Main Cast: Tom Selleck, Charlton Heston, Chuck Norris.

Main Cast:  Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Clarke Duncan, Kris Kristofferson, Estella Warren, Paul Giamatti, David Warner, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Charlton Heston (Uncredited). Directed by Tim Burton. Produced by Zanuck Company.

Main Cast:  Warren Beatty, Garry Shandling, Diane Keaton, Andie MacDowell, Jenna Elfman, Nastassja Kinski, Charlton Heston. Directed by Peter Chelsom. Produced by FR Productions / Longfellow Pictures / Sidney Kimmel Entertainment / Simon Fields Productions.

1999 - Donners' Co./ Ixtlan Corporation

Main Cast: Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, James Woods, Jamie Foxx, LL Cool J, Matthew Modine, Jim Brown, Charlton Heston, Ann-Margret, Lauren Holly.  Directed by Oliver Stone. Produced by Donners' Co./ Ixtlan Corporation.

Oliver Stone takes on professional football, a sport whose grace and delicacy are a good match for his filmmaking style. Tony D'Amato (Al Pacino), the head coach of the Miami Sharks, won back-to-back championships four years ago. But new team owner Christina Pagniacci (Cameron Diaz) has little enthusiasm for the finer points of the game and is concerned only with the bottom line. The longtime strongman of Tony's team has been "Cap" Rooney (Dennis Quaid), a 39-year-old quarterback, but Christina balks at renewing his contract. When Cap is injured during a game, third-string rookie quarterback Willie Beaman (Jamie Foxx) goes on in his place and becomes a major star. But Beaman is mostly interested in fame and money, and he has little regard for Tony and his teammates. Any Given Sunday also stars James Woods as the team's doctor, LL Cool J as a star running back, Jim Brown as a former football great turned Sharks' defensive coordinator, Ann-Margret as Christina's alcoholic mother, Bill Bellamy as a wide receiver, Elizabeth Berkley as Tony's favorite prostitute, and Charlton Heston as the football commissioner.

1998 - TCM

Host: Robert Osborne.  Produced by TCM.

The host of this series is noted writer and film historian Robert Osborne. Each episode consists of Osborne conducting an interview with an actor or actress of Hollywood's "Golden" era of the 1920s - 1960s. Clips of the artist's work in film are liberally included in the program.

Main Cast:  Dirk Benedict, Charlton Heston. Directed by Fraser C. Heston. Produced by Burg Production / Castle Rock Entertainment / Fuchs / Rank-Castle Rock / Sony Pictures Entertainment.

1995

Main Cast: Tom Berenger, Charlton Heston.  Directed by Craig R. Baxley. 

A western with revisionist overtones, this action/adventure is set in Utah during the time of Latter-Day-Saint prophet Brigham Young (Charlton Heston) and follows the exploits of his brave bodyguard (Tom Berenger) to save the Mormon leader from the crooks conspiring to assassinate him.

Main Cast:  Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Paxton, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Charlton Heston. Directed by James Cameron. Produced by Twenty Century Fox.

Main Cast:  Kurt Russell, Bill Paxton, Val Kilmer, Dana Delany, Sam Elliott, Charlton Heston, Robert Mitchum (Narrator). Directed by George Pan Cosmatos. Produced by Silver Pictures / United ArtistsBuena Vista.

1992 - Bob Banner Associates/ Gary L. Pudney Company/ Helios Films

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Richard Thomas, James Coburn, Leon Russom, John M. Jackson.  Directed by Lamont Johnson. Produced by Bob Banner Associates/ Gary L. Pudney Company/ Helios Films.

On July 19, 1989, a DC-10 en route from Denver to Philadelphia lost all its hydraulics and broke apart just outside of the Sioux City, Iowa airport, killing 110 of the 285 passengers and a single crew member, and risking the lives of everyone else on board. At that point, the rescue crew, which had spent months preparing for such an emergency, had its mettle tested above and beyond the call of duty. In this made-for-TV reenactment, Charlton Heston plays the jetliner's pilot (reprising a similar role from Airport 1975). The rescuers include Richard Thomas and James Coburn. Also known as A Thousand Heroes, Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232 debuted February 24, 1992.

1987 - Von Zemeck-Samuels

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Peter Strauss.  Directed by William A. Graham. Produced by Von Zemeck-Samuels.

Good portrayal of the generation gap as a father and son become alienated over patriotism and duty. When the son returns home after several years, the animosity is still there and they begin quarreling all over again. Plus, many of the town's residents are against the son because they feel he is a traitor. Violence breaks out as emotions flare and the father and son must learn to accept each other before they become irreparably separated.

1984 - Robert Halmi Productions

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, John Rhys-Davies, Maud Adams.  Directed by Marvin J. Chomsky. Produced by Robert Halmi Productions.

Set in Kenya, this made-for-TV adventure chronicles the courageous attempts of a safari guide to stop avaricious ivory poachers from slaughtering elephants. In order to succeed though, the guide must reconcile with his estranged son who is still angry that his father stole the young man's former wife.

1980 - Columbia Pictures

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Brian Keith, Victoria Racimo, Stephen Macht. Directed by Richard Lang.  Produced by Columbia Pictures.

