Compared to other recent decedents from the movie world, like
Richard Widmark and Jules Dassin, Charlton Heston, best-known
for his roles in historical epics like THE 10 COMMANDMENTS,
BEN-HUR, and EL CID, isn't a name that seems particularly
connected to crime films, particularly the hard-boiled or
noir variety.
Nevertheless, in a career spanning more than half a century,
Heston inevitably wound up in a few hard-boiled/noir
roles.
He made his movie debut (not counting a turn as Marc Antony
in an independent semi-student production of JULIUS CAESAR)
as a small-time hood named Danny Hale in DARK CITY. Years
later, he made what is perhaps his best-known noir appearance
as sternly upright Mexican narcotics detective Mike Vargas in
TOUCH OF EVIL. Other hard-boiled noir roles include
futuristic NYPD Detective Robert Thorn in SOYLENT GREEN; Los
Angeles Police Captain Peter Holly in 2-MINUTE WARNING; Hugh
Holmes, the mayor of a small southern town plagued by a
serial killer through several generations of police chiefs in
CHIEFS; mob kingpin Louis Manicini in ORIGINAL SIN; and a
shadowy US intelligence chief who gave superspy Arnold
Schwarzenegger his orders in TRUE LIES.
And, while it's not exactly hard-boiled, mention should be
made of his turn as the most famous fictional detective of
them all in CRUCIFER OF BLOOD, loosely based on Conan Doyle's
second Holmes novel, THE SIGN OF FOUR.
A long and productive life.
JIM DOHERTY
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