by Eric Blume
Half a century ago two ultimate sci-fi classics were released. We've just revisted 2001 but what of the other hit? 20th Century Fox released the original Planet of the Apes directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring Charlton Heston at essentially the same time. Revisiting the original film after decades of sequels and reboots provides some fascinating reveals...
The pacing of the original film is languid by today’s standards. The instigating action (spaceship crash, exit onto land, initial exploration) takes a good half hour, and there’s even an awkwardly extended skinnydipping scene with the three astronauts that almost plays like boring softcore gay porn. From there we follow a long chase with a group of caveman-like humans, where the three guys run naked when their clothes are stolen… it’s a hoot.
But on some level, the makers of this version knew what they had: audiences had never seen advanced talking apes, and milking the first part of the movie for their entrance pays off. The first sighting of the apes on horseback still has a shock and verve to it, even all these years and Apes movies later.
Most of the remainder of the movie takes place in “Ape City” where Heston becomes prisoner and patient. The set design for these locations looks cheesy nowadays, but I remember being in its thrall as a kid and it feeling like a complete and unique world. Heston’s cell is conveniently located across from another cell holding a preposterously sexy (and conveniently mute) cavewoman from the earlier tribe. She serves no real purpose from a narrative standpoint other than to prove Heston’s hetero-virility, and the poor actress cast in this role (Linda Harrison) is required to make goo-goo eyes and dumbfounded expressions in unforgiving close-up, resulting in some gloriously unintentional giggles.
Roddy McDowall and Oscar winner Kim Hunter play the good-guy apes, and it takes a good while to get used to the “special effects” of the era. For those accustomed to Andy Serkis and the mind-blowing effects in the current Apes series, it’s sometimes painful to watch what basically equates to rubber masks and limited facial movements that can feel out of sync with the dialogue.
Basically, viewing this first film as a contemporary moviegoer, it’s a frustrating, sometimes silly, slightly boring viewing experience, mostly because we’ve made such colossal advancements in technology that allow the storytelling to soar in the new Apes films.
But then why is the original still so oddly powerful?
You couldn't say that Director Schaffner (who’d go on two years later to win an Oscar for directing Patton) is exactly "inspired" here -- it’s standard-issue Hollywood craftsmanship. But, and this is no small thing, he does trust the material, and the basic material is fantastic. At the heart of this tale are such clever and profound ideas: reversing the positions of man and ape, linking to our similar genetic makeups, animal testing and captivity, the list goes on. The chase scenes and escape are just action-movie filler. What really holds us in this film is our unease with how oddly possible it feels despite, of course, being impossible. There’s a primal pull still, 50 years on; how new and vibrant and original this must have all seemed in 1968, with Schaffner and his team holding you captive.
Today The Planet of the Apes world is part of our cinematic lexicon and it continues to bring audiences in droves internationally. It’s definitely worth a peek back at where it all started, because despite the technological limitations of the time, it holds up.