Planet of the Apes (1968)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1967
Running Times: 112 mins
Format: colour Panavision (anamorphic)     35mm
Ratio: 2.35:1
Sound:

PRODUCTION
Production Companies: Apjac Productions
Producer: Arthur P. Jacobs
Associate Producer: Mort Abrahams
Unit Production Manager: William Eckhardt

SCRIPT
Script: Rod Serling, Michael Wilson
Novel: Planete du singe by Pierre Boulle

DIRECTION
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Assistant Director: William Hissel

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Leon Shamroy
Colour: DeLuxe

EDITING
Editor: Hugh S. Fowler

MUSIC
Music: Jerry Goldsmith
Orchestrations: Arthur Morton

SOUND
Sound: Herman Lewis, David Dockendorf

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: Ben Nye, Dan Striepke
Hair: Edith Lindon
Costume Designer: Morton Haack
Costumer: John Intlekofer (uncredited)

SPECIAL EFFECTS MAKE UP
Creative Makeup Design: John Chambers

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Photographic Effects: L.B. Abbott, Art Cruickshank, Emil Kosa Jr

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Directors: Jack Martin Smith, William Creber
Set Decorators: Walter M. Scott, Norman Rockett
Set Construction: Greg C. Jensen

LOCATIONS
Locations: Cabo San Lucas, Baja California, Mexico; Fox Ranch, Malibu, California, USA; Glen Canyon, Utah, USA; Malibu Creek State Park, Calabasas, California, USA; Malibu, California, USA; Page, Arizona, USA; Zuma Beach, California, USA

CAST
Charlton Heston (Colonel George Taylor)
Roddy McDowall (Dr Cornelius)
Kim Hunter (Dr Zira)
Maurice Evans (Dr Zaius)
James Whitmore (President of the Assembly)
James Daly (Dr Honorious)
Linda Harrison Nova)
Robert Gunner (Landon)
Lou Wagner (Lucius)
Woodrow Parfrey (Dr Maximus)
Jeff Burton (Dodge)
Buck Kartalian (Julius)
Norman Burton (hunt leader)
Wright King (Dr Galen)
Paul Lambert (minister)
Priscilla Boyd (1st human - uncredited)
Eldon Burke (gorilla - uncredited)
David Chow (chimpanzee - uncredited)
Billy Curtis (child ape - uncredited)
Frank Delfino, Jerry Maren (bit parts)
Robert Lombardo (gorilla photographer - uncredited)
Harry Monty (uncredited)
Gene O'Donnell (uncredited)
Felix Silla (child gorilla - uncredited)
Dianne Stanley (Stewart - uncredited)

PLOT SUMMARY

A team of astronauts find themselves stranded on a barren planet in the distant future when their ship crashes in a lake. Two of the men are killed and the wounded survivor, Taylor, finds himself lost and temporarily unable to speak in a world where apes are the dominant species and humans are hunted like animals.

Groundbreaking stuff and just as powerful today as it was at the tail end of the 60s. Directed with plenty of energy by Schaffner and boasting a standout performance from Charlton Heston as the stranded astronaut, it remains a textbook example of how to make an intelligent and adult science fiction blockbuster. To top it all, it has that ending, easily the best conclusion to any film ever.

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Video Distributor: Magnetic Video

Finland
Rating: K-16

Germany
Rating: 12

Sweden
Rating: 15

UK
Rating: PG

USA
Rating: G

1968
USA
February
8: USA - theatrical release

April
5: Finland - theatrical release

May
3: West Germany - theatrical release
6: Sweden - theatrical release

Somewhere in the Universe, there must be something better than man!

A Majmok bolygója - Hungarian title
Abernes planet - Danish title
Apinoiden planeetta - Finnish title
Apornas planet - Swedish title
O Homem Que Veio do Futuro - Portugese title
Il pianeta delle scimmie - Italian title
Planet der Affen - West German title
El planeta de los simios - Argentinean / Spanish title
El planeta dels simis - Catalan Spanish title
O Planeta dos Macacos - Brazilian title
La planète des singes - French / French Canadian title

SEQUELS
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)

REMAKE
Planet of the Apes (2001)

SEE ALSO
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
Aysecik ve Sihirli Cüceler Rüyalar Ülkesinde (1971)
Battlefield Earth (2000)
The Creature Wasn't Nice (1981)
Free Enterprise (1998)
George of the Jungle (1997)
Heavy Metal (1981)
Hell Comes to Frogtown (1987)
Independence Day (1996)
Mother (1996)
Planet of the Apes (1974)
Red Dwarf: Stasis Leak (1988)
Return to the Planet of the Apes (1975)
The Road to El Dorado (2000)
Rocket Man (1997)
Spaceballs (1987)
Spy Hard (1996)
Time of the Apes (1987)
Trancers (1985)
O Trapalhao no Planalto dos Macacos (1976)
Zardoz (1973)

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
Behind the Planet of the Apes (1998)
The Statue of Liberty (1986)

MAGAZINES

Starlog no.160 (November 1990) (USA)
interview with co-star Kim Hunter (Chimp Life by Tom Weaver)

Starlog no.213 (April 1995) (USA)
interview with Linda Harrison (Woman of the Apes by Tom Weaver)

BOOKS

Planet of the Apes as American Myth: Race, Politics and Popular Culture by Eric Greene

OTHER SOURCES

screen
credits

KEYWORDS

time travel; space travel; time warps; apes; the future; evolution; statue of liberty; astronauts; hunting humans; scientists; waterfalls; courts

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008