But by God, it’s still hokey, soapy fun, with Heston as the circus manager, Betty Hutton and Cornel Wilde as the dueling trapeze artists, and James Stewart as the clown with a dark secret. DeMille now regularly ranks among the worst Best Picture winners of all time. It falters, however, in its love story between Ensign Garth ( Edward Albert), son of Navy Captain Matt Garth (Heston), and Haruko Sakura ( Christina Kokubo), a Japanese girl living in Hawaii.Ī huge success in its time, this big top melodrama from Cecil B. The film is at its best when focusing on its impressive battle sequences, aided by some stock war footage and stirring sound work (it was released in the now obsolete Sensurround). Heston teams up with Henry Fonda for this stirring dramatization of the Battle of Midway, a major turning point in the fight for the Pacific during WWII. With “Earthquake,” the title pretty much tells you all you need to know, as several A-listers - including Heston, Ava Gardner, George Kennedy, Lorne Green, Genevieve Bujold, and Richard Roundtree - struggle to survive when a massive seismic tremor rocks Los Angeles. DeMille Award: History of every recipientĭisaster movies plagued the box office throughout the 1970s, thrilling audiences and stupefying critics with their mix of big spectacle and all-star casts. Take a tour through our photo gallery of Heston’s 12 greatest films, including a few Oscar-caliber performances that were sadly overlooked. An awkward interview with Michael Moore for the gun-control documentary “Bowling for Columbine” (2002) was one of his final onscreen appearances, and an unfortunate one at that. A longtime Democrat and civil rights activist, he later became a Republican and head of the National Rifle Association. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes.Īs his acting career began to wind down, Heston became better known for his politics than his filmography. Heston received the Academy’s Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1978, the Screen Actors Guild life achievement prize in 1972, and, appropriately enough, the Cecil B. He would, however, stretch his acting muscles from time to time, as witnessed by Orson Welles‘ “Touch of Evil” (1958) and Kenneth Branagh‘s “Hamlet” (1996). The film gobbled up 11 total trophies, including Best Picture and Best Director.Ĭonsidering its spectacular chariot race, it’s little wonder “Ben-Hur” led to Heston becoming an action star, with starring roles in films such as “Planet of the Apes” (1968), “Soylent Green” (1973), and “Earthquake” (1974).
A holy hit at the box office, the role undoubtedly inspired William Wyler to cast him as a Jewish prince during the time of Christ in “Ben-Hur” (1959), which brought Heston a Best Actor Oscar. Heston later reunited with DeMille to play the Old Testament prophet Moses in “The Ten Commandments” (1956), which brought him a Golden Globe nomination.
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