He served as president of the National Rifle Association. He marched with Dr. Martin Luther King. He won an Oscar for his role as Ben-Hur in 1959, but Charlton Heston will probably be remembered by most for his bombastic, fabulously over-the-top performance as Moses in Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments. He died today at 84.
Heston’s family said in a statement that the actor famed for his heroic roles and portrayal of historical figures ranging from Moses to Michelangelo died Saturday with his wife of 64 years, Lydia, by his side.My favorite Heston films, you know, the kind of flicks you pass by when flipping channels and you’ll watch it no matter what point it is in the movie — Planet of the Apes (1968) and Soylent Green (1973).The actor, an outspoken liberal Democrat during the 1960s who later attracted controversy for his unapologetic support of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and conservative causes, had been battling Alzheimer’s.
As president of the NRA he achieved notoriety in 2000 when declaring at the organisation’s convention that his guns would have to be taken away “from my cold, dead hands.”
After the jump, the infamous story about the homoerotic subtext hidden from Heston in Ben-Hur.
When I read Vito Russo’s essential The Celluloid Closet many years ago, one memorable passage was the backstory of the homosexual subtext inserted into a specific scene in Ben-Hur between Heston and actor Stephen Boyd (Messala). Uncredited screenwriter Gore Vidal, director William Wyler and Boyd were in on it, but no one clued Heston in. From Wikipedia:
In interviews for the 1986 book Celluloid Closet, and later the 1995 documentary of the same name, screenwriter Gore Vidal asserts that he persuaded director Wyler to allow a carefully veiled homoerotic subtext between Messala and Ben-Hur. Vidal says his aim was to explain Messala’s extreme reaction to Ben-Hur’s refusal to name fellow Jews. Surely, Vidal argued, Messala should have been able to understand that Ben-Hur, his close friend since childhood, would not be willing to name the names of his fellow Jews to a Roman officer.Vidal suggested a motivation to Wyler: Messala and Ben-Hur had been homosexual lovers while growing up, and then separated for a few years while Messala was in Rome. When Messala returns to Judea, he wants to renew the relationship with Ben-Hur, but Ben-Hur is no longer interested. It is the anger of a scorned lover which motivates Messala’s vindictiveness toward Ben-Hur.
Since the Hollywood production code would not permit this to appear on screen explicitly, it would have to be implied by the actors. Vidal suggested to Wyler that he would direct Stephen Boyd to play the role that way, but not tell Heston. Vidal claims that Wyler took his advice, and that the results can be seen in the film. Vidal is the only person ever to make this claim, and Heston insisted that Vidal had little to do with the final film. However, Vidal responded by producing extracts from Heston’s 1978 biography An Actor’s Life, in which the star described Vidal authoring most of the final screenplay.
63 Responses to “‘Moses’ has left the building - Charlton Heston dies at 84”
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Politics aside, “Planet of the Apes” was one of those movies that made a searing impression in my brain, and Charlton Heston was damn good in it. Damn you Tim Burton for your sorry-ass remake!
“The Omega Man” is another classic. Charlton Heston nailed the character of Robert Neville. “The Omega Man” is a reminder that you don’t have to use idiotic cg effects when some creepy-ass make-up and tense story-telling can do the trick. Are you listening Will Smith?
That is why I refuse to see “I am Legend”. I highly recommend “The Omega Man” for those interested in the genre.
(And for the record, I also refuse to see Tim Burton’s remake of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, another movie from my childhood that needed to be left alone.
Okay, so who’s gonna pry away the gun?
El Tiburon, another movie of Gene Wilder’s that as much as I LOOOOOOVE the actors involved, the remake does not compare:
The Producers
I love Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick (occasionally; some of his role choices have been nebbish)- but no one tops Zero and Gene. Wish I could have seen them (NL & MB) live in the roles, though…
I second Chuck in Planet of the Apes, and Omega Man, and Soylent Green too. Thoroughly enjoy each one, and will usually watch them whenever they come on TV.
The weird late ’60’s early ’70’s vibe in those films captures a period in time that’s hard to describe to somebody who didn’t live through them. Fun stuff, and deeper and more thoughtful than they are generally given credit for.
