A friend of mine at work the other day had brought in his copy of the Michael Moore's most recent documentary "Sicko". Although I would not go as far as to consider myself a Moore fan, I do enjoy watching his work and had not seen that one yet. Marcus allowed me to borrow it which had us engaged in another conversation about Moore's prior movies. I had mentioned that "Bowling for Columbine" was my personal favorite.
The more I thought
about it, I could only recall a few specific scenes from the "Columbine" flick. You all know how my memory is. I had only seen the documentary once so that's not surprising. What was a surprise and rather ironic was the one scene that stuck with me was the visit that Moore made to NRA spokesmen Charlton Heston. I thought at the time that he had already passed away, not realizing he was very much alive. The ironic part was because I was recently thinking of that scene only to find out the news regarding his death yesterday.
Hollywood legend Charlton Heston died Saturday night in his home. Cause of death has not yet been made public, but it was a known fact that he was in the later stages of Alzheimer's disease. Heston was 84-years-old.
Heston was probably the best known holdover from the "golden age" of Hollywood. He was a product of the days when Hollywood would make the big budget epic flicks on a regular basis. He had several films such as "Ben-Hur" and the "Planet of the Apes" franchise that cemented his legendary status. However, it was film that made his mark with not only me but my family.
"The Ten Commandments" had been a staple in our household for years. No one dares bother Mom while it comes on during it's annual viewing at Easter. It contained several huge movie stars of the era with one of the most prominent ones being Heston as Moses. Of course I will continue to maintain that the Biblical Moses probably looked nothing like Heston's version. Nevertheless, Heston's version is the one that remains stuck in my head whenever I think of the great deliverer.
In the latter years of his life, Heston had gained notoriety as the outspoken NRA president. It seemed like the perfect fit for a man of his stature who always had such a commanding presence. This is the same guy who challenged his detractors to pry the rifle "from my cold, dead hands". Well now would be their best chance.
Rest in peace, Chuck.
