1
00:00:01,042 --> 00:00:03,753
We call with our prayers
the man who will defeat Messala.

2
00:00:03,920 --> 00:00:05,546
You can be that man.

3
00:00:05,755 --> 00:00:08,007
You can break
the arrogance of this Roman

4
00:00:08,174 --> 00:00:09,884
in this arena.

5
00:00:13,179 --> 00:00:19,685
My first memories of my father
date from the time of Ben-Hur.

6
00:00:19,852 --> 00:00:22,647
I especially remember him
in the chariot race.

7
00:00:22,813 --> 00:00:24,148
SON OF CHARLTON HESTON

8
00:00:24,357 --> 00:00:29,278
16MM FILM
FILMED BY LYDIA CLARKE HESTON

9
00:00:29,445 --> 00:00:32,156
I must have been about four years old.

10
00:00:32,323 --> 00:00:34,784
He made me go up
on the tank.

11
00:00:34,951 --> 00:00:39,830
It's definitely a memory
imperishable.

12
00:00:39,997 --> 00:00:41,457
And I also remember

13
00:00:41,624 --> 00:00:44,418
that he brought me
sand from the arena.

14
00:00:44,585 --> 00:00:48,172
It wasn't just any sand,
It was MGM sand.

15
00:00:48,339 --> 00:00:50,216
He filled the sandbox with it

16
00:00:50,383 --> 00:00:53,511
from the Roman villa
in which we lived.

17
00:00:54,845 --> 00:00:56,472
was so excited

18
00:00:56,639 --> 00:01:00,268
when he brought back a big bag
yellow sand.

19
00:01:00,434 --> 00:01:02,562
These are two
of my first memories.

20
00:01:39,098 --> 00:01:42,018
worked with Chuck
on The Battle of Midway...

21
00:01:42,184 --> 00:01:43,269
ACTOR

22
00:01:43,436 --> 00:01:46,522
…besides if you blink
you might miss me,

23
00:01:46,689 --> 00:01:50,026
and we didn't have
common scene but…

24
00:01:50,192 --> 00:01:52,486
There are many things
to say about the actor

25
00:01:52,653 --> 00:01:55,364
which in my opinion,
was not always very appreciated.

26
00:01:55,531 --> 00:01:59,535
Chuck was really
a golden person,

27
00:01:59,702 --> 00:02:04,707
and he had to tackle the scenes
like an ordinary man

28
00:02:04,915 --> 00:02:07,710
so that the public
can identify with the character.

29
00:02:07,918 --> 00:02:11,213
And in life he was
like ordinary mortals.

30
00:02:11,422 --> 00:02:14,383
I reminded me that we were
both from Michigan.

31
00:02:14,550 --> 00:02:17,928
It's something he knew
when we met.

32
00:02:19,013 --> 00:02:20,931
We had
common roots.

33
00:02:31,192 --> 00:02:33,986
My father came
from a modest background.

34
00:02:34,153 --> 00:02:38,908
He called himself a shy kid
from the lost corners of Michigan,

35
00:02:39,075 --> 00:02:40,326
who wore tights,

36
00:02:40,493 --> 00:02:42,536
took on funny accents,
disguised himself

37
00:02:42,703 --> 00:02:47,375
played the comedy. That's why
that he had become an actor.

38
00:02:50,878 --> 00:02:52,004
Between my brother and me,

39
00:02:52,171 --> 00:02:55,758
I was the one who was always
in search of information.

40
00:02:55,966 --> 00:02:59,011
I wanted to understand this family
in which I lived.

41
00:02:59,178 --> 00:03:00,262
DAUGHTER OF CHARLTON HESTON

42
00:03:00,471 --> 00:03:02,890
Surely because
I had been adopted.

43
00:03:03,599 --> 00:03:06,310
I was told
that I was a gift from Heaven

44
00:03:06,477 --> 00:03:09,313
and that I had chosen them,
and not the other way around.

45
00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:13,693
They had wanted so much
my arrival

46
00:03:13,859 --> 00:03:15,861
that they were delighted
to have me with them.

47
00:03:16,028 --> 00:03:19,699
So I always felt
loved and desired.

48
00:03:21,075 --> 00:03:26,747
My father's commitment
towards his family was based

49
00:03:26,914 --> 00:03:28,737
on the difficulties
that he had

50
00:03:28,761 --> 00:03:30,584
to live in a
family torn apart.

51
00:03:30,751 --> 00:03:33,337
He had a father and a mother
very loving.

52
00:03:33,504 --> 00:03:37,133
But who had separated
when he was very young.

53
00:03:37,299 --> 00:03:40,636
And after that, he didn't see anymore
his father for years.

54
00:03:40,803 --> 00:03:44,557
Part of him
never recovered

55
00:03:44,724 --> 00:03:46,767
for not having had
of father near him.

56
00:03:46,934 --> 00:03:50,771
And even if he respected
very much his father-in-law,

57
00:03:50,938 --> 00:03:53,858
their relationship was lacking
heat,

58
00:03:54,024 --> 00:03:57,278
there was no
of tenderness between them.

59
00:03:57,445 --> 00:04:01,365
I think it was
very hard for my father

60
00:04:01,532 --> 00:04:04,118
and that his life has not always
was very happy.

61
00:04:04,285 --> 00:04:08,205
Years later,
he went to Detroit

62
00:04:08,372 --> 00:04:10,458
where he thought
that his father lived.

63
00:04:10,624 --> 00:04:13,002
He was there with my mother
for business.

64
00:04:13,169 --> 00:04:15,180
He looked to see if he
found the name

65
00:04:15,204 --> 00:04:17,214
of my grandfather,
Russell Carter,

66
00:04:17,381 --> 00:04:19,258
in the directory,

67
00:04:19,425 --> 00:04:23,637
he came across this name,
and called the number just in case

68
00:04:23,804 --> 00:04:26,307
and it was indeed his father.

69
00:04:26,474 --> 00:04:29,935
And he said:
“Dad, it’s Chuck.”

70
00:04:30,561 --> 00:04:32,188
And my grandfather
replied to him:

71
00:04:32,354 --> 00:04:33,439
FATHER OF CHARLTON HESTON

72
00:04:33,606 --> 00:04:36,525
"Stay where you are, don't move,
I’ll be there right away.”

73
00:04:36,692 --> 00:04:40,446
After all these years,
they found each other.

74
00:04:40,613 --> 00:04:43,032
And after that, they maintained
a beautiful relationship

75
00:04:43,199 --> 00:04:45,951
and he continued to maintain
a beautiful relationship

76
00:04:46,118 --> 00:04:48,245
with his mother as well.

77
00:04:48,412 --> 00:04:51,332
MOTHER OF CHARLTON HESTON

78
00:04:59,423 --> 00:05:03,552
Mom and Dad met
at Northwestern University.

79
00:05:03,719 --> 00:05:05,638
He was sitting behind her
in progress.

80
00:05:05,805 --> 00:05:07,556
It was a course
of dramatic art.

81
00:05:07,723 --> 00:05:11,477
I had just seen
one of his films.

82
00:05:11,644 --> 00:05:14,522
Peer Gynt by Ibsen.

83
00:05:14,688 --> 00:05:21,028
He was 17 when he made
this movie was moving

84
00:05:21,195 --> 00:05:22,613
and I found it wonderful.

85
00:05:22,780 --> 00:05:23,864
WIFE OF CHARLTON HESTON

86
00:05:24,031 --> 00:05:27,618
I didn't even know
that he was in the class.

87
00:05:27,785 --> 00:05:30,871
He found that she had
beautiful hair

88
00:05:31,038 --> 00:05:32,331
and he was pulling on it.

89
00:05:32,498 --> 00:05:37,878
I turned around
ready to explode with anger.

90
00:05:38,212 --> 00:05:41,131
And then I realized
that it was him...

91
00:05:41,632 --> 00:05:46,262
The same man who played
in this movie.

92
00:05:46,971 --> 00:05:49,682
was dazzled.

93
00:05:49,849 --> 00:05:52,309
Later he had the courage
to ask him out.

94
00:05:52,476 --> 00:05:54,186
It's crazy that she talked to him.

95
00:05:54,353 --> 00:05:56,856
There must have been
a kind of click.

96
00:05:57,022 --> 00:06:00,025
Yes, it was a lasting relationship.

97
00:06:00,192 --> 00:06:04,154
Few couples in Hollywood
are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary.

98
00:06:04,321 --> 00:06:06,323
They had to be
soulmates.

99
00:06:06,490 --> 00:06:08,701
They loved the theater,
they loved to play.

100
00:06:08,868 --> 00:06:10,786
My mother was also an actress.

101
00:06:10,953 --> 00:06:15,291
She has appeared in films
in the 50s

102
00:06:15,457 --> 00:06:17,501
before discovering
photography.

103
00:06:17,668 --> 00:06:19,879
She preferred to be
behind the lens.

104
00:06:20,045 --> 00:06:22,923
She was quite talented.

105
00:06:23,090 --> 00:06:25,676
They were both
artists.

106
00:06:25,843 --> 00:06:29,096
A deep love
for literature, theater,

107
00:06:29,263 --> 00:06:33,100
the characters
and the great stories linked them.

108
00:06:33,267 --> 00:06:37,563
had heard that at school
Lydia was the new star.

109
00:06:37,730 --> 00:06:41,275
We knew she would be an actress.

110
00:06:41,442 --> 00:06:43,235
We knew she would go far.

111
00:06:43,402 --> 00:06:44,486
ACTRESS

112
00:06:44,695 --> 00:06:47,656
And one day I found myself
with Lydia and I asked her:

113
00:06:47,823 --> 00:06:50,284
“You had this incredible talent.

114
00:06:50,451 --> 00:06:51,827
Why did you stop?”

115
00:06:51,994 --> 00:06:55,372
She answered me:
"Oh, well,

116
00:06:55,539 --> 00:06:58,792
I guess it escaped me.”

117
00:06:58,959 --> 00:07:01,587
It was a very elegant way
to respond,

118
00:07:01,754 --> 00:07:06,550
and that explained his life.

119
00:07:06,717 --> 00:07:09,762
Today I have the feeling

120
00:07:09,929 --> 00:07:13,432
that the choices made by my mother
in his career

121
00:07:13,599 --> 00:07:16,560
are the best choices
that she could have done.

122
00:07:16,727 --> 00:07:20,648
My parents were
examples for me.

123
00:07:20,814 --> 00:07:24,610
I remember my father
leaving for a casting.

124
00:07:24,777 --> 00:07:28,280
He left saying:
“The case is in the bag.”

125
00:07:28,447 --> 00:07:31,784
My mother, on the other hand,
came back saying:

126
00:07:31,951 --> 00:07:34,703
"I don't have it. Impossible
that I have it. Impossible.”

127
00:07:34,870 --> 00:07:38,290
I'm not sure that the profession
acting was made for her.

128
00:07:38,582 --> 00:07:44,296
The choice to stay
behind the lens

129
00:07:44,463 --> 00:07:48,801
and find a completely different one
creative outlet

130
00:07:48,968 --> 00:07:51,136
was a much better choice.

131
00:07:51,553 --> 00:07:54,223
He was in front of the lens,
she was behind.

132
00:07:54,390 --> 00:07:57,851
This synergy was very important
for their relationship.

133
00:07:58,018 --> 00:08:03,732
My mother was the cement
of our family. She linked us.

134
00:08:03,899 --> 00:08:06,694
They really grew up together,

135
00:08:06,860 --> 00:08:11,323
they met at 18
and got married at age 20.

136
00:08:11,490 --> 00:08:14,952
And they passed
almost 65 years together.

137
00:08:15,119 --> 00:08:18,288
I've never seen anything like this.

138
00:08:28,549 --> 00:08:31,176
What's your name, 41?

139
00:08:33,387 --> 00:08:34,888
Judah Ben-Hur.

140
00:08:46,316 --> 00:08:49,570
DIRECTOR OF “BEN-HUR”

141
00:08:49,737 --> 00:08:51,447
My father directed Ben-Hur.

142
00:08:51,613 --> 00:08:56,118
What interested him,
it was about challenging yourself.

143
00:08:56,326 --> 00:08:58,037
He was afraid of being bored.

144
00:08:58,203 --> 00:09:01,457
He found it interesting to do
films of different genres.

145
00:09:01,623 --> 00:09:03,292
When we contacted him
for Ben-Hur…

146
00:09:03,459 --> 00:09:04,835
DAUGHTER OF WILLIAM WYLER

147
00:09:05,002 --> 00:09:06,295
…It was a first

148
00:09:06,462 --> 00:09:09,339
and at the beginning,
I think he was surprised

149
00:09:09,506 --> 00:09:11,550
that we ask him
to make an epic.

150
00:09:11,717 --> 00:09:13,677
The more he thought about it
and the more he said to himself:

151
00:09:13,844 --> 00:09:15,929
“That could be interesting.
Let's see

152
00:09:16,096 --> 00:09:17,389
if I can do it.”

153
00:09:17,556 --> 00:09:21,143
And the way my father did
to address his role for Ben-Hur

154
00:09:21,351 --> 00:09:22,895
is very interesting.

155
00:09:23,062 --> 00:09:29,193
It was a crucial moment
in his life and in his career.

156
00:09:30,402 --> 00:09:33,155
He was married to my mother
for several years.

157
00:09:33,363 --> 00:09:37,367
I was born in 1955 right in the middle
of the Ten Commandments.

158
00:09:37,534 --> 00:09:41,121
The Ten Commandments propelled him
in the limelight,

159
00:09:41,288 --> 00:09:43,582
He started
to become a star.

160
00:09:43,749 --> 00:09:48,045
If looking
The Ten Commandments, we say to ourselves:

161
00:09:48,212 --> 00:09:52,132
"It's a classic biblical epic
directed by C.B. DeMille."

162
00:09:52,299 --> 00:09:53,967
When we look at Ben-Hur,

163
00:09:54,134 --> 00:09:57,012
which was filmed
one or two films later,

164
00:09:57,179 --> 00:09:59,098
and only three or four years
later,

165
00:09:59,264 --> 00:10:03,018
you will realize
that their style is different.

166
00:10:03,185 --> 00:10:05,104
They are awesome
and have aged well.

167
00:10:05,270 --> 00:10:09,024
But, I think Ben-Hur
is the first modern epic.

168
00:10:09,691 --> 00:10:12,945
It's very realistic,
sometimes frightening.

169
00:10:13,112 --> 00:10:15,322
The story is not embellished.

170
00:10:15,489 --> 00:10:19,159
The characters have flaws.
It's a complex film.

171
00:10:19,326 --> 00:10:21,411
Characters come first
on the events.

172
00:10:21,912 --> 00:10:24,248
Wyler and DeMille
have very different styles.

173
00:10:24,414 --> 00:10:28,794
Both great directors,
but with different styles.

174
00:10:28,961 --> 00:10:31,755
The Ten Commandments
was not enough for him.

