Charlton Heston "Film Is Not An Actor's Medium" | The Dick Cavett Show
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- Опубліковано 19 лис 2024
- Charlton Heston discusses accepting the director's concept when making a film despite the actors performance and the importance of the editor in constructing a narrative.
Date aired - June 18th 1970 - Charlton Heston and Jim Bouton
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Dick Cavett has been nominated for eleven Emmy awards (the most recent in 2012 for the HBO special, Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again), and won three. Spanning five decades, Dick Cavett’s television career has defined excellence in the interview format. He started at ABC in 1968, and also enjoyed success on PBS, USA, and CNBC.
His most recent television successes were the September 2014 PBS special, Dick Cavett’s Watergate, followed April 2015 by Dick Cavett’s Vietnam. He has appeared in movies, tv specials, tv commercials, and several Broadway plays. He starred in an off-Broadway production ofHellman v. McCarthy in 2014 and reprised the role at Theatre 40 in LA February 2015.
Cavett has published four books beginning with Cavett (1974) and Eye on Cavett (1983), co-authored with Christopher Porterfield. His two recent books -- Talk Show: Confrontations, Pointed Commentary, and Off-Screen Secrets (2010) and Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic moments, and Assorted Hijinks(October 2014) are both collections of his online opinion column, written for The New York Times since 2007. Additionally, he has written for The New Yorker, TV Guide, Vanity Fair, and elsewhere.
#thedickcavettshow #CharltonHeston #JimBouton
Laurence Olivier said the same thing Charlton said in an interview with Cavett about how film is the director's medium and the stage is actor's country. Fascinating!
Orson Welles said Heston was one of his absolute favorite actors that he ever directed. Pretty high praise right there.
Agreed!
He did direct him in Touch of Evil. Heston played a Mexican.
I read somewhere that Laurence Olivier said in the 50's that Heston would be as grand as Brando in the art of acting.
Where can I find that quote. I'd love to see it cause I love Charlton Heston and Orson Welles.
Yes, he was great in ‘Touch of Evil.’ And that 8-minute straight opening sequence is incredible
What an honor it was to meet him in the summer of 1997. He visited our local bookshop to autograph his latest book To Be A Man. I walked away mumbling “I just shook hands with Moses...”
Got any proof or just trying to get youtube likes hahaha!! we have to fact check these claims
@@GrandMasterKai Lol 😂 He parted my hair! But we had no camera phones back then so let it be written…
@@mariogiresi6792 ah so your just msking up crap got it 😂😂 I met JFK back in the day 😂😂 we had cameras too 😁 so try but your lies dkng hold up
Charlton oozed confidence, calm and class..
WHAT A MAN!!
He was so well spoken. He really understood the medium of film vs Theatre for the Actor.
Legendary actor!!👑 I'm so lucky that he replied to my fan letter 😇He was one of the most handsome Man of the world 💖 Thank you that you post this interview!!
One of the most intelligent guests Cavett ever had. His insights into the filmmaking process were fascinating.
a perfect example of what he is saying in film is "No Country for Old Men"
Javier Bardem
Josh Brolin
Tommy Lee Jones
had no idea what the Coen brothers were going to piece together on the cutting room floor.
I am in such awe of the guests Dick Cavett had. Heston's opinions are on point. The "celebs" that exist today are such nothing's. Heston is so right about Welles😍.
Who could have imagine that thanks to Charlton Heston we learned something about video editing.
This interview took place in the aftermath of a monster hit movie for Heston- "Planet of The Apes." The movie was successful in every aspect except with Oscar voters where, in many other years, it could have swept the major awards. Heston was a supreme actor who won an Oscar for "Ben Hur" but could have won many more.
If I’m correct, it did receive a special Oscar for the makeup
@@jennifersman7990 Yes, but none of the actors were even nominated. Heston, Maurice Evans, Roddy McDowell, and Kim Hunter all did great work.