In this subpar western, gratuitous profanity and violence are at odds with the theme of rescuing a Native American from a marriage she does not want. A bearded Charlton Heston (whose son wrote the screenplay) is the fur trader Bill Tyler, out in the remote mountain ranges looking for a legendary valley where furry animals are plentiful. Brian Keith is his clownish, foul-mouthed sidekick. On their way to finding the best area to set their traps they encounter Running Moon (Victoria Racimo) who is in fact, running away from her husband Heavy Eagle (Stephen Macht.) Several battles between Native Americans (portrayed by Caucasian actors) and the fur trappers keep the action moving.

1978 - Mirisch Corporation / Universal

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Stacy Keach, David Carradine. Directed by David Greene.  Produced by Mirisch Corporation / Universal.

When the nuclear submarine he captains is rammed by a freighter while surfacing in Atlantic waters just off the coast of Rhode Island, Navy Captain Paul Blanchard (Charlton Heston) is able to radio for help. However, his sub's condition calls for urgent attention. Downed in extremely deep water near an even deeper ocean trench, the sub is perched precariously in waters too deep for conventional rescue efforts and is in danger of plummeting into the ocean trench. When the sub's escape hatch is blocked by debris from an undersea earthquake, the situation becomes even grimmer. Despite assurances that all will be fine, Captain Bennet (Stacy Keach), who is coordinating the official Navy rescue effort, has already warned Blanchard's wife to expect the worst. However, another Navy captain (David Carradine), who is working on an experimental deep-sea exploratory vessel for the Navy, hears of the incident and volunteers his help. This story is based on the novel Event 1000 by David Lavalle.

1976 - Filmways Pictures / Universal

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, John Cassavetes. Directed by Larry Peerce.  Produced by Filmways Pictures / Universal.

Larry Peerce directed this tired disaster movie about a mad sniper loose in a football stadium. At the beginning, the sniper picks off a cyclist for practice and then takes roost in the top tower of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Sent in to stop the terror is Captain Peter Holly (Charlton Heston), who wants to get his hands on the sniper without endangering the lives of the people in the stadium. Unfortunately, there is a second group of law enforcement officers, a tactical commando group, who want to go into the stadium and rush the sniper -- regardless of the danger such an action would cause to the crowd watching the game. The sniper plans to start blasting at the two-minute warning signal of the football game. Holly has to find the sniper before the two-minute warning is given -- not merely to prevent the killings threatened by the sniper but to head off the tactical force before any other unnecessary deaths are incurred by the force's bulldog techniques.

1976 - Universal

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Edward Albert, Christina Kokubo, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonday, Toshiro Mifune, Robert Wagner, Cliff Robertson. Directed by Jack Smight.  Produced by Universal.

An expensive war epic, Midway emulates The Longest Day and Tora! Tora! Tora! in attempting to re-create a famous World War II battle from both the American and Japanese viewpoints. The 1942 battle of Midway was the turning point of the War in the Pacific; the Japanese invasion fleet was destroyed, and America's string of humiliating defeats was finally broken. Though the battle itself was sufficiently dramatic to fill two films, Midway also has plotline involving the mixed-race marriage between Ensign Garth (Edward Albert), son of Navy Captain Matt Garth (Charlton Heston), and Haruko Sakura (Christina Kokubo), a Hawaiian girl of Japanese descent. The real-life personages depicted herein include American Admirals Nimitz (Henry Fonda), Halsey (Robert Mitchum) and Spruance (Glenn Ford), and Japanese Admiral Yamamoto (Toshiro Mifune, his voice once again dubbed by Paul Frees, whom Mifune personally selected for the job). For its original road show release, Midway was offered in the "Sensurround" process, which electronically shook and vibrated the audience's chairs during the battle sequences.

Main Cast:  Charlton Heston, Michael York, Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain, Frank Finlay, Faye Dunaway, Raquel Welch, Christopher Lee, Simon Ward, Geraldine Chaplin. Directed by Richard Lester. Produced by 20th Century Fox / Franco London Films.

Main Cast:  Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, Genvieve Bujold, George Kennedy, Lorne Green. Directed by Mark Robson. Produced by Universal.

1974 - Universal

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Dana Andrews, Karen Black, Helen Reddy, Myrna Loy, Gloria Swanson, Sid Ceasar.   Directed by Jack Smight.  Produced by Universal.

If they loved it once....In the wake of the 45-million-dollar gross of the original Airport (1970), Universal was all but required by an act of Congress to produce Airport '75. Charlton Heston heads the all-star cast as Alan Murdock, the air traffic controller who must keep a disabled 747 from crashing in flames. The crisis begins when a businessman (Dana Andrews), flying his small private plane, suffers a fatal heart attack and the plane smashes into the cockpit of the 747. Following Murdock's radioed instructions, stewardess Nancy Pryor (Karen Black) takes over the controls. The special-guest passenger lineup includes Helen Reddy as a singing nun (a character wickedly satirized in the 1980 parody Airplane!), Myrna Loy as an alcoholic, Gloria Swanson as Gloria Swanson (or a reasonable facsimile), and Sid Caesar as a chatterbox. While Airport '75 yielded only 25 million dollars at the box office, the franchise was too good to let go at this point: hence, Airport '77.

1973 - 20th Century Fox / CFDC / Union Generale Cinematographique

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain, Frank Finley, Geraldine Chaplin, Christopher Lee, Faye Dunaway.   Directed by Richard Lester.  Produced by 20th Century Fox / CFDC / Union Generale Cinematographique.

