise by playing an elderly ape in Tim Burton’s 2001 remake. In a wry bit of irony, Heston introduces a gun into the plot, a play on the fact he served as president of the National Rifle Association. The “Apes” films are available on DVD from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Heston cemented his status as a cult sci-fi icon with 1971’s The Omega Man and 1973’s Soylent Green, both on home video from Warner. In The Omega Man, Heston played the last man on Earth in an adaptation of Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel I Am Legend (remade last year with Will Smith). The 1970s also found Heston in such films as Earthquake (1974), Airport (1975) and Midway (1976), all on DVD from Universal Studios. By the 1990s, filmmakers began to cash in on Heston’s status as a Hollywood legend. In 1993 he appeared in Wayne’s World 2 (Paramount) and Tombstone (Disney/Hollywood), followed in 1994 with a cameo in the James Cameron actioner True Lies (Fox) as the boss of secret agent Arnold Schwarzenegger. In 1999, he played the commissioner of a fictional pro football league in Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday, which incorporated images from Ben-Hur to highlight the gladiatorial aspects of the sport. Heston revealed in 2002 that he had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer’s disease. Obituary information from The Hollywood Reporter. Heston’s Legacy Widespread on DVD By John Latchem PRODUCT Actor Charlton Heston, who won the 1959 best actor Oscar for BenHur and starred in some of the biggest epics in Hollywood history, died April 5 at age 84. “Charlton Heston was seen by the world as larger than life,” Heston’s family said in a statement. “He was known for his chiseled jaw, broad shoulders and resonating voice, and, of course, for the roles he played.” Heston lent his strong presence to some of the most acclaimed and successful films of the 20th century. BenHur (on DVD from Warner Home Video) won 11 Oscars, tying it with Titanic (1997) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) for most wins. Heston’s earliest film role came in 1941, when he was still in high school. He played the title character in David Bradley’s Peer Gynt, based on Hen- rik Ibsen’s play. A DVD version is available from VCI. In 1950, Heston appeared in Bradley’s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (DVD from VCI) as Antony. Heston reprised the role in a 1970 production available from Lionsgate. Heston’s breakthrough performance 8 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.warnervideo.com http://www.mamasboymovie.com http://www.whvdirect.com
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