175
00:10:31,922 --> 00:10:37,886
So he took a supporting role
in Wyler's The Great Outdoors.

176
00:10:38,053 --> 00:10:39,471
After The Ten Commandments.

177
00:10:39,638 --> 00:10:41,849
It's hard to imagine
accept a supporting role.

178
00:10:42,015 --> 00:10:44,768
But he was happy to play
alongside Gregory Peck

179
00:10:44,935 --> 00:10:46,603
which was amazing
in this movie.

180
00:10:46,979 --> 00:10:50,357
This allowed Wyler
to have a glimpse

181
00:10:50,524 --> 00:10:52,192
of his abilities

182
00:10:52,359 --> 00:10:55,445
and envision him in a big role
like that of Ben-Hur.

183
00:10:55,612 --> 00:10:58,240
Heston was not yet
Charlton Heston.

184
00:10:58,448 --> 00:11:00,033
He wasn't far from it, but...

185
00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:03,620
His presence was not yet
synonymous with immense success.

186
00:11:04,663 --> 00:11:06,748
The making of this film
cost a lot of money.

187
00:11:06,957 --> 00:11:08,083
MGM beats going.

188
00:11:08,250 --> 00:11:10,544
They were in the process
to lose money,

189
00:11:10,711 --> 00:11:15,757
yet they took the risk
to choose a rising star.

190
00:11:17,801 --> 00:11:21,138
In 1956, my father started
to keep a diary.

191
00:11:21,305 --> 00:11:24,850
He held it religiously

192
00:11:25,017 --> 00:11:28,187
for almost 50 years.

193
00:11:28,353 --> 00:11:31,857
He knew that what he was doing
would be left to posterity,

194
00:11:32,024 --> 00:11:34,526
but it was above all crucial
for him,

195
00:11:34,693 --> 00:11:36,612
to help him move forward.

196
00:11:36,778 --> 00:11:39,907
And I think he liked to read
certain passages from this diary

197
00:11:40,073 --> 00:11:41,992
from the time of Ben-Hur.

198
00:11:42,159 --> 00:11:46,038
"Tuesday January 21, 1958.

199
00:11:46,205 --> 00:11:48,874
learned that Willi Wyler
finally chose me

200
00:11:49,041 --> 00:11:50,834
for the role of Ben-Hur.

201
00:11:51,001 --> 00:11:55,172
Ben Thau, one of the leaders
from MGM looked excited.

202
00:11:55,339 --> 00:11:57,591
I felt
filled with joy

203
00:11:57,758 --> 00:11:59,551
which lasted all evening

204
00:11:59,718 --> 00:12:02,596
that Lydia and I spent
sipping champagne

205
00:12:02,763 --> 00:12:05,432
and dreaming of the prospect
of these eight months in Italy.

206
00:12:05,599 --> 00:12:07,768
It’s truly incredible.”

207
00:12:08,644 --> 00:12:11,480
When my father learned
that he had the role -

208
00:12:11,647 --> 00:12:14,441
I wouldn't say it was
a surprise. He felt it.

209
00:12:14,608 --> 00:12:17,653
But he had the script
which he lent generously

210
00:12:17,819 --> 00:12:23,909
to actors like Chuck Connors
with whom he was in competition.

211
00:12:24,159 --> 00:12:27,329
So he didn't know
that it was won.

212
00:12:27,537 --> 00:12:29,081
And it wasn't.

213
00:12:29,248 --> 00:12:33,835
At a certain moment,
either he became a big star

214
00:12:34,044 --> 00:12:36,672
or he remained anonymous.

215
00:12:36,838 --> 00:12:40,342
He could have chosen
a whole different way of life.

216
00:12:40,550 --> 00:12:45,973
He didn't know
what was going to impose itself on him.

217
00:12:46,390 --> 00:12:50,602
He would have accepted
both possibilities.

218
00:12:51,561 --> 00:12:53,647
had said
that I would come back.

219
00:12:54,856 --> 00:12:56,984
I didn't believe him.

220
00:12:58,694 --> 00:13:00,487
I'm so happy.

221
00:13:00,654 --> 00:13:04,866
always thought
that good roles were scary.

222
00:13:05,075 --> 00:13:07,869
And I imagine that Ben-Hur
must have scared Chuck.

223
00:13:08,078 --> 00:13:10,372
It's good for an actor...

224
00:13:10,580 --> 00:13:14,251
Not to say to yourself: "I know how
broach the subject and it will pass.”

225
00:13:14,418 --> 00:13:16,128
But that's part of the challenge

226
00:13:16,295 --> 00:13:19,256
and what in my opinion
keeps us motivated.

227
00:13:19,423 --> 00:13:22,426
And I imagine that was the case
for Chuck,

228
00:13:22,592 --> 00:13:24,636
act in a movie
which offered so many promises

229
00:13:24,803 --> 00:13:28,140
and who was so visionary.

230
00:13:28,307 --> 00:13:31,727
"Wednesday January 22, 1958.

231
00:13:31,893 --> 00:13:33,395
suffered from having to keep

232
00:13:33,603 --> 00:13:36,648
such big news
all day.

233
00:13:36,815 --> 00:13:40,402
As I promised
to Hedda Hopper this morning.

234
00:13:40,610 --> 00:13:42,529
But the news
was only supposed to go out this evening.

235
00:13:42,696 --> 00:13:46,825
When the news was announced,
people got excited.

236
00:13:46,992 --> 00:13:49,870
Ed Henry of MCA
closed the deal today.

237
00:13:50,037 --> 00:13:52,289
I'm not yet
put on a date,

238
00:13:52,456 --> 00:13:55,042
no matter the difficulties."

239
00:13:55,625 --> 00:13:58,503
We realize
reading his correspondence,

240
00:13:58,670 --> 00:14:01,798
his interviews
or his autobiography,

241
00:14:01,965 --> 00:14:03,175
that he was very humble.

242
00:14:03,342 --> 00:14:05,260
He was grateful
to have talent.

243
00:14:05,427 --> 00:14:08,889
He knew he was lucky
to be able to work in Hollywood.

244
00:14:09,056 --> 00:14:12,476
But he was not yet
taken aback.

245
00:14:12,642 --> 00:14:16,438
He brought humility
to his heroism.

246
00:14:16,646 --> 00:14:17,981
And it helped him.

247
00:14:18,148 --> 00:14:21,443
He had a natural gift
for roles in epics.

248
00:14:21,651 --> 00:14:22,694
ACTRESS

249
00:14:22,861 --> 00:14:26,031
He was a great man
full of presence.

250
00:14:26,198 --> 00:14:30,369
It was a gift from him.

251
00:14:30,535 --> 00:14:35,999
He focused on his dialogues
and his inner life.

252
00:14:36,166 --> 00:14:37,667
He didn't have to worry

253
00:14:37,834 --> 00:14:41,004
to constantly remind us
that he was there,

254
00:14:41,171 --> 00:14:43,048
because he was there.

255
00:14:43,215 --> 00:14:45,842
I crown you their god.

256
00:14:52,265 --> 00:14:55,602
Make a film like Ben-Hur
represented a huge commitment.

257
00:14:55,769 --> 00:14:57,229
Not only
in terms of energy

258
00:14:57,396 --> 00:15:02,025
but in terms of time
and long travel.

259
00:15:02,192 --> 00:15:05,862
Today, three months of filming
seem reasonable.

260
00:15:06,029 --> 00:15:07,781
Even far from home.

261
00:15:07,948 --> 00:15:11,118
But when we realized

262
00:15:11,284 --> 00:15:13,620
that we were going to pass
8 or 10 months in Italy,

263
00:15:14,871 --> 00:15:16,957
it turned our lives upside down.

264
00:15:17,124 --> 00:15:20,043
We took the train
from our little apartment

265
00:15:20,210 --> 00:15:23,547
by Park La Brea
on 3rd Street in L.A.

266
00:15:23,713 --> 00:15:25,882
to get to New York
where it all started.

267
00:15:26,049 --> 00:15:29,428
We went to the docks
from New York,

268
00:15:29,594 --> 00:15:32,973
to board
on the S.S. United States.

269
00:15:33,140 --> 00:15:35,475
We boarded
of this fantastic ship

270
00:15:35,642 --> 00:15:39,020
with huge fireplaces
and thousands of people

271
00:15:39,229 --> 00:15:41,857
stood on the quay
to say goodbye.

272
00:15:42,023 --> 00:15:46,445
That was already crazy at the time,
so imagine this adventure!

273
00:15:46,611 --> 00:15:52,409
And for the kid from Michigan
who had hunted in the forest

274
00:15:52,576 --> 00:15:55,495
and who embarked
in this great adventure,

275
00:15:55,662 --> 00:15:57,664
it must have been incredible.

276
00:15:57,831 --> 00:16:00,041
And if you look

277
00:16:00,250 --> 00:16:02,752
films made at the time
by my mother,

278
00:16:02,919 --> 00:16:07,632
you will realize
how happy we were.

279
00:16:31,698 --> 00:16:33,658
We have often seen
the actors

280
00:16:33,825 --> 00:16:37,120
and people in the film industry
take bad paths.

281
00:16:37,287 --> 00:16:40,707
You hope that stuff
does not happen to your family.

282
00:16:40,957 --> 00:16:44,044
But I think my grandfather
and my father were able to find…

283
00:16:44,211 --> 00:16:45,253
GRANDSON OF CHARLTON HESTON

284
00:16:45,420 --> 00:16:46,630
…A perfect balance.

285
00:16:47,005 --> 00:16:50,425
My grandfather took
his family on set.

286
00:16:50,592 --> 00:16:53,637
And when he was home,
he devoted all his time to them.

287
00:16:53,803 --> 00:16:57,057
He loved spending time
with them.

288
00:16:57,224 --> 00:16:59,518
I don't believe
that he loved to travel.

289
00:16:59,684 --> 00:17:02,103
He wanted to stay at home.
Sleeping in bed.

290
00:17:02,521 --> 00:17:04,523
He preferred
wake up at home.

291
00:17:04,689 --> 00:17:06,608
But traveling was part
of his work.

292
00:17:06,816 --> 00:17:09,444
He loved to create,
| loved to work.

293
00:17:09,611 --> 00:17:12,447
You know what he liked
above all? Go home.

294
00:17:12,614 --> 00:17:15,617
Traveling has never been a sacrifice
for my mother.

295
00:17:15,825 --> 00:17:17,327
My mother loves to travel.

296
00:17:18,411 --> 00:17:20,413
She is happier
when she travels.

297
00:17:20,580 --> 00:17:24,292
She's not keen on staying
at home. She likes to move.

298
00:17:24,459 --> 00:17:26,920
While my father,
preferred to stay at home.

299
00:17:27,087 --> 00:17:28,255
But it worked.

300
00:17:28,421 --> 00:17:29,798
They had to do
compromises.

301
00:17:29,965 --> 00:17:33,301
They saw these trips
like family getaways.

302
00:17:33,468 --> 00:17:35,512
Everyone was leaving
and took advantage of it.

303
00:17:35,679 --> 00:17:38,473
It wasn't just a vacation
two weeks.

304
00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:42,435
We were going to work and live
abroad for 6, 8, 10 months.

305
00:17:44,229 --> 00:17:47,649
did
some important films and…

306
00:17:48,191 --> 00:17:50,652
But I had to go away
maximum four months.

307
00:17:50,860 --> 00:17:52,737
So, nine months, imagine!

308
00:17:52,904 --> 00:17:57,534
And it must be great
to have the support of your family

309
00:17:57,701 --> 00:18:00,662
when you need to work again
some scenes

310
00:18:00,870 --> 00:18:03,039
Two, three, four days in a row,
even a week.

311
00:18:03,206 --> 00:18:07,711
He was like all these actors
who are looking for balance

312
00:18:07,877 --> 00:18:11,047
allowing him not to lose
his concentration

313
00:18:11,214 --> 00:18:15,051
and to have an outlet within reach
so as not to lose your mind.

314
00:18:15,677 --> 00:18:20,640
We rented a superb
villa called Horti Flaviani.

315
00:18:21,308 --> 00:18:25,770
It was located near Rome
near the Cinecittà studios.

316
00:18:25,937 --> 00:18:29,024
"Sunday April 13, 1958.

317
00:18:29,190 --> 00:18:32,152
Rome, Villa Horti Flaviani.

318
00:18:32,319 --> 00:18:33,570
It's astonishing.

319
00:18:33,737 --> 00:18:37,157
Our villa is a building
terracotta

320
00:18:37,324 --> 00:18:39,993
built in the last century
by an archaeologist

321
00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:42,203
not far from the thermal baths
of Caracalla.

322
00:18:42,412 --> 00:18:45,040
We have a whole wing
with a gravel patio

323
00:18:45,206 --> 00:18:46,916
and a fountain
for the Fray boats.

324
00:18:47,083 --> 00:18:50,962
French gardens,
marble floors

325
00:18:51,129 --> 00:18:52,672
and four large bedrooms.

326
00:18:52,839 --> 00:18:54,841
Statues in the entrance hall.

327
00:18:55,008 --> 00:18:57,427
All in all, quite a setting."

328
00:18:57,594 --> 00:19:00,221
It was incredible,
there was an entrance

329
00:19:00,430 --> 00:19:02,515
on the Roman catacombs,
it was crazy.

330
00:19:02,682 --> 00:19:04,184
entered it once,

331
00:19:04,351 --> 00:19:06,686
I opened the door

332
00:19:06,853 --> 00:19:07,937
and I got lost there.

333
00:19:08,104 --> 00:19:09,856
My father had to come and save me.

334
00:19:10,023 --> 00:19:11,441
And I had to say:

335
00:19:11,608 --> 00:19:14,277
"I really believed that never
I won't see America again."

336
00:19:15,487 --> 00:19:18,073
We also had a swimming pool,

337
00:19:18,239 --> 00:19:19,449
but which remained empty.

338
00:19:19,616 --> 00:19:22,452
So dad used the fountain
like swimming pool.

339
00:19:22,619 --> 00:19:25,330
He sat there in a swimsuit
in a deck chair.

340
00:19:25,497 --> 00:19:27,957
He put her right in the middle
from the fountain and read

341
00:19:28,124 --> 00:19:31,419
and the butler brought him
a cold drink.

342
00:19:31,586 --> 00:19:34,839
He was trying to decompress
during his only day of rest,

343
00:19:35,006 --> 00:19:37,801
it was always so hot.
And he worked so hard.

344
00:19:37,967 --> 00:19:40,470
He was exhausted,
so he was lounging

345
00:19:40,637 --> 00:19:43,223
and vegetated there for a while.

346
00:19:44,265 --> 00:19:47,268
The house was very romantic.

347
00:19:47,477 --> 00:19:49,562
Absolutely splendid.

348
00:19:49,813 --> 00:19:55,235
Like Chuck said,
It was quite a setting.

349
00:20:20,927 --> 00:20:23,430
Cinecittà was a world
in its own right.