The gay subtext in Ben-Hur is incredibly obvious today. I love the fact that Heston was basically tricked into some of those scenes. Too bad he didn’t seem to learn anything from them.
His politics sucked, many of his most famous films are incredibly overblown, he wasn’t the best actor by any means, his NRA foolishness, and anger over rap lyrics (I’ll never forgive/forget his reading of lyrics to Cop Killer with no context in which to put the anger Ice-T expressed), but he left some indelible marks in film history.
Mr. Heston, thank you for your cinematic work. If there’s a god, maybe she will forgive you for your politics and social stands…
There was also a scene from “Spartacus” filmed between Tony Curtis and Laurence Olivier that had a gay subtext that was deleted from the theatrical release. About a decade or so ago I remember they showed the movie with the scene restored, but they had lost the sound, so they used Anthony Hopkins to read Olivier’s lines.
Lord, I love The Ten Commandments! Moses Heston goes up the mountain like an ordinary schlub and comes down with the stone tablets and a totally fabulous new hairdo. I mean, the whole works … !
The height, the impeccable roundness of the helmeting, the poofing, the big bold streak job — why doesn’t God and my own coasting comb jockey ever do ME like that??!
And Apes, my gawd … I’m hangin for this double bill. I may have to venture into the black mold-ridden vaults and dig through the Criterions for this.
(Oh, and where’s the line to pry apart Chuck’s cold dead fingers?)
It drives my boyfriend crazy, but every year I watch the 10 Commandments on TV (the Heston/Brynner/Baxter version, not the crappy remake they did a few years ago).
I don’t care how badly overacted or inaccurate it may be, this agnostic loves that movie!
I had the same emotional reaction too but saw it on the advice of a friend that I trust.
It’s actually well done but everything that Burton does has an edge and Willy Wonka is no different. Depp plays Wonka the way that he should have been played in the original, well or some of the dark side should have been played into Wilder’s portrayal.
He plays Wonka potentially more malevolent for children than the original but I was glued to the screen. It became much more of a social commentary although the ‘ommpa loompa’ parts were just scary.
Give it a view. I can’t guarantee that you’ll like it but it is an interesting movie that I’m glad I saw. Johnny Depp is so talented.
The gay subtext in Ben-Hur is incredibly obvious today. I love the fact that Heston was basically tricked into some of those scenes. Too bad he didn’t seem to learn anything from them.
I don’t seem to recall him ever making any overtly homophobic comments.
I did wince at the hatchet job that Michael Moore did on Heston.
At the time that he signed on to the NRA I think he was already experiencing Alzheimer’s symptoms and was becoming more anti-social, which is supposed to be part of the progression in some victims of that disease.
I can understand the motive to expose the leader of the NRA like that but kicking a diseased horse isn’t worth the video that you get out of it.
Yes, Heston said some off the wall things and yes the NRA is pure concentrated evil but slicing a mentally diseased actor to thin slices was a little over the top. (But then so was an NRA meeting in Columbine after that exercise in the second amendment. LaPierre is the asshole and he deserved the spit over the hot coals.)
From Wayne:
I get pretty scared around some of the local NRA robots. I wonder when they are going to snap…
“I don’t seem to recall him ever making any overtly homophobic comments.”
I don’t remeber hearing any either. Actually I was referring to his strong denials after Vidal exposed the “gay subtext” in Ben-Hur.
I guess I would expect somebody who had participated in that and who had held an enlightened POV to take pride in being a part of something like that. That Heston didn’t, seems to me to say a lot about him.
Remember, this all came out many years after LGB people were at least acknowledged as existing (in hollywood at least), not the late ’50’s when the film was actually made…
Ah, yes, The Ten Commandments where Heston is the only ham at the first Passover. (sorry, couldn’t resist) No, really, it’s a fun movie; no Easter is complete without it. The fact that Heston and the cast ham it up so much is what makes it fun, along with the SFX, which were cutting edge at the time.
While you’re watching Tim Burton’s version of Charlie, save some time for the new I Am Legend. I’ve seen all three of them, and Will Smith is the most likable of the Richards. I’d bar the door if Charleton or Vincent Price came knockin’; I wouldn’t for Will Smith. Just sayin’.
