The Power of Heston

Did Pat Sweeney see Charlton Heston in Kenneth Branagh’s “Hamlet” (Calendar Letters, July 12)? He almost stole the show with his animated and knowing player king. In only his second film, “The Greatest Show on Earth,” he was so right and authoritative that his circus manager looked like the real thing. Not only “‘Khartoum” and “Will Penny” but “Ben-Hur” and “The Ten Commandments” would not have had the same power and effect without him, and who else could have lent so much bitter and steely presence to “Planet of the Apes”?

Charles Champlin was not just being generous; he was recognizing the complete body of work of Heston, as much an American icon as the other good and memorable actors now gone.

R.A. LEE

Los Angeles