350
00:20:23,596 --> 00:20:26,933
You have to realize
of the context.

351
00:20:27,100 --> 00:20:28,768
MGM had rented
the whole studio.

352
00:20:28,935 --> 00:20:31,062
The sets, the backstage,

353
00:20:31,229 --> 00:20:33,857
the actors' dressing rooms,
projection rooms,

354
00:20:34,023 --> 00:20:39,112
labs, offices,
warehouses.

355
00:20:39,279 --> 00:20:43,241
Absolutely everything.
It's a film factory.

356
00:20:48,246 --> 00:20:52,125
The work was considerable.
They had so much to build.

357
00:20:52,292 --> 00:20:56,671
He had to build the circus,
the arena for the chariot race,

358
00:20:57,130 --> 00:21:01,426
the palace of Pontius Pilate,
the streets of Jerusalem,

359
00:21:01,593 --> 00:21:05,221
the Via Dolorosa,
the home of Ben-Hur.

360
00:21:05,388 --> 00:21:10,310
The city of Rome, the abode
by Quintus Arrius, the galleys.

361
00:21:10,477 --> 00:21:14,647
All these fantastic plateaus
and the decorations that go with it.

362
00:21:14,814 --> 00:21:16,483
Imagine the research to be done.

363
00:21:16,649 --> 00:21:18,943
Dad loved it.
He immersed himself in it.

364
00:21:19,110 --> 00:21:22,071
Whenever he could, he gave
a helping hand with research.

365
00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:25,033
He's been doing this all his life.
with all his films.

366
00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:28,286
Even if he brought back very little
memories of his films,

367
00:21:28,453 --> 00:21:31,873
he had kept the knockers
shaped like the Star of David

368
00:21:32,081 --> 00:21:33,833
from the door
from the house of Ben-Hur

369
00:21:34,209 --> 00:21:37,253
and installed them
at the entrance to his office

370
00:21:37,420 --> 00:21:40,089
and proudly displayed them.

371
00:21:48,932 --> 00:21:54,521
My father was an assistant director
on the silent Ben-Hur of 1925.

372
00:21:54,687 --> 00:21:56,481
One among many.

373
00:21:56,648 --> 00:21:59,818
I believe that on the first day
filming of Ben-Hur,

374
00:21:59,984 --> 00:22:01,653
he brought everyone together

375
00:22:01,820 --> 00:22:04,489
and he presented
all assistant directors

376
00:22:04,656 --> 00:22:07,158
and told them he had been
assistant director

377
00:22:07,325 --> 00:22:09,202
on the previous Ben-Hur.

378
00:22:09,369 --> 00:22:12,872
"Look at them, one of them
will make the next Ben-Hur."

379
00:22:13,039 --> 00:22:14,123
DAUGHTER OF WILLIAM WYLER

380
00:22:14,666 --> 00:22:17,210
"Tuesday May 20, 1958.

381
00:22:17,377 --> 00:22:20,797
First day of principal photography
of Ben-Hur.

382
00:22:20,964 --> 00:22:23,132
The first day is behind me.

383
00:22:23,299 --> 00:22:25,218
I weigh less
on the shoulders,

384
00:22:25,385 --> 00:22:28,388
this feeling developed
without me realizing it

385
00:22:28,555 --> 00:22:32,433
the day I knew that this year
would be dedicated to Ben-Hur

386
00:22:32,642 --> 00:22:34,602
with William Wyler.

387
00:22:34,769 --> 00:22:39,440
As usual,
we only toured a little.

388
00:22:39,649 --> 00:22:42,610
Great shots in motion
of hitching scenes

389
00:22:42,777 --> 00:22:44,779
and the sheikh and me
roaming the galleries

390
00:22:44,946 --> 00:22:46,573
from the boxes
of charioteers.

391
00:22:46,739 --> 00:22:49,158
I will conclude this day

392
00:22:49,325 --> 00:22:53,162
that William Wyler is no more
impressed by a movie

393
00:22:53,329 --> 00:22:55,415
at 10 million dollars
than by a three-way film.

394
00:22:55,582 --> 00:22:57,375
So far, so good.”

395
00:22:57,542 --> 00:22:59,878
When my father was
on the set,

396
00:23:00,044 --> 00:23:03,381
not only was he the boss,
the leader, but he was God too.

397
00:23:03,548 --> 00:23:07,302
My mother said it was difficult
when God came home

398
00:23:07,468 --> 00:23:09,387
and expected
to see the meal served,

399
00:23:09,554 --> 00:23:11,806
clean children

400
00:23:11,973 --> 00:23:14,976
and wise, as if...

401
00:23:15,184 --> 00:23:17,896
In reality, the despot
that he was on set

402
00:23:18,062 --> 00:23:20,565
did not pass
the doorstep.

403
00:23:20,732 --> 00:23:24,444
"Thursday June 5, 1958.

404
00:23:24,694 --> 00:23:28,823
This day was one
of the hardest of my career.

405
00:23:28,990 --> 00:23:30,658
Willi opened up to me.

406
00:23:30,825 --> 00:23:34,203
But not in one way
to flatter my ego.

407
00:23:34,370 --> 00:23:38,291
It's not so much that he doesn't love
my work so far.

408
00:23:38,458 --> 00:23:40,126
He seems satisfied.

409
00:23:40,293 --> 00:23:41,628
But from his point of view,

410
00:23:41,794 --> 00:23:44,923
I don't fully realize
my potential

411
00:23:45,089 --> 00:23:48,551
due to my current attitude
facing my game and life.

412
00:23:48,718 --> 00:23:52,722
I put it in harsher terms
than his, but the idea is there.

413
00:23:52,889 --> 00:23:55,224
His hopes in me are high,
according to him:

414
00:23:55,391 --> 00:23:59,771
"This could be the day
the most important of my career.

415
00:23:59,938 --> 00:24:02,982
But we risk
not having much fun.”

416
00:24:03,149 --> 00:24:07,570
William Wyler was very tough
with its actors.

417
00:24:07,737 --> 00:24:09,364
But in a good way.

418
00:24:09,530 --> 00:24:12,533
He was exasperating,
but brilliant.

419
00:24:12,742 --> 00:24:15,411
Chuck said it was
a relentless one.

420
00:24:15,578 --> 00:24:17,830
He said:
“We try, we try.”

421
00:24:17,997 --> 00:24:19,165
ACTOR

422
00:24:19,332 --> 00:24:21,167
I don't know how much
of shots I needed.

423
00:24:21,334 --> 00:24:23,378
Sometimes the first one was enough.

424
00:24:23,544 --> 00:24:25,463
Then you say to yourself:

425
00:24:25,630 --> 00:24:28,675
“Maybe we need another one.”
And you make 15.

426
00:24:28,841 --> 00:24:30,134
But he used the first one.

427
00:24:30,510 --> 00:24:33,513
I never gave up
neither the scene nor the actor.

428
00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:38,351
I never abandoned the script,
or interpretation.

429
00:24:38,518 --> 00:24:39,686
And if he wasn't satisfied,

430
00:24:39,852 --> 00:24:41,688
he continued
until he likes it.

431
00:24:41,854 --> 00:24:43,439
Even if expressing your desires
became impossible.

432
00:24:43,606 --> 00:24:46,484
My father told me
this story

433
00:24:46,651 --> 00:24:49,320
where Willi kept saying:
"You know, Chuck,

434
00:24:49,487 --> 00:24:51,906
I can't tell you
what you should do.

435
00:24:52,073 --> 00:24:54,534
If I knew what I wanted,
I would tell you,

436
00:24:54,701 --> 00:24:56,786
it would be easier,
you would just have to do it.

437
00:24:56,953 --> 00:24:58,746
But I can only tell you

438
00:24:58,913 --> 00:25:01,624
that you need to improve
in this scene."

439
00:25:01,791 --> 00:25:04,252
And curiously, it was
the best advice

440
00:25:04,419 --> 00:25:06,754
that my father received,
because it worked.

441
00:25:06,921 --> 00:25:08,881
And because it motivated him.

442
00:25:09,048 --> 00:25:11,134
And he returned to heal his wounds,

443
00:25:11,300 --> 00:25:14,220
he turned towards his family
for a little comfort

444
00:25:14,387 --> 00:25:17,223
and he recharged his batteries.

445
00:25:17,390 --> 00:25:19,350
Surely Willi must have hurt him.

446
00:25:19,517 --> 00:25:21,728
A third of the film
was already in the box,

447
00:25:21,894 --> 00:25:23,771
but it was like that
that Willi was doing.

448
00:25:23,938 --> 00:25:29,694
I think my father
had his own method.

449
00:25:30,236 --> 00:25:33,031
People said
that he didn't know how to express himself.

450
00:25:33,197 --> 00:25:36,617
But it wasn't
really the case.

451
00:25:36,826 --> 00:25:43,082
He wanted the actors to find
by themselves their character

452
00:25:43,249 --> 00:25:46,002
because with guidelines
the identity of the character

453
00:25:46,169 --> 00:25:47,837
would become artificial.

454
00:25:48,463 --> 00:25:52,008
I think he was pushing them

455
00:25:52,175 --> 00:25:54,427
to understand the character
by themselves

456
00:25:54,594 --> 00:25:58,806
and that they find in themselves
what he wanted for the character.

457
00:25:58,973 --> 00:26:01,309
And usually, it worked.

458
00:26:01,476 --> 00:26:02,977
As an actor,

459
00:26:03,144 --> 00:26:08,524
you breathe a little of yourself
in your characters.

460
00:26:08,775 --> 00:26:11,527
Some sides are different
of you, but...

461
00:26:11,694 --> 00:26:15,114
Without knowing it, you rub off
on some of your roles.

462
00:26:15,281 --> 00:26:18,951
I believe there was
a lot of my father in Ben-Hur.

463
00:26:19,118 --> 00:26:22,163
And I believe Willi Wyler
has a lot to do with it.

464
00:26:22,371 --> 00:26:23,915
He needed someone

465
00:26:24,082 --> 00:26:27,085
more experienced than him.

466
00:26:27,251 --> 00:26:29,587
Chuck had no idea
of the ego.

467
00:26:30,004 --> 00:26:32,298
He just loved to play.

468
00:26:32,465 --> 00:26:36,177
He was very attentive
to the director and…

469
00:26:36,385 --> 00:26:38,221
If the director gave
guidelines…

470
00:26:38,387 --> 00:26:39,472
CHARLTON HESTON LINING

471
00:26:39,639 --> 00:26:42,975
…even if his ideas
were better, he complied.

472
00:26:43,142 --> 00:26:44,894
And he learned a lot

473
00:26:45,061 --> 00:26:47,522
of his work
with DeMille and Wyler.

474
00:26:47,688 --> 00:26:51,651
And at that time you listened
guys like that.

475
00:26:51,818 --> 00:26:55,154
Otherwise, you wouldn't
long fire on the plateau.

476
00:26:55,488 --> 00:26:56,864
However, one day,

477
00:26:57,031 --> 00:26:59,158
Willi said stealthily.
to my father

478
00:26:59,325 --> 00:27:01,619
as they got into the taxi:

479
00:27:01,786 --> 00:27:03,246
“You were good today.”

480
00:27:03,412 --> 00:27:05,289
Dad said:
“Excuse me?”

481
00:27:05,456 --> 00:27:07,875
And Willi says again:
"Today's scene,

482
00:27:08,042 --> 00:27:12,338
I found you very good there.”
Dad replied, “God, thank you.”

483
00:27:12,505 --> 00:27:15,383
He never said anything to her
of the same.

484
00:27:15,550 --> 00:27:16,843
Your reputation is spotless.

485
00:27:17,009 --> 00:27:19,595
Turn your people away from rebellion.

486
00:27:19,762 --> 00:27:23,057
Tell them it's absurd
to resist Rome.

487
00:27:23,224 --> 00:27:25,643
Worse than that, it's in vain!

488
00:27:25,810 --> 00:27:28,855
This cannot lead
than the annihilation of your race!

489
00:27:29,021 --> 00:27:32,358
In my opinion, the films
talk about people.

490
00:27:32,525 --> 00:27:37,071
Without a character
who tells the story,

491
00:27:37,238 --> 00:27:38,781
a leading role,

492
00:27:38,948 --> 00:27:41,325
especially in a movie
like this one,

493
00:27:41,492 --> 00:27:45,246
no privacy can
create with the public.

494
00:27:45,454 --> 00:27:48,875
That's what we have there.
With Stephen Boyd too.

495
00:27:49,041 --> 00:27:50,960
He was fantastic in this film.

496
00:27:51,127 --> 00:27:53,421
And the reaction to this antagonism,

497
00:27:53,588 --> 00:27:57,091
was a visceral reaction
in anyone who saw the film.

498
00:27:57,258 --> 00:27:59,385
It's a tribute
to the actors and the director.

499
00:27:59,552 --> 00:28:03,681
You help me or you fight me.
Choose.

500
00:28:04,223 --> 00:28:06,767
Be for me or against me.

501
00:28:08,811 --> 00:28:11,564
If I have to choose...

502
00:28:12,398 --> 00:28:14,901
So I'm against you.

503
00:28:23,034 --> 00:28:26,454
“Saturday June 14, 1958.

504
00:28:26,621 --> 00:28:29,248
Even today,
filming ended late.

505
00:28:29,415 --> 00:28:32,710
But hey. I find
my self-confidence,

506
00:28:32,877 --> 00:28:35,421
without losing the beneficial effects

507
00:28:35,588 --> 00:28:38,424
of these cold showers
administered by Wyler.

508
00:28:38,591 --> 00:28:42,178
Today's rushes
seemed great to me.

509
00:28:42,345 --> 00:28:44,972
William WYLER is the only director
that I know

510
00:28:45,139 --> 00:28:47,850
not to be amazed
in front of the rushes,

511
00:28:48,017 --> 00:28:52,230
unlike others,
to films of ordinary merit."

512
00:28:52,396 --> 00:28:54,440
On the right.

513
00:28:55,107 --> 00:28:59,237
My father told me
that when he escapes from prison,

514
00:28:59,403 --> 00:29:02,073
a stick had been tied to him
in the back.

515
00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:04,408
He was tied up
but he succeeded

516
00:29:04,575 --> 00:29:06,202
to escape down the stairs.

517
00:29:06,369 --> 00:29:08,788
At the time he was ill,
he had the flu.

518
00:29:08,955 --> 00:29:10,831
But never
He wouldn't have missed work

519
00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:12,375
so he didn't say anything.

520
00:29:12,541 --> 00:29:15,294
My father took up his profession
very seriously.

521
00:29:15,461 --> 00:29:19,674
And his professional conduct

522
00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:24,220
was more important
than everything.

523
00:29:24,470 --> 00:29:28,683
His conduct should be
close to perfection.

524
00:29:28,849 --> 00:29:31,519
And he stood by that.
A perfect example:

525
00:29:31,686 --> 00:29:34,438
My father didn't come
at my graduation.