Richard Lester's adaptation of The Three Musketeers was only the latest of many when released in 1974, but it arrived with a spirit all its own, one influenced as much by Lester's '60s work as the Alexandre Dumas classic. Even so, it followed the plot of Dumas' novel fairly closely, its liberties in interpretation taken elsewhere. Coming off the success of Cabaret, Michael York plays D'Artagnan, the provincial, would-be swashbuckler who travels to Paris to make his name. There he encounters the eponymous heroes: cynical Athos (Oliver Reed), dashing Aramis (Richard Chamberlain), and arrogant Porthos (Frank Finlay). The trio introduces him to the world of court intrigue as they work to protect the Queen (Geraldine Chaplin) from the schemes of the villainous Richelieu (Charlton Heston) and his followers, Rochefort (Christopher Lee) and Milady (Faye Dunaway). Lester shot the film in conjunction with its sequel, The Four Musketeers. Originally intended as a single film, the split prompted a lawsuit from the cast demanding payment for both films.

Richard Fleischer directed this nightmarish science fiction vision of an over-populated world, based on the novel by Harry Harrison. In 2022, New York City is a town bursting at the seams with a 40-million-plus population. Food is in short supply, and most of the population's food source comes from synthetics manufactured in local factories -- the dinner selections being a choice between Soylent Blue, Soylent Yellow, or Soylent Green. When William Simonson (Joseph Cotten), an upper-echelon executive in the Soylent Company, is found murdered, police detective Thorn (Charlton Heston) is sent in to investigate the case. Helping him out researching the case is Thorn's old friend Sol Roth (Edward G. Robinson, in his final film role). As they investigate the environs of a succession of mad-from-hunger New Yorkers and the luxuriously rich digs of the lucky few, Thorn uncovers the terrible truth about the real ingredients of Soylent Green.

1972 - MGM

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Yvette Mimieux, James Brolin, Claude Akins, Jeanne Crain, Susan Dey, Walter Pidgeon. Directed by John Guillermin.  Produced by MGM.

Sky Terror is the reissue title for Skyjacked, a 1972 MGM all-star adventure based on a novel by David Harper. Charlton Heston mans the controls of a Los Angeles-bound commercial airliner which is hijacked to Russia by an unknown miscreant. Even when the skyjacker, revealed to be passenger James Brolin, is subsequently subdued, the crew must contend with a hidden time bomb. The film is graced with a who's who of MGM contractees past and present, including Yvette Mimieux, Walter Pidgeon and Mike Henry. A flashback sequence contains one of the first examples of an American film coming to grips with how rudely our Vietnam veterans were ignored upon returning home; alas, this compassion quickly degenerates into the odious "crazed Vietnam vet" cliche. Footnote: The first network showing of Skyjacked was boycotted by TV stations owned by the Storer Corporation, which had a hard and fast rule against screening any film concerning a hijacked plane.

1971 - Warner Brothers

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe, Rosalind Cash.   Directed by Boris Sagal.  Produced by Warner Brothers.

In this second film adaptation of Richard Matheson's science-fiction novel (the first version being The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price), Charlton Heston is Robert Neville, the sole normal survivor in a Los Angeles of a blighted future world of 1976, following germ warfare between Russia and China. Neville lives in a fancy L.A. penthouse, preserving a more-valuable-that-life-itself serum. During the day, he roams through the decimated city. At night, he fends off a bloodthirsty horde of mutant scavengers garbed in Spanish inquisition robes and Ray Ban shades, led by Matthias (Anthony Zerbe), a former television newscaster in his good ol' pre-mutant days. Matthias and his half-human vampires want to get at the serum that Neville has so preciously squirreled away. Neville's last man on earth status is shattered when he comes across a group of young people, presided over by the sexy and cynical Lisa (Rosalind Cash). Neville begins to form an interest in her, but Matthias' minions keep both peace and love at bay.

The Hawaiians is the sequel to 1969's Hawaii; both films were adapted from the same sprawling novel by James A. Michener. Charlton Heston is top-billed as a sailor who returns to his Hawaiian homestead, only to learn that his grandfather's fortune has been bestowed upon his hated cousin Alec McCowan. As a reprisal, Heston sets up his own pineapple plantation in competition with his cousin. Heston's son John Phillip Law falls in love with the daughter (Virginia Ann Lee) of a Chinese farmer (Mako). The issue of miscegenation rears its ugly head, but by the end of this very long film Heston's family is united by marriage to the Chinese clan. The British title of The Hawaiians was Master of the Islands.

1970 - American International Pictures / Commonwealth United

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, John Gielgud, Jason Robards, Richard Johnson.  Directed by Stuart Burge.  Produced by American International Pictures / Commonwealth United.