@@willminkorea2010 Heston never merited an Oscar for that film or any other. Maurice Evans, yes, for that and several more.
@@willminkorea2010 Not to mention James 'Frank Luger' Gregory as General Ursus.
@@owlcowl "never merited an Oscar for any of his films" Isn´t that a little unfair? Yes, maybe some of his best preformances where in non appeal films (by today standards) but in The Ten Commandments for example, the dialogues where very stupid and cheese. It was his performance and Yul Brynners performance, that make Moses and Ramses a believeble characters. Heston gave an amazing performance in Will penny, but the film was a very little one. El Cid was another grand epic with bad script, and in 55 days at Peking, the Director collapse and the production went chaotic. He did the best with what he got. That´s why actors like Brando, Newman, etc didn´t made epics, because they knew those films are very difficult for actors. I think he deserved his Oscar in Ben Hur thou.
Love Charlton Heston. Every interview I've seen of his he always was intelligent, insightful and funny.
Heston is proof that a thousand people can do a thing despite the fact that only one of them truly understands it.
Please fix the title: it's Charlton, not Charleston.
Omg lol
This actually hearkens back to his full moniker Charleston "Chew" Heston.
@@Dr_Mel On his Wikipedia page it says he was born John Charles Carter, and there is no mention of the name Charleston.
Correct.
Maybe he could dance better than we realized.
Terrific conversation
Love mr Heston - charming, articulate and wow - stunning male
Film is the directors medium.
TV is the writers medium.
THEATRE, theatre is the actors medium.
In short, actors are just spectators!
And Videogames is the medium that unites Writers, Directors AND Actors alike. Just look at the insane acting that you get delivered in videogames of the past decade or so.
KRAFTWERK2K6 video games is a coders medium haha
@@KRAFTWERK2K6 like....??
@@joshgoodman9882 Let's face it. No modern game (especially heavy story driven games with lots of speaking characters) could make it with simple text. Everything is being acted by actual actors in motion capture suits and they play / perform the roles of the characters in the games. Sure, Coders write the game. But 3D artists model the characters and build the worlds. Writers create the whole story and create the characters. And then there's composers who create the scores. Nobody really just codes a game anymore. Some may but the majority are basically interactive movies, TV shows or comics.
Funny thing. I've been watching movies for 50 years and this is the first time I've understood this blinding glimpse of the obvious; that the actor's contribution to a film can only ever be negligible, that what we see and hear isn't created by the actors but by the director, editor and producer.
It is an interesting insight. Only the role of actor-director would allow otherwise.
That's why Johnny Depp never watches his own movies.
@@dalechristensen3640 I can understand.
I got a Charlton story.. During the Christmas season sometime in the 1960’s my Grandfather worked as a lath and plasterer. The company he worked for was hired to do a remodel project at Heston’s home in Beverly Hills.. My Grandfather liked Heston, said he treated the crew very good. During their lunch break Heston had a very nice lunch made for them and they were allowed to eat in his dining room and living room.. They were even allowed to watch his TV.. They had to take off their shoes though. When they were done with their lunch, Heston had his maid put all their shoes neatly in his hall closet.
Wow
@warrcc c funny description of michael moore,what on earth would prompt u to describe him that way?{and I'm chuckling away while txting)
Great story and a man with class!
@@jerryoshea3116 If I had to guess, I'd say it's because MM is overweight and seems to view people through the telescope of his leftist ideology. Ironically, when you look back at him through that device, he looks very small.
@@commentatron Yes,u may have a point(using PC and the latest jargon and buzz words to occupy the moral high ground,which are "smokegreens to hide his own personal insecurities).
It's sad as well because from time to he has the ability to shine a much needed light on certain issues(like the Public Water disaster in Michigan)but mostly it's all extreme left shite!
Who thought Dick's clip would pay such dividends since they were initially made. I hope he lives to be 200 years old.