526
00:29:35,147 --> 00:29:37,108
Because he was
in the middle of filming.

527
00:29:37,275 --> 00:29:40,778
It was impossible for him
to travel back and forth from Africa

528
00:29:40,945 --> 00:29:45,324
and return on time.
 I was devastated.

529
00:29:46,409 --> 00:29:51,080
| called me and said:
“That’s the other side of the coin.

530
00:29:51,247 --> 00:29:54,583
You know if I could,
I would be there, but I can't.

531
00:29:54,750 --> 00:29:56,502
I committed.

532
00:29:56,669 --> 00:29:59,964
I must keep my commitment
and you must understand it.”

533
00:30:00,298 --> 00:30:02,091
What to answer to that?

534
00:30:03,843 --> 00:30:06,429
It's very serious.

535
00:30:06,595 --> 00:30:07,805
It's a commitment.

536
00:30:08,139 --> 00:30:10,141
And I learned to understand.

537
00:30:10,308 --> 00:30:13,352
Even if I didn't like it,
I had to accept it.

538
00:30:13,519 --> 00:30:14,562
On the other hand,

539
00:30:14,729 --> 00:30:18,524
my father was warm
and generous to all.

540
00:30:18,691 --> 00:30:20,901
And as a child I remember
asked him:

541
00:30:21,110 --> 00:30:23,404
"Why do you spend so much
time with these people?

542
00:30:23,612 --> 00:30:26,157
Why are you doing this?”

543
00:30:26,324 --> 00:30:30,786
And he answered me:
"If you treat people

544
00:30:30,953 --> 00:30:33,247
like kings and queens,

545
00:30:33,414 --> 00:30:35,124
you will go far.”

546
00:30:35,291 --> 00:30:39,712
He offered the meal
without considering or expecting

547
00:30:39,879 --> 00:30:41,589
what people pay.

548
00:30:41,756 --> 00:30:44,842
We had to fight
to pay his share.

549
00:30:45,384 --> 00:30:47,261
And he was generous
with his family.

550
00:30:47,428 --> 00:30:49,013
Everyone
knew his family.

551
00:30:49,180 --> 00:30:51,807
They were open like that.

552
00:30:51,974 --> 00:30:56,062
They did not isolate themselves,
he did not hide his children.

553
00:30:56,228 --> 00:30:59,899
They were with us.
And he loved life.

554
00:31:00,066 --> 00:31:02,818
He was a bon vivant.
An epicurean.

555
00:31:02,985 --> 00:31:05,404
We were lucky

556
00:31:05,571 --> 00:31:10,826
to see the nightlife
and restaurants in Rome.

557
00:31:10,993 --> 00:31:13,996
I remember
having gone to Alfredo's,

558
00:31:14,163 --> 00:31:18,209
and eating fettuccine
made by Alfredo himself.

559
00:31:18,376 --> 00:31:21,045
But it's very bad
for an actor's line.

560
00:31:21,212 --> 00:31:23,714
Dad was very careful
to its weight.

561
00:31:23,881 --> 00:31:25,841
I! was exercising
every day.

562
00:31:26,008 --> 00:31:29,303
And he noted its variations
of weight.

563
00:31:29,470 --> 00:31:30,596
It was important.

564
00:31:30,763 --> 00:31:35,893
He knew that his physical strength
its stability depended.

565
00:31:36,060 --> 00:31:38,771
He knew that to get a role
he must have been in good shape.

566
00:31:38,938 --> 00:31:41,732
He said: "We can
be an actor and play

567
00:31:41,899 --> 00:31:43,734
and we can be night owls
and have fun.

568
00:31:43,901 --> 00:31:46,570
But it's hard to be
both. You have to choose.

569
00:31:46,737 --> 00:31:49,490
We all know what he chose.

570
00:31:55,121 --> 00:31:57,790
Are you eager to marry,
Esther?

571
00:31:58,416 --> 00:32:01,836
"Thursday June 19, 1958.

572
00:32:02,002 --> 00:32:04,797
It was the hardest day
today.

573
00:32:04,964 --> 00:32:06,340
The same close-up.

574
00:32:06,507 --> 00:32:10,094
The long interrogation scene
of Esther with two or three objectives

575
00:32:10,261 --> 00:32:14,932
my eyes are getting tired
to focus on the same point.

576
00:32:15,099 --> 00:32:18,477
The problem is intensifying
in these kinds of delicate scenes.

577
00:32:18,644 --> 00:32:22,064
You have to play with enough
of conviction and faith

578
00:32:22,231 --> 00:32:24,984
from the first shots,
before Willi interferes

579
00:32:25,151 --> 00:32:27,528
with all its instructions

580
00:32:27,736 --> 00:32:29,989
and make me lose
my beliefs.

581
00:32:30,156 --> 00:32:32,158
William Wyler
is undoubtedly

582
00:32:32,324 --> 00:32:34,910
the most complicated director
that I know.

583
00:32:35,077 --> 00:32:37,746
And yet I think
the greater good.”

584
00:32:38,539 --> 00:32:41,584
Chuck knew everything there is
to know about cinema.

585
00:32:41,750 --> 00:32:45,171
And yet he was an actor
dedicated to its director.

586
00:32:45,337 --> 00:32:48,382
| knew the natural order
things and respected him.

587
00:32:48,549 --> 00:32:49,758
He also respected

588
00:32:49,925 --> 00:32:52,136
the collaborative aspect
of a film.

589
00:32:52,303 --> 00:32:55,014
He remained in his chair
most of the day.

590
00:32:55,181 --> 00:32:56,724
He didn't stay
in his dressing room.

591
00:32:56,891 --> 00:32:59,602
Many actors prefer
stay hidden there,

592
00:32:59,768 --> 00:33:01,687
what is suitable
to everyone.

593
00:33:01,854 --> 00:33:03,939
But dad said:
"They pay me for this,

594
00:33:04,106 --> 00:33:05,858
comedy,
I play it gracefully.

595
00:33:06,025 --> 00:33:07,786
It is the waiting that
is boring.

596
00:33:07,810 --> 00:33:09,570
And that's why
that I'm getting paid."

597
00:33:09,778 --> 00:33:11,572
And he stayed there.
He had among his friends

598
00:33:11,780 --> 00:33:15,826
the stuntmen, the grooms,
the other actors, etc.

599
00:33:15,993 --> 00:33:19,872
No matter your profession,
the important thing is who you were.

600
00:33:20,039 --> 00:33:22,583
It made him a person
close to people

601
00:33:22,791 --> 00:33:24,960
that the team remembered.

602
00:33:25,127 --> 00:33:30,591
Nobody called Chuck
“sir”.

603
00:33:30,799 --> 00:33:32,051
It must have started
like this….

604
00:33:32,218 --> 00:33:33,302
FILMMAKER

605
00:33:33,469 --> 00:33:35,304
…because it was the custom.

606
00:33:35,471 --> 00:33:36,555
But it didn't last.

607
00:33:36,722 --> 00:33:41,519
He loved the community
that surrounded the film he was making.

608
00:33:41,685 --> 00:33:43,812
In The Curse
from the valley of the kings,

609
00:33:43,979 --> 00:33:47,149
he had a scene where he had to
pass through a hole,

610
00:33:47,316 --> 00:33:49,109
in the rock.

611
00:33:49,318 --> 00:33:54,114
He had to contort himself
to be seen by the camera.

612
00:33:54,698 --> 00:33:56,617
He loved to solve
the problems.

613
00:33:56,825 --> 00:34:00,496
He liked complicated things.
He loved it.

614
00:34:00,663 --> 00:34:07,211
His only nightmare was being late
of his female partners.

615
00:34:07,378 --> 00:34:09,964
He didn't understand
makeup hours...

616
00:34:10,130 --> 00:34:11,298
PRODUCER

617
00:34:11,465 --> 00:34:13,634
…and their will
to be beautiful on screen.

618
00:34:14,093 --> 00:34:15,761
That's what bothered him,
wait.

619
00:34:15,928 --> 00:34:18,097
For him, it was missing
of professionalism.

620
00:34:18,264 --> 00:34:19,974
I wasn't used to it.

621
00:34:20,140 --> 00:34:21,433
We pay you.

622
00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:24,144
It doesn't matter who you are.
Do your job.

623
00:34:24,353 --> 00:34:27,398
With Ava Gardner, Sophia Loren,
whoever passed there...

624
00:34:27,565 --> 00:34:30,276
They didn't hear it
this way, but...

625
00:34:30,442 --> 00:34:32,570
There must have been
some friction.

626
00:34:32,736 --> 00:34:34,738
During the first hours
on the board.

627
00:34:42,538 --> 00:34:43,831
Dad was an artist.

628
00:34:43,998 --> 00:34:48,335
He started to draw
very early in his career.

629
00:34:48,502 --> 00:34:50,921
And he brought his notebook
drawing at work,

630
00:34:51,088 --> 00:34:52,840
as we brought
our cameras.

631
00:34:53,007 --> 00:34:54,383
And in quiet moments,

632
00:34:54,550 --> 00:34:57,595
during lunch
or the moments of beating,

633
00:34:57,761 --> 00:35:01,307
he drew the lighting designers
working on lighting.

634
00:35:01,473 --> 00:35:04,101
He designed the props
moving the Dolly.

635
00:35:04,268 --> 00:35:06,395
The stuntmen, the actors

636
00:35:06,562 --> 00:35:08,022
and glamorous people.

637
00:35:08,188 --> 00:35:09,607
[Told me

638
00:35:09,773 --> 00:35:12,401
that for him an artist should
have an artistic passion

639
00:35:12,568 --> 00:35:16,780
to exercise for the sole satisfaction
of his creative ambitions.

640
00:35:17,406 --> 00:35:19,283
It was a kind of escape.

641
00:35:19,742 --> 00:35:26,415
He was an artist
extremely talented.

642
00:35:26,582 --> 00:35:32,129
He was intrigued by the atmosphere
trays,

643
00:35:32,296 --> 00:35:35,132
by the reactions of the actors

644
00:35:35,299 --> 00:35:38,093
in the various scenes.

645
00:35:38,260 --> 00:35:43,432
He did a magnificent job,
but I am not impartial.

646
00:35:44,433 --> 00:35:46,477
Mommy and me
went to Venice

647
00:35:46,644 --> 00:35:49,938
leaving dad alone at the villa
in Rome.

648
00:35:50,105 --> 00:35:54,777
Dad writes:
"Monday September 8, 1958.

649
00:35:54,943 --> 00:35:57,696
It was a long day
laborious and exhausting

650
00:35:57,863 --> 00:36:01,367
and I went home
too tired to feel alone.

651
00:36:01,533 --> 00:36:05,120
Yet the villa did not resonate
footsteps of my son

652
00:36:05,287 --> 00:36:07,039
and the presence of Lydia.

653
00:36:07,206 --> 00:36:10,542
Their voices from Venice
resonated full of joy.

654
00:36:10,709 --> 00:36:14,463
And I was able to make them
a good report of my day."

655
00:36:16,632 --> 00:36:19,843
He saw his family
as a source of comfort,

656
00:36:20,010 --> 00:36:23,722
a regenerator
of his soul,

657
00:36:23,889 --> 00:36:28,060
of his body, of his mind
when it wasn't filming.

658
00:36:28,227 --> 00:36:32,731
Filming days
were consuming, exhausting.

659
00:36:32,898 --> 00:36:35,609
It was trying.

660
00:36:37,653 --> 00:36:41,407
They didn't realize how much
it was grueling.

661
00:36:41,573 --> 00:36:45,911
My mother always said
that after the first two months,

662
00:36:46,078 --> 00:36:49,707
they no longer had a social life.
My father spent his life in the studio.

663
00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:51,667
And to tell the truth,

664
00:36:51,834 --> 00:36:55,129
I don't remember having it
seen a lot in Italy.

665
00:36:55,295 --> 00:36:57,548
We saw him on Sunday,
and again.

666
00:36:57,715 --> 00:36:59,091
He was filming six days a week.

667
00:36:59,258 --> 00:37:03,262
And he was working on the script
and with the actors on Sunday.

668
00:37:03,429 --> 00:37:06,223
In the winter of 1958-59,
the filming had already lasted

669
00:37:06,390 --> 00:37:07,808
months.

670
00:37:08,016 --> 00:37:11,061
While he was filming the sequence
struggling for weeks,

671
00:37:11,228 --> 00:37:12,646
he went to see William Wyler:

672
00:37:12,813 --> 00:37:15,941
"I didn't know I was going to
having to row home.”

673
00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:20,028
But your life is useful
to this ship.

674
00:37:22,406 --> 00:37:24,533
So, row well…

675
00:37:25,200 --> 00:37:26,326
And you will live.

676
00:37:27,119 --> 00:37:30,873
I believe that in the end,
it must have been a little worn.

677
00:37:31,039 --> 00:37:32,916
A little depressed and tired.

678
00:37:33,083 --> 00:37:36,170
| wondered:
“Will I survive this?”

679
00:37:36,336 --> 00:37:40,716
Sam Zimbalist, the producer,
died during production.

680
00:37:40,883 --> 00:37:44,470
It was very sad. He had come
see my father and said to him:

681
00:37:44,636 --> 00:37:47,639
“I don’t want to bother Willi.
Tell him I'll come back

682
00:37:47,806 --> 00:37:51,852
later to say hello."
They filmed until 9 p.m.

683
00:37:52,060 --> 00:37:53,979
Two hours later,
he was dead.

684
00:37:57,649 --> 00:38:00,903
"Wednesday November 5, 1958.

685
00:38:01,069 --> 00:38:03,238
Before we begin
to turn,

686
00:38:03,405 --> 00:38:06,408
Willi said things
very simple on Sam,

687
00:38:06,575 --> 00:38:08,994
they were also true
only brief.

688
00:38:09,161 --> 00:38:11,580
I would stick to that too.

689
00:38:11,747 --> 00:38:14,917
That the people with whom I
works stop their cameras

690
00:38:15,083 --> 00:38:19,379
think of me
and return to work.

691
00:38:19,588 --> 00:38:23,342
A film and a military operation
have several comparable effects.

692
00:38:23,509 --> 00:38:26,053
And the reaction to death
is one of these common points.

693
00:38:26,220 --> 00:38:28,472
The pressure and the challenges
are so important

694
00:38:28,639 --> 00:38:32,976
that somewhere, the only
possibility and to continue.”

695
00:38:39,691 --> 00:38:42,736
My father had served for
the Second World War.

696
00:38:42,903 --> 00:38:45,030
It was sent
in the Aleutian Islands.

697
00:38:45,197 --> 00:38:48,742
He served in a B-25, during
air missions in Japan,

698
00:38:48,909 --> 00:38:52,496
which had been just as terrible
than those of the 8th Air Force

699
00:38:52,663 --> 00:38:54,540
in Germany.

700
00:38:54,706 --> 00:38:56,124
But less known.