Except for the omission of several passages in the original play, this 1970 adaptation of Julius Caesar faithfully retells Shakespeare's account of events surrounding the assassination of Caesar in 44 B.C. The film begins when Caesar John Gielgud is at the height of his power after conquering Pompey "the Great" in a civil war. Important senators worry that Caesar means to become king, diminish their power, and abolish their beloved Roman republic. Two senators, Cassius Richard Johnson and Brutus Jason Robards, hatch an assassination plot involving other disenchanted Roman citizens. Although a soothsayer warns Caesar of trouble ("Beware the ides of March") and his own wife reports ominous signs ("A lioness hath whelped in the streets; and graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead"), Caesar decides to go to the senate on the ides (March 15). Upon arrival, the conspirators greet him with daggers. In his funeral oration, Mark Antony Charlton Heston extols Caesar and incites the citizens against Brutus and the other conspirators. Brutus and Cassius flee Rome with their armies, but Antony and two other sympathizers track them down with their armies. When the tide turns against the conspirators, Brutus and Cassius commit suicide. As does Shakespeare's play, the film leaves the discerning viewer wondering who was the real villain -- Caesar, because of his ambition for power, or Brutus, because of his underhanded plot to maintain the status quo.

1968 - Paramount

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Joan Hackett, Anthony Zerbe, Donald Pleasance, John Gries.  Directed by Tom Gries.  Produced by Paramount.

Rambling along at its own measured pace, Will Penny is a vivid western character study, completely dominated by the rapport between stars (Charlton Heston) and (Joan Hackett). Heston plays Will Penny, an aging and impoverished cowboy. With his cohorts Blue (Lee Majors) and Dutchy (Anthony Zerbe), the trio sets out to find employment before winter sets in. Their job search is interrupted by the sudden appearance of Preacher Quint, a vicious Bible-thumping bandit (Donald Pleasance) and his moronic, sadistic sons. Dutchy gets wounded in the fight and Blue stays with him in a small town nearby to nurse him back to health. Will gets a job on a ranch, and though he is supposed to keep squatters off the land, he can't kick out Catherine (Joan Hackett) and her little son (Jon Gries). She herself is en route to join her husband, an Oregon farmer. Despite her wedding vows, Catherine finds herself drawn to Penny -- who makes no unwarranted move towards the woman, but is equally attracted to her. Then the murderous Quint and his sons reappear to exact their revenge.

1968 - Universal

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Anton Diffring, Maximilian Schell.  Directed by Ralph Nelson.  Produced by Universal.

The beauty of classical music confronts the ugliness and treachery of war in this unusual drama. Lionel Evans (Charlton Heston) is the director of a well-respected symphony orchestra touring European concert halls in 1944. In the midst of one concert, the city where they are playing is attacked by German troops, and as Evans and his musicians try to escape, they are captured by Nazi soldiers led by Col. Arndt (Anton Diffring). Evans and the orchestra are taken to a castle where they are to bide their time before being executed; but it turns out that Arndt's superior, Gen. Schiller (Maximilian Schell), is a classical music buff. Schiller commands Evans and his symphony to prepare a special concert for the Nazis, but Evans realizes that the moment the concert is over, he and his musicians will be killed. The orchestra's performances, which include works by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, and Schubert, were performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

1966 - United Artists

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson.  Directed by Basil Dearden.  Produced by United Artists.

After declaring a holy war to rid the Sudan of Anglo-Egyptian rule in the 1880s, the fanatical Sudanese leader Muhammad Ahmad (Laurence Olivier) massacres a British-led force of 8,000 and marches on the strategic city of Khartoum at the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile. The British government of Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone (Ralph Richardson) then sends one of its greatest generals, Charles George Gordon (Charlton Heston), to Khartoum to make peace and save the city. Gordon had previously served with distinction in the Crimea, China, India and South Africa. Most important, he had also served as governor of the Sudan in the late 1870s at the request of the khedive of Egypt, instituting administrative reforms, reducing the slave trade and bolstering the economy. However, before Gordon reaches Khartoum with his aide, many of his former Sudanese friends defect to the Mahdi. Nevertheless, Gordon receives a rousing reception when he arrives in the city in February 1884. Heartened, he meets in the desert with the Mahdi to try to forge a peace agreement, but the Arab leader tells Gordon he is bent on taking Khartoum. What's more, he means to conquer other cities -- Cairo, Mecca, Baghdad and Constantinople -- to establish a vast empire under his leadership. Convinced that more war is inevitable, Gordon and the loyal Egyptian troops under his command prepare for battle. Meanwhile, in London, the Gladstone government is reluctant to dispatch troops to support the outnumbered Khartoum forces because colonial meddling has become bad politics. To forestall disaster, Gordon diverts the Nile to create a moat around Khartoum and leads a foray in which he steals cattle from the Mahdi's herd to supply the besieged city with food. But when the Nile recedes, the stage is set for the final battle that will decide the fate of Khartoum.

1965 - 20th Century Fox / International Classics

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Rex Harrison, Diane Cilento.  Directed by Carol Reed. Produced by 20th Century Fox / International Classics.

Adapted by Philip Dunne from the novel by Irving Stone, The Agony and the Ecstacy is the story of the 16th century war of wills between Renaissance artist Michelangelo (Charlton Heston) and "warrior pope" Julius II (Rex Harrison). Commissioned to paint a religious fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the independent-minded Michelangelo balks at the assignment. He is virtually strongarmed into accepting the job by Pope Julius, who wants to leave something for future generations to remember him by. Director Carol Reed deftly juggles screen time between the Pope's activities on the battlefield and Michelangelo's slow, arduous completion of his monumental task. The film also gingerly approaches the subject of Michelangelo's sexual orientation vis-a-vis his relationship with the Contessina de Medici (Diane Cilento). Too long and limited in subject matter to score at the box office, The Agony and the Ecstacy holds up pretty well when seen today, especially when viewed in a wide-screen print.