Notwithstanding your well intentioned hope, that is not likely. Rarely, a person will live to be around 120 years old. The vast majority die before they are 100. The average life expectancy is around 80 or so. As such, the likelihood of anyone living to be 200 is so small as to be almost zero.
it is zero percent
I imagine the stage is more satisfying for an actor because you play a character in real time. Whereas making a film is done in bits and not always in order.
I've always imagined that actors would prefer the buzz of live theatre to the grind of sitting around a film set but I'm probably being grossly naive.
It'd be a stretch to call myself an actor, but I have acted and I can tell you that personally at least that is absolutely true- even though cinema is my passion, and my dream job would be film director.
I used to love acting on stage, but the one (short) film I was in I really didn't enjoy. Having to keep stopping and starting and trying out a hundred different ways of doing things really limited my flow as a performer. But I guess everyone's different...
Great point
Allways will be my favourite!!! 😍😍😍😍
Charlton Heston...really the most incredible talent. Like my other fave Kirk Douglas...both from opposite political opinions but my goodness....both are exceptional actors. Charlton made the biggest movies that will ever be made...such a huge screen presence....
Highly intelligent, thoughtful, humble, strong work ethic. I like him.
Not that intelligent. For example, the writer and director of Ben Hur made sure that he didn't find out that his character was in love with another man, simply by not telling him, and in all the time taken to film it Charleton Heston never caught on.
@@Frank_Nemo Thank you for sharing your homasessual fantasies about a very hetero hollywood star.
@@StudSupreme Homasessual fantasies originally shared by Google. Go check it out.
@@Frank_Nemo……Mr Heston was well aware what writer Gore Vidal was trying to insinuate into the relationship on screen, between the two main characters’.
He was a highly intelligent man………
One of the greatest actors of all time-Charlton Heston.
Wonderful....and yet dispiriting when compared with what we're watching some 40 years later. How and where did things ever go so wrong?
Comparing this with 'talk shows' of today is like comparing a Ferrari 360 Spyder with a Fiat Panda....
A very accurate analogy..The talks shows(the presenters and guests) are vapid at best.
Not 40 this was 50 years ago pl dont compare we have come a long way ahead for todays talk shows
@@hsd287 How so?&just for the sake of transparency,may I ask ur age?
@@hsd287 You think we have' come a long way ahead' for today's Talk Shows?
Good grief man. What have you been smoking....
The talk shows of today have devolved into crude jokes and unkind words directed toward a list of people some apparatchik in a woke leftist network decided to smear.
It has nothing in common with the old talk shows that had creative, educated people talking to other people about their slice of reality, in whatever field they excelled in, that is also interesting to their viewers.
Arguably the greatest insight Heston ever shared on film making........
"Have you ever just played a slob?" That's Dick Cavett! I love his talk shows. I think Dick hands down had the best interviews in talkshow history.
Thanks Dick!
On Chuck Heston.. I can't wait till UA-cam offers 'The Omega Man' as a free movie. Good old flick!
He was an amazing historical, biblical or period actor.
@Everything Except Shoes I think he was trying to say that Charlton was amazing in interpreting biblical, period characters...💁🏻♀️🙂
@David R. Walsh
I acknowledge your vast expetise, expierence and expierential knowledge in all matters relating to being "stupid and uninformed" and indeed also an "unrepentant goom"
Since you seem to type with such 'authority' upon these matters
#Takes1ToKnow1
Edit : Stay salty ;-D
@David R. Walsh Would it really be impossible for a "far right goom" (sounds kind of racist to me, but I'll let it slide) to also be a talented actor? I'm not particularly fond of Sean Penn's politics, but he's definitely gifted and excellent at his craft. BTW, anytime someone on either side starts in with the "HAHAHAHA!!!" thing I immediately know they feel insecure in the point they are trying to make.
@David R. Walsh And I think you were meaning to write "riposte". The snarky, condescending thing works better when you actually use your "fifty cent words" correctly.