701
00:38:56,291 --> 00:39:00,921
It was terrible to leave him
go to war.

702
00:39:01,129 --> 00:39:04,466
That was three years
of separation.

703
00:39:04,633 --> 00:39:07,052
It was very painful.

704
00:39:07,219 --> 00:39:09,304
He rarely talked about it.

705
00:39:09,471 --> 00:39:11,014
It's a shame.

706
00:39:11,181 --> 00:39:15,477
He thought he had a certain
responsibility as a citizen

707
00:39:15,644 --> 00:39:17,396
to serve in this war.

708
00:39:17,563 --> 00:39:20,816
He did it without complaint.
But it was terrible.

709
00:39:20,983 --> 00:39:22,651
I'm sure he was scared.

710
00:39:22,818 --> 00:39:26,446
Like all men
who fought.

711
00:39:26,655 --> 00:39:27,823
The opposite would be crazy.

712
00:39:27,990 --> 00:39:29,741
But like all
these people

713
00:39:29,908 --> 00:39:31,660
who have real courage,
you do it.

714
00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:34,454
He had a certain ethics
compared to that.

715
00:39:42,004 --> 00:39:46,383
was literally
caught up in this world.

716
00:39:46,550 --> 00:39:48,343
I followed the story
saying to myself:

717
00:39:48,510 --> 00:39:50,554
“Amazing.
Look what happens to him.

718
00:39:50,721 --> 00:39:52,389
He is a slave on a galley.”

719
00:39:52,556 --> 00:39:55,309
And I had the impression

720
00:39:55,475 --> 00:39:59,187
that there was something
to learn

721
00:39:59,354 --> 00:40:01,315
of these major players
from the 50s.

722
00:40:01,481 --> 00:40:04,067
worked
with Gregory Peck once.

723
00:40:04,234 --> 00:40:08,488
They were not part
of this generation of actors

724
00:40:08,697 --> 00:40:12,242
who were influenced
directors

725
00:40:12,409 --> 00:40:14,912
who contemplated
the new wave

726
00:40:15,078 --> 00:40:18,957
and who wanted
a new kind of actor.

727
00:40:19,124 --> 00:40:21,752
They were much simpler
than that.

728
00:40:21,919 --> 00:40:24,046
But they had that something,

729
00:40:24,212 --> 00:40:28,175
this something that the generation
next one didn't have,

730
00:40:28,342 --> 00:40:31,887
they had a presence
on screen.

731
00:40:32,054 --> 00:40:35,515
When Chuck appeared,
you didn't look anywhere else.

732
00:40:35,724 --> 00:40:38,936
It was all the more true
for him.

733
00:40:39,102 --> 00:40:41,438
As well as for his generation.

734
00:40:41,605 --> 00:40:43,482
The cadence of his replies.

735
00:40:43,857 --> 00:40:45,817
Not too slowly,
not too fast.

736
00:40:45,984 --> 00:40:48,362
Every word was unique
and had its importance.

737
00:40:48,528 --> 00:40:50,864
It was great
to listen to him speak.

738
00:40:51,031 --> 00:40:52,449
Let me die.

739
00:40:53,241 --> 00:40:56,620
Your life is useful to this ship.

740
00:40:56,954 --> 00:40:58,580
Row well and you will live.

741
00:41:08,340 --> 00:41:10,509
Ben-Hur is a film
in costume.

742
00:41:10,676 --> 00:41:15,430
Each costume was part
integral to his character.

743
00:41:15,597 --> 00:41:19,768
Dad said we shouldn't
see that they were costumes,

744
00:41:19,935 --> 00:41:21,228
but clothes.

745
00:41:21,395 --> 00:41:23,689
Clothes you would wear,

746
00:41:23,855 --> 00:41:25,357
that the character would wear

747
00:41:25,524 --> 00:41:27,985
and who were to be part
of the character.

748
00:41:28,151 --> 00:41:31,154
He spent a lot of time,
as well as Willi Wyler,

749
00:41:31,321 --> 00:41:32,906
to develop the costumes

750
00:41:33,073 --> 00:41:37,577
and the different silhouettes,
of the costume of the well-off Jewish prince

751
00:41:37,786 --> 00:41:40,330
through the rags
galleys

752
00:41:40,497 --> 00:41:44,084
to the Roman toga in which
he makes a superb entrance.

753
00:41:44,292 --> 00:41:47,045
It was, moreover, the only toga
that he had to wear.

754
00:41:47,212 --> 00:41:49,297
And in just one scene.

755
00:41:49,631 --> 00:41:52,843
But he wore it well.
As if he owned her.

756
00:41:53,218 --> 00:41:54,511
It appears

757
00:41:54,678 --> 00:41:57,889
in this fantastic costume
leather for chariot racing,

758
00:41:58,056 --> 00:41:59,141
which is rather simple.

759
00:41:59,307 --> 00:42:02,936
He carries his faith with him
with the Star of David.

760
00:42:03,103 --> 00:42:06,231
He had wonderfully
integrated all these costumes.

761
00:42:06,398 --> 00:42:09,443
And that's what he did
for each of his films.

762
00:42:09,609 --> 00:42:11,695
He took care
very particular.

763
00:42:11,862 --> 00:42:16,074
One day when my father was filming
a scene with Jack Hawkins,

764
00:42:16,241 --> 00:42:18,076
He turned around and saw

765
00:42:18,243 --> 00:42:21,705
a 75cm Roman soldier
high behind him.

766
00:42:21,872 --> 00:42:24,181
Apparently,
they had made

767
00:42:24,205 --> 00:42:26,877
a replica of
centurion costume

768
00:42:27,044 --> 00:42:30,338
with helmet, breastplate,
sword, please,

769
00:42:30,505 --> 00:42:33,216
sandals, tunic,
the complete range.

770
00:42:33,383 --> 00:42:37,220
They made it in my size
to surprise my father.

771
00:42:37,387 --> 00:42:41,391
I had to tell him:
“Need backup, Dad?”

772
00:42:41,558 --> 00:42:44,561
I didn't get the role,
I don't know why.

773
00:42:44,728 --> 00:42:49,024
They made us costumes
to my brother and me.

774
00:42:49,191 --> 00:42:51,943
My brother, who was almost
two years younger than me

775
00:42:52,110 --> 00:42:53,445
had worn a soldier's costume.

776
00:42:53,612 --> 00:42:57,657
had a suit
very elegant from Romaine.

777
00:42:57,866 --> 00:43:01,328
But in my eyes, my brother
had had the nicest of the two.

778
00:43:01,495 --> 00:43:04,748
surely I should have
be furious about it.

779
00:43:10,212 --> 00:43:14,382
have images in my head
from the film Ben-Hur.

780
00:43:14,549 --> 00:43:16,802
The one I remember
the most,

781
00:43:16,968 --> 00:43:19,888
when I was 14,
is that of the chariot race.

782
00:43:38,115 --> 00:43:39,616
When my father
arrived in Rome,

783
00:43:39,783 --> 00:43:42,410
the first thing he did
upon his arrival,

784
00:43:42,577 --> 00:43:44,871
was to learn to drive
one of his tanks.

785
00:43:45,038 --> 00:43:48,250
"Tuesday April 15, 1958.

786
00:43:48,416 --> 00:43:51,294
The first day yesterday
in the welcoming sun

787
00:43:51,461 --> 00:43:55,465
was followed by a day
gray and rainy.

788
00:43:55,632 --> 00:43:58,635
was able to spend 30 minutes
on a tank with Canutt.

789
00:43:58,802 --> 00:44:01,471
Glad to discover
that the crew of four horses

790
00:44:01,638 --> 00:44:04,015
gave me less trouble
than in Egypt

791
00:44:04,182 --> 00:44:07,352
on The Ten Commandments,
with two horses.

792
00:44:07,519 --> 00:44:09,646
Maybe it's
like everything else.

793
00:44:09,813 --> 00:44:12,858
The first two are always
more difficult.”

794
00:44:16,236 --> 00:44:19,573
Dad had met Yakima Canutt
on the set of Ben-Hur,

795
00:44:19,739 --> 00:44:22,826
when we appealed
to Yak to coordinate

796
00:44:22,993 --> 00:44:25,078
the magnificent chariot race.

797
00:44:25,245 --> 00:44:28,039
Willi wanted someone
which included horses.

798
00:44:28,206 --> 00:44:30,333
And there was no better
than Canutt.

799
00:44:30,500 --> 00:44:32,711
Yak was a stunt cowboy.

800
00:44:32,878 --> 00:44:34,337
He had overtaken John Wayne.

801
00:44:34,504 --> 00:44:38,216
He wanted to popularize
the waterfall.

802
00:44:38,383 --> 00:44:42,095
He wanted to attach a report to it
to science rather than luck.

803
00:44:42,262 --> 00:44:48,226
He had created tricks
which ensured a certain security

804
00:44:48,393 --> 00:44:51,605
and could be filmed.
! understood the film.

805
00:44:52,189 --> 00:44:54,941
What is happening
in this sequence

806
00:44:55,108 --> 00:44:57,527
is due to the work of Yak
and his son.

807
00:45:05,702 --> 00:45:07,829
We were shown
the first Ben-Hur.

808
00:45:07,996 --> 00:45:10,999
The studios wanted to know
if he could improve it.

809
00:45:11,166 --> 00:45:12,417
“Are you kidding?

810
00:45:12,584 --> 00:45:15,545
It will look like child’s play.”
He said.

811
00:45:15,712 --> 00:45:16,922
He knew what he was doing.

812
00:45:17,088 --> 00:45:19,674
Nobody knew better
what he did.

813
00:45:20,091 --> 00:45:23,428
“Saturday April 19, 1958.

814
00:45:23,595 --> 00:45:26,973
I am more and more comfortable
with the tanks.

815
00:45:27,140 --> 00:45:30,644
Although there is still work to be done.

816
00:45:30,810 --> 00:45:32,312
With the support of Yak,

817
00:45:32,520 --> 00:45:34,856
I feel capable
to do more in this scene

818
00:45:35,023 --> 00:45:36,483
than I had imagined.”

819
00:45:36,650 --> 00:45:38,568
We were resting
horses.

820
00:45:39,027 --> 00:45:40,820
In reality, I was resting.

821
00:45:41,029 --> 00:45:43,531
But horses too.

822
00:45:43,698 --> 00:45:50,580
said: "You know Yak,
I can really drive this tank.”

823
00:45:50,747 --> 00:45:53,583
Then I said:
"But all these past weeks,

824
00:45:53,750 --> 00:45:55,752
it was you, me and the others,

825
00:45:55,919 --> 00:46:00,173
the three white crews
alone against each other.

826
00:46:00,423 --> 00:46:03,969
But in a week,
we're going to shoot this sequence.

827
00:46:04,135 --> 00:46:07,264
And there will be eight other teams.

828
00:46:07,430 --> 00:46:09,683
I'm not sure
to be able to do it."

829
00:46:09,849 --> 00:46:12,727
Yak looked at me pushing away
his cap on his head

830
00:46:12,894 --> 00:46:16,898
and he said to me: "Chuck, make it right
just to stay on the tank.

831
00:46:17,065 --> 00:46:19,776
I guarantee you will win
this damn race.”

832
00:46:19,943 --> 00:46:21,027
And I won.

833
00:46:21,194 --> 00:46:22,654
Dad loved horses.

834
00:46:22,821 --> 00:46:25,532
If we imagine him at ease
when running,

835
00:46:25,699 --> 00:46:26,950
that's because he was.

836
00:46:27,117 --> 00:46:28,201
REPEAT
“THE CID” (1961)

837
00:46:28,368 --> 00:46:31,371
He was proud to know
and love horses.

838
00:46:31,621 --> 00:46:35,041
And in Ben-Hur,
there were two…

839
00:46:35,208 --> 00:46:40,463
At least two superb crews.
That of Ben-Hur and Messala.

840
00:46:40,630 --> 00:46:43,049
The White Crew of Ben-Hur

841
00:46:43,216 --> 00:46:47,053
actually consisted of
of three or even four different teams.

842
00:46:47,220 --> 00:46:50,682
All had been purchased
by Yakima Canutt

843
00:46:50,849 --> 00:46:53,018
and transported to Italy
to be trained

844
00:46:53,184 --> 00:46:55,270
Four, five, six months before,

845
00:46:55,437 --> 00:46:57,314
this is what you have to do
with the animals.

846
00:46:57,480 --> 00:46:59,566
One of the crews
blew up the tank.

847
00:46:59,733 --> 00:47:01,651
Another one for the race.

848
00:47:01,818 --> 00:47:05,530
Another one to go faster
with my father.

849
00:47:05,697 --> 00:47:08,575
They knew
that with time,

850
00:47:08,742 --> 00:47:11,077
it could be better
than a stuntman,

851
00:47:11,244 --> 00:47:13,246
as good Joe as he is.

852
00:47:13,413 --> 00:47:16,916
Joe doubles Chuck with several
times during the race.

853
00:47:17,125 --> 00:47:19,169
Like the famous jump
above a tank.

854
00:47:19,627 --> 00:47:21,755
There were two wrecks
on the track.

855
00:47:21,921 --> 00:47:24,007
The crew jumps
above the two tanks

856
00:47:24,174 --> 00:47:26,051
which makes the tank take off…

857
00:47:26,801 --> 00:47:28,386
This is what should
happen.

858
00:47:28,553 --> 00:47:30,013
Yak Canutt said to Joe:

859
00:47:30,180 --> 00:47:32,849
“Listen, you’re going to have to strap yourself in
to the tank.

860
00:47:33,016 --> 00:47:35,060
We are going to attach
a chain to your harness

861
00:47:35,226 --> 00:47:36,770
so that you are not
ejected.”

862
00:47:36,936 --> 00:47:39,439
Joe didn't say anything.
As soon as his father's back was turned,

863
00:47:39,647 --> 00:47:41,858
he untied the chain.

864
00:47:42,025 --> 00:47:43,777
My father didn't know why,

865
00:47:43,943 --> 00:47:46,363
I imagine it was
for ease of movement.

866
00:47:46,529 --> 00:47:48,323
We had planted
stakes

867
00:47:48,490 --> 00:47:51,451
almost 1.5 m in the ground,

868
00:47:51,659 --> 00:47:54,788
to which we had attached
a rubber tire,

869
00:47:54,954 --> 00:47:58,124
so that at the moment of shock,
the cart takes off.

870
00:47:58,291 --> 00:48:02,504
At the speed I was going,
I took off so high

871
00:48:02,670 --> 00:48:05,840
that the front was impaled
in the ground and the horse fell

872
00:48:06,007 --> 00:48:07,675
and everything fell apart.

873
00:48:07,842 --> 00:48:10,178
Spectacular, but eliminatory
for Ben-Hur.

874
00:48:10,345 --> 00:48:12,889
Joe was propelled
in the air.

875
00:48:13,056 --> 00:48:15,100
But he was fine.