1965 - Columbia Pictures

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Richard Harris, Michael Pate.   Directed by Sam Peckinpah.  Produced by Columbia Pictures.

Sam Peckinpah's 1965 feature Major Dundee was recut and rescored for re-release theatrically in 2005, 40 years after its original release. The "Extended Version," as it is known officially, tells essentially the same story as the original but with clearer motivations for the characters (which often seemed vague or obscure in the 1965 edition) and much greater effectiveness. Major Amos Charles Dundee (Charlton Heston) is a West Point graduate who somehow -- it's not clear -- exceeded his orders while serving in the Battle of Gettysburg and, as punishment, has been taken out of combat and put in charge of a Union prison in New Mexico. He then gets word that marauding Apaches under Sierra Charriba (Michael Pate) have raided an American settlement, slaughtering the troops who were pursuing them and kidnapping three young boys, whom they've taken to their lair south of the Rio Grande (and if this sounds a lot like the plot of John Ford's Rio Grande, it's because they used the same story as inspiration). Dundee assumes responsibility for capturing or destroying the raiders and rescuing the captives, but because he has far too few men, he's forced to recruit prisoners, including his one-time friend, Confederate Captain Benjamin Tyreen (Richard Harris), and other "gentlemen of the South," to fill out his ranks. Tyreen and his men despise Dundee, but agree to serve on this mission in exchange for the chance for possible pardon of commutation of sentence (Tyreen and some of his men are facing the rope, for killing a guard in an escape attempt).

The mission takes them deep into Mexico, where they free the children but now find themselves being stalked by the very Apaches that they were hunting, as well as having to fight off the French troops stationed there. And as they quickly see, the French troops, though white and supposedly "civilized" like themselves, treat the native Mexicans in ways that make the Apaches look almost saintly. In the end, this ragtag group of soldiers, malcontents, deserters, traitors, and criminals finds a larger cause in their quest -- bigger even than their own survival -- as they discover something uniquely fine and honorable in being an American, and in American ideals. It takes the sacrifice and deaths of many to get to that point, but the movie -- in this version -- gets us there convincingly, if in decidedly grim and bittersweet fashion. Though based on fiction and shot under incredibly (indeed, legendarily) chaotic conditions, the movie ultimately proves to be a rousingly disturbing examination of what it means to be an American, and the meaning of American ideals.

1965 - United Artists

Main Cast: Max Von Sydow, Dorothy McGuire, Claude Rains, Jose Ferrer, Charlton Heston, Donald Pleasence, David McCullum, Sidney Poitier, Telly Savalas.   Directed by George Stevens.  Produced by United Artists.

Filmmaker George Stevens chose Monument Valley, Utah for his exterior sequences in The Greatest Story Ever Told, this ($20 million) adaptation of Fulton Oursler's best-selling book. The "Greatest Story" is, of course, the life of Jesus Christ, played herein by Max Von Sydow. The large supporting cast includes Dorothy McGuire as Mary, Claude Rains as Herod the Great, Jose Ferrer as Herod Antipas, Charlton Heston as John the Baptist, Donald Pleasence as Satan (identified only as "The Dark Hermit"), David McCallum as Judas Iscariot, Sidney Poitier as Simon of Cyrene, Telly Savalas as Pontius Pilate and Martin Landau as Caiaphas. Even Robert Blake as Simon the Zealot, Jamie Farr as Thaddaeus, and motorcyle-flick veteran Richard Bakalyan as Dismas, the repentant thief, are well-suited to their roles. Originally roadshown at 260 minutes, Greatest Story Ever Told was later available in a 195-minute version.

1963 - Allied Artists / Samuel Bronston

Main Cast: David Niven, Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, Flora Robson.   Directed by Nicholas Ray.  Produced by Allied Artists / Samuel Bronston.

Samuel Bronston produced this extravagant blockbuster, shot in Super Technirama 70. Nominally directed by Nicholas Ray (who makes a brief appearance as the U.S. ambassador), Ray was taken off the film and replaced by the more pliable directorial touches of Andrew Marton. Charlton Heston stars as Maj. Matt Lewis, the leader of an army of multinational soldiers who head to Peking during the infamous Boxer Rebellion of 1900. As the film unfolds, the foreign embassies in Peking are being held in a grip of terror as the Boxers set about massacring Christians in an anti-Christian nationalistic fever. Inside the besieged compound, the finicky British ambassador (David Niven) gathers the beleaguered ambassadors into a defensive formation. Included in the group of high-level dignitaries is a sultry Russian Baroness (Ava Gardner) who takes a shine to Lewis upon his arrival at the embassy compound with his group of soldiers. As Lewis and the group conserve food and water and try to save some hungry children, they await the arrival of expected reinforcements, but the tricky Chinese Empress Tzu Hsi (Flora Robson) is, in the meantime, plotting with the Boxers to break the siege at the compound with the aid of Chinese recruits.