Too bad CH’s SNL stuff isn’t on YouTube; I always loved his turn as the quietly deranged stock boy.
Heston was in Wayne’s World II. Did a good job too.
“I’ve seen all three of them, and Will Smith is the most likable of the Richards.”
I was quite impressed with Will Smith’s acting in I Am Legend. The CGI animation of the “zombies” (or whatever you want to call them) is too over the top for me. Many of the scenes in an abandoned New York are stunning - beautiful and sad…
Wasn’t the monsters in the I am Legend Book actually vampires? The kind of missed the mark by a bit.
I get pretty scared around some of the local NRA robots. I wonder when they are going to snap…
As a guy who regularly go to gun shows, I’d have to say that even if the a NRA nut were to snap, about 95% of them would be so mortified at the idea of possibly scuffing their .40 caliber Beretta Storm that you’d more likely see them running down the street stabbing people with a butter knife.
Gun nuts may love to talk tough, but deep down most of them are like comic book collectors surrounded by 10,000 toys still in their package.
And for the record, I also refuse to see Tim Burton’s remake of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, another movie from my childhood that needed to be left alone.
Ditto Pinky.
Burton didn’t so much remake the Gene Wilder version so much as go back to the book itself and reinterpret it. To interesting results. Just seeing how two different eras of the media were able to work with the same very trippy source material is tres cool.
It’s more like watching the epic-length BBC take on Pride and Prejudice versus the recent Keira Knightley feature length version. Different people will have their preferences, but by and large they are different movies each with its own flaws.
That said, Burton’s remake of Planet of the Apes blows. Completely unwatchable.
Many of the scenes in an abandoned New York are stunning
A good friend of mine designed all that stuff — I will pass on the compliment!
I don’t remember much about the “Ben Hur” movie apart from the race, but I know that I assumed Messala and Ben Hur had been sleeping together when I read the book, so it’s not just something they did (or didn’t) put in the movie.
You’re right; Moses leaves as Moses but returns as ‘Moses’. History into myth. A man transformed into an ideograph signifying himself. Boss work.
That having been said, though—from Gaza to Sinai is kind of a long way to walk in search of a makeover.
Given that we now know that Heston had Alzheimer’s, I can’t help thinking that his extreme change of political views from being one of the marchers on Washington DC in 1963 to gun-nut conservative was influenced by his disease. You don’t go from civil-rights activist to NRA spokesperson without something a little odd happening to your brain.
Oh, and a director telling one actor to play a scene one way but not the other is actually quite common. Heck, sometimes directors don’t even tell the actor playing the scene what’s going on: Grace Park, the woman who plays Boomer on “Battlestar Galactica,” wasn’t told that her character was a Cylon until they actually shot the scene because Ronald Moore didn’t want her to know something her character didn’t know.
Depp plays Wonka the way that he should have been played in the original, well or some of the dark side should have been played into Wilder’s portrayal.
You may need to watch “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” again if you think that there was no dark side to Wilder’s version of Wonka. Hello, the boat ride? Chickens getting their heads chopped off?
But then so was an NRA meeting in Columbine after that exercise in the second amendment.
That was booked quite a long time in advance. The event was subdued, but that didn’t look evil enough for Michael Moore, so he tarted it up.
Heston marched with King in the Sixties. You have to wonder what happened to him between then and now.
Grace Park, the woman who plays Boomer on “Battlestar Galactica,” wasn’t told that her character was a Cylon until they actually shot the scene because Ronald Moore didn’t want her to know something her character didn’t know.
With all due respect (because I haven’t seen the interview or EPK or whatever where this tidbit was revealed), it’s highly unlikely that this happened. The scripts for a TV show are distributed well in advance to the entire crew of the show. That would mean that 100-200 people would have known this secret and be expected to keep it from Park. The crew gets the script so that they can actually do all the work to make the show happen, so no, there’s pretty much no way the production could have left everyone else out of the loop. And by the time the episode in question is shot, everyone would also have at least the next script, and there would be gossip about the one coming down the pipe as well.