@David R. Walsh No, your spelling wasn't "out an 'e'". You used the wrong word completely. Riposte is a term from fencing. Repost is what people might do on Facebook. It means "post again".
Actually, "goom" would be something of a racial slur. It refers disparagingly to Italian-Americans. You probably meant "goon". It was obviously a typo, but you didn't need to double-down. With the "hahahahahah!!" thing you're trying to make it appear that you're righteously superior and laughing in disdainful mockery at someone, but it comes off try-hard and insecure. That arrogant stance is what makes your use of "repost" actually funny.
Again, you didn't explain why disagreeing with someone's politics makes them untalented at their craft. Yes, Heston was the president of the NRA, and perhaps you find that a bad thing. That doesn't shed any light on whether he was adept at playing Moses or Ben-hur. Your sort of attitude is why I find it nearly impossible to have a rational. civil conversation with modern leftists. Every topic turns into "me good, you bad".
Brilliant man Heston.
I was lucky to receive his reply to my fan letter.
_Will Penny_ was a great movie! If you haven't seen it, you should. He underplays the character and it's perfect.
Yes, it is a good movie. It also costarred Lee Majors.
What a coincidence to watch this tonight as I was thinking today of “Will Penny” and what a good movie it is. It’s my favorite of Charlton Hestons because it’s so different. It makes me smile and feel warm inside to know that he really enjoyed making the movie.
……Lydia Clarke Heston, played the doctor’s wife in ‘Will Penny’.………
Man, watching these Cavett and Parkinson with iconic stars like Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum, Charlton Heston, Lee Marvin etc. is a real treat. These guys had such an incredible star presence. The way they spoke, moved and looked just exuded charisma and class but doesn't come across forced. Most "stars" today can't hold a candle to these guys.
Time for me to watch Touch Of Evil again.
I LOVE that movie
Great actor
Holy crow 1970, seems like such a long time ago now
50 years is a long time silly 😂
It is a long time. Half a century.
Charlton Heston may not have been the best actor of all time however nobody can touch him or come close when it comes to having screen presence. What a cool guy!
I don`t know about that. Heston had pretty good performances througout his career. He was good making comedy aswell; i wonder why Directors didn`t gave him the chance to act in more comedys.
Often such interviews as this turn-out to be disappointing. The actor or actress, though perhaps great on the screen, can turn-out to be monosyllabic, unresponsive, with little-or-no insight into the filmmaking-process, the evolution of his or career, etc. Mitchum was like that. The interviewer has to pull every-word out of them for answers, sometimes practically answering for the guests-themselves. I've seen this happen often over the years. That's why this is such a surprise. I've always liked Mr. Heston and he's very-natural, relaxed, articulate & interesting here. He seems truly "in the moment", enjoying the discussion. David Niven, another of my favorites, made a great-guest on interview-shows, too, always bubbly & enthusiastic about his life, his career, and Hollywood in general. I give Mr. Heston a rating of four-pyramids here!
Forgetting everything you've heard about Heston, his NRA rants or what your saw late in his life in Michael Moore's film ... Heston was a conservative with a liberal heart and a bloody great actor.
Dick Cavet the quintessential interviewer. His television shows were magnetically interesting. I watched st least a couple a week from 6th grade on.
Loved all of his films.
They should post more interviews of William Holden
In case anyone is wondering, the other guy is Yankees pitcher Jim Bouton, author of 'Ball Four'
Saw CH perform on stage in The Caine Mutiny in Brighton England around 1984 - he was simply amazing.
Would have liked to see him perform more against type in films, but nonetheless his legacy in movies is astonishing. Planet Of The Apes certainly stands the test of time and his look of utter astonishment at the end of the film in itself remains a piece of cinematic history.
Which character did he play in The Caine Mutiny? Captain Queeg?
