- In my mind, the type of plot twist employed so expertly at the conclusion of Franklin J. Schaffner's Planet of the Apes will forever be known as "the Twilight Zone." Anyone who shares my affection for that revolutionary television show will appreciate that I don't intend the term as an insult. As approaches go, the Twilight Zone ending is about as subtle as a sledgehammer. Properly employed, it leaves the audience feeling guilty that they ever needed to be hit. It's the essential shock that clinches most of the stories in Rod Serling's half-hour TV interpretation of the traditional morality play. Did I mention that Serling shares a screenwriting credit for Planet of the Apes? Once you know that, you can see his influence everywhere.
- Case in point: Four scientists careen through space in a state of suspended animation. Only three out of four survive the bumpy landing, but for a cynic like George Taylor (Charlton Heston), that's almost something to celebrate. Taylor thinks he knows everything about human nature and, furthermore, that everything about it is awful. He even asserts that he accepted this mission to a mystery planet to find "something better than man," although I secretly suspect humanity was equally glad to be rid of such a blustering blowhard. But now there's only Taylor and his two companions, Landon (Robert Gunner) and Dodge (Jeff Burton). When they stumble upon some primitive humans, they discern no evidence of intelligence or civilization. "If this is the best they've got around here, in six months we'll be running this planet," Taylor boasts.
- But what Taylor and the others don't realize is that these humans are distinctly "free range." In other words, the lovely but mute Nova (Linda Harrison) and her foraging companions are a herd managed by the real stewards of the planet: a race of intelligent, talking apes. The film's revelation of the apes on horseback is a brilliant example of how to deliver a surprise that, by all rights, should have been ruined by the film's title. Everybody knows the apes are coming, but few would have guessed they would arrive by horse. Pretty soon, Taylor is made prisoner in a research lab, a considerably gentler fate than befalls his fellow explorers. Sympathetic apes Zira (Kim Hunter) and Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) want to learn from Taylor to determine if their theory of human-to-ape evolution holds water. The stodgy Minister of Science and Chief Defender of the Faith, Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans), is distinctly less thrilled that a talking, writing human has surfaced. "All my life I've awaited your coming and dreaded it," he admits to Taylor. Only at the film's end do we find out exactly why.
- Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this film is that a movie nominally about "a planet where apes evolved from men" actually contains some sophisticated subtexts. The anti-war message that arrives at the end is the one everybody remembers ("You maniacs!!"), but there are also some subtle jabs at racism, humanity's treatment of animals, and the absurdity of kangaroo (or in this case, orangutan) courts. For my money, the cleverest shot in the entire film references the "three wise monkeys" fable, although the striking prevalence of canted and inverted shots also does a lot to reinforce Taylor's experience of an upside-down "madhouse." Stark location filming in the American Southwest, impressive costuming, and Heston's charisma combine to create an sci-fi movie experience that, in many respects, exceeds Pierre Boule's source material. It's a two-hour tour through a memorable world disturbingly similar to ours...courtesy of The Twilight Zone.
- As mentioned, based on the novel by Pierre Boule.
