Charlton Heston Photo Archives - LIFE

LIFE Gushed That This Actress Was “Paulette, Hedy and Ava, All in One”

Bill Syken — Tue, 14 May 2024 14:46:44 +0000

LIFE was quite the fan of Austrian actress Senta Berger, at least judging by the coverage it offered when she began making movies in the United States. The magazine introduced her to the American public in a 1965 story headlined “She’s Paulette, Hedy and Ava, All in One.”

For those not on a first-name basis with those leading ladies of the early days of cinema, the article filled in the details:

“When people look at Senta Berger, they see more than just an astonishingly pretty young woman. They see images of other famous beauties—a hint of Paulette Godard, a flicker of Hedy Lamarr, quite a lot of Ava Gardner—or whomever they remember as being dark and altogether wonderful.”

LIFE magazine photographer Bill Ray caught up with Berger when she was down in Mexico filming Major Dundee, which was directed by the legendary Sam Peckinpah. The movie starred Charlton Heston as the title character, who leads a military expedition in Mexico during America’s Civil War. Berger played a Mexican woman who has a romance with the Heston character. Major Dundee flopped in its day but has gained respect over the years, thanks in part to the release of a restored version which was closer to Peckinpah’s vision. The film now has a 97 percent fresh score on the review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.

Ray captured Berger on the set of Major Dundee and also posing in a swimsuit and in the nude. It’s not difficult to see why the editors were gushing about Berger.

Even though Major Dundee wasn’t appreciated in its time, Berger’s career rolled on. In 1966 alone she appeared in six movies, and she would stayed busy for years, acting in film and television in productions on both sides of the Atlantic. The most recent of her 171 IMDB credits came in 2023, when she starred in the German romantic comedy Weisst du Nocht.

Austrian actress Senta Berger during the time she was shooting the 1965 film “Major Dundee” in Mexico.

Bill Ray/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Senta Berger and Charlton Heston relax between scenes during the filming of ‘Major Dundee,’ directed by Sam Peckinpah, Mexico, April 1964.

Bill Ray/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Austrian actress Senta Berger during the time she was shooting the 1965 film “Major Dundee” in Mexico.

Bill Ray/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Director Sam Peckinpah the filming of “Major Dundee” in Mexico, 1964.

Bill Ray/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Senta Berger and Charlton Heston during the filming of ‘Major Dundee,’ directed by Sam Peckinpah, Mexico, April 1964.

Bill Ray/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Charlton Heston and Senta Berger kiss by the water’s edge in a scene from the film ‘Major Dundee,’ directed by Sam Peckinpah, Mexico, April 1964.

Bill Ray/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Austrian actress Senta Berger during the shooting the 1965 film “Major Dundee” in Mexico.

Bill Ray/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Austrian actress Senta Berger during the time she was shooting the 1965 film “Major Dundee.”

Bill Ray/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Austrian actress Senta Berger during the time she was shooting the 1965 film “Major Dundee” in Mexico.

Bill Ray/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Austrian actress Senta Berger, 1965.

Bill Ray/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post LIFE Gushed That This Actress Was “Paulette, Hedy and Ava, All in One” appeared first on LIFE.

“DeMille’s Greatest”: Making The Ten Commandments

Bill Syken — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 13:44:49 +0000

The seasonal favorite The Ten Commandments was a crowning achievement for Cecil B. DeMille, the master of the Biblical epic. He started his career with a version of the film in 1923, and he returned to the story in the 1956 version, which turned out to be its last film. And what a way to go out— LIFE magazine dubbed it “DeMille’s Greatest” when it wrote about his technicolor telling of the Book of Exodus, starring Charlton Heston in the role of Moses.

“DeMille tells this story sumptuously,” LIFE wrote. “He built a huge set on Egypt’s sands—the gates of Per-Rameses and a 16-sphinx avenue—that drew more tourists than Giza’s single sphinx….The result is a film of reverent and massive significance.”

LIFE’s Ralph Crane went to Egypt to capture the scale of this grand production, and his pictures show what it took to make a big movie in the days before digital effects. (Though of course the film is remembered in part for a scene that did require special effects, however old school, the parting of the Red Sea. DeMille filmed that sequence back in Hollywood and used shots of pouring water in reverse to create the illusion of seawater pushed aside by the hand of God.) Plenty about this film required extraordinary effort, as can be seen in Crane’s shots of the massive sets and the hordes of extras—not to mention the caring of the many horses needed for the chariot scenes.

