"Angry Dead 'Planet'"
by Scott Mantz

"Planet of the Apes"
Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner

Chimp change! Charleton Heston bonds with Kim Hunter in "Planet of the Apes"

Looking back on the 60's, it's a miracle that we survived the tumultuous events of 1968. Just as the Vietnam War went from bad to worse, Martin Luther King Jr and Robert F. Kennedy were both assassinated. On top of that, the country was knee deep in turmoil stemming from violent anti-war demonstrations and race riots. In the shadow of all this grief, it's remarkable that Hollywood was able to produce not one, but two of the greatest sci fi films of all time--"2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Planet of the Apes". While both films clearly reflected the times, their approach couldn't have been any more different. There's no doubt that the true meaning of "2001" was best explored while under the influence of the mind altering drugs, but "Planet" took a closer look at racial injustice while still passing itself off as an incredible sci fi film (and who can forget that ending!).

For those of you who've never seen the film (and for that, shame on you!), here's the deal. Col. Taylor (Charlton Heston) and his fellow astronaut cronies crash land on a distant planet, only to find themselves in a society where apes can talk and humans are dumb. After his colleagues are killed in a human manhunt, Taylor is all that's left of the late great planet Earth. When Taylor displays his uncanny ability to talk, the entire infrastructure of the ape community is thrown into a tailspin. Kindly chimpanzees Zira (Kim Hunter) and Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) try to help Taylor in the name of truth and justice, but Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans) is threatened by everything Taylor represents. Thanks to some of Cornelius' archaeological diggings, Taylor is able to prove that intelligent humans inhabited this strange planet a long time ago. He is set free, but he is in for a rude awakening when he discovers why these humans disappeared in the first place.

Even though he is still a few years away from directing George C. Scott in his masterpiece "Patton", Franklin J. Schaffner does an outstanding job in differentiating "Planet of the Apes" from other sci fi films. Aside from the fact that John Chambers' makeup design for the apes was groundbreaking even by today's standards, Schaffner goes through great lengths to put you firmly on the rug just so he can pull it right out from under you. As if the barren wasteland that the marooned astronauts spend the first 25 minutes trudging through wasn't enough, they talk about the Earth as if it was light years away--not beneath their very feet.

Racial inequality divides the apes from the humans, but it also divides the apes from themselves. In a line that could have been pulled from George Orwell's "Animal Farm", all apes are created equal, but some apes are more equal than others. The orangutans are the administrators, the gorillas are the soldiers, and the chimpanzees are the doctors and civilians. Each of the classes are clearly divided, much like the upper, middle, and lower classes of contemporary 1960's (and modern) society. That division was projected even beyond the scope of the film's cameras. During breaks in filming, the actors would sit and eat with the other actors who were wearing similar makeup.

Obviously, Charlton Heston as Col. Taylor is the centerpiece of the film. At first, Taylor reveals that he left the Earth because he was sick of mankind. Talk about a transformation, how can you go from spending the first 30 minutes hating this guy for his overbearing pessimism, only to root for him once he is captured and tortured by the apes? He's still the same hateful person, but once he's imprisoned by these beings who look different, now we're on his side. Here's a guy who's clearly given up on humanity, but then he turns around to defend that very same humanity to the apes. What hypocrisy! The film says as much about the people watching the film as it does about the people (or apes) that we're watching.

There would be four more movies and one mediocre TV series, making the "Apes" franchise one of the most profitable in motion picture history. Still, it's the first that stands as a bona fide classic. It was just as powerful for its statement on racism in society as it was for the intelligence of its story and groundbreaking special effects (and did I mention that killer ending?). A lot may have changed since 1968, but one look at today's headlines will tell you that times are still tough and racism is still rampant. Director Tim Burton has signed on to direct a remake of "Planet of the Apes", but it remains to be seen whether or not he will capture the spirit that the original conveyed with so much intelligence and style.

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