A little bird tells on the U.S. Army during WWII in this farcical comedy. In 1944, during the last stages of the war in Europe, American officers Capt. Paul MacDougall (Charlton Heston) and Sgt. Joseph Contini (Harry Guardino) are sent to Italy to act as spies for the Allies, even though they have no experience in espionage. Working with Partisan resistance solider Ciccio Massimo (Salvatore Baccaloni), MacDougall and Contini send regular reports to their superiors by carrier pigeon. Contini also finds himself falling in love with Massimo's pregnant daughter Rosalba (Gabriella Pallotta), while her sister Antonella (Elsa Martinelli) has her eye on MacDougall. Contini proposes to Rosalba, and Ciccio prepares a feast to celebrate his daughter's upcoming wedding. However, Ciccio prepares squab for the occasion, killing all but one of the carrier pigeons. Ciccio scrambles to replace them, but the new pigeons he finds are German, and they deliver MacDougall and Contini's messages directly into enemy hands. The Pigeon That Took Rome's art direction earned the film an Academy Award nomination.

When French playwright Pierre Corneille wrote El Cid, a fanciful version of the life of 11th-century Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar, aka "El Cid", an attempt was made to honor the "classic unities" and to compress the whole story into a single day! Be assured that the 1961 film version of El Cid is more faithful to the actual chronology. Charlton Heston adds one more character to his gallery of historical portrayals as El Cid, the disgraced Spanish knight who rids his country of its Moorish conquerors. The triumphs of El Cid's military life are not matched by his private affairs; he is betrayed by his bride Chimene (Sophia Loren) and is made a political pawn by the avaricious Spanish landowners. El Cid has a climax unique in the annals of movie epics: the final assault against the landgrabbers is led by a dead hero. El Cid established the short but generally profitable reign of producer Samuel Bronston as the King of the Epics; his imprint on the film is much stronger than that of director Anthony Mann.

This 1959 version of Lew Wallace's best-selling novel, which had already seen screen versions in 1907 and 1926, went on to win 11 Academy Awards. Adapted by Karl Tunberg and a raft of uncredited writers including Gore Vidal and Maxwell Anderson, the film once more recounts the tale of Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston), who lives in Judea with his family during the time that Jesus Christ was becoming known for his "radical" teachings. Ben-Hur's childhood friend Messala (Stephen Boyd) is now an ambitious Roman tribune; when Ben-Hur refuses to help Messala round up local dissidents on behalf of the emperor, Messala pounces on the first opportunity to exact revenge on his onetime friend. Tried on a trumped-up charge of attempting to kill the provincial governor (whose head was accidentally hit by a falling tile), Ben-Hur is condemned to the Roman galleys, while his mother (Martha Scott) and sister (Cathy O'Donnell) are imprisoned. But during a sea battle, Ben-Hur saves the life of commander Quintus Arrius (Jack Hawkins), who, in gratitude, adopts Ben-Hur as his son and gives him full control over his stable of racing horses. Ben-Hur never gives up trying to find his family or exact revenge on Messala. At crucial junctures in his life, he also crosses the path of Jesus, and each time he benefits from it. The highlight of the film's 212 minutes is its now-legendary chariot race, staged largely by stunt expert Yakima Canutt. Ben-Hur's Oscar haul included Best Picture, Best Director for the legendary William Wyler, Best Actor for Heston, and Best Supporting Actor for Welsh actor Hugh Griffith as an Arab sheik.

Talented special effects and adventure director Michael Anderson (Around the World in 80 Days, 1956) keeps the suspense going in this drama about the wreck of the Mary Deare. John Sands (Charleton Heston) is the captain of a salvage ship that is almost rammed by the apparently abandoned Mary Deare. Sands boards the ship in search of plunder but as it is tossed on the high seas, he discovers a half-crazed captain aboard (Gary Cooper). The captain of the Mary Deare, Gideon Patch, tells Sands his story and in the end, the ship is scuttled and sinks. While Sands believes the story, the court does not believe it and Captain Patch is devastated. Determined to prove his innocence, the two captains dive down to the sunken Mary Deare to dredge up the evidence they need -- building up to a slam-bang climax.

When Cecil B. DeMille was set to direct a re-make of his 1938 swashbuckler The Buccaneer and suddenly became ill, his son-in-law, Anthony Quinn, jumped into DeMille's jodhpurs. In this version, Yul Brynner plays the starring role of debonair pirate Jean Lafitte, who is contacted by General Andrew Jackson (Charlton Heston) to come to the aid of the United States when the British attack New Orleans during the War of 1812. Lafitte immediately falls in love with Annette Claiborne (Inger Stevens), the daughter of William Claiborne (E.G. Marshall), the first governor of Louisiana. special, and even an opera.

In The Big Country Gregory Peck plays a seafaring man who heads west to marry Carroll Baker, the daughter of rancher Charles Bickford. Bickford is currently embroiled in a water-rights feud with covetous Burl Ives, so both he and his daughter are hoping that Peck can take care of himself. But Peck, who doesn't belief in fisticuffs, appears to be a coward, especially when challenged by Bickford's cocksure foreman Charlton Heston. The far-from-cowardly Peck decides to distance himself from the machismo overload at the Bickford spread, settling for a romance with headstrong schoolmarm Jean Simmons, whose water-rich lands are being fought over by the two warring ranchers. When Jean is kidnapped by Ives' no-good son Chuck Connors, Peck decides to take action.