Another LIFE.com story shows captures a more intimate moment from this film, with baby Moses in the rushes—it was Heston’s son in the crib. Those moments great and small help make DeMille’s masterpiece one that families keep coming back to.

Charlton Heston (lower right), playing Moses, in a scene from the 1956 biblical epic ‘The Ten Commandments,’ directed by Cecil B. DeMille, Egypt.

Ralph Crane/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Charlton Heston, playing Moses, in a scene from the the 1956 biblical epic ‘The Ten Commandments.’ directed by Cecil B. DeMille, Egypt.

Ralph Crane/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

On the Egypt set of 1956 Biblical epic The Ten Commandments.

Ralph Crane/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

On the set of the 1956 film The Ten Commandments in Egypt.

Ralph Crane/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

On the Egypt set of the 1956 film The Ten Commandments.

Ralph Crane/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Cecil B. DeMille on location in Egypt during the filming of the 1956 movie The Ten Commandments.

Ralph Crane/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Extras from the movie “The Ten Commandments” heading home after a day of shooting, Egypt, 1955

Ralph Crane/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A group of horses from The Ten Commandments drinking water at camp, Egypt, 1955

Ralph Crane/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Cecil B. DeMille directing a scene from the 1956 movie The Ten Commandments; on location in Egypt.

Ralph Crane/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Extras pretending to a family during the filming of ‘The Ten Commandments in Egypt.

Ralph Crane/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post “DeMille’s Greatest”: Making The Ten Commandments appeared first on LIFE.

Remembering Harry Belafonte

Tue, 07 Mar 2017 13:50:24 +0000

Harry Belafonte, entertainer and activist, died on April 25, 2023 of congestive heart failure at age 96.

He appeared many times in the pages of LIFE magazine, both as a performer and as a champion of civil rights. Pictures show him in a variety of settings that give testament to the breadth of his life. He was photographed on stage at the Coconut Grove nightclub, making his acting debut in the film Bright Road, and attending the 1963 March on Washington with Sidney Poitier. And the list goes on of moments in which he shared his joy and his wisdom with American audiences.

LIFE’s feature story on Belafontee from May 1957 gives a sense of how big he was as an entertainer. That story talked about how he had pulled ahead of Elvis Presley in record sales, and the first movie of his three-picture deal with Fox, Island in the Sun, was going to come out the following month. Belftonte achieved his massive success by introducing audiences to calypso music, which he did despite encountering resistance in the music business:

When I started singing the kind of folk music I do now I was told it was too special to get across. But I’d given up the idea of reaching a lot of people. I was trying to express my strong social feelings in terms of folk music, the way people of all nations have historically done. Part of my heritage is West Indian so my interest in their music—calypso—was natural.

That music propelled an amazing journey. Please enjoy this photographic tribute to Harry Belafonte.

Harry Belafonte laughed during Bop City nightclub’s opening night, 1949.

Martha Holmes/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Harry Belafonte in his film debut as a principal in Bright Road, 1952.

John Swope The LIFE Images Collection/Shutterstock

Harry Belafonte singing at a recording session, 1957.

Yale Joel The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Harry Belafonte performed at the Coconut Grove nightclub, 1957.

Ralph Crane The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Harry Belafonte and wife Julie at Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom, 1957.

Paul Schutzer The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Harry Belafonte singing, 1958.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Singer Harry Belafonte singing in his apartment, 1958.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Harry Belafonte playing guitar, 1958.

Allan Grant The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Harry Belafonte playing with son David as wife Julie watches.

Martha Holmes The LIFE Images Collection/Shutterstock

Singer Harry Belafonte at a night club in 1960.

Joseph Scherschel The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Harry Belafonte and actor Sidney Poitier and folk singer Odetta at a civil rights rally at the Statue of Liberty in 1960.

Al Fenn The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Harry Belafonte sightseeing in Israel, 1960.

David Rubinger The LIFE Images Collection/Shutterstock

Anthony Quinn with singers Ethel Merman and Harry Belafonte at President-elect John F. Kennedy’s inaugural ball, 1961.

Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Burt Lancaster, Harry Belafonte and Charlton Heston at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. for a civil rights march, 1963.

Eliot Elisofon The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 1963.

Francis Miller The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Harry Belafonte with Julie Andrews at a party following the Broadway premiere of ‘Sound of Music’. 1965.

Bob Gomel The LIFE Images Collection/Shutterstock

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