876
00:48:15,558 --> 00:48:17,977
Willi said:
"Great, you have to use this,

877
00:48:18,186 --> 00:48:19,979
It has to appear in the film."

878
00:48:20,188 --> 00:48:22,607
Yak replied:
“How do you want to do that?

879
00:48:22,774 --> 00:48:27,195
I promised Chuck
that he would win the race.”

880
00:48:27,362 --> 00:48:31,282
We wanted to redo the scene
and MGM wanted to use this footage.

881
00:48:31,449 --> 00:48:35,370
They liked the first half
and said: "It's great,

882
00:48:35,537 --> 00:48:39,874
can we take a smaller jump
and another balance

883
00:48:40,041 --> 00:48:42,293
and put him back in the race?"

884
00:48:42,460 --> 00:48:44,504
"Of course."
So we did it again.

885
00:48:44,712 --> 00:48:46,756
Willi said:
"We'll bring Chuck back up,

886
00:48:46,923 --> 00:48:49,509
the horses will continue their race
and he will come up.”

887
00:48:50,051 --> 00:48:52,679
Dad said:
“Okay, that’s what we’ll do.”

888
00:48:52,846 --> 00:48:55,265
And that's what they did.
And it looks good.

889
00:48:55,432 --> 00:48:56,850
It's a brilliant moment in the film.

890
00:48:57,016 --> 00:49:02,272
They made a mask
of his face for me,

891
00:49:02,439 --> 00:49:04,399
we hardly see
the difference.

892
00:49:04,566 --> 00:49:07,068
This allows us to bring closer
the camera.

893
00:49:07,235 --> 00:49:11,239
still have the mold at home.
And I used it again later.

894
00:49:13,241 --> 00:49:15,118
Dad had to drive this tank,

895
00:49:15,285 --> 00:49:17,203
pretend he knew
what he was doing.

896
00:49:17,370 --> 00:49:19,914
Not easy with four horses.

897
00:49:20,081 --> 00:49:22,667
Either they go at full speed,
or they trot.

898
00:49:22,834 --> 00:49:24,711
They only have two looks.

899
00:49:24,878 --> 00:49:27,380
And there's no steering wheel
on a tank,

900
00:49:27,547 --> 00:49:29,549
we must therefore slow down
before the turns,

901
00:49:29,757 --> 00:49:33,595
slow down the inner horse
and whip the leader.

902
00:49:33,803 --> 00:49:35,305
It's very hard to do.

903
00:49:35,472 --> 00:49:38,141
So my father passed
lots of time with Yak and Joe

904
00:49:38,308 --> 00:49:42,395
to make sure to show
that he was capable of doing it.

905
00:49:42,562 --> 00:49:46,858
We don't do many like him.
We have been friends for 50 years.

906
00:49:47,025 --> 00:49:48,401
He...

907
00:49:48,776 --> 00:49:54,073
I have never seen anyone
spend so much time learning

908
00:49:54,282 --> 00:49:57,494
something allowing him
to really be in the action.

909
00:49:57,660 --> 00:49:59,829
Every day, for two, three months.

910
00:49:59,996 --> 00:50:01,498
I'm talking about...

911
00:50:01,664 --> 00:50:03,583
When it wasn't raining,
it was snowing.

912
00:50:03,791 --> 00:50:07,170
The horses were slipping
and fell...

913
00:50:07,337 --> 00:50:09,005
You received mud
in the face...

914
00:50:09,172 --> 00:50:11,174
But every day,
he was practicing driving.

915
00:50:11,341 --> 00:50:13,843
I remember that one day
they were training a crew,

916
00:50:14,010 --> 00:50:15,303
until lunch break.

917
00:50:15,470 --> 00:50:17,805
Chuck was resting
on a camp bed

918
00:50:17,972 --> 00:50:19,724
four or six meters from me.

919
00:50:19,891 --> 00:50:23,686
A bus full of journalists
Italians stopped and...

920
00:50:23,853 --> 00:50:25,772
They stormed out of the bus.

921
00:50:25,939 --> 00:50:28,816
Someone told them
that Chuck would be there.

922
00:50:28,983 --> 00:50:32,612
They came to me saying:
“What’s your job?”

923
00:50:32,820 --> 00:50:35,323
I said: “What do you mean?
I am Ben-Hur.”

924
00:50:35,990 --> 00:50:39,327
“What about CHARLTON HESTON then?”

925
00:50:39,494 --> 00:50:41,746
I replied:
“He does my dialogue.”

926
00:50:41,913 --> 00:50:44,332
It was funny.
And from the corner of my eye,

927
00:50:44,499 --> 00:50:46,751
I saw Chuck move his head
and come to us.

928
00:50:46,918 --> 00:50:48,002
I said: "Sorry,

929
00:50:48,169 --> 00:50:50,838
if I don't leave,
I’m going to get killed.”

930
00:50:51,714 --> 00:50:54,300
A few hours later,
he made a tent collapse

931
00:50:54,467 --> 00:50:56,594
where we had our equipment.

932
00:50:56,761 --> 00:50:58,638
He approached
with his knife

933
00:50:58,846 --> 00:51:01,432
cut the strings
and made it fall on me.

934
00:51:02,433 --> 00:51:03,977
Great sense of humor.

935
00:51:16,906 --> 00:51:23,371
It disturbed me at first,
It looked so terrifying.

936
00:51:23,538 --> 00:51:26,499
I'm amazed that my mother
got out

937
00:51:26,666 --> 00:51:29,043
in one piece,
emotionally.

938
00:51:29,210 --> 00:51:31,296
She had to live
difficult times,

939
00:51:31,462 --> 00:51:34,424
but I believe she lived
this adventure thoroughly.

940
00:51:34,591 --> 00:51:37,635
See her husband
as well as his son

941
00:51:37,802 --> 00:51:41,306
gallop together on a chariot,
must have scared him.

942
00:51:41,472 --> 00:51:45,602
But we have a nice photo
of her aboard a tank.

943
00:51:45,768 --> 00:51:47,854
My father brought him
take a walk sometimes.

944
00:51:48,021 --> 00:51:50,023
She has her head back
and she laughs.

945
00:51:50,189 --> 00:51:54,736
We have never seen a woman
happier and more in love.

946
00:51:54,902 --> 00:51:57,530
She experienced it as an adventure.

947
00:52:00,116 --> 00:52:02,744
"Wednesday July 2, 1958.

948
00:52:02,910 --> 00:52:05,163
Exciting day
today.

949
00:52:05,330 --> 00:52:08,458
Crossing the finish line
under the cheers

950
00:52:08,625 --> 00:52:12,712
was the most exhilarating thing
that I did in the cinema.

951
00:52:12,920 --> 00:52:15,506
I had the chance
to be able to warn Lydia

952
00:52:15,673 --> 00:52:19,802
who was able to bring Fray and our friends,
the Kreedee, to attend.

953
00:52:19,969 --> 00:52:23,514
Along with the city
of the whole of Rome.

954
00:52:24,307 --> 00:52:26,809
There were thousands
of extras.

955
00:52:26,976 --> 00:52:29,228
The extras were great
according to dad.

956
00:52:29,437 --> 00:52:30,813
Wonderful actors.

957
00:52:30,980 --> 00:52:34,067
They got into the game.
They wanted Ben-Hur to win.

958
00:52:34,233 --> 00:52:35,652
And let Messala lose.

959
00:52:35,818 --> 00:52:39,447
At the end of the sequence,
Ben-Hur stops his chariot

960
00:52:39,614 --> 00:52:41,908
and the extras
come down from the stands.

961
00:52:42,075 --> 00:52:44,827
Dad told me it had been
done spontaneously.

962
00:52:44,994 --> 00:52:48,039
Even the image where a man
picks up Messala's helmet

963
00:52:48,206 --> 00:52:49,582
and ran away with it.

964
00:52:49,749 --> 00:52:51,459
They shouldn't have
recover the helmet.

965
00:52:56,297 --> 00:52:58,341
He gave me water,

966
00:52:58,883 --> 00:53:01,302
and the courage to live.

967
00:53:03,846 --> 00:53:05,848
What did he do to deserve this?

968
00:53:06,015 --> 00:53:08,476
I wouldn't say that my father
was sensitive.

969
00:53:08,643 --> 00:53:11,354
I rarely saw him cry.

970
00:53:11,521 --> 00:53:14,273
And surely not
during a scene.

971
00:53:15,233 --> 00:53:17,276
But at the end of the film,

972
00:53:17,485 --> 00:53:22,907
Ben-Hur and his family attend
at the crucifixion of Christ

973
00:53:23,074 --> 00:53:24,826
on Mount Golgotha.

974
00:53:25,076 --> 00:53:28,454
This is the scene they filmed
last during filming.

975
00:53:28,621 --> 00:53:32,709
He was very tired and drained
mentally and physically.

976
00:53:32,875 --> 00:53:36,838
And to quote him,
he “let himself go”.

977
00:53:37,004 --> 00:53:40,425
It was an incredible moment,
which really shines through.

978
00:53:40,591 --> 00:53:45,054
Something happened
seeing this crucifixion

979
00:53:45,221 --> 00:53:47,640
and it touched my father's heart

980
00:53:47,807 --> 00:53:51,853
like never a scene
hadn't touched him.

981
00:53:55,106 --> 00:53:58,234
"Wednesday January 7, 1959.

982
00:53:58,401 --> 00:54:02,029
Last day of filming
main. Ben-Hur.

983
00:54:02,196 --> 00:54:04,490
The last day
finally arrived.

984
00:54:04,657 --> 00:54:07,285
And this in a whirlwind of takes

985
00:54:07,452 --> 00:54:09,787
who did not leave us
time to pay attention to it.

986
00:54:09,954 --> 00:54:11,622
The last take

987
00:54:11,789 --> 00:54:16,461
featured Ben-Hur
watching the descent from the cross.

988
00:54:16,627 --> 00:54:18,004
This scene was suitable

989
00:54:18,171 --> 00:54:21,674
at the end of a film
so difficult.

990
00:54:21,966 --> 00:54:24,302
WYLER's final remark
against me was:

991
00:54:24,469 --> 00:54:25,803
'Well, thanks, Chuck.

992
00:54:25,970 --> 00:54:29,015
hope to give you
a better role next time.'

993
00:54:29,182 --> 00:54:33,269
hope we gave him
the masterpiece that it must be."

994
00:54:44,947 --> 00:54:48,367
We all had to
feel homesick.

995
00:54:48,576 --> 00:54:51,412
Except my mother who could still have
spend 10 months there.

996
00:54:51,579 --> 00:54:54,081
"I don't see why Dad
wants to go home so quickly.”

997
00:54:54,248 --> 00:54:57,001
And Talli Wyler replied:
"You have spent 10 months

998
00:54:57,168 --> 00:54:58,836
in the splendor of Rome.

999
00:54:59,003 --> 00:55:02,465
While your husband and Willi
spent 10 months

1000
00:55:02,632 --> 00:55:04,842
in the galleys of the arena.

1001
00:55:05,009 --> 00:55:06,093
It’s a little different.”

1002
00:55:06,260 --> 00:55:10,681
But once they return,
we all cried

1003
00:55:10,848 --> 00:55:13,643
seeing
the Statue of Liberty.

1004
00:55:14,602 --> 00:55:15,728
It meant a lot
to return.

1005
00:55:15,895 --> 00:55:17,814
Dad loved America
and be at home,

1006
00:55:17,980 --> 00:55:22,109
he was ready to go home.

1007
00:55:23,110 --> 00:55:27,490
"Wednesday March 4, 1959.
Los Angeles.

1008
00:55:27,657 --> 00:55:29,200
Thanks to waking up at dawn

1009
00:55:29,367 --> 00:55:32,203
and the incredible improvement
California roads,

1010
00:55:32,370 --> 00:55:34,038
since the last time,

1011
00:55:34,205 --> 00:55:36,082
we arrived early
at home.

1012
00:55:36,249 --> 00:55:38,918
It's wonderful to be back.

1013
00:55:39,126 --> 00:55:42,046
I hadn't seen this sky
foggy for so long,

1014
00:55:42,213 --> 00:55:45,716
since we left
from California, nine months ago.

1015
00:55:45,883 --> 00:55:49,470
Concerning the house on the ridge,
that's all I hoped for

1016
00:55:49,637 --> 00:55:52,682
and what the plans
had dangled me.

1017
00:55:52,849 --> 00:55:54,559
We will be very happy here.

1018
00:55:54,725 --> 00:55:56,561
If I can pay it."

1019
00:55:56,894 --> 00:55:58,855
We were ready to go home

1020
00:55:59,021 --> 00:56:01,983
because my father
had a house built.

1021
00:56:02,149 --> 00:56:05,611
The house where my mother still lives
in Coldwater Canyon.

1022
00:56:05,778 --> 00:56:08,531
On a ridge overlooking this canyon.

1023
00:56:08,698 --> 00:56:10,408
It was the only one at the time.

1024
00:56:10,575 --> 00:56:13,578
Hollywood Hills
were wild at that time.

1025
00:56:13,744 --> 00:56:16,873
My father didn't really know
how to pay for the house

1026
00:56:17,039 --> 00:56:18,499
when he started
construction.

1027
00:56:21,711 --> 00:56:24,672
This house was really important
for my father.

1028
00:56:24,839 --> 00:56:29,427
And I think I can say
that his absence

1029
00:56:29,594 --> 00:56:33,431
didn't make things any easier.
He had to rely on his father

1030
00:56:33,598 --> 00:56:35,516
and frequent exchanges

1031
00:56:35,683 --> 00:56:39,437
between Rome and Los Angeles
when it came to details.

1032
00:56:39,604 --> 00:56:43,149
His father practically lived
on the site,

1033
00:56:43,316 --> 00:56:45,818
to supervise construction
during his absence.

1034
00:56:45,985 --> 00:56:48,029
On our return,
everything was not finished.

1035
00:56:48,195 --> 00:56:51,032
But we were able to do it
wonderful picnics,

1036
00:56:51,198 --> 00:56:55,912
we brought our friends there,
we were grilling hot dogs

1037
00:56:56,078 --> 00:56:59,624
and we flew
our kites were great.

1038
00:56:59,790 --> 00:57:01,792
Then the work
have come to an end.

1039
00:57:02,209 --> 00:57:06,505
He made a few other films
after that and he was able to repay her…

1040
00:57:11,802 --> 00:57:14,764
The pool was great.
It overlooked the ridge.

1041
00:57:14,931 --> 00:57:18,225
We had a magnificent view.

1042
00:57:18,809 --> 00:57:21,938
But it's the tennis court
who was at the center of our lives.

1043
00:57:22,104 --> 00:57:24,106
Dad loved tennis.
It was his sport.

1044
00:57:24,273 --> 00:57:26,525
His outside activities,

1045
00:57:26,734 --> 00:57:29,570
apart from his filming
and some fishing trips,

1046
00:57:30,112 --> 00:57:33,491
were circling the court
tennis as much as possible.