This baroque nightmare of a south-of-the-border mystery is considered to be one of the great movies of Orson Welles, who both directed and starred in it. On honeymoon with his new bride, Susan (Janet Leigh), Mexican-born policeman Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston) agrees to investigate a bomb explosion. In so doing, he incurs the wrath of local police chief Hank Quinlan (Welles), a corrupt, bullying behemoth with a perfect arrest record. Vargas suspects that Quinlan has planted evidence to win his past convictions, and he isn't about to let the suspect in the current case be railroaded. Quinlan, whose obsession with his own brand of justice is motivated by the long-ago murder of his wife, is equally determined to get Vargas out of his hair, and he makes a deal with local crime boss Uncle Joe Grandi (Akim Tamiroff) to frame Susan on a drug rap, leading to one of the movie's many truly harrowing sequences. Touch of Evil dissects the nature of good and evil in a hallucinatory, nightmarish ambience, helped by the shadow-laden cinematography of Russell Metty and by the cast, which, along with Tamiroff and Welles includes Charlton Heston as a Mexican; Marlene Dietrich, in a brunette wig, as a brittle madam who delivers the movie's unforgettable closing words; Mercedes McCambridge as a junkie; and Dennis Weaver as a tremulous motel clerk. Touch of Evil has been released with four different running times -- 95 minutes for the 1958 original, which was taken away from Welles and brutally cut by the studio; 108 minutes and 114 minutes in later versions; and 111 minutes in the 1998 restoration. Based on a 58-page memo written by Welles after he was barred from the editing room during the film's original post-production, this restoration, among numerous other changes, removed the opening titles and Henry Mancini's music from the opening crane shot, which in either version ranks as one of the most remarkably extended long takes in movie history.

Set in the American West after the Civil War, this drama is the pull-no-punches story of a lethal family feud. Colt Saunders (Charlton Heston) fought for the Confederacy in the war, and he returns to his family's Texas cattle ranch after impulsively marrying Lorna Hunter (Anne Baxter) following a very short courtship. During the war, Mexican foreman Innocencio (Gilbert Roland) and his sons have run the ranch. Colt's one-armed brother, Cinch (Tom Tryon), who hasn't been much of a help, wants Colt to give him money for his part of the land. When Colt refuses to give him gold in exchange for his share of the inheritance, Cinch launches a scheme to sell the place to a wealthy Northerner. Colt chafes at the notion of selling to a former enemy. Lorna gets pregnant with their first child, and Colt then discovers that she once worked as a prostitute. Soon after, a plot to kill Colt is unleashed.

1956 - Paramount

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Edward G. Robinson, Anne Baxter, Yvonne de Carlo. Directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Produced by Paramount.

Based on the Holy Scriptures, with additional dialogue by several other hands, The Ten Commandments was the last film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The story relates the life of Moses, from the time he was discovered in the bullrushes as an infant by the pharoah's daughter, to his long, hard struggle to free the Hebrews from their slavery at the hands of the Egyptians. Moses (Charlton Heston) starts out "in solid" as Pharoah's adopted son (and a whiz at designing pyramids, dispensing such construction-site advice as "Blood makes poor mortar"), but when he discovers his true Hebrew heritage, he attempts to make life easier for his people. Banished by his jealous half-brother Rameses (Yul Brynner), Moses returns fully bearded to Pharoah's court, warning that he's had a message from God and that the Egyptians had better free the Hebrews post-haste if they know what's good for them. Only after the Deadly Plagues have decimated Egypt does Rameses give in. As the Hebrews reach the Red Sea, they discover that Rameses has gone back on his word and plans to have them all killed. But Moses rescues his people with a little Divine legerdemain by parting the Seas. Later, Moses is again confronted by God on Mt. Sinai, who delivers unto him the Ten Commandments. Meanwhile, the Hebrews, led by the duplicitous Dathan (Edward G. Robinson), are forgetting their religion and behaving like libertines. "Where's your Moses now?" brays Dathan in the manner of a Lower East Side gangster. He soon finds out. A remake of his 1923 silent film, DeMille's The Ten Commandments may not be the most subtle and sophisticated entertainment ever concocted, but it tells its story with a clarity and vitality that few Biblical scholars have ever been able to duplicate. It is very likely the most eventful 219 minutes ever recorded to film--and who's to say that Nefertiri (Anne Baxter) didn't make speeches like, "Oh, Moses, Moses, you splendid, stubborn, adorable fool"?

A too-tough Army major gets himself sent to run an ROTC program at a Santa Barbara military school after he calls unwanted attention to the military by mouthing off to a prominent news magazine. When he arrives to his new post, the major is shocked to find it run by nuns and that his new troops are school children. His assignment is to make "men" out of the rambunctious recruits so that the school can keep from losing its ROTC certification. At first the hard-as-nails major treats his young charges with all the tenderness of a old army boot and the boys, tired of his constant barrage of insults and demands, come to hate him. Further complicating matters is the major's disconcerting romantic feelings for the school's lovely doctor. Unfortunately, she isn't about to put up with his ultra-macho guff anymore than the children are and before this romantic comedy is through, the major learns important lessons about the value of humanity in dealing with others.

