Behind the Planet of the Apes Page #12

..in the most horrifying spectacle|in the annals of science fiiction.

But, despite the initiaI test reactions,|parentaI outcries and a finaI PG rating,...

..Conquest stiII found|an audience at the box office.

This will be the end of human civilisation|and the world will belong to a planet of apes!

Once again, Fox was asking|for the inevitabIe sequeI.

And, for the first time,|producer Arthur Jacobs and the studio...

..found themseIves at a crossroads.

Had Conquest gone too far in succumbing|to the trend of escaIating screen vioIence?

Was it possibIe to move the story forward|and stiII make a famiIy picture?

Soon after Conquest's reIease in 1972,...

..producer Arthur Jacobs|once again asked PauI Dehn...

..to deveIop and script the fifth Apes feature.

Dehn quickIy submitted a treatment entitIed|Battle for the Planet of the Apes.

It continued the story of Caesar as he|fights against a group of human rebeIs...

..who possess an atomic bomb.

UItimateIy, Caesar is kiIIed|by one of his own generaIs...

..and a group of ape poIiticians|and miIitary commanders...

..hoId finaI governance|over the PIanet of the Apes.

But Dehn's outIine was rejected. Arthur|thought it was too bIeak and too vioIent...

..for the more upbeat fiIm that|both he and the studio wanted to make.

Dehn reshaped the story and script.

But two new writers were aIso hired|to give a fresh perspective.

They were John and Joyce Corrington,|a husband-and-wife team...

..who had found science fiction success|with The Omega Man,...

..a recent fiIm|that had starred CharIton Heston.

keeping the titIe|Battle for the Planet of the Apes,...

..the fifth Apes fiIm|went into production on January 2nd, 1973...

..with a budget of $1.8 miIIion.

J Lee Thompson returned to direct,...

..having impressed both Jacobs and|associate producer Frank Capra Jr...

..with the epic and visuaI fIair|he had achieved on Conquest.

Right from the start, Arthur said|''We're gonna make a kid picture...

..and something that wiII appeaI to famiIies.''

We had no reaI poIiticaI impIications.

It was simpIy a kids' science fiction fiIm.

(Roddy McDowall) For me, it was back|to the makeup chair to pIay Caesar again.

I was anxious to do it because I'd enjoyed|the roIe even more than the part of CorneIius.

Seen onIy in a brief proIogue and epiIogue,...

..the roIe of the Lawgiver|had IittIe screen time,...

..but proved a most notabIe casting choice:

Iegendary producer, writer,|director and actor, John Huston.

''ln the beginning,|God created beast and man...

..so that both might live in friendship|and share dominion over a world of peace.''

''The surface of the world|was ravaged by the vilest war.''

''Our saviour led a remnant|of those who survived...

..in search of greener pastures,...

..where ape and human might|forever live in friendship,...

..according to divine will.''

The story focused on the ape Ieader Caesar...

..just a few years after|he has Ied the ape revoIution.

A nucIear war has occurred...

..and Caesar now ruIes over|a surviving band of apes and humans.

- No humans in Council!|- They are here because l sent for them.

The two species have forged|a fragiIe coexistence.

The apes are aIso working with the humans|to educate themseIves...

..and have begun forming their own Iaws.

- Read me what l've written.|- ''Ape shall never kill ape.''

''Ape shall never kill ape.''

Shall ape ever kill man?

Oh, if only my mother and father,|whom l was too young to remember,...

..if only they'd lived.

Perhaps they would have taught me|if it was right to kill evil...

..so that good should prevail.

In keeping with Jacob's new concept,|Caesar's character was softened.

Cornelius.

He is no Ionger miIitant and angry,...

Cornelius.

..but patient and benevoIent.

Father.

- l'm going on a journey.|- Mm... What will you bring me back?

What would you like?

More nuts for my squirrel. He's growing fast.

So are you.

One day you will be as tall as a king.

This was very much part|of the arc of what we feIt...

..seemed to be a IogicaI situation for him.

And it was aIso|more attractive as a character...

..that he becomes a more paternaIistic|and a sort of a heaIer,...

..rather than a revoIutionary character.

(Roddy McDowall) NataIie Trundy|again signed on to pIay my wife, Lisa.

This was the fourth Apes fiIm for both of us.

l don't want to have to remember|my husband. l want to love him now.

Look. Virgil will be with us.|Now, we'll take good care.

There it is... or was.

Some carefuIIy pIaced rubbIe|and a cIever matte painting...

..created the iIIusion|of a bombed-out forbidden city...

..where a group of|radiation-scarred humans continued to Iive.

Governor, look!

Somebody's breached|the warning system at F6.

For the interior of the forbidden city,...

..the producers used the Hyperion water|treatment pIant Iocated in Los AngeIes.

This background radiation alone|will give us 300 roentgens per hour.

Another interesting casting note:|the orangutan VirgiI...

..was pIayed by|singer/songwriter PauI WiIIiams.

Can anything live down here?|l mean, for long?

Oh, yes. But in the end, not recognisably.

(Frank Capra Jr) The series|began to be more and more human-oriented.

We were thinking in terms of time aIways,...

..because these Iong makeup sessions|cut the time of fiIming down.

It was difficuIt to get enough apes because of|the time constraints of the makeup.

And actuaIIy audiences wanted to see|more and more ape-oriented shots.

So it worked counterproductiveIy.

(Roddy McDowall) When the humans|from the forbidden city attack,...

Aldo will make the future... with this!

..Caesar engages in a power struggIe with the|commander of the miIitary, GeneraI AIdo,...

We want guns!

..pIayed by the noted character actor,|CIaude Akins.

We will smash the humans!|And then, we will smash Caesar!

Look!

Caesar's son.

Father!

To the barricade!

Like aII the entries in the series,...

..Battle for the Planet of the Apes contained|pIenty of rousing action sequences.

(J Lee Thompson) It was very Iow-budget,...

..so we had to reduce everything.

I had to come in cIoser,|not use so many peopIe. Come in cIoser...

Here they come.

..and reIy more on quick cuts.

Then, putting it aII together, it gave|a feeI of a Iot of numbers and a big battIe.

Fall back! Fall back!

It's a pity that they downgraded|the budget for each fiIm...

..instead of trying to go bigger and better.

But that was a decision|taken by the money peopIe...

..and we had to Iive with it.

Now! Fight like apes!

(Roddy McDowall) Near the fiIm's concIusion|the mutant humans are defeated.

No! No, no, no! Don't kill them.|Take them prisoner.

But the action is tempered by a much more|pacifistic tone than in previous Apes fiIms.

No.

No, Virgil.

(apes chanting) Ape has killed ape.

Caesar aIso discovers that AIdo|is responsibIe for the death of his son...

Ape has never killed ape,...

..let alone an ape child.

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