@@jackprescott9652 Yes and he was amazing👌
Wise, wonderful words from a great American artist.
If this is1970 then Heston is 47 years old and now I feel old because after watching "Planet of the Apes" at the cinema as a kid aged 10, I'm now 10 years older than Heston is in this clip...what happened!!! ....Life sure goes by quickly!!
He also lost out on Chief Brody from Jaws. Spielberg says here comes Moses now the shark cannot stand a chance.
Always got the impression that Heston was never quite comfortable with the camera being so close. It was a double-edged sword because he was so strikingly handsome that the camera just loved him (that jawline!) but his natural instincts as a stage actor were to project to the back row, which just isn't needed in film. When he worked with directors who reeled him in (Wyler in "Ben-Hur" for instance) he gave good performances. If left to his own devices, he couldn't help but ham it up a bit and the camera caught all of it. My favorite films of his, where he tones it down for whatever reason, are "Ben-Hur," "Planet of the Apes," "Will Penney," "Airport 1975," and "Midway." Conversely, I have trouble watching some films like "Diamond Head," "Earthquake," and even "El Cid," though the action scenes make up for Chuck's natural inclination to overact. All this being said, he may not have been the world's best film actor, but man he took over the screen. Just a natural presence and a damn handsome man!
Charlton heston was the greatest actor of the english cinema
Everything Heston said about the directors' job is also true about acting. If you've seen "Will Penny", you see real fine character acting and how a story is supposed to be told, without all the pageantry, CGI and sweeping score.
Yes, I think the truth about film being a directors medium and theatre an actors medium lies somewhere in between.
Informative interview
Heston is one of the true greats. Watch closely his 'canvas' in Major Benson. Ben Hur, and all through the years up until his greatest last role in the Mengele film. Totally mesmerizing. He was so clearly a really great human being. Father, husband. So many people totally misunderstood his involvement with the NRA, chose their own political optic, and chose to ignore much of what he was actually advocating for. The NRA is not an easy 'political optic' for most people unfamiliar with the firearms culture, but that has to be overcome with information.
THIS is what TV used t be. Four Networks. A smattering of UHF stations. And great programing.
*When I was at UCLA I took some courses on Scandinavian literature, and much to my surprise, Heston's first film role was a student production of Henrik Ibsen's "Peer Gynt."*
……yes, in 1949……😊
"Have you ever just played a slob?" 😂😂😂😂 Cavett was so funny!
Charlton still has light brown here, or should I say toupee, but he looks very well here. He was one amazing actor.
I didn't always agree with his politics but he was a great actor who was in many great movies. I miss him.
He was actually a Civil Rights supporter and very far left until his old age. For the vast majority of his life, he was a Democrat.
@@HolgerRuneFan and then he realised that the Democrats are mad.
Good actor for certain types of roles, but never a great actor, and never claimed to be. His politics, of course, are irrelevant to such evaluations, just as with John Wayne or, on the opposite side, Vanessa Redgrave.
@@HolgerRuneFan Oddly, a JFK democrat of yesteryear is right of many modern republicans.
That was deep, Chuck.
Will Penny was a superb western (i've got it on dvd). Think it was Heston's favourite role in his long and epic career.
I wish he would have got to make more westerns. He's one of those few actors who could carry one.
Dick Cavett interviews older Dick Cavett
Charlton not Charleston, which is a dance!
Charlton Heston, Rip Torn, George Coe, James Franciscus (actually appeared with Heston in a film) looked like they could have been brothers.
What they used to call a "man's man"
Will Penny is a GREAT movie he should have been nominated for an Oscar
he was great friends with my next door neighbour... film editor Eric Boyd Perkins!
June 1970: "I have no desire to direct." Praises Orson Welles.
June 1971: Starts directing Antony and Cleopatra, because Orson Welles turned it down.
i have nothing against the other celebs that were on this show but is this channel ever going to show the Dick Cavett shows where he interviews Art Carney or Jackie Gleason? How about any Honeymooners actors that were a part of the main cast?