The film Bad For Each Other, together with stars Charlton Heston and Lizabeth Scott and director Irving Rapper, were originally assembled into a package by producer Hal Wallis for Paramount. Shortly thereafter, however, Wallis found it expedient to sell the whole package to Columbia, though the film still has the "look" of a Paramount "A"-picture. Heston plays poor-but-proud Army doctor Tom Owen, who through the influence of Pittsburgh socialite Helen Curtis (Lizabeth Scott) builds up a posh society practice. Though he's happy with the money and prestige, Dr. Owen is at heart a man of the people, and he'd much prefer tending to the families of the local steel miners. During a moment of extreme crisis, Owen is forced to choose immediately between the life offered him by Helen and the course he knows he should be following. Dianne Foster plays Joan Lasher, the girl Owen left behind when he began pursuing the ice-princess.

1953 - Paramount

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Jack Palance.   Directed by Charles Marquis Warren.  Produced by Paramount.

Adapted from a novel by W.R. Burnett (which hadn't yet been published when the film was released), Arrowhead is a tough, uncompromising western dealing with the delicate issue of White-Indian relations. Charlton Heston is at his most truculent as Indian agent Ed Bannon, who though raised by Apaches has a very low opinion of the tribe's trustworthiness. Bannon's warnings about Indian treachery would seem to be borne out by a series of bloody raids upon the cavalry, but the officers in charge refuse to believe him. It turns out that the man behind the Apache attacks is Toriano (Jack Palance), the chief's college-educated son, who has rejected the ways of the White Man and intends to reclaim his birthright. The film boils down to a mano y mano battle between Bannon and Toriano, personal enemies from way back. Hardly politically correct, Arrowhead is worth seeing if only for the multitextured performance by Jack Palance.

1953 - Paramount

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Forrest Tucker.  Directed by Jerry Hopper. Produced by Paramount.

The action in this loose adaptation of a popular 1925 silent tells the galloping (and largely untrue) tale if the formation of the U.S. rapid transcontinental mail system with a focus on the adventures of Buffalo Bill Cody (Charlton Heston) and Wild Bill Hickock (Forrest Tucker).

The President's Lady is an historical drama starring Charlton Heston as Andrew Jackson and Susan Hayward as his wife Rachel, Jackson marries Rachel after she divorces her unfaithful first husband (Whitfield Connor), with scandal resulting when the ex-husband refuses to finalize the divorce. Jackson climbs up the military and political ladder, but Rachel is never socially acceptable due to her "tainted" past. Nonetheless, Jackson stands staunchly beside his wife, even fighting a duel for her honor. On the eve of Jackson's presidential election, Rachel dies, but "Ol' Hickory" takes comfort in recalling a marriage that remained happy against all odds. The best sequence in The President's Lady is a comic vignette which explodes the legend of the "pipe-smoking" Rachel Jackson.

Ruby Gentry

1952 - 20th Century Fox

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Jennifer Jones, Karl Malden, James Anderson.   Directed by King Vidor.  Produced by 20th Century Fox.

Jennifer Jones offers a virtual reprise of her sultry performance in Duel in the Sun as the titular heroine of Ruby Gentry. Born into a poor-white-trash Southern family, Ruby intends to improve her lot by marrying into wealth. Her casual beau Boake Tackman (Charlton Heston) considers Ruby unfit for marriage, but prosperous businessman Jim Gentry (Karl Malden) is eager and willing to make her his wife. Gentry dies in an accident, and the consensus of opinion is that he was killed by the covetous Ruby. For some reason, this turns Boake on, and he renews his torrid romance with the widow Gentry. Ruby's crazed brother, Jewel (James Anderson), puts an end to this affair with a shotgun, provoking a violent response from Ruby and a "Lady or the Tiger" ending. Produced independently by director King Vidor and Joseph Bernhard, Ruby Gentry was released in the U.S. by 20th Century Fox.

1952 - Paramount

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, Susan Morrow. Directed by George Marshall.  Produced by Paramount.

The Paramount publicity department had a field day heralding the news that Charlton Heston portrays a Native American named "Warbonnet" in The Savage. Actually the ad campaign was a bit of a cheat, since Heston turns out to be a white man raised by the Sioux. The crisis comes when hostilities break out between the whites and the Indians, forcing Heston to question his loyalties. The script tries to be equitable, but the Indians lose out again. Ironically, one year after starring in The Savage, Charlton Heston played an Indian-hating government agent in Arrowhead.

1952 - Paramount

Main Cast: Charlton Heston, James Stewart, Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, Dorothy Lamour.   Directed by Cecil B. DeMille.  Produced by Paramount.

The Greatest Show on Earth is often ridiculed as the worst Oscar-winning Best Picture of all time, but that is unfair -- Cimarron and Cavalcade are both a considerable chore to sit through, and The Greatest Show on Earth is at least watchable trash. As is often the case when a questionable Best Picture winner is announced, external circumstances played a major role in determining the Academy's choice. John Huston's Moulin Rouge was seen as glorifying a dissipated lifestyle, and High Noon, written by blacklist victim Carl Foreman, was clearly an attack on Hollywood's cravenness in capitulating to the hysteria of the McCarthy era. On the other hand, there is at least some charm in noting that the Academy's family-friendly Best Picture selection was a movie about a killer clown (James Stewart) who hides out in a circus while being chased by the police. Despite its diminished reputation, The Greatest Show on Earth is not without merits. Producer/director Cecil B. De Mille fills the screen with admirable production values, and Charlton Heston gives a star-making performance that maintains interest between the circus acts and train shots.