Behind the Planet of the Apes Page #8

..Fox had undergone|a troubIed financiaI period...

..where a string of big-budget musicaIs|had performed beIow expectations.

Among them, Arthur Jacobs' Dr Dolittle.

They had a coupIe of faiIures, and the board|of directors got very anxious about that.

They didn't want to invest any more|than they had to. So the order came down:

cut the budgets of every production|that was being made at that time.

SettIing on a budget of $3 miIIion|- bareIy haIf that of the originaI fiIm -

Beneath the Planet of the Apes|began fiIming in February 1969.

Don't look for it, Taylor.

You may not like what you fiind.

The story picked up|exactIy where the first fiIm Ieft off.

What will he fiind out there, Doctor?

His destiny.

TayIor rides off into the forbidden zone,|accompanied by Nova,...

..pIayed once again by Linda Harrison.

After encountering a series|of strange phenomenon,...

..TayIor mysteriousIy disappears.

A new Ieading man then takes centre stage:

Brent, the Ieader and Ione survivor of an|astronaut rescue team sent to find TayIor.

AIthough Burt ReynoIds was approached,...

..the producers uItimateIy cast|popuIar teIevision actor James Franciscus.

Hey!

No. No, no, l don't wanna hurt you. l...

l just wanna know where l am.

When Brent meets Nova, he reaIises she is|his onIy Iink to finding his Iost comrade.

Taylor!

ls he hurt? ls he alive?

I think they picked Jim because he was Iike|a version - a smaIIer version - of Heston.

They kinda Iooked aIike,|and a very strong voice and...

..took it very seriousIy.

You... take me... to Taylor.

(Roddy McDowall) Brent and Nova's search|brings them to Ape City,...

..most of which was stiII standing|at the Fox Studio Ranch,...

lt's a city of apes!

..aIIowing the fiImmakers to save|vaIuabIe doIIars on set construction.

The only thing|that counts in the end is power.

Naked, merciless force!

But budgetary constraints did become|evident in crowd scenes Iike this one...

..where the background apes were portrayed|by extras in puII-over masks.

A cost-cutting device|that proved a IittIe too obvious.

The roIe of the goriIIa miIitary Ieader,|GeneraI Ursus,...

..was originaIIy offered|to HoIIywood Iegend Orson WeIIes.

But when WeIIes decIined, the noted|character actor, James Gregory, stepped in...

..and gave a rousing performance.

The only good human...

..is a dead human!

Nova takes Brent into the city...

..and the audience is reintroduced|to some famiIiar ape faces:

Zira, once again pIayed by kim Hunter.

Taylor?

No, not... not Taylor. My name's Brent.

You... talked.

And Dr Zaius, pIayed by Maurice Evans.

As minister of science, it is my duty...

..to fiind out|whether some other form of life exists.

- Where are you going?|- lnto the forbidden zone, with Ursus.

As fate wouId have it, I was directing a fiIm|in EngIand at the time...

..and was unabIe|to reprise my roIe of CorneIius.

The part went instead|to British actor David Watson.

With the heIp of makeup, it was hoped that|the audiences wouIdn't notice the difference.

lf you are caught by the gorillas,|you must remember one thing.

- What's that?|- Never to speak.

As Brent and Nova go underground|in their search for TayIor,...

..the fiImmakers hoped to give audiences|an even more impressive visuaI...

..than the haIf-buried Statue of Liberty.

Their soIution:
|bury the whoIe city of New York.

(William Creber) It was done aImost for free.

I got photos out of books...

..and kind of imagined|angIes that wouId work...

..and I wrote a Ietter|to the studio in New York...

..and asked them to specificaIIy|shoot these pictures.

We made big bIow-ups|and cut 'em up with a razor bIade...

..and then had the matte artist|kinda touch 'em up.

And that was our matte shots.

(Roddy McDowall)|Here, in the forgotten city,..

..Brent and Nova|encounter a mutant civiIisation.

GeneticaIIy aItered beings|who possess teIepathic powers.

Your lips... don't move...

..but l can hear.

l know what you're thinking.

To save costs, this scene was actuaIIy shot|on a set previousIy used in Fox's Hello Dolly.

- (rapid bleeps)|- No, wait! Wait a minute!

l can't understand you...

By the way, that's NataIie Trundy|pIaying the femaIe mutant, AIbina.

In reaI Iife, she was Mrs Arthur P Jacobs.

Are we to understand that|you were in the city of the apes?

- You're talking.|- Certainly we can talk.

lt's a primitive accomplishment.|We use it when we must.

When we sing to our God.

Another Hello Dolly set|was aIso transformed...

..into this chapeI, where the mutants|pray to a most unusuaI god.

The heavens declare the glory of the Bomb,...

..and the fiirmament showeth His handiwork.

- l reveal my inmost self unto my God.|- Unto my God.

The mutant society raised|some new and unique makeup chaIIenges...

..for director Ted Post|and makeup designer John Chambers.

(Chambers) It Iooked Iike tissue that was|destroyed by exposure to the atomic bomb.

It was chaIIenging,|how far we shouId create the mutation.

(Ted Post) In the makeup room, they showed|me aII the faces they had in mind...

..that wouId depict a mutant,...

..with CycIops one eye and three eyes,...

..with the ear here, the ear there.

Everything was kind ofjangIed, mangIed and|disjointed, etc. It Iooked terribIe to me.

So I Iooked at a book of anatomy,|Gray's Anatomy,...

..and saw a face that had been|stripped of the epidermis...

..and saw the dermaI region,|with the vesseIs and the nerves.

I said ''That's the kind of Iook|I think wouId make the mutants work for me.''

And they went ahead and made it that way.

O God, bless, we pray You...

May the blessing of the Bomb Almighty...

..our great army|and its supreme commander,...

..and the fellowship of the Holy Fallout...

..on the eve of a holy war...

..descend on us all this day...

Amen.

(Roddy McDowall) The subtIe|sociaI satire of the first Apes fiIm...

..gave way to more obvious and direct|poIiticaI commentary...

..as the apes moved cIoser to a pIanned|miIitary invasion of the forbidden zone.

It's the sense of this unnecessary war|that the peopIe are being Ied into,...

..that the IiberaI youth and many|of the inteIIectuaIs are opposed to,...

..but that the poIiticaI eIite winds up backing.

There's one scene|where there is a chimpanzee protest,...

..with the chimpanzees|carrying protest signs saying...

- Peace and freedom!|- Get 'em out of the way.

Very much Iike you wouId expect|to see at the anti-Vietnam raIIies.

Not one of the more subtIe uses|of poIiticaI commentary,...

..but a very direct paraIIeIing of|what was going on in the US at the time.

Advance!

(Roddy McDowall) The apes decIare war,...

..and a battIe between|mind and muscIe begins.

Hold your positions!

CharIton Heston aIso makes his promised|appearance near the end of the fiIm.

- Taylor!|- You're... Brent!

My God! Taylor!

And, as the ape-mutant war rages...

..the action moves towards|its apocaIyptic finaIe.

Someone at the pillar!

(cry of pain)

The ending was suggested|by Heston himseIf,...

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