Behind the Planet of the Apes Page #7

So they say ''Oh, my goodness!|Look where we've been aII this time!''

(Roddy McDowall) The haunting image|of a decayed Statue of Liberty...

..entaiIs some interesting|technicaI chaIIenges.

We found a Iocation at the end of Zuma|Beach, which was about the right scaIe,...

..and it had rocks with moss on 'em|on the end of the beach...

..that Iooked kind of Iike disintegrated...|bronze, or whatever.

So we integrated those rocks|with the base of the statue,...

..which was a painting by EmiI kosa,|who was chief matte artist at the studio.

And Frank was Iamenting that he|just didn't want to cut to the master shot.

He wanted to introduce the statue,|but you don't know what it is.

And so I had envisioned, you know,|being up on the bIuff on a doIIy track...

..and shooting down|over a foreground miniature.

And what it entaiIed was buiIding|the head and the torch, one haIf fuII-scaIe.

I had the grips buiId a tower...

..70 feet high...

..to get the right perspective.

Leon Shamroy was the cameraman|and Leon was cIose to 70,...

..and he Iooked at this 70-foot tower|and he says ''I'm not goin' up there.''

So he didn't go up there.

And the first assistant director was...|had acrophobia. He wasn't goin' up there.

Frank handed me the megaphone. He says|''You buiId it. I'II meet you at the top.''

So Frank and I went up and made the shot.|The rest was history.

(Roddy McDowall) Shooting was|compIeted on August 10th, 1967...

..with the production coming in|on time and on budget.

(trailer) Charlton Heston.

The world he fiinds out in the galaxy...

..will challenge every idea|you've ever had of civilisation.

A planet where man|is the lowest order of living things...

..and the superior beings are... apes.

(Roddy McDowall) Planet of the Apes had|its worId premiere on February 8th, 1968.

It was a box-office smash,|grossing over $26 miIIion...

..and reaching audiences of aII ages.

They build the cities,|make the laws. The Gods.

AduIts responded to its inteIIigent|script and first-rate performances.

Man has no understanding.

ChiIdren thriIIed to the fiIm's|adventure and fantasy eIements.

Twentieth Century Fox transforms|the motion-picture screen into...

The fiIm aIso found favour with critics,|who praised its uniqueness,...

..timeIy poIiticaI commentary|and entertainment vaIue.

Beyond your wildest dreams.

Planet of the Apes was nominated|for two Academy Awards.

Best Costume Design|and Best OriginaI Score.

But speciaI Academy recognition|was reserved...

..for the innovative|makeup wizard, John Chambers,...

..who was awarded a speciaI Oscar...

..for his outstanding achievement|on Planet of the Apes.

The award was presented to him|by WaIter Matthau...

..and friend.

lt's a madhouse!

lt's a madhouse! A madhouse!|lt's a madhouse!

Planet of the Apes had reached a pinnacIe|of success that no one couId have predicted.

It was now officiaIIy a phenomenon.

With audience interest at its peak, a meeting|was caIIed at Twentieth Century Fox...

..between the producers|and eIated studio executives.

Stan Huff, head of production, says|''You gotta do a sequeI.''

I said ''Stan, there's no way we can|do a sequeI. There's no pIace to go.''

I don't wanna do a thing on Mars.

He said ''You have to find a way.''

I had never thought of a sequeI.

At the time of Planet of the Apes,...

..no one was taIking sequeIs|very much, or at aII.

For Twentieth Century Fox,|at that period of time,...

..this started the notion|of recapturing the success of the first.

As thoughts inevitabIy turned|towards a sequeI,...

..the producers faced|an impossibIe chaIIenge.

That haIf-buried Statue of Liberty had|become a cinematic and cuIturaI miIestone,...

..and it cast a very Iong shadow.

How couId anyone go|beyond the fiIm's apocaIyptic vision?

How couId they go beyond|the Planet of the Apes?

With studio pressure mounting for a sequeI,...

..Jacobs returned to two of the men who had|heIped make the originaI fiIm so successfuI,...

..Rod SerIing and Pierre BouIIe.

During the next few months, both men|submitted a wide range of proposaIs.

Jacobs rejected them aII,...

..feeIing the concepts did not provide|the kind of visuaI shocks...

..that had made the originaI so successfuI.

Planet of the Apes was indeed|proving a hard act to foIIow...

..untiI associate producer Mort Abrahams|went to London...

..and met with Academy Award-winning|screenwriter and poet PauI Dehn.

Dehn was known for his work|on CoId War suspense thriIIers...

..Iike The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.

He was aIso famous for cowriting|the James Bond cIassic, Goldfiinger.

I was in London on something eIse entireIy,|and met with PauI...

..and toId him frankIy I was having troubIe|with this deveIopment of this idea.

He said ''Let me toss it around.''

He caIIed me two or three days Iater and said|''I think I have an idea how to do this.''

He said ''Let me toss it around.''

He caIIed me two or three days Iater and said|''I think I have an idea how to do this.''

(Roddy McDowall) Working with Abrahams,...

..he submitted his first outIine|in September 1968.

CaIIed Planet of the Apes Revisited,...

..it contained many ideas that wouId|find their way into the finaI fiIm...

..and one that wouId not:

the conception of a haIf-ape, haIf-human|chiId, seen here in a rare screen test.

CuriousIy, the studio feared that|the impIied mating of species...

..couId Iose the fiIm a G rating|and take away their famiIy audience.

With FrankIin Schaffner aIready committed|to Fox's big-budget epic, Patton,...

..the job was given to veteran fiIm|and teIevision director Ted Post.

But just after Post signed to direct|the new Apes fiIm, he threatened to resign...

..when toId that CharIton Heston|was unwiIIing to return as TayIor.

I had toId Arthur that I don't think|that a sequeI wiII hoId...

..without the originaI star being in it.

And they took a IittIe bit of time|to scratch their heads about that...

..and finaIIy came up with a soIution which|hooked Chuck Heston back into the sequeI.

Dick Zanuck caIIed me. He said ''Chuck, we|have to do a sequeI. This fiIm is enormous.''

I said ''I don't wanna do a sequeI.|That's Iike the Andy Hardy series.''

And he said ''Chuck, I can't|make the sequeI if you're not in it.''

And I said ''WeII, you got me, Richard,...

..because we couIdn't have made this fiIm|if you hadn't given it a go.''

''So how about if I'm in the sequeI|but I get kiIIed in the opening scene,...

..and you pay me whatever you want|and we'II give it to a schooI or something?''

He said ''Ok, that's a deaI.'' Then,|as the script deveIoped, he caIIed and said...

..''Chuck, how about if we have you|disappear in the first scene...

..and then you're kiIIed in the Iast scene?''

And I said ''Yeah, I guess.|Ok, fine. What the heck.''

(Roddy McDowall) With the crisis resoIved,|the production team stiII faced a finaI hurdIe:

the studio's insistence on a reduced budget.

Since the reIease of the originaI Apes fiIm,...

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