Escape from the Planet of the Apes Page #2

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At the time of their rescue,

through an unfortunate accident...

one of them was killed early this morning

in the Los Angeles Zoo.

Zoo?

What would astronauts

be doing in a zoo, Mr. President?

They are not astronauts,

General Faulkner.

They are apes.

Chimpanzees, to be more precise.

They're harmless, friendly

and, by all reports...

extremely intelligent

and sophisticated creatures.

But naturally, being animals...

they cannot tell us

where the ship came from...

or how they came to be in it.

I have, therefore, decided to convene...

a presidential commission of inquiry

in Los Angeles tomorrow.

The two surviving apes...

will be presented

to the commission for their inspection.

The press will be invited

to attend, not to participate.

I don't believe that we can withhold...

this extraordinary discovery

from the world any longer.

One of the two American spaceships

believed until now...

to have disintegrated in orbit...

splashed down unexpectedly yesterday...

in the Pacific Ocean

off the coast of Southern California...

and is stated to have been manned

if you can call it "manned"

by monkeys.

- General!

- General!

No comments. Nothing at this time.

I have nothing to say, gentlemen.

- Senator!

- I'm sorry, boys, not now.

I haven't the time now.

A little later, please.

Here comes the chairman.

I'll talk to you boys later.

I'll explain.

Would you give us

any information at all?

Have you got any comments, Paul?

As the president's senior science adviser,

what do you expect to experience...

from this historic meeting?

Fear.

What do you mean by fear?

All right now.

After I break the news, I want you

to start slowly with simple answers...

to what will certainly

be simple questions.

And if the questions become less simple?

Be yourself.

Your better self, Zira. Please?

They're ready, sir.

All right. It's time.

- Oh!

- What do they think we are, gorillas?

I'm sorry.

Oh.

That's it. Just be seated.

Uh Mr. Chairman,

members of the commission...

ladies and gentlemen...

my name is Lewis Dixon,

and I am the animal psychiatrist...

who has been in charge

of these two apes...

since they came to the Los Angeles Zoo.

My associate, Dr. Stephanie Branton,

and I...

are ready to answer your questions.

What may astonish you is that, um...

our chimpanzee friends

are ready to answer your questions too.

Not by signs,

not by looks or movements...

but by words.

Dr. Dixon, as a zoologist,

I know and respect your work...

but if you think you're gonna

turn a presidential inquiry...

into a ventriloquist's act,

I have to inform you

And I have to inform you, sir, that these two

apes have acquired the power of speech.

Come now, Doctor. You know

as well as I do their brain system...

is not developed in either

the vocal or abstract-thinking area.

Yes, sir, but I repeat that

they have the power of speech...

and it is for you gentlemen

to assess how far that power...

can be exercised intelligently.

Well, may we be told

which is the female of the species?

Did she rise as a reflex

to you having indicated her...

or in answer to my question?

That's for you to decide.

- Have you a name?

- Zira.

Certainly she can articulate...

which, in itself, is extraordinary!

Uh, but, Dr. Dixon, are we to infer

that "Zira" is her name...

or, uh, some phrase

in her own language?

Infer what you will, Mr. Chairman.

I suggest you rephrase the question.

What is your name?

Zi-ra!

One might as well

be talking to a parrot.

A parrot?

Mechanical mimicry.

Unique in an ape vocally,

without a doubt...

but, uh, does the other one talk?

Only when she lets me.

- Dr. Hasslein?

- No. Nothing.

- Mr. Chairman.

- Uh, yes?

What is the male's name, please?

- Cornelius.

- My lawfully wedded spouse.

- Wedded?

- We'll take that up later, Your Eminence.

Cornelius, do you

and your lawfully wedded spouse...

speak any language other than English?

What is English?

I speak the language taught to me

by my father and mother...

who were taught by their fathers

and mothers before them.

It has been the language of our ancestors

for nearly 2,000 years.

As to its origins, who can be sure?

The gorillas and orangutans

of our community...

believe that God created the ape

in his own image.

And that our language

Nonsense!

Cornelius, as an intellectual,

you know damned well...

the gorillas are a bunch

of militaristic nincompoops...

and the orangutans a bunch of

blinkered, pseudoscientific geese!

As to humans, I've dissect

I- I've examined thousands of them...

and until now, I've only discovered

two who could talk in my life.

God knows who taught them.

Where we come from...

apes talk.

Humans are dumb.

Where do you come from, Cornelius?

I'm not sure.

- Dr. Milo was sure.

- Oh.

Dr. Milo was a genius

well in advance of his time.

When the spacecraft

first landed on our seaboard...

it was Dr. Milo who salvaged it.

He studied it

and, uh, half understood it.

Half? Was half enough?

It was enough for us to escape

when war became inevitable.

Enough for Dr. Milo

to be murdered in your zoo.

Enough for my wife and I

to be here now.

- From where, Cornelius?

- I told you. I'm not sure.

Maybe the female knows.

Of course the female knows!

We came from your future!

That doesn't make any sense.

It's the only thing that does.

- Mr. Chairman.

- Yes?

Cornelius, you spoke of war.

- War between whom?

- The gorillas and whoever lives- lived.

- Will live.

- Who won the war?

I don't know. Chimpanzees are pacifists.

We stayed at home.

- But you left before the war had ended.

- In a spaceship.

- Which Dr. Milo learned to navigate.

- Correct.

Cornelius.

Did you know a Colonel Taylor?

No. Is he a soldier?

Look, we are peaceful creatures.

We are happy to be here.

May we be unchained?

Here they come.

Gentlemen, do you have

No. No comment. No comment.

- No comments.

- No comment. Sorry.

- General?

- Mr. Chairman!

- Mr. Chairman, a word.

- I'll give you one preposterous.

- Well, can you define that, Mr. Chairman?

- Uh, no. Just let me say this.

As head of this commission,

it will be our duty...

to sift through the facts

of this bizarre affair...

and pass our conclusions on to

the president of the United States...

for implementation.

- What a load of hugger-mugger.

- Dr. Hasslein.

- Oh, Dr. Hasslein!

- No comment. No comment, please.

How will you advise the president

to handle this unique situation?

- No comment.

- All right then, Dr. Hasslein.

Could you tell us how

you personally would handle it?

No, gentlemen. No comment... yet.

Doctor

- You were fabulous!Just wonderful!

- You were marvelous.

They loved you. All that applause.

But

there was a moment

- There was, when he started to ask us

- Zira!

- Cornelius, I think we should tell them.

- No.

- But o-only to Lewis and Stevie.

- Oh, Zira.

I have to be honest with someone.

Cornelius, please.

You tell them.

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