1047
00:57:44,043 --> 00:57:48,464
Ben-Hur
LEWIS WALLACE

1048
00:57:50,174 --> 00:57:55,846
"Thursday October 8, 1959.
MGM screening of Ben-Hur.

1049
00:57:56,013 --> 00:57:58,099
I've never been so sure

1050
00:57:58,265 --> 00:58:02,603
the quality of my work
when seeing one of my films.

1051
00:58:02,770 --> 00:58:05,606
This is how we saw
Ben-Hur, this evening.

1052
00:58:05,773 --> 00:58:07,233
My best reference

1053
00:58:08,317 --> 00:58:10,027
is my first enthusiast
for The Ten Commandments.

1054
00:58:10,486 --> 00:58:12,947
And Ben-Hur seems
even better.

1055
00:58:13,114 --> 00:58:15,157
It is truly a masterpiece

1056
00:58:15,324 --> 00:58:18,786
and the months of effort
were definitely worth it.

1057
00:58:18,953 --> 00:58:21,998
I felt proud
and happy.

1058
00:58:22,164 --> 00:58:25,960
With this one,
This should work."

1059
00:58:26,127 --> 00:58:32,133
I forced myself
to take a step back

1060
00:58:32,299 --> 00:58:36,721
and imagine it seen
by a real audience.

1061
00:58:36,887 --> 00:58:41,392
was hoping it would have the same effect
to people as well as to me.

1062
00:58:43,978 --> 00:58:45,896
BEN-HUR
BY WILLIAM WYLER

1063
00:58:46,063 --> 00:58:50,484
BROADWAY
BEN HUR SQUARE

1064
00:58:57,408 --> 00:59:01,162
The film was incredibly successful.
He was a hit.

1065
00:59:01,328 --> 00:59:03,164
Financially
and towards critics.

1066
00:59:03,330 --> 00:59:07,001
He won more Oscars
than any other film.

1067
00:59:07,168 --> 00:59:10,212
And it was released in theaters
10 years later,

1068
00:59:10,379 --> 00:59:14,050
which was rather rare at the time.

1069
00:59:14,216 --> 00:59:17,720
Two years after the release,
in 1971,

1070
00:59:17,887 --> 00:59:22,183
it was the third film
most watched on TV.

1071
00:59:22,558 --> 00:59:25,853
He achieved great success
and it still is.

1072
00:59:26,020 --> 00:59:30,024
“Thursday December 31, 1959.

1073
00:59:30,191 --> 00:59:31,942
This year was the year!

1074
00:59:32,109 --> 00:59:35,905
Ben-Hur turned out to be
lived up to our expectations.

1075
00:59:36,072 --> 00:59:38,783
And close to mine.

1076
00:59:38,949 --> 00:59:40,659
But not completely.

1077
00:59:40,868 --> 00:59:42,900
During the year,
I became

1078
00:59:42,924 --> 00:59:44,955
best actor and
best man.

1079
00:59:45,122 --> 00:59:48,918
The house, so important to us,
is anything but finished.

1080
00:59:49,085 --> 00:59:51,879
But I know that my family
will flower there.

1081
00:59:52,213 --> 00:59:54,256
Like I said
to Lydia a long time ago,

1082
00:59:54,423 --> 00:59:58,803
we will not live
cans."

1083
01:00:09,021 --> 01:00:13,400
He took the Oscars seriously.
He respected the Academy.

1084
01:00:13,567 --> 01:00:16,278
“It’s a jury made up of our peers.”
he said.

1085
01:00:16,445 --> 01:00:18,781
The actors nominate the actors,

1086
01:00:18,948 --> 01:00:21,033
the directors
nominate the directors.

1087
01:00:21,200 --> 01:00:23,577
And everyone votes
for the nominees.

1088
01:00:24,161 --> 01:00:27,790
It was important to him
to have been nominated.

1089
01:00:27,957 --> 01:00:30,459
And he really wanted
win the Oscar.

1090
01:00:30,626 --> 01:00:34,255
But he wasn't sure
to have his chances.

1091
01:00:34,421 --> 01:00:36,132
Jimmy Stewart was in the running.

1092
01:00:36,298 --> 01:00:39,885
He had crossed paths with him
on the red carpet.

1093
01:00:40,052 --> 01:00:42,429
They had to take
photos together.

1094
01:00:42,596 --> 01:00:44,557
And Jimmy Stewart had turned
towards him

1095
01:00:44,723 --> 01:00:48,811
and told him the thing
the most moving it is.

1096
01:00:48,978 --> 01:00:52,189
He said, "Chuck, I hope
that you will win. Sincerely.”

1097
01:00:52,356 --> 01:00:54,316
It really shook him.

1098
01:00:54,483 --> 01:00:58,237
He said to himself: “That,
that’s what we call a star.”

1099
01:00:58,445 --> 01:01:02,283
He had explained
that he had been on a cloud

1100
01:01:02,449 --> 01:01:06,328
until Susan Hayward
read the names of the nominees.

1101
01:01:06,495 --> 01:01:08,747
have the honor

1102
01:01:09,123 --> 01:01:11,834
to award the Oscar
to the artist

1103
01:01:12,001 --> 01:01:14,420
chosen by his colleagues
of industry

1104
01:01:14,587 --> 01:01:17,965
for the best actor award.

1105
01:01:18,132 --> 01:01:21,719
The nominees are: Laurence Harvey
in The Paths of the Upper Town,

1106
01:01:21,886 --> 01:01:24,430
CHARLTON HESTON,
in Ben-Hur,

1107
01:01:24,597 --> 01:01:26,807
Jack Lemmon,
in Some Like It Hot,

1108
01:01:26,974 --> 01:01:29,476
Paul Muni,
in The Wrath of the Just,

1109
01:01:29,643 --> 01:01:33,480
and James Stewart
in Autopsy of a Murder.

1110
01:01:34,106 --> 01:01:35,482
CHARLTON HESTON,
Ben-Hur.

1111
01:01:36,150 --> 01:01:40,362
"Monday April 4, 1960,
Oscar ceremony.

1112
01:01:40,529 --> 01:01:42,114
I succeeded.

1113
01:01:42,281 --> 01:01:44,250
While I
watched the orchestra

1114
01:01:44,274 --> 01:01:46,243
before the price
for best actor

1115
01:01:46,410 --> 01:01:48,495
be presented
by Susan Hayward,

1116
01:01:48,662 --> 01:01:51,498
I had an enlightenment:
“I’ll have it.”

1117
01:01:51,665 --> 01:01:53,209
And I got it.

1118
01:01:53,375 --> 01:01:58,297
I got on stage
all sweaty and dry mouth.

1119
01:01:58,505 --> 01:02:02,426
Overwhelmed by stage fright
to be on stage.

1120
01:02:02,593 --> 01:02:04,053
It's true.

1121
01:02:04,220 --> 01:02:08,432
When you find yourself there
wanting to thank people

1122
01:02:08,599 --> 01:02:10,935
that you knew
in the profession.

1123
01:02:11,101 --> 01:02:13,646
I almost wanted
to start with the secretary

1124
01:02:13,812 --> 01:02:17,483
which allowed me to do
my first casting.

1125
01:02:17,650 --> 01:02:21,403
"One moment, one night
which I cannot forget."

1126
01:02:21,570 --> 01:02:26,283
Backstage I told Wyler
who posed with his 3rd Oscar:

1127
01:02:26,450 --> 01:02:29,495
'I guess it's corny
for you, Willi.”

1128
01:02:29,662 --> 01:02:32,623
He answered me:
“It will never be.”

1129
01:02:32,790 --> 01:02:37,461
But he also felt
that the success of Ben-Hur

1130
01:02:37,628 --> 01:02:39,421
had killed his reputation

1131
01:02:39,588 --> 01:02:43,968
with Les Cahiers du Cinéma

1132
01:02:44,134 --> 01:02:48,055
a sort of film intelligentsia.

1133
01:02:48,222 --> 01:02:50,182
Critics.

1134
01:02:50,349 --> 01:02:54,937
After Ben-Hur, he could no longer
do nothing right.

1135
01:02:55,104 --> 01:03:00,484
Because they hadn't seen
Ben-Hur

1136
01:03:00,651 --> 01:03:02,861
like the quality film
that he was.

1137
01:03:03,070 --> 01:03:07,408
After the Oscars ceremony,
they party all night

1138
01:03:07,574 --> 01:03:10,744
and dad came home
at dawn.

1139
01:03:10,911 --> 01:03:12,746
I remember waking up

1140
01:03:12,913 --> 01:03:15,374
or I was already standing
to give him a hug.

1141
01:03:15,582 --> 01:03:19,253
And I saw him, sitting on the porch

1142
01:03:19,420 --> 01:03:22,464
of the house built by Hur,
that's what he said

1143
01:03:22,631 --> 01:03:25,467
at the time when he didn't know
how to pay it,

1144
01:03:25,634 --> 01:03:27,469
reading
front page of the L.A. Times

1145
01:03:27,636 --> 01:03:29,179
with his name and photo,

1146
01:03:29,346 --> 01:03:33,976
and his sparkling Oscar
on the step next to him.

1147
01:03:34,143 --> 01:03:36,687
And if you think
that he didn't care,

1148
01:03:36,854 --> 01:03:38,605
you are wrong.

1149
01:03:38,772 --> 01:03:41,483
Ben-Hur proved
that he could do it.

1150
01:03:41,650 --> 01:03:46,280
That he could manipulate
all these facets of a character.

1151
01:03:46,447 --> 01:03:50,367
He was offered many roles
for biblical films.

1152
01:03:50,534 --> 01:03:54,747
He had to tell himself that in matters
biblical epics,

1153
01:03:54,913 --> 01:03:56,540
He couldn't do any better.

1154
01:03:56,707 --> 01:03:58,709
The Ten Commandments
and Ben-Hur.

1155
01:03:58,876 --> 01:04:02,963
He didn't want to be pigeonholed
in this area,

1156
01:04:03,130 --> 01:04:06,008
even if he liked the genre,
and that he was good at it.

1157
01:04:06,175 --> 01:04:09,762
I think he wanted to do
other things.

1158
01:04:09,928 --> 01:04:12,222
He took to the theater
very seriously too.

1159
01:04:12,389 --> 01:04:13,807
He wanted to do theater.

1160
01:04:13,974 --> 01:04:18,062
And he acted in plays
every two to three years.

1161
01:04:18,228 --> 01:04:21,648
I think the movies
who followed, like Le Cid,

1162
01:04:21,815 --> 01:04:24,735
were good compromises.
An epic,

1163
01:04:24,902 --> 01:04:27,738
an important and expensive film.

1164
01:04:28,322 --> 01:04:32,493
But not a biblical film,
and a different character.

1165
01:04:32,659 --> 01:04:34,286
With some of his films,

1166
01:04:34,453 --> 01:04:37,414
he tried to diversify,
especially late 60s.

1167
01:04:37,581 --> 01:04:39,583
When he did
Planet of the Apes

1168
01:04:39,750 --> 01:04:43,545
and science fiction films
like green sun

1169
01:04:43,712 --> 01:04:46,298
or westerns like
Will Penny, the loner.

1170
01:04:46,465 --> 01:04:49,176
He showed that he was
a versatile actor.

1171
01:04:49,343 --> 01:04:52,346
I went to the premiere
from Planet of the Apes with him.

1172
01:04:52,513 --> 01:04:53,847
My mother was sick.

1173
01:04:54,014 --> 01:04:55,724
We watched the movie

1174
01:04:55,891 --> 01:04:58,477
and in the end I turned
towards him and I said:

1175
01:04:58,685 --> 01:05:02,314
“Dad, you are really handsome.”

1176
01:05:02,940 --> 01:05:05,055
It's at this moment
that I realized

1177
01:05:05,079 --> 01:05:07,194
that he was a kind
sex symbol.

1178
01:05:07,361 --> 01:05:09,780
It never happened to me
touched the mind before.

1179
01:05:09,947 --> 01:05:11,198
But in this movie,

1180
01:05:11,365 --> 01:05:13,534
he only wears a small loincloth
all along.

1181
01:05:13,700 --> 01:05:15,494
I didn't see that
like this.

1182
01:05:15,702 --> 01:05:18,705
He wasn't a sex symbol.
He wasn't a god.

1183
01:05:18,872 --> 01:05:20,332
It was dad.

1184
01:05:20,499 --> 01:05:23,710
I had a revelation.

1185
01:05:23,877 --> 01:05:26,588
He has always been an actor/father

1186
01:05:26,755 --> 01:05:30,300
or a father/actor.
One did not go without the other.

1187
01:05:30,467 --> 01:05:31,933
Chuck was a rare commodity.

1188
01:05:31,957 --> 01:05:33,846
With him your film
could walk.

1189
01:05:34,012 --> 01:05:35,806
If you had Chuck with you,

1190
01:05:35,973 --> 01:05:39,726
you were pretty lucky.

1191
01:05:39,893 --> 01:05:44,064
His choices spoke volumes.

1192
01:05:44,231 --> 01:05:50,028
His way of choosing
among what was available to him

1193
01:05:50,237 --> 01:05:53,240
spoke volumes about his curiosity,

1194
01:05:53,407 --> 01:05:57,619
and he wasn't impressed
by his own celebrity.

1195
01:05:57,786 --> 01:05:59,872
He didn't justify anything.

1196
01:06:00,038 --> 01:06:02,499
If he wanted to do something,
he did it.

1197
01:06:02,666 --> 01:06:04,042
Earthquake,

1198
01:06:04,251 --> 01:06:07,212
then Antony and Cleopatra,
which he had made in Spain.

1199
01:06:07,379 --> 01:06:09,381
Fulvie, your wife, has come forward
in the battlefield.

1200
01:06:09,548 --> 01:06:10,632
“ANTHONY AND CLEOPATRA”
(1972)

1201
01:06:11,175 --> 01:06:13,177
Against my brother Lucius?

1202
01:06:13,343 --> 01:06:15,512
But they gathered
their forces against Caesar

1203
01:06:15,679 --> 01:06:18,056
who drove them out of Italy.

1204
01:06:18,265 --> 01:06:20,934
He had played in
Antony and Cleopatra

1205
01:06:21,101 --> 01:06:24,563
in a smaller role
on Broadway

1206
01:06:24,771 --> 01:06:26,106
at the start of his career.

1207
01:06:26,273 --> 01:06:29,985
He had always wanted to play
Antoine in a film.

1208
01:06:30,152 --> 01:06:32,488
His dream had come true.

1209
01:06:32,654 --> 01:06:35,532
He was able to interpret
his favorite role

1210
01:06:35,699 --> 01:06:38,994
in an independent film
over which he had control.

1211
01:06:39,161 --> 01:06:42,706
And in the process, like a kid
in a candy store,

1212
01:06:42,873 --> 01:06:45,959
he could ride a horse,
play the sword, lead armies,

1213
01:06:46,126 --> 01:06:49,004
set fire to ships
or other buildings

1214
01:06:49,171 --> 01:06:52,007
and see beautiful women
beautifully adorned.