Also, in the production timeline of a TV episode, there are multiple read-throughs, rehearsals, meetings, etc. where Park would have been present to either see other actors rehearse the whole script or heard crew-members discussing important aspects of the script.
Not to mention how would Park have been able to do even the most rudimentary preparation for the scene if that were the case? She wouldn’t even have been able to learn the lines…
This is one of those cute little bits of fanlore that is pretty much invented out of whole cloth by the writing team, producers, show runner, etc. just for the benefit of the fans. No matter how “method” you are, this stuff just doesn’t happen.
El T: And for the record, I also refuse to see Tim Burton’s remake of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, another movie from my childhood that needed to be left alone.
Second what others have said: it’s not a remake of the movie, it’s a reinterpretation of the book. You may prefer the first movie, but it’s not “the original” - the original is Roald Dahl’s novel.
I think the “gay subtext” is pretty damn obvious in Ben Hur, and Heston was probably just sulking at being fooled.
When I think of Big Cheesy Heston flicks, I can’t help thinking El Cid. There’s “politically loaded” for you.
Never been a big Heston fan, but truly, Soylent Green will always, always be people.
{pulls off glove, slaps opoponax briskly with same} Chose your weapons, sirrah! We meet at dawn!!!
The six hour BBC “Pride & Prejudice” HAS NO FLAWS!!!!
>;^D
Gene Wilder had plenty of scariness as Willy Wonka. Certainly lots more than expected. When he bent down and started spitting his enunciation at one kid I was truly taken aback.
Genius turn by Wilder.
Heston also gave a brilliant performance –possibly his last– in Branagh’s Hamlet. Oh hey, you know which other movie of his has some delightful gay camp? Touch of Evil: remember the lesbian predators?
Its possible to be a gun nut and be pro-civil rights. They’re at opposite ends of the political spectrum to be sure, but the two stands don’t really conflict with one another.
Its possible to be a gun nut and be pro-civil rights
Good example — one of the defining issues of the Black Panther movement was that black families should arm themselves and not be afraid to fight back against terrorism from the Klan and other white supremacist groups.
{pulls off glove, slaps opoponax briskly with same} Chose your weapons, sirrah! We meet at dawn!!!
The six hour BBC “Pride & Prejudice” HAS NO FLAWS!!!!
>;^D
The one thing in bold contradicts the earlier thing in bold
Another example is the Pink Pistols. And Howard Dean having an “A” rating from the NRA as Governor.
I think in the end gun control is very much a local/state issue. Out in the country there would be very little need for restrictions, while cities and urban areas would have more regulation.
Jonathan, not for me– I’ve seen it like 17 times. (Seriously!)
A good book deserves that much time. That’s why crappy books (IMHO) make better movies than actually good books– you can condense the hell out of a crappy book.
(Even better: ‘novelettes’.)
+++++
Another fine Heston turn: he played the EVIL Cardinal (Richelieu??) in the brilliant “Three Musketeers” movies. Man he was good.
Wilder’s portrayal comes across as ‘crazy’ and Depp’s comes across as demonic or maybe sociopathic. There is a big difference.
‘Crazy’ tends to be better tolerated than sociopathic. Well, except for politicians in America. Hell, the more sociopathic the better it would seem…
Plus Wilder’s portrayal appears to suffer from an idiopathic illness but in Depp’s portrayal we find out why Willy Wonka is like he is.
You can’t be black and say you’re white but I can see some argument in the question.
But, isn’t getting shot and killed the biggest civil rights violation?
I have to admit that I have a carry permit and feel somewhat foolish for getting one. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Yes, I carry on occasion. I certainly hope that I don’t ever have to use it. To think that others walking/driving the streets might be so equipped does not make me feel very comfortable.
I joked with a leftist friend that the reason that I got a permit was to defend myself against all the wingnuts and their guns. He laughed and then got quiet… Who knows…
We have NRA members here that are just totally ‘out there’. Teflon bullets? They want them. Machine guns? They want them. Assault rifles? They want them, hell 2 or 3. ‘Their’ candidate for state rep was defeated in his three way race. He place third. Many people let out a huge sigh of relief at that. I was surprised.
