Charlton Heston (1923–2008)

General but personal view of Heston's career benefits from the candid and first person memories from the actor that are interspersed with the author's account of the man's life. Although the books doesn't cover every movie in great detail, it does offers plenty on the major movies Heston fans would be most interested to hear about. Ben Hur, El Cid, The Planet of the Apes, The Ten Commandments; the book covers all of his biggest hits. Movies obviously close to Heston's heart such as The Agony show more and the Ecstasy and Touch of Evil are also represented here with fascinating insights into the making of the movies. Heston doesn't hold back on some of the more troubled shoots like Major Dundee and The Big Country. In addition to Heston's own filmography, the book serves a good general source on the changes that Hollywood went thorough during the actor's career. The fall of the studio system, the ups and downs of 20th Century Fox and the rise of independent movies and television all factor into the greater story of Heston's life. The political aspects of Heston's life are interesting, especially his work with and later against SAG. The tax break given to Hollywood by Nixon was certainly something I never would have guessed. Both the photographs and the reproductions of Heston's pencil sketches of his numerous co-stars and crew add a rich visual style to the book. This book is highly recommended to cinephiles regardless of whether they are Charlton Heston fans or not (although it helps). show less

In his autobiography, In the Arena, Charlton Heston gives an interesting, behind-the-scenes look at a life and career that spanned the post WWII years, the era of live television, and the vast changes in the movie industry through the last half of the 20th century. For anyone interested in films and film-making, Heston includes many fascinating ancedotes about his work on the great epic films–The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur, and El-Cid–as well as working with the great actors and directors show more of the time, among them Orson Welles, Laurence Olivier, Cecil B. DeMille, and William Wyler.

Personally, Heston was always one of my favorite actors. While familiar with most of his films, I never knew about his many roles in live television when it was a brand new medium. Also that his first love was the stage, and especially Shakespeare. Throughout his career he acted in and directed many great plays including A Man for All Seasons, The Caine Mutiny (including a stage production in China in the 1980s!) as well as Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and Heston's personal favorite, Antony and Cleopatra.

The book left me with a deeper appreciation of Heston as the consummate actor and family man. Highly recommended for Heston fans and movie buffs. show less

Heston deserves to be remembered most for two things, being a great actor, and being on the forefront of the civil rights movement. He picketed restaurants in Oklahoma that refused to serve black people. They ended up changing their policy as a result. He was one of the few folks that spoke to the public from the same stage with Martin Luther King Jr. when he gave his "I have a dream speech".

In his autobiography he goes back to his childhood, his college days, meeting his wife, he married show more and stayed with her all his life, his WWII military service, his acting career on stage and in film. He goes thru what it was like to film most of his greatest films. Along the way he tells it like it was on set.

He relates some of his off screen efforts on behalf of actors taking a leading role in union efforts and dealing with the studios. He also talks about some of his other political efforts and thoughts on our culture. However, very little about anything with the NRA. This book touches on civil rights and politics but focuses on films. show less

Loved the actor. Outside of the introduction, hated and despised him. He's a well read, intelligent man, but outside of a few comments, there is little in these pages that makes it worth reading. Big mistake reading this thing. I truly wish I hadn't.