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Ben-Hur Special Edition DVD
Transcript from AOL Chat with Charlton Heston
March 15,2001

Hollywood legend Charlton Heston stoped by AOL Live to talk about the DVD release of "Ben-Hur." This Oscar-winning actor answered member questions about the making of "Ben-Hur," the upcoming remake of "Planet of the Apes" and more. See what he had to say below.

Scroll down to read the full transcript...

Host: Did you have any involvement in the remake of "The Planet of the Apes"? If so, how much?

Charlton Heston: Well, I play a cameo in it. Right? Hello?

Host: Yes. Yes. I'm sorry. I was trying to get another question.

Charlton Heston: I play a cameo in it.

Host: Why do you suppose people always mess up your famous line, "Get your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape"?

Charlton Heston: Because it's a hard line to learn. People come up to me with that line all the time. They say, "Would you sign this?" I say, "If you get the line right." They very seldom do. But the full line, "Get your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape." That's the line. In "Ben-Hur," the --

Host: Here's a "Ben-Hur" question for you -- where was "Ben-Hur" filmed?

Charlton Heston: In Rome. Almost all of it. Some of it south of Rome, about 50 miles.

Host: I'm just looking for a follow-up question to this, as they type this for you.

Host: When was the last time you saw "Ben-Hur" from the opening credits to the end?

Charlton Heston: Well, when I was doing some voiceover for the remake, the reissue of it, which I spent three days in New York, just the beginning of the week. But I haven't... I suppose I haven't seen the whole film in quite a while. I remember I must have gone to at least 10 different countries when the picture first came out, then, after all the Academy Awards and so on. And one of the more interesting of those visitations was in Japan, where the emperor of Japan and his family, for the first time in his life, attended a film in the Ginsa, or indeed had ever entered the Ginsa. He came with his family and they drove up the steps in a Rolls-Royce, at about a 30-degree angle, stopped and got out. I said, "Look, how do I do this? Am I supposed to bow?" They said, "We don't know." So they said, "Do what he does." And he held out his hand. So I shook hands with him, and that was that.

Charlton Heston: But by that time, I'd seen the film so many times in so many different countries, that I would go, sometimes my wife was with me, sometimes she'd stay home, and I'd just watch the first... you know, go through the entry and shaking hands with the main people there. But then I would only sit down in the back row and watch the first five minutes, to see how it was playing for the audience. And on this particular evening, with the emperor of Japan and his family, he had never seen... been introduced to a foreign actor. But he was perfectly content with that. And I was... it had become my practice, going from city to city and country to country, I would watch the first five or 10 minutes, at most 10 minutes, just to see how it was reading for the audience. And this time, in the first 10 minutes, the film broke three times.

Host: Wow.

Charlton Heston: Of course, the... they'd put in new equipment and everything. But apparently, because the emperor was personally in attendance, the guy running the projection machine was so nervous, he kept breaking the projection. But the emperor never moved a muscle.

Host: That's great.

Charlton Heston: They told me afterwards that before the war, everyone -- all the officials of the company and everyone involved in the theater -- would have committed suicide.

Host: Wow.

Charlton Heston: I'm glad it was after the war.

Host: In the movie "Mother Lode," you play two leads and direct, too. Was it very difficult? Would you do it again? And greetings from your friends in Germany.

Charlton Heston: Well, thank you. I have both directed and acted in several films. I've done... what? In all, eight "Macbeths," and I directed all of them. And then "Man For All Seasons," I played it onstage in London and did a film of it. That's not uncommon, and I'm faithful... comfortable with it.

Host: If "Ben-Hur" were to be remade today, what do you think today's standards would bring to that film?

Charlton Heston: Give me the question again.

Host: If "Ben-Hur" were to be --

Charlton Heston: After that.

Host: If it was to be remade, how do you think it would be different, being made today than when it came out?

Charlton Heston: I suspect, since they've re... just the last few days reissued a DVD of the film, I doubt it will be remade ever, because the DVD has remarkable qualities in it. The lighting, the color, all those things. The chariot race is the same. I still win the race.