I love Chuck the actor but…
Can we have his guns now?
Better be careful with that line of argument. It can easily be used by wingnuts to justify all kinds of things from torture of detainees to brutally administered police street “justice”.
Eric upstream:
Oh what a juicy movie! Every five minutes, someone’s evilly going “Mwahaha!”
I’d forgotten Heston in that. I could barely stomach the guy’s political appearances, but, man oh man, this is shaping up to become one helluva retrospective. It practically leaves his nearest tighty whitey-actor competitor (Schwarzo) in the dust.
(I will light a votive for CH’s considerable contribution to pop culture, tho.)
Wasn’t the monsters in the I am Legend Book actually vampires? The kind of missed the mark by a bit.
Yes (although vampirism is explained as the result of some sort of bacterial infection spread by biting - not a supernatural force) - and the entire point, not to mention the whole ending, of the novella is different, too. They missed the point by far more than a bit.
Not to give away any surprises, but, although the original story is told from the point of view of the last human survivor (as it is in the movies also), the ethos of the novella gradually, beautifully, shifts toward that of the vampires. The book has a powerful theme of mutual, incompatible aspirations, which can be read as a political allegory if you want to.
The Will Smith movie not only misses that by a mile, but seemingly mocks it by making Neville not only not the last human survivor but in fact the savior who indirectly destroys the vampires and allows humans to repopulate the earth in their place. There are other major changes as well. The scenario in the original book may not be attractive, but the recent movie is an utterly reactionary denial of its premise that basically appears not to understand what the book was even about.
I don’t know if the previous versions of the movie are as bad. I’ve got the Heston one on DVD - time to give it a watch, I guess.
Count me as another who doesn’t see any inherent conflict between gun rights and racial equality.
My dad’s a pretty liberal guy who sells guns and has (or had) a membership in the NRA. I think he got tired of their over-the-top contribution pitches, though.
And another tip of the hat to Mr. Heston for Touch of Evil: He refused to do the film if Orson Welles didn’t get to direct. Welles’s name was Mud at that point in time, so he sure could use the gig. To modern eyes, Ol’ Chuck looks a little silly in Max Factor #4 as a Mexican cop, but it’s a great movie. Too bad Welles didn’t live long enough to see it un-butchered.
For all the folks wondering who will pry the guns out of Heston’s hands: Your question, answered.
I got just the opposite impression. To me, Wilder comes across as more demonic and creepy, while Depp’s Wonka is crazy and more childlike. But both were brilliant, in their own way. (I love both versions and so do my kids, although they like the bright colors and oddness in the more recent version than the psychedelic-ness of the 70s one).
And my favorite Heston movies are Planet of the Apes and The Ten Commandments. They’re both just so wonderfully over the top.
I agree with others that there may not be any inherent conflict between being a civil rights activist and being a gun nut, but there definitely is one between being a civil rights activist and wanting to deny women their reproductive rights.
@ PinkyLeftBrain #10
For the record, Heston didn’t publicly announce he had Alzheimer’s until August 2002, at which point Bowling for Columbine was already shot, edited, and well on its way to its October 2002 release. Michael Moore has a lot of faults, but I’m not sure that including the Heston footage is as unseemly as it might look in retrospect.
“The six hour BBC “Pride & Prejudice” HAS NO FLAWS!!!!”
The one thing in bold contradicts the earlier thing in bold
Further, it is being contrasted against “the Kiera Knightly” version, implying that it lacks Ms Knightly’s presence. It would be cheap and shallow for me to characterise this as a flaw, but I’m a cheap and shallow person, and Kiera Knightly is, well, Kiera Knightly.
Collen: I’m sure that Heston had symptoms long before he announced he had it. He appeared a little confused during the interview.
I’m not fond of Michael Moore. I have family that live near his house in Michigan and most of the people in the area he lives don’t like the attention that he brings and his attitude towards so many of the locals and the local businesses.
I had a great deal of respect for him once. He tweaked the nose of ‘the man’ and I loved it. He is not the angel of mercy that he portrays himself to be. He’s gotten ‘big time’.
Yes I feel that he targeted Heston and took advantage of him and his condition. Interviewing him like he did is nearing ambushing him.
