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 Earth-like atmosphere (very fortuitous) to the presence of humanoid creatures, albeit that they are mute and they 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 to try to stop them.  He is both Minister of Science and Defender of the Faith, so clearly 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 all along 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!

RATING: ✓✓✓ Absolutely Fabulous




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WICKED

-
As someone who is suspicious of any film musical since 1979's ‘All That Jazz’ (a kind of high water mark), and as one who doesn’t feel that every villain needs a backstory, I approached this film with some trepidation, especially since I felt that  turning a stage musical into two lengthy films seemed self indulgent. Despite all of these concerns however, I enjoyed the ride.  It didn’t drag, it has some decent songs (and one very good one), and it wasn't as CGI-heavy as it might have been. It also sprung a few surprises. For example, it's very woke.  Not content with a main character, Elphaba, who is discriminated against solely because of the colour of her skin, the story gives her a sister in a wheelchair, as well as (another surprise) talking animals who are being persecuted. Their oppressor is of course the Wizard of Oz himself, but trying to explain to any young children watching this film why he is being so beastly to the cuddly animals might be challenging. ...
Read more

THE MISFITS

-
Image
For this 1961 drama, written by Arthur Miller no less, director John Huston had at his disposal a stellar cast of Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift, not to mention Eli Wallach who was no slouch in the acting department. The film begins in Reno where Roslyn (Monroe) is getting a divorce.  She has moral and practical support in the form of her landlady, Isabelle, played by the always wonderful Thelma Ritter, who seems to provide this an an unpaid service to any woman who happens to stay at her rooming house.   Divorce out of the way, Roslyn meets aging cowboy, Gaylord (Gable) and his buddy Guido (Wallach), who both have lascivious designs on her and accordingly invite her out to the country with them.  I was thankful that Isabelle tags along as an unofficial chaperone so that this scenario doesn't turn out to be as uncomfortable as it might have done.   They are then joined by a rodeo cowboy they know, Perce, whilst Isabelle drops out of the fi...
Read more

UNION PACIFIC

-
Image
To call this a Western would be to give scant justice to its epic scale, but then what else would you expect from a film directed by Cecil B. DeMille?  It has a running time of 135 minutes, extras fill the screen at every opportunity (even in the saloon scenes) and there are two spectacular trainwrecks along with all the other drama.  Considering it is ostensibly a celebration of the completion of a railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean it is a surprisingly entertaining film.   It is established early on in the story that a tycoon who pretends to be backing the Union Pacific Railroad secretly wants to sabotage the building of the track in order to make a huge financial killing (the details of which can safely be ignored).  To this end he employs shady gambler and saloon owner, Sid Campeau (Brian Donleavy), to use gambling, booze and women to cause trouble among the labourers. In response to the success of Campeau's efforts, the railroad company recruit...
Read more