Host: I love the dialogue in "Ben-Hur." "You can break a man's skull, you can throw him into a dungeon, but how do you fight an idea?" It's simply brilliant. Who was the writer, and what else did they do?

Charlton Heston: Goodness. Rod Serling wrote the main script, and --

Host: Was it Lee Wallace or Karl Turnburg?

Charlton Heston: No, no, no. We're talking about "Planet of the Apes," aren't we? Yeah. No, that... the primary script writing was done by Rod Serling. And the final... we finally did the script, and the only name change... the only main change was the end, which I think is one of the best endings for a film ever made. When Taylor stands ankle deep in the surf and realizes that he's still... that he's back on Earth -- that it was Earth all along -- and then he says, "God damn you! God damn you all to hell!" And the producer said, "You know, you can't say that." In those days, you couldn't. He says, "You can't swear on screen like that." And I said, "No, I'm not swearing. I said Taylor is literally calling on God to destroy the people who ruined civilization." And he said, "That's pretty good. I think that will fly." And it did.

Charlton Heston: But I must say, usually if it's an important film of mine, of course, you've seen the film by then, you've gone to the cast and crew screening, but I didn't realize the impact that the ending of the film would have, because until the first two or three days the picture was opened in various theaters, before people learned how the ending of the film was, why, people would literally stand up in the theaters, in their seats, at the ending. And then, of course, we worked out what the ending was. One of the most extraordinary experiences I've had in film.

Host: Mr. Heston, I was wondering what it was like to see Russell Crowe play in the movie "Gladiator." How would that compare?

Charlton Heston: It was very good. I thought Mr. Crowe richly deserves the Oscar and will probably win. Of course, it's not... that's all digitalized.

Host: Right.

Charlton Heston: That's OK.

Host: There were no digital tigers when you performed "Ben-Hur."

Charlton Heston: His performance is not digitalized. I've thought about that over many years. I thought, sooner or later, they're going to find a way to eliminate the actor entirely, and then we're in trouble.

Host: We ran a poll on AOL a while ago during this chat, and 70 percent of the people prefer "Ben-Hur" over "Gladiator."

Charlton Heston: Well, that's... it's nice to hear, of course. But I can say, having seen the film, Mr. Crowe is a very good actor. The film just doesn't have the... there is no chariot race, let us say. He had a wonderful... we had a wonderful cast, and William Wilder directing it and so on. It was an extraordinary experience. Everybody knew it at the time. Today this would be a trivial sum, but when we made "Ben-Hur," there were... the estimate was it cost $14 million. Now, you couldn't make a movie with that now. But at the time, it was the most expensive film ever made. And it was clear to everyone in the industry that if "Ben-Hur" was not a huge hit, MGM would be a parking lot. And so it would have been. But, happily, it turned out, and it won all the Oscars and so on. So we were lucky.

Host: How would you compare working with Cecil B. DeMille to William Wilder?

Charlton Heston: They were both very fine filmmakers. DeMille, of course, preceded him in time by a good number of years. DeMille was one of the men, along with Adolf Zucker, who invented the movies. Literally invented the movies. And there's a story that he would not deny (though he would not concede that it was true), that they had originally intended to make "The Straw Man," which was the first picture made in Hollywood. They originally planned to make it in Arizona. And so they were on the train, and they stopped in Arizona, in Flagstaff, and it was raining. Just pissing rain. And DeMille got off the train, and he said, "This is ridiculous." He said, "We can't make a western here." He said, "Get on the train again. We'll go on. What's the next station?" They said, "Los Angeles," I think. He said, "Let's go on to Los Angeles." If it had not been raining in Arizona that day, you and I would be having this conversation in Flagstaff.

Host: Very true. What movie that you've been in has been most... was most fun to work on?

Charlton Heston: Movies are not supposed to be fun to work on.

Host: They're work.

Charlton Heston: You're talking about Martin and Lewis movies. I've done a couple of comedies, but more that are serious. It's not supposed to be fun for us. It's supposed to be fun for the audience. And that's what you're there for. I'm on my 82nd film now. But I don't go in saying, "Gee, this is going to be fun today. Wow, wow." It's very hard work.