1215
01:06:52,174 --> 01:06:55,928
It was a wonderful experience

1216
01:06:56,094 --> 01:06:57,888
for him
and it was his film.

1217
01:06:58,055 --> 01:07:02,726
I who governed, while playing myself,
half of the universe,

1218
01:07:02,893 --> 01:07:05,103
who created and annihilated
fortunes.

1219
01:07:05,312 --> 01:07:07,523
You knew too well how much
you had enslaved my soul,

1220
01:07:07,689 --> 01:07:10,150
and my sword,
weakened by my passion,

1221
01:07:10,317 --> 01:07:12,194
would always obey him.

1222
01:07:12,361 --> 01:07:18,742
I had never seen
so much work and dedication.

1223
01:07:19,076 --> 01:07:20,536
He impressed me.

1224
01:07:22,412 --> 01:07:25,624
His energy, his passion,
his politeness.

1225
01:07:25,832 --> 01:07:28,168
He was kind and caring.

1226
01:07:28,335 --> 01:07:30,045
He found the time

1227
01:07:30,212 --> 01:07:33,924
to be both a director,
actor and producer…

1228
01:07:34,091 --> 01:07:35,551
Because after the filming,

1229
01:07:35,717 --> 01:07:38,220
he was going
at production meetings.

1230
01:07:38,387 --> 01:07:40,639
He had crazy energy.

1231
01:07:40,847 --> 01:07:44,476
With Antony and Cleopatra,
the circle was closed.

1232
01:07:44,643 --> 01:07:47,521
We have a man
which began with Shakespeare,

1233
01:07:47,688 --> 01:07:49,106
turned
towards the biblical epic

1234
01:07:49,273 --> 01:07:51,858
made Ben-Hur,
won an Oscar

1235
01:07:52,025 --> 01:07:56,280
and he made the dream come true
to make his own film.

1236
01:07:56,446 --> 01:07:58,282
Adapted and produced by
Charlton Heston

1237
01:08:11,670 --> 01:08:15,924
I believe he associated success
with duty.

1238
01:08:16,091 --> 01:08:20,971
He felt responsible
towards the public.

1239
01:08:21,138 --> 01:08:23,599
It was something important
in his eyes.

1240
01:08:23,765 --> 01:08:27,019
Even when I was younger, I noticed…
When we were walking...

1241
01:08:27,185 --> 01:08:29,980
Until the grocery store where he was going
pick me up from school,

1242
01:08:30,147 --> 01:08:31,982
and someone wanted
talk to him,

1243
01:08:32,149 --> 01:08:35,986
he stopped, thanked and said
how much it pleased him.

1244
01:08:36,153 --> 01:08:39,072
He was always very cordial
with his fans, very polite,

1245
01:08:39,239 --> 01:08:41,033
he was never surly.

1246
01:08:41,199 --> 01:08:44,328
Even though he probably had to
feel attacked

1247
01:08:44,494 --> 01:08:48,457
by too much attention,
because we recognized him.

1248
01:08:48,624 --> 01:08:51,710
But… it mattered
for him...

1249
01:08:51,918 --> 01:08:54,546
He sometimes said:
“They pay me to play.

1250
01:08:54,713 --> 01:09:00,594
But half of that
is about being accessible."

1251
01:09:00,969 --> 01:09:05,140
All his life,
he defended causes

1252
01:09:05,349 --> 01:09:06,933
in which he believed.

1253
01:09:07,100 --> 01:09:11,647
People don't have to remember
that he was the first...

1254
01:09:11,813 --> 01:09:14,066
In his professional situation,

1255
01:09:14,232 --> 01:09:18,153
he was the first to join
at the Martin Luther King march.

1256
01:09:18,320 --> 01:09:19,571
People don't realize

1257
01:09:19,738 --> 01:09:23,200
that it was not political
correct and that it was a risk.

1258
01:09:23,367 --> 01:09:25,494
ALL MEN
BORN EQUAL

1259
01:09:25,661 --> 01:09:28,080
People's opinion was mainly:
“Why?

1260
01:09:28,246 --> 01:09:31,416
You are at your peak.
What's the point?"

1261
01:09:31,583 --> 01:09:33,585
It was a right thing to do.

1262
01:09:33,752 --> 01:09:35,309
And all his life he did this,

1263
01:09:35,333 --> 01:09:37,214
whether the cause is
popular or not.

1264
01:09:37,381 --> 01:09:39,132
What I liked about him,

1265
01:09:39,299 --> 01:09:43,720
that's because he wasn't afraid
to display one's beliefs.

1266
01:09:43,887 --> 01:09:45,514
And few people

1267
01:09:45,681 --> 01:09:48,392
who have the courage
to assert their beliefs.

1268
01:09:48,558 --> 01:09:49,726
There was one thing...

1269
01:09:49,893 --> 01:09:52,562
I remember
that my father told me:

1270
01:09:52,729 --> 01:09:55,232
“You know Holly,
sometimes you have to be firm.

1271
01:09:55,399 --> 01:09:59,027
Sometimes you have to support
unpopular causes

1272
01:09:59,194 --> 01:10:03,198
without worrying about knowing
if people will love you for it.

1273
01:10:03,365 --> 01:10:07,494
If you support a cause,

1274
01:10:07,869 --> 01:10:09,830
you have to be dedicated to it.”

1275
01:10:09,996 --> 01:10:13,750
There was no strategy
to become president of the SAG.

1276
01:10:13,917 --> 01:10:17,838
Industry professionals
surely told him:

1277
01:10:18,004 --> 01:10:20,006
“You are the big name of the studios.

1278
01:10:20,173 --> 01:10:23,343
Why risk putting yourself
against the leaders?

1279
01:10:23,510 --> 01:10:24,886
What will you get out of it?”

1280
01:10:25,512 --> 01:10:27,055
I know what he thought about it.

1281
01:10:27,222 --> 01:10:31,101
I think the same.
That the union must be:

1282
01:10:32,185 --> 01:10:34,108
an organizer who helps

1283
01:10:34,132 --> 01:10:36,523
to professionals
who need it

1284
01:10:36,690 --> 01:10:38,442
supported by those
who no longer need it.

1285
01:10:38,608 --> 01:10:41,945
And it was the same
with the NRA,

1286
01:10:42,112 --> 01:10:45,532
we often had to try
to dissuade him from engaging in it.

1287
01:10:45,699 --> 01:10:47,659
And Chuck to quote
the Bill of Rights.

1288
01:10:47,826 --> 01:10:51,037
He was an absolutist.
People had to tell him:

1289
01:10:51,204 --> 01:10:53,957
"Could you choose
one of the amendments

1290
01:10:54,124 --> 01:10:55,834
who is more fashionable?

1291
01:10:56,042 --> 01:10:57,586
I know what he answered.

1292
01:10:57,753 --> 01:11:01,423
He said: "Today,
the second is the most in danger.”

1293
01:11:02,048 --> 01:11:04,968
And he didn't get rid of
of his beliefs like that.

1294
01:11:05,135 --> 01:11:07,304
I knew him as a Republican

1295
01:11:07,471 --> 01:11:08,972
and this until his death.

1296
01:11:09,139 --> 01:11:13,310
But he didn't throw it at you
not in the face.

1297
01:11:13,477 --> 01:11:18,565
He wasn't trying to persuade you
like others do.

1298
01:11:18,732 --> 01:11:21,401
He didn't show up...

1299
01:11:21,568 --> 01:11:22,861
It wasn't him.

1300
01:11:23,069 --> 01:11:24,321
No, not him.

1301
01:11:24,488 --> 01:11:27,491
But he managed to attract
people's attention.

1302
01:11:27,657 --> 01:11:30,076
That's what he was doing.

1303
01:11:30,243 --> 01:11:33,121
One of his great contributions...

1304
01:11:33,455 --> 01:11:34,664
May he be blessed.

1305
01:11:34,831 --> 01:11:40,921
He brought a new perspective
on Alzheimer's disease.

1306
01:11:41,922 --> 01:11:45,467
While Charlton Heston
had Alzheimer's

1307
01:11:45,634 --> 01:11:47,594
he was on the air

1308
01:11:47,761 --> 01:11:52,224
and said: "It's something
that I have to live with.”

1309
01:11:52,599 --> 01:11:56,478
Before the illness
starts to affect him...

1310
01:11:56,645 --> 01:11:59,397
It's extraordinary
someone say:

1311
01:11:59,606 --> 01:12:02,108
“I was diagnosed with this disease.
I have to live with

1312
01:12:02,275 --> 01:12:04,861
and I will
as much as I can.”

1313
01:12:05,028 --> 01:12:09,199
And that's what he did.

1314
01:12:13,537 --> 01:12:16,915
I believe Ben-Hur is the role

1315
01:12:17,123 --> 01:12:20,377
who came closest
of himself on screen.

1316
01:12:20,544 --> 01:12:23,630
Everything you would like to know
about him is in this movie.

1317
01:12:23,797 --> 01:12:26,132
He is like that in life.

1318
01:12:26,299 --> 01:12:30,011
Ben-Hur, damn it.

1319
01:12:31,263 --> 01:12:36,726
For me,
it was the realization of everything

1320
01:12:36,893 --> 01:12:40,021
what for
we had worked.

1321
01:12:40,230 --> 01:12:42,065
I'm incredibly lucky,

1322
01:12:42,232 --> 01:12:44,526
thanks to all his films,
it's as if

1323
01:12:44,693 --> 01:12:46,528
he wasn't really gone.

1324
01:12:46,695 --> 01:12:49,281
My father is a director,
screenwriter and producer

1325
01:12:49,447 --> 01:12:53,285
and I really want too
become a filmmaker,

1326
01:12:53,451 --> 01:12:56,830
be part of this industry
and this thanks to the influence

1327
01:12:56,997 --> 01:12:59,833
from my father
and my grandfather.

1328
01:13:02,711 --> 01:13:05,297
My father and I had
a beautiful relationship.

1329
01:13:05,463 --> 01:13:08,425
From my youngest age
until adulthood.

1330
01:13:08,592 --> 01:13:13,054
He fully participated
to my education.

1331
01:13:13,221 --> 01:13:16,182
Then we worked together.

1332
01:13:16,349 --> 01:13:19,769
We had two levels
in our relationship.

1333
01:13:19,936 --> 01:13:23,189
We have made several films,
like Antony and Cleopatra,

1334
01:13:23,356 --> 01:13:26,443
where I was assistant director,
or Gold Fever.

1335
01:13:26,610 --> 01:13:28,904
Mr. Dupre.

1336
01:13:29,070 --> 01:13:31,072
“GOLD FEVER” (1982)

1337
01:13:31,239 --> 01:13:35,243
Stay out of my mind,
kid.

1338
01:13:35,410 --> 01:13:38,622
Then I became a director,
and dad worked for me.

1339
01:13:38,788 --> 01:13:40,123
“TREASURE ISLAND”
(1990)

1340
01:13:40,290 --> 01:13:41,583
Who do you think you are,
George Merry?

1341
01:13:41,750 --> 01:13:44,044
You think you're the captain.

1342
01:13:44,210 --> 01:13:46,463
I'll show you
by force.

1343
01:13:46,630 --> 01:13:48,465
was elected captain.

1344
01:13:48,632 --> 01:13:52,427
He was so professional
that it was never a problem.

1345
01:13:52,594 --> 01:13:54,063
We were not
always agree

1346
01:13:54,087 --> 01:13:55,555
and had
lively discussions.

1347
01:13:55,722 --> 01:13:57,307
We didn't always agree.

1348
01:13:57,390 --> 01:13:59,392
But he said:
“You’re the director.

1349
01:13:59,559 --> 01:14:01,811
If you want me to do this
like that, say it.

1350
01:14:02,812 --> 01:14:05,899
But if we can discuss.
This is how I would do it.”

1351
01:14:06,066 --> 01:14:08,693
And it kept getting better.

1352
01:14:08,860 --> 01:14:13,573
Being able to do this
at 30-40 years old,

1353
01:14:13,740 --> 01:14:16,743
with your father and yet
remain good friends,

1354
01:14:16,910 --> 01:14:18,370
it's the dream.

1355
01:14:18,536 --> 01:14:21,873
And I will cherish that always.

1356
01:14:24,167 --> 01:14:28,004
I remember when Fraser
and I discussed

1357
01:14:28,171 --> 01:14:30,548
when he died, things
who we would miss.

1358
01:14:30,757 --> 01:14:33,602
One of
they were his laughter,

1359
01:14:33,626 --> 01:14:36,471
a deep laugh,
sincere, guttural.

1360
01:14:36,638 --> 01:14:40,600
He was so handsome
and present.

1361
01:14:41,393 --> 01:14:42,435
Dad lived in the present.

1362
01:14:42,602 --> 01:14:44,896
He didn't worry about the future
or the past.

1363
01:14:45,063 --> 01:14:46,356
I[ lived in the moment.

1364
01:14:46,523 --> 01:14:48,400
He lived in the moment
with her children

1365
01:14:48,566 --> 01:14:50,235
and his grandchildren.

1366
01:14:50,402 --> 01:14:52,946
He lived his life to the fullest.

1367
01:14:53,113 --> 01:14:55,156
When he died, he had no regrets.

1368
01:14:55,323 --> 01:14:56,866
None.

1369
01:15:02,664 --> 01:15:06,626
"Wednesday December 31, 1958.

1370
01:15:06,793 --> 01:15:08,124
imagine we can say

1371
01:15:08,148 --> 01:15:09,963
that this year
will have been crucial,

1372
01:15:10,130 --> 01:15:14,342
marking the half measure
during my years.

1373
01:15:14,509 --> 01:15:17,762
Plus, I made the movie
which will surely be

1374
01:15:17,929 --> 01:15:20,515
the most important
of my career

1375
01:15:20,682 --> 01:15:24,853
the one who perhaps will propel me
in the firmament

1376
01:15:25,020 --> 01:15:26,938
where supernovas appear

1377
01:15:27,105 --> 01:15:31,860
or show me
that my orbit is elsewhere.

1378
01:15:32,027 --> 01:15:36,448
I'm consumed by the idea
to cross this space

1379
01:15:36,614 --> 01:15:39,743
whose conclusion
whatever it is will satisfy me.

1380
01:15:39,909 --> 01:15:43,496
Probably because my family
fills me

1381
01:15:43,663 --> 01:15:44,873
of happiness.

1382
01:15:45,040 --> 01:15:49,044
My son is growing well and my wife
is more serene every month.

1383
01:15:49,210 --> 01:15:51,087
And this year,

1384
01:15:51,254 --> 01:15:54,632
that the film in which I acted
become memorable or not,

1385
01:15:54,841 --> 01:15:57,719
this year will have been unforgettable.

1386
01:15:57,886 --> 01:16:02,057
And Rome will mark us
until the end of our lives."