PLANET OF THE APES

I would love to be able to watch this film afresh with no knowledge of where it is leading.  At what point if at all would I realise that the planet Charlton Heston and his crew have crash landed on is in fact the Earth? 

After all there are several pointers in that direction,  from the Earthlike atmosphere (very fortuitous) to the presence of humanoid creatures, albeit they are mute and have been subjugated by intelligent apes.  

But the biggest clue of all (which can’t be overstated!) is that the apes speak English! What are the chances?  Heston’s character Taylor really should give this apparent coincidence a lot of consideration.

Mind you, he’s got a lot on his plate.  Because a gunshot wound has left him temporarily mute he’s struggling to convince his scientist captor Dr Zira that he is intelligent even though a rapport is developing between them.  

Then there’s the ever present threat of him being carried off for a quick lobotomy or neutering.

Once he does get his voice back his story of coming from another planet doesn’t go down at all well since it upends the apes’ religious faith in their superiority.  

In the end it’s up to Zira and her fiancé Cornelius to help Taylor escape and travel with them to the Forbidden Zone in order to find evidence supporting Cornelius’ heretical belief that there was once an ancient human civilisation 

The chief bad guy Dr Zaius naturally turns up. He is both Minister of Science and Defender of the Faith, because the apes have yet to understand the incompatibility of science and religion.

There’s a terrifically dramatic scene which climaxes in the discovery of a human doll of all things which confirms that Cornelius is right.

Zaius of course knew about this anyway since his real job title should be Suppressor of the Truth.

He is obliged to allow Taylor (and a nubile companion Nova) to further explore the Forbidden Zone, leading to one of the all-time great film endings.  

Hats off to the director Franklin J Shaffner (or whoever came up with the idea) for the way in which the Statue of Liberty is slowly revealed at first.

It’s the finest of several iconic moments in a film which is well nigh perfect.  

Despite the primitive makeup, Kim Hunter and Roddy McDowell are somehow able to make Zira and Cornelius into a believable and appealing couple.  

The early scenes are unforgettably eerie, helped considerably by Jerry Goldsmith’s atonal score.

And then once the story proper gets going the ways in which this upside-down world serve as a commentary on ours are endlessly fascinating.

And wow, that ending!