15 Charlton Heston Movies That Still Hold Up Today (2024)

Over the course of his prolific career, which started in 1941 and waned in 2003, the American stage and screen actor and political activist Charlton Heston, born John Charles Carter, appeared in over 120 film and television productions, and earned numerous nominations and awards. His chiseled features, alluring voice, and versatility secured him various iconic roles and a place among Hollywood’s greatest, whether in religious epics, Westerns, war dramas, science fiction, comedies, or thrillers.

His main off-screen achievement, though, remains forming the Arts Group with a few other actors, namely Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, and Sidney Poitier, to support Martin Luther King, Jr.’s civil rights march on August 28th, 1963. He also helped secure better pension and medical plans for members of the Screen Actors Guild, and received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1978.

Whether centering on a dystopian future, a literature classic, Biblical events, historical figures, or a thought-provoking love story, these Heston films have stood the test of time and can still be enjoyed today.

15 Hamlet (1996)

William Shakespeare’s works have always been adapted into cinema and television and are still part of academic curricula; more than 50 pictures have been made on Hamlet alone. The 1996 unabridged version of this iconic play, adapted and directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring himself, Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie, and Kate Winslet, features Heston in a supporting role as the Player King. The character is the leader of a touring company of actors who often perform for Hamlet, and have just been invited by him to present a play called The Mousetrap, in which Heston superbly portrays a monarch who is betrayed and murdered.

Related: Why Shakespeare Is Still Influential in Modern Movies

14 The Ten Commandments (1956)

Directed by Cecil B. DeMille, praised for its art direction, special effects, and soundtrack, and starring Heston in the role of Moses, the epic religious drama The Ten Commandments spectacularly follows the biblical figure from his humble beginnings, to becoming an adopted prince of Egypt, and finally leading the enslaved Hebrews to the Promised Land. Heston also recorded the voice of God at the Burning Bush in the wilderness, and he won Best Male Dramatic Performance at the Laurel Award.

The film is considered one of "Hollywood’s most enduring Biblical-themed films,” per The Hollywood Reporter. “DeMille has augmented the Bible story with careful research, wisely careful that the story as he presented it will not give offense to any believers, Christian, Jew or Mohammedan. It stresses our common brotherhood, as children of Abraham, rather than the differences which the years have brought.”

The movie still airs yearly during Easter and Passover.

13 The President's Lady (1953)

Directed by Henry Levin and based on the 1951 biographical novel by Irving Stone, The President's Lady, starring Susan Hayward and Heston, centers on the United States' seventh president, Andrew Jackson, and his relationship with his sweetheart, then wife, Rachel. It explores her impact on him since his attorney days in Tennessee, how they engaged in an affair while she was still married, the controversial divorce that ensued, and how she stuck by him as he slowly rose to power.

Heston would reprise the role of Jackson in The Buccaneer (1958).

12 The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959)

Heston stars as John Sands, opposite Gary Cooper as Gideon Patch, in the riveting Michael Anderson thriller The Wreck of the Mary Deare, based on a novel by Hammond Innes. The story centers on the investigation of a phantom freighter that caused the demise of several crew members, and finding the person responsible for that tragedy. Was it all a conspiracy to resell the cargo to the Chinese government, or just an unfortunate accident? Per The New York Times, “The film's solid, shining asset, aside from its briny pictorial flavoring, is a plot guaranteed to harpoon the laziest landlubber.”

11 The Big Country (1958)

Inspired by the serialized magazine novel Ambush at Blanco Canyon by Donald Hamilton, William Wyler's hit The Big Country boasts Gregory Peck as the returning sea captain James McKay, Caroll Baker as his fiancée Patricia Terrill, Jean Simmons as the schoolmistress Julie Maragon, and Heston as Steve Leech, the Terrill ranch’s foreman, who has feelings for Patricia. The movie has all the elements one would expect from a classic Western romance: a land dispute, violent brawls, generational feuds, duels, and of course, unrequited love.

McKay: If it's a fight you want, you've picked the right time for it, haven't you?

Leech: Yeah, I'm offering you a fight. Or ain't that a nice word back east?

McKay: You're gambling, Leech. You're gambling that if we fight, you can beat me. And you're gambling that if you beat me, Miss Terrill will admire you for it.

Leech: Out here, we leave a lady's name out of an argument.

10 55 Days at Peking (1963)

Nicholas Ray’s historical epic 55 Days at Peking dramatizes the siege of the international compounds in Beijing in the summer of 1900, after Empress Dowager Cixi had ordered the execution of 900 foreigners in the Legation Quarter. Heston plays Major Matt Lewis (vaguely inspired by Marine Corps General John Twiggs Myers), the leader of the garrison stationed at the American embassy, and he is romantically involved with a Russian diplomat, Baroness Natalie Ivanoff (Ava Gardner). Reviewers on IMDb write, “Hollywood doesn't seem to do this type of action sequence anymore, which is a great pity,” “Impressive battle scenes,” and “See it. Outnumbered, surrounded, insurmountable odds. These are all ingredients in the recipe of a good action movie.”

9 Will Penny (1968)

“He was a peaceful man. But he could kill!

He was a hard man. But he could smile!

He was a shy and lonely man. But he could love!”