Did Michael chicken out and not ambush Wayne LaPierre? Wayne is the nut job that Moore should have hunted down and sat on until he gave an interview. HE is the voice and soul of the NRA (and the huge filthy mouth and warped brain).
Moore was a great documentarian. He’s turned into a caricature of himself. Sorry…
He got the studio to hire Welles to direct Touch of Evil, so for that I have a soft spot.
With all due respect (because I haven’t seen the interview or EPK or whatever where this tidbit was revealed), it’s highly unlikely that this happened. The scripts for a TV show are distributed well in advance to the entire crew of the show.
You think there’s absolutely no way that the brief second-to-last shot of a miniseries could be kept concealed from the cast and crew until right before it was done? Really?
Sorry, but under that assumption, there’s no way that George Lucas was able to keep the fact that Darth Vader was Luke’s father a secret when he filmed The Empire Strikes Back — after all, dozens of people, including the cast, read the script, and the entire crew was privy to the script and was there while the scene was filmed, right?
I may not have been entirely clear, though — it was shot as part of the three-episode miniseries that functioned as a pilot for the full series. The full series was not greenlighted until the miniseries was completed. And Ronald Moore is pretty well-known for these kinds of shenanigans — the only person who was privy to the fact that Starbuck was going to reappear in the final scene of last season was Katee Sackhoff, who said it was pretty awkward to have to deal with all of the sympathy from her co-workers about “leaving the show” when she wasn’t allowed to tell them that her character hadn’t actually died.
Sorry, opo, but I’m still on this subject: you may want to read this entry on Ken Levine’s blog about how they handled the scene where Radar announces that Henry Blake was killed on “M*A*S*H.” And, yes, no one knew what the scene was until they gave Gary Burghoff his lines just before his entrance.
TV shows are shot much, much more on the fly than most people realize. Ben on “Lost”? Wasn’t even supposed to be a main character, and now he’s the super-villain of the show.
Often, at least here in the UK, two endings are scripted for popular TV series’ ‘big stories’. That way, very few people know which version will eventually be transmitted.
“The six hour BBC “Pride & Prejudice” HAS NO FLAWS!!!!”
BBC’s finest production of Pride and Prejudice occured in season 7 of Red Dwarf…. the part where Kryten rolls up in a tank being the highlight.
Anyways, Heston… I just watched Khartoum the other day with Chuck as “Chinese” Gordon and Olivier as The Mahdi. Pretty good film and Heston keeps up chop for chop with Sir Lou (who is, admittedly, stretching it as thin as can be playing a Sudanese man). The film is especially interesting given our own current adventurism in Islamic territory. Highly recommended.
Pinky, I’m not saying Heston didn’t have symptoms at the time he was interviewed, I’m saying there’s no way Moore could have known Heston was sick until it was too late to cut or re-edit the footage. I’m not trying to change your fundamental opinion of Moore, I just think that maybe just this once he wasn’t being quite as big a dillhole as it may seem.
I remember that scene in M*A*S*H.
It was one of the most incredible scenes in that incredible show.
I cried. I was shocked. It worked so well.
Why oh why can’t teevee be like that again… Why…
Is it really that expensive to produce quality teevee shows? Have humans sunk so low? Never mind…
Another show that I loved was ‘Pretender’.
Colleen. Sorry. I know quite a few people that worship him like a god.
It turns my stomach.
Yes, I believe that Moore knew or if he pushed his ego aside he should have been able to see it…
Why he didn’t go after Wayne LaPierre is a question I’d like his holiness to answer. Was Heston easier fruit (no pun intended) than evil Wayne or was Moore a coward to face pure evil?
I agree with the sentiments about Michael Moore. I’m beginning to see him as “our” Anne Coulter.
You think there’s absolutely no way that the brief second-to-last shot of a miniseries could be kept concealed from the cast and crew until right before it was done? Really?
Yeah, really. Mainly because it would need to be in the script for a variety of reasons. It’s possible that they released additional pages or revisions a few days before that particular scene was shot, but that’s the furthest they could have realistically gone.