Host: Here's a fun question for you --

Charlton Heston: It's supposed to be hard work. Go ahead.

Host: Can you settle a bet I have with my father? When I was a kid, I remember you hosting "The $64,000 Question." Did you? If you did, my dad owes me $20.

Charlton Heston: What was that? Was that thing where they were cheating finally?

Host: Yes.

Charlton Heston: I was on it. I don't remember more than that about it. I made an appearance. And they asked me a question and I answered it, but I wasn't involved in hosting. I certainly didn't host it, no.

Host: OK. "Major Dundee" is quite an accomplishment. What was it like working with Sam Peckinpah?

Charlton Heston: Sam was a very gifted actor. He was also a difficult man. I remember well when we were preparing the film, and they gave us a big office over at Columbia, and I tend to walk around in circles when I'm talking about a script. I walk up and down the room, and that's fine. It happened that Sam did the same thing. So I came in one day, because we kept bumping into each other, and he had put tape down across the middle of the room. And he said, "OK, now you walk around in circles on that side, I'll walk around in circles on this side." And the film is not as good as it might have been, but I liked working for him.

Charlton Heston: He was... I'll tell you a story that is remarkable. We were down in Mexico, and it was really primitive Mexican country. And we finished some shots, and then it got to be what they call the "blue hour," when you get about five minutes where you could get absolutely marvelous color at the end of the day. And Sam said, "Look, mount up there." It was about the cavalry, as you probably know. He said, "Mount the guys up, take them up to the top of the ridge and come down. It's going to be a great shot, and we just got a few minutes to do it." So we mounted up. As I was riding up the hill, I said, "Do you want me to come down at a trot or a canter?" He said, "A trot. Come down at a trot." I said, "Fine, fine." We brought the whole troop down at a trot. I said, "How was that?" He said, "That was lousy. I told you to come faster, but you did not." I said, "You lying son of a bitch." By this time, I had turned the horse around to go back up the ridge. I turned around and I drew my sabre. I don't think, I know I would not have struck him with the sword, but I was really as angry as I have ever been on a movie set. I don't do that often.

Host: Wow.

Charlton Heston: Sam saw me coming back down 50 yards away, and he got on the saddle of the boom, which goes up about 50, 60 feet. He said, "Take it up! Take it up! Take it up!" And I rode the horse under the boom, and I pulled him to a halt. And I said, "Would you like another take at a run?" He said, "Yes." And we did the take at a run. Then he said, "That's a print." And neither of us ever mentioned it again.

Host: That's a great story. Here's another one for "Ben-Hur" -- what added features will there be in the DVD of "Ben-Hur"?

Charlton Heston: Say it again. You're a little low.

Host: I'm sorry. What added features will the DVD of "Ben-Hur" include?

Charlton Heston: Well, there's some commentary. I lend some commentary to it throughout. And there is a documentary commentary on it, that doesn't include me. Happily, it does include a little bit from Dorothy Dahl, who did not, she insists, have anything to do with the film.

Host: A favorite film of mine was you starring in "Soylent Green."

Charlton Heston: Oh, yes. With Eddie Robinson.

Host: How did you find working with Edward G. Robinson? You were both fantastic. What a great sci-fi plot.

Charlton Heston: Well, I had worked with Eddie. He was in "The Ten Commandments," as you may remember.

Host: Right.

Charlton Heston: It was marvelous. His performance was marvelous. I came to be friendly with him. We lived not far away. And he was marvelous in the film, and he was superb, even better, in "Soylent Green," in which he had a better part. But he knew he was dying when we did the end of the film. He knew he was dying when he went into the film. But as the weeks went on, of course, it was more and more difficult. And he wouldn't go to his trailer, his dressing room. He would sit on the set in a chair and talk to people. But he wouldn't -- he wanted to preserve identity. He was just wonderful in it. The scene of his death is one of the highlights of the film. People always talk about it. And I was -- I didn't know he was dying, but I was very proud to have worked with him yet again. And to work with him in the scenes we had. We bonded very well, I think.