This was before soylent green was made.
What a man. Under dictionary of man it could say Charlton and Eastwood
He looks a bit like Brando and sounds a bit like Welles in my opinion
1970 - Talk shows were so much better in the U.S than anything the U.K had for many years...
It's the movies that made him famous and wealthy not the stage!
Ah....the pre-toupee years.
a lot of what heston says here can be argued with....especially about the director......since most great actors will have argued the script.....and won!...ask bette davis....or bogart or cary grant...the point is...many directors even in Hollywoods golden days...DID NOT HAVE FINAL CUT of the movie.....
What ever happened to Gary Cooper?
I guess I should watch Will Penny.
The Omega Man
Omega Man is a great, underrated film. It's on my list of "sci fi films to watch during a pandemic." Heston had a nice little run with sci fi films.
Moses!
wow
o7
I liked Will Penny.
It's so weird listening to people speak in complete sentences, one after another. Talk shows are all just quips and bad jokes now.
none of my favorite 50 films have heston in them....and i dont watch films because he is in them..but his work that i have seen all contain the same actor...a guy 2nd in command...a bit angry...who comes to better himself by the time the movie is over..
how such a smart man like chuckles could be so possessed about gun ownership is beyond my understanding. ironically orson welles was a fervent anti-gun advocate.
it was tied to his concepts of rights & how to insure them..... also his view on the nature of power & checks that needed to be imposed on it.
Great actor, but I always thought he looked like a farmer. I wonder if he ever played a farmer.
……he played the owner of a sugar cane ranch in Hawaii, in 1963 film, ‘Duamond Head’………
Heston was an extremely intelligent guy. His and America's fixation with guns is disappointing though.
……bc he was a 9th generation American………
He's so articulate and intelligent about film-making. It's a shame he became a self-parody: his last and longest running role as the bombastic head of the NRA.
Dave, when you get older you will find we all become parodies of ourselves.
@@gopherstate777 Or that others will create a parody just to appropriate our success.
I take it you find the American Constitution's 2nd amendment distasteful.
@@commentatron you take wrong. I simply don’t agree with the absolutist interpretations of it favored by some.
@@davidc.2878 So it's sort of like the bible; not subject to rational, scholarly clear and unambiguous interpretation?
Great actor, crap politics like Eastwood and John Wayne. Loved this interview though, very smart guy and knew movies. Planet of The Apes........For the win
Watch Touch of Evil. it's a movie he starred in with Orson Welles and Marlene Dietrich. Welles directed. Make sure you get the restored version.
@High plains drifter People forget that Heston was a militant supporter of the civil rights movement. He seemed to have changed radically later in his life towards more right wing politics.
Typical lefty thing to say, crap politics just because you don't agree, go stand in a corner and feel safe.
He was a decent man brought up in a different time than today. You can't compare those days with today.
Cognitive dissonance? Smart, good guy, likable personality - bad belief system? Like most intelligent people, he tended to have a variety of viewpoints that couldn't be neatly pigeonholed into the limiting labels of Left or Right. Look at a JFK-era Democrat and you may see something familiar - today's Republican.
Charlton, not "Charleston".
Moses wasn't in the NRA.
He was a nice person but the NRA support was too much.
You have to be able to considerate a man apart from his work and also from his personal beliefs.
Moses was in the NSA: National Staff Association
@@lynnturman8157 hahaaha
@@lynnturman8157
:D
@@mikephalen3162
Absolutely.
Heston was a slimeball.
So? Doesnt comport with most peoples experiences of him, but regardless, its irrelevant to his stature as a performer, for better or worse. Wagner was a supreme musical genius, but also a thoroughly detestable human being. In the end, you just have to separate the individual from the work.
The same could be said of JFK. A charismatic, popular President who couldn't keep his rocket in his pocket.
Liberal fck