- Will Penny’s official poster

Directed by Tom Gries and featuring Heston, Joan Hackett, and Donald Pleasence, the realistic Western drama Will Penny is inspired by an episode of the 1960 television series The Westerner. Will is a former cattle driver who is hired to administer the Flat Iron Ranch and protect it from marauders, and when he finds that a woman, Catherine, and her son have taken refuge in a cabin on the property, he attempts to evict them. He would soon change his mind, after an attack leaves him in Catherine’s gentle care, and they fall in love.

Will Penny is often praised for its authenticity. As Classic Movie Hub puts it, “The movie was captivating from its opening cattle drive scenes, filmed somewhere around Bishop or Lone Pine, California, and scored by David Raksin. This sequence captures the rough, dirty life of a cowboy with gritty realism, including what it was like working in near-freezing weather.”

In his last few interviews, Heston would declare this his favorite role.

8 Midway (1976)

Helmed by Jack Smight and focusing on the June 1942 naval battle of Midway between the American Pacific Fleet and the Imperial Japanese Navy, Midway boasts an impressive cast that includes Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Toshiro Mifune, and Tom Selleck. Though it was met with mixed reviews, the movie directly opened at number one at the US box office, and is usually praised for its soundtrack, which was composed by John Williams.

Fans of war movies with stock footage would definitely enjoy this title.

7 Earthquake (1974)

The '70s started the craze for disaster movies, with releases like Meteor, Airport, The Poseidon Adventure, or The China Syndrome. Earthquake, produced and directed by Mark Robson and scored by Williams, was therefore an instant hit, especially for being the first picture to use Sensurround, which added extended-range bass to sound effects for a more vivid experience in theaters. The plot follows the characters played by Heston (Stuart Graff, a construction engineer), Gardner, George Kennedy, and Victoria Principal, as their personal problems in Los Angeles are brutally interrupted by a 9.9 earthquake. Look out for the elevator sequence, where passengers are plummeted 25 stories down.

6 The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

DeMille’s circus drama The Greatest Show on Earth was the highest-grossing movie of 1952; it won two Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Story, and Golden Globe Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Director, and Best Motion Picture – Drama. In this film, Heston plays Brad Braden, a leather-clad circus manager struggling to keep his company afloat, all the while dealing with his aerialist girlfriend Holly (Betty Hutton), a murder investigation, and a mysterious clown nicknamed Buttons (played by James Stuart).

Audiences love the cameos by Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, as well as the acts performed by the famous traveling company Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

5 Soylent Green (1973)

The dystopian genre is still appreciated by fans of thought-provoking fictional scenarios, especially if it bears a strong ecological or political message. Richard Fleischer’s Soylent Green is set in 2022, which means that modern-day audiences can definitely relate to the plot and compare it to the current state of the world. In the movie, Earth is plagued with poverty, pollution, homelessness, hunger, and overpopulation, and only the elite thrive. The poor are constantly fed “nutritious” and highly processed wafers of the Solyvent brand, and when a board member of the Soylent Corporation is murdered, NYPD Detective Robert Thorn (Heston) conducts an investigation that will lead him to uncover a shocking truth.

4 The Omega Man (1971)

After Vincent Price starred in the 1964 post-apocalyptic film The Last Man on Earth, and before Will Smith was in the 2007 action horror I Am Legend, Heston appeared in another silver-screen adaptation of the 1954 novel I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, called The Omega Man. Under the direction of Boris Sagal, he plays Robert Neville, an American colonel who, in the midst of a deadly global pandemic caused by the war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, injects himself with an experimental vaccine. He believes he is the only person left alive until he encounters albino mutants who are hell-bent on killing him.

In his 2009 interview with The Museum of Modern Art, director Tim Burton says, “If I was alone on a desert island, I'd pick something that I could relate to—probably The Omega Man with Charlton Heston. I don't know why that is one of my favorite movies, but it is.”

3 The War Lord (1965)

Fans of medieval epics usually appreciate The War Lord, a Franklin J. Schaffner film set in Normandy in the 11th century. It features Heston as Chrysagon de la Cruex, a Norman knight who is appointed Lord of a Flemish coastal village. After rescuing a local woman, Bronwyn (Rosemary Forsyth), from assault, he soon falls for her; but she is betrothed to another. The movie is generally praised by historians for featuring authentic elements related to that time period, such as attire, haircuts, military tactics, and weaponry.

2 Ben-Hur (1959)

This list would not be complete without Heston's only Oscar-winning role. In the religious epic Ben-Hur, directed by William Wyler, he plays Judah Ben-Hur, a wealthy Jewish merchant who is betrayed by his friend, the Roman Commander Messala (Stephen Boyd), and is condemned to the galleys. After years of slavery, he earns his freedom, is adopted by a Roman Consul, and becomes a champion charioteer; it is finally time to plot his revenge against Messala. The thrilling climactic chariot race sequence, which cost $1 million, is the film’s crowning achievement.

Ben-Hur was the most expensive movie ever made at the time; it won 11 Academy Awards and is considered a landmark of cinema.

Related: The Most Obvious Biblical Allegories in The Chronicles of Narnia

1 Planet of the Apes (1968)

La Planète des Singes, the 1963 science-fiction novel by Pierre Boulle, has inspired several films, TV shows, and comic books over the years, the first of which was Franklin J. Schaffner’s Planet of the Apes. The concept of a world in the far future where humans are being horded, enslaved, and experimented on by primates is still a source of fascination.

Cinephiles generally enjoy this critically acclaimed movie starring Heston as astronaut George Taylor because it raises many thought-provoking questions, ends with a mind-blowing twist, and ushered in a solid franchise.