Host: OK. What do you think of the state of the film industry today? Is there any aspect you'd like to see changed?

Charlton Heston: Well, it's making... making a good film is not very easy. We don't make the bad ones on purpose. They just happen. We do our best; sometimes we do. I hope always we do our best. You remember -- or maybe you've never heard -- Spencer Tracy's famous mantra for actors. I picked it up in the first film I was in. I hold to it ever since. He said, "Show up on time. Know your words. And don't bump into anything."

Host: You have taken an active role in recent years as an activist. What do you want to be remembered for first and foremost, being an actor or your work outside of the entertainment industry?

Charlton Heston: First as an American, a father, a husband, and an actor.

Host: That's great. "Ben-Hur" is known for the chariot scene, but I really like the sea battle. I've heard rumors people died during the filming of that scene. Any truth to that?

Charlton Heston: Which? The sea battle?

Host: Yes.

Charlton Heston: Oh, nobody died. We had people who were crippled in advance and who performed in the scene where they're caught in the hold of the slave galley. But no one was really hurt.

Host: OK.

Charlton Heston: Of course, the prime element in the whole film, I suppose, is the chariot race. And that was a much more complicated thing for all of us, I think. I went to Rome, oh, goodness, at least two months before we were starting -- no, a month and a half before we were to actually start shooting. And I spent most of that time practicing, learning to drive a chariot, a four-horse chariot, which is not as easy as you may think. I'd go out for... except we'd take Sundays off. But every other day, I'd go out for at least an hour, maybe an hour and a half, working with one of the three white rigs. Of course, we weren't shooting the film at this point. This was before the shooting had started. And I gradually became... I'm used to horses, I've worked a lot with horses in films. But a four-horse chariot is another thing. You have to skid, because the wheels won't turn. You have to skid the whole thing through the turns.

Charlton Heston: And one day I was sitting there after several weeks of doing this and Yakima came out, who was directing the race sequence, who was directing this, of course. He was teaching me to drive. One day while we were resting the horses, while we were resting me, if you want to know, and he said... I said, "You know, Yak, I can't tell you how grateful I am, because I feel absolutely confident I can do this, I can drive this sucker." And I said, "Just one thing worries me. All these weeks, all these weeks it's just been you and me and one of the three horse teams, one after the other." I said, "Next week we have to start filming this. Then there's going to be others out there. I'm not so sure I can cut that."

Charlton Heston: Yak looked at me. He said, "Chuck, you just make sure you stay in the chariot." I did.

Host: Here's another question -- any film that you were offered and turned down and later regretted?

Charlton Heston: Well, of course, you turn down films for different reasons. You turn down films because either they're not paying you enough money, or you don't like the part, or because you're tired, you just finished a long film. What's the film...

Host: What was Susan Hayward like? She's still one of my favorites.

Charlton Heston: Well, I only made one picture with her, but it was a very good picture, and it started putting me well on my road to getting better. Also, she gave me my first Academy Award. So that was nice. That was kind of an interesting thing. I was sitting in the auditorium with my wife, of course, and it had gone on and on. Those things take forever. I think most actors, the only time you go to the Academy Awards is if you're either nominated or presenting, because you're talking about five hours. Anyway, I was sitting there going over what I would say if I won, and what I would say if I lost. And my wife was sitting beside me. And I looked up at the corner of the auditorium and there was a chandelier up there, but it had no significance, just part of the decoration. But something clicked in my head, and I said to myself -- I didn't say it, but I thought, "I've won. It's over. I've won."

Charlton Heston: So I sat perfectly relaxed while they went through the next event. And then Susan picked up the thing and said, "The winner for best actor, Charlton Heston." There I was. But somehow, I knew it before.

Host: Have you ever regretted giving up -- have you ever regretted a film that you were in, after you saw it?

Charlton Heston: Well, I've made a lot of films I wished I hadn't made. Or even more that I could have done better and didn't do better. But if I made a film that I thought was just awful to begin with? No, I try to turn those down.

Host: How would you compare "The Omega Man" to some of the sci-fi films that come out today?

