FRASER HESTON in conversation with JAMES BYRNE.  

(6-12 May 2008)

 

 

JAMES BYRNE:  I love a movie you wrote and produced, Mother Lode, in which your father also directed and starred in. The plot – about a group of adventurers searching for the Mother Lode in a secret cavern – has slight elements of the Secret of the Incas plot. My children pointed out to me that the beginning of Mother Lode, the tough guy hero in the aeroplane flying over the terrific scenery, resembled Harry Steele flying over the Andes. Fraser, did watching any of your father’s old adventure movies from the 1950’s influence you at all when writing Mother Lode?

 

FRASER HESTON: Thanks James, much appreciated. I’m sure there are some unintentional similarities – Mother Lode’s a treasure hunt film after all, but I made no conscious effort to emulate anything from Incas – more like a homage to another great treasure hunt film (the greatest ever): Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

 

JAMES BYRNE: I agree with you Fraser, Treasure of the SierraMadre is the greatest treasure hunt movie of ‘em all. Here’s an interesting little titbit I noticed when watching the Bogey classic. Fred C. Dobbs’ final words are “Burro, burro,” coincidently the first words spoken by Chuck Heston in Secret of the Incas, and the sunburst seekers in Incas are very similar to the Sierra Madre treasure hunters. Maybe the Incas scriptwriters were slightly influenced by the Bogey movie, who knows? As a scriptwriter, producer and director, Fraser, do you think it’s tempting to ‘pop in’ little homages to old classics as part of the plot of your own movie?

 

FRASER HESTON: I don’t think this happens as much as film critics allege – homages (or rip-offs as they are more often called) probably happen inadvertently as often as not, or subconsciously, thinking “Wouldn’t it be cool if this happened …”  but forgetting you saw it  in some other film first! Obviously there are exceptions, obvious homages and spoofs, but mostly we’re desperately working away, trying to come up with something original!

 

JAMES BYRNE: Most people who venture to Peru go on the ‘Inca Trail’, but I was slightly different, I went on the ‘Harry Steele Trail’, and made a point of touring all the locations seen in Secret of the Incas. Did you visit any of the places in Cuzco that Harry Steele hung out in the movie when you visited Peru, Fraser?

 

FRASER HESTON: Yes. I visited Cuzco, Sacsayhuaman, and Machu Picchu. I also travelled up the Amazon, by plane, river steamer (think Fitzcarraldo), motorized canoe and a dugout from Belem at the mouth up to Iquitos, and then eventually aways up the Ucayali, and then came to the Urubamba (below Machu Picchu) by train. Had a blast.

 

JAMES BYRNE: Sounds terrific Fraser. You also climbed Huayma Picchu at Machu Picchu, it sure looked a daunting prospect to me as I stood at the foot of it … was it as dangerous as it looked?

 

FRASER HESTON: I didn’t think it was all that dangerous, but there is certainly some exposure when you climb through a little cave, and pop out onto an airy little traverse overlooking the Urubamba valley about a thousand feet below. Nothing of any technical difficulty however and well worth the effort. I also got locked into the ruins after hours when I lost track of time in the fog. Security guard found me and turfed me out. Very cool experience.

 

JAMES BYRNE: Wow! The son of Harry Steele lost in the ruins of Machu Picchu! Fraser, your mother is an accomplished photographer and often went on location with her husband, and took some terrific shots. Has she ever considered writing a book … and using all those great behind-the-scenes location photos she took over the years?

 

FRASER HESTON:  I have often been asked, “Your life was like Indiana Jones – one adventure after another – was it your father who inspired your adventures?” In fact, I say, it was my mother who was Indiana Jones, who dragged us up all those pyramids from Sacarra to Chichen Itza, ruin-running from Hadrian’s Wall to the Acropolis, museum marching from the British Museum to the Met. She’s published a couple of books, several photo shows and retrospectives, and is still going strong, at 84.

 

JAMES BYRNE:  She’s a great lady, Fraser. For many years now, fans of Secret of the Incas have been literally begging for its release onto video and dvd. Have you any idea why Paramount won’t release this wonderful movie?

 

FRASER HESTON: I agree! I’m not sure Paramount is resisting releasing that, per se, but they’ve got a lot of old films (thousands in fact!) and I suppose eventually they’ll get around to releasing all of them. Let’s hope Incas is sooner than later!

 

JAMES BYRNE: I would like to congratulate you on your marvellous version of Treasure Island. It must have been a daunting prospect bringing a different variation on an oft-filmed classic. I notice that your adaptation is more realistic than the other movies, in particular the Disney version. Any thoughts on the making of this film?

 

FRASER HESTON: Thanks – another treasure hunt movie if there ever was one: and the best pirate story ever. And my favourite book – my dad read it to me dozens of times from the age of five! We tried to make this the most faithful to the book, and the most real, gritty version, with authentic sea faring stuff (we used the H.M.S. Bounty, provided by Ted Turner who got it from MGM) and pirates who would sooner cut your throat than look at you. Did we succeed?

 

JAMES BYRNE:  Yes Fraser, you more than succeeded in making the pirates in Treasure Island look far more realistic than in the earlier versions. You got great performances from your father as Long John Silver and Oliver Reed as Billy Bones. In fact, all the cast really did look like gin-soaked nasty sea-dogs, particularly Reed and Pete Postlethwait. Ollie Reed had a bit of a reputation over here in England as being ‘very thirsty’. Did Ollie behave himself on the set … was he easy to work with?

 

FRASER HESTON:  Thanks for the compliment. I loved directing Treasure Island with dad – a childhood fantasy come true. Oliver, in the event, though we were concerned at first, behaved himself very well, and delivered a stunning performance in my opinion. Though he could booze with the best of them, and eventually and tragically drank himself to death, as I understand it, he was professional with us at all times. We had a great cast in that film, including Christian Bale (who came all the way across America just to attend my father’s memorial) Christopher Lee, Julian Glover, Pete Postlethwait and of course Ollie, and not to mention Charlton Heston. It was a director’s dream come true and I was like a kid in the candy store with all those wonderful English actors. It’d be honoured to work with any of ‘em again in a heartbeat.

 

JAMES BYRNE: Yes, Treasure Island was a great movie, Fraser. What is your favourite Charlton Heston movie … and why?

 

FRASER HESTON:  Two of them: Ben-Hur because it’s an amazing film, and stands up very well today. Just incredible. And Will Penny – a little western dad made up in the High Sierra, where I will spread some of his ashes in a few weeks, because it’s a hell of a movie and one of my dad’s personal favourites.

 

JAMES BYRNE:  Fraser, you appeared as the infant Moses in The Ten Commandments, which is one of my family’s favourite movies. Obviously, you won’t be able to remember a single thing about making the movie, but did you ever meet any of the stars of the movie when you were older … and if so, what did they say to you?

 

FRASER HESTON: I’m sure I must have met Yul Brynner when I was very young, but don’t recall what he said. I did meet Cecil B. De Mille later (I’m the youngest actor in his last film as a director, and therefore, I am probably the last actor to ever  work with C. B. DeMille). Here’s a photo for you – the inscription reads:

“To a fine young actor in a gripping situation. From his director, - C. B. DeMille. All three of us made the Ten Commandments.”

 

JAMES BYRNE:  Great photo, Fraser. Thanks for your time and co-operation, and good luck to you in the future.

 

 

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