Date: July 24th, 2021 12:12 AM Author: bat shit crazy dragon
Also a gorgeous guy inside and out, who didn't just play a larger than life hero in the movies, but also stood up for what's right - standing up to Political Correctness, or tyranny with [passive aggressive] manners as he called it - long before regular people were having their lives directly ruined by (((lib Marxist))) pro-crime pro-dysfunction policies.
He stuck his neck on the line despite being COMPLETELY insulated in his elite neighborhood - the divinely wholesome antithesis of a limousine liberal or champagne socialist - in order to stand up for decent and wholesome people of all races.
Him in his 40s circa Planet of the Apes in 1968 (also JFC at what women used to look like before widespread birth control, the pure feminine figure which was commonplace whether women were otherwise attractive or not):
Date: July 24th, 2021 12:18 AM Author: bat shit crazy dragon
In a 1997 speech called "Fighting the Culture War in America", Heston rhetorically deplored a culture war he said was being conducted by a generation of media people, educators, entertainers, and politicians against:
... the God fearing, law-abiding, Caucasian, middle-class Protestant – or even worse, evangelical Christian, Midwestern or Southern – or even worse, rural, apparently straight – or even worse, admitted heterosexuals, gun owning – or even worse, NRA-card-carrying, average working stiff – or even worse, male working stiff – because, not only don't you count, you are a down-right obstacle to social progress. Your voice deserves a lower decibel level, your opinion is less enlightened, your media access is insignificant; and frankly, mister, you need to wake up, wise up, and learn a little something from your new America; and until you do, would you mind shutting up?[71]
He went on to say:
The Constitution was handed down to guide us by a bunch of wise old dead white guys who invented our country! Now some flinch when I say that. Why! It's true... they were white guys! So were most of the guys that died in Lincoln's name opposing slavery in the 1860s. So why should I be ashamed of white guys? Why is "Hispanic Pride" or "Black Pride" a good thing, while "White Pride" conjures shaven heads and white hoods? Why was the Million Man March on Washington celebrated by many as progress, while the Promise Keepers March on Washington was greeted with suspicion and ridicule? I'll tell you why: Cultural warfare!
Date: July 24th, 2021 9:22 PM Author: bat shit crazy dragon
Love that one!
It's also so cool how it brought Charlton and William Wyler together for the first time, in preparation for perhaps the greatest of all movies, Ben Hur (truly life changing in a way that few movies have ever been).
Also, even though Heston only had a supporting role in Big Country, nevertheless it's a great movie with a great cast, I agree. It's amazing how they used to make movies which were profound, rich with substance, but also light-hearted and done with grace and style, too.
Date: July 24th, 2021 10:50 PM Author: bull headed beady-eyed church building
the long fistfight sequence where heston and peck pummel each other in the field for minute after minute was supposedly an influence on the fight scene from They Live.
Date: July 24th, 2021 11:09 PM Author: bull headed beady-eyed church building
a lot of these references are kind of lost nowadays because big midcentury dramas have fallen way out of style. but they were HUGELY popular at the time. a film like 'Giant' was a massive hit that influenced pop culture for a while, but boomer cultural 'tastemakers' decided at some point to pull the rug on everything from before the late-60's or so.
Date: July 24th, 2021 11:36 PM Author: bull headed beady-eyed church building
when i saw El Cid, i was genuinely surprised that it wasn't a better-known film. i later learned that it used to be very popular, but boomer critics didn't like it very much, and mostly shoved it out of the cultural canon of 'great films.' it really IS that straightforward - boomers chafed at the way that films looked in the 50's and early-60's, they didn't like the earnestness and the dramatic pacing, and they decided to shun these films.
that's also why 'New Hollywood' is so mythologized, even though a lot of it was a continuation of themes and techniques developed in the older epics.