Charlton Heston: Well, "The Omega Man" -- of course, the first of the modern space operas that created the genre was "Planet of the Apes." But "The Omega Man" was a significant film, in my opinion, and I'm proud of it for one -- I think it is a good film and I think I was good in it. But the main thing I like about it is that it was the first film in which a black actress was playing opposite a white leading man. And I'm so proud of that. Because I said, "Use her. She's very good. Let's use her." And they did, and she was very good.

Host: Looking back at your filmography, which one of your films do you feel was never truly appreciated when it came out and should be rereleased?

Charlton Heston: All of them. Then again, from one side of the world to the other.

Host: "Planet of the Apes" is a very interesting film. Was there any moment when you filmed it that you thought this could never really happen?

Charlton Heston: Are you talking about in real life?

Host: Mm-hmm. Yes.

Charlton Heston: It never occurred to me that I could... that anyone could land on a foreign planet and find it filled with apes, no. It's a movie. A very good movie, and a movie that broke the barrier for the way they make those movies. But come on. It's not --

Host: Do you own a DVD player? And if so, what's the most recent film you watched? And you can't say one of your own.

Charlton Heston: I'm sorry, what? I didn't hear the question.

Host: I'm sorry. Do you own a DVD player? And if so, what's the most recent film you watched in it? Please don't say one of your own films.

Charlton Heston: Well, I have a screening room. But of course, DVD is a more recent thing. I have a DVD of "Ben-Hur," which has just been put out in DVD and is... I spent three days in New York plugging it on TV.

Host: How would you compare your --

Charlton Heston: I'm going to be trained in watching it.

Host: How would you compare your role in "Ben-Hur" to your role of John the Baptist?

Charlton Heston: Oh, Ben-Hur's a much better part. John the Baptist is a significant figure in Christian history, but Ben-Hur is a better role, of course. The whole film is built around Ben-Hur.

Host: OK. I'm just looking for some good questions, because we only have time for a couple more, is all. You played Julius Caesar in the 1950s and the 1970s. Any chance we'll see that role again?

Charlton Heston: Well, I've done "Julius Caesar," always playing Antony, because Antony has the best part. I've done it on stage and film. Mr. Shakespeare is the best stuff. If you don't play Shakespeare, you are not a player, you are not in the game. And I had the good fortune to play many Shakespearean parts. And those are the best parts. That's all there is to it. The actors who don't do Shakespeare, as I've said... I said to Robert De Niro, it was very rude of me, I said, "Mr. De Niro, I think you are the best American film actor of your generation" -- which, of course, is the generation just after mine. He said, "Thank you. Thank you very much." And I said, "That said, you have to do Shakespeare; an actor of your abilities has to do those parts." And he said, "Yeah, yeah, people say that to me all the time." I said, "They're right."

Charlton Heston: Then I realized I had upset him. And I said, "I have no right to tell you what to do with your career." But I said, "You should play those parts. Those are the parts. Great parts."

Host: Let's end with our last question: What is next? What is your next role that you will be playing?

Charlton Heston: A couple things are coming up. You read the scripts, then you sort them out. Maybe we'll decide which ones to do, and then you decide how much money they'll pay for it.

Host: I think they're looking for, what film can they see you come out with over the next year? Is there anything to be looking forward to?

Charlton Heston: In the next year, the sequel to "Planet of the Apes," or the new version, if you like. I guess that's what would be correct. It will be coming out sometime in August. I look forward to that.

Host: OK. Great. Thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.

Charlton Heston: I enjoyed talking to you.

Host: We know you're busy. When "Planet of the Apes" is around, please come back. Or "Town & Country." Whatever it is, you're great.

Charlton Heston: I don't think they'll ever release "Town & Country."

Host: It has been on my schedule quite a few times.

Charlton Heston: Really?

Host: We appreciate your time, Mr. Heston.

Charlton Heston: Nice to talk to your audience.

Copyright 2001 America Online, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Portions of this transcript may be edited by AOL to correct spelling, punctuation and/or remove any material that violates AOL's Terms of Service.