Sorry, but under that assumption, there’s no way that George Lucas was able to keep the fact that Darth Vader was Luke’s father a secret when he filmed The Empire Strikes Back
Yep, that’s bullshit, too.
Look. I know what it’s like to be a fangirl. I know what it’s like to hang on every last word of every last interview. And then I got my first job in TV and learned that writers, showrunners, and executive producers live in a completely different reality than the rest of their fellow humans. A reality that allows them to spin a lot of very pretty stories for the benefit of outsiders.
99% percent of anything that ever came out of George Lucas’s mouth after the summer of 1973 was pure bullshit, by the way.
You also have to remember that they put all those nifty special features on the DVD for a reason — they’re a part of the marketing of the show. People who think they have insider information are going to keep watching, keep buying DVDs and swag, keep attending conventions, renew their cable contracts, and possibly even be loyal to the advertisers.
until they gave Gary Burghoff his lines just before his entrance.
Union bylaws pretty much prohibit this sort of thing from happening. The writers have to officially document script changes by issuing pages, and I’m pretty sure SAG contracts specify a certain lead time for the actors to receive their lines. The actors may not be aware of major plot points terribly far in advance — they might find out only when the scripts come out. But they can’t really be kept in the dark until the actual shot in question.
I work for a TV show. I’m sitting in the production offices above our soundstage right now. In a few minutes I will have to run down to the set and hand my work off to the prop master. And, nope, all this “the actor didn’t know until we were actually SHOOTING the scene!1!111!” stuff is pretty much invented for the benefit of the fans, because it sounds cool.
I saw the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when I was young enough to find it horrifying. My brother bought me the book last Christmas– we’ve made a little tradition of him getting me children’s books– and I didn’t realize that all the kids turned out to be safe in the end. I thought most of them were DEAD! So, yes, the original was dark.
Also, have other regulars here found their blog comments attacked by a link to a virus? Because my tiny little Art blog has been getting this weird link put in comments, and I couldn’t think why until my DH pointed out I often have the link to my blog here and may have drawn hostility from a troll.
I work for a TV show. I’m sitting in the production offices above our soundstage right now. In a few minutes I will have to run down to the set and hand my work off to the prop master. And, nope, all this “the actor didn’t know until we were actually SHOOTING the scene!1!111!” stuff is pretty much invented for the benefit of the fans, because it sounds cool.
Opo, how many different colors are the pages in your scripts every week? Or do you work on one of those magical shows where everything stays on white every week because there are no changes whatsoever from the time the script is written to the time the scene is filmed?
Oh, and I am in the entertainment industry, have friends in production, and have a couple of film degrees, so kindly don’t treat me like I’m an idiot starry-eyed fangirl who doesn’t know shit about how movies and TV are created. Thank you.
Opo, how many different colors are the pages in your scripts every week?
We just got ’second yellow’ revisions this morning, thanks.
This is part of what I mean when I say that “the actor found out as the crew was moving to the next setup that Darth Vader was Luke’s father!” — the day before in the new pages, maybe. Maybe. But as they started shooting that particular shot? Not really, no, unless it’s one of those Christopher Guest improv movies.
I remember very well in the months to the run-up of “Return of the Jedi” that everyone thought the title was “Revenge of the Jedi” my publisher boss even had a windbreaker with a silk-screened logo.
So don’t tell me studios, directors and writers don’t do massive amounts of misdirection. They could give lessons to stage magicians.
Ginviren wrote:
ABC shows it every year, around Passover. I got tired of the commercials, and the sometimes-over-two-days broadcast, so I went out and bought the DVD.
Actually, with that famous scene in M*A*S*H, the scene we see on TV is the second take, anyway, because the first take was spoiled by extraneous noise. Regardless of when the actors knew that Colonel Blake was being killed off - the day before, five minutes before, a week before - what we see on screen is the actors acting a response to lines they had already heard, not actors improvising on the spot a reaction to lines they didn’t know were coming.
I think that now the Opoponax has admitted that yes, actors can be kept in the dark about lines, scenes, and plot changes, right up to the day before, quibbling about how long before is just quibbling. Sometimes it happens: I doubt it happens as often as fannish legend has it. But it’s possible.