Planet of the Apes Page #18

CORNELIUS:

(pointing)

It was at this level I discovered traces

of an early ape creature -- stage of

primitive barbarism, really -- dating back

roughly thirteen hundred years. It was here

I found cutting tools and arrowheads of

quartz and the fossilized bones of

carnivorous gorillas.

CAMERA (ON BOOM) MOVES IN SLOWLY as Cornelius continues:

CORNELIUS:

But the artifacts lying at your feet

were found here, at this level. And

that's the paradox. The more ancient

culture is the more advanced. Admittedly,

many of these objects are unidentified,

but clearly they were fashioned by beings

with a knowledge of metallurgy.

CAMERA KEEPS MOVING IN on the group in and around the excavation as

Cornelius continues:

CORNELIUS:

Indeed, the very fact that these tools

are unknown to us could suggest a culture

in certain ways almost equal to our own.

Some of the evidence is uncontestable ...

ZAIUS:

(interrupting)

Don't speak to me in absolutes. The

evidence is contestable.

CORNELIUS:

I apologize.

ZAIUS:

To begin with, your methods of dating

the past are crude, to say the least. There

are geologists on my staff who would laugh at

your speculations.

TAYLOR:

Perhaps that's why they're on your staff.

Zaius flicks a hostile glance at Taylor, then looks down at the

artifacts. He nudges them with his foot.

ZAIUS:

Secondly, if these 'tools' as you call

them, are unidentified, why are they

introduced as 'evidence' of anything?

ZIRA:

(promptly)

But there's the doll, sir.

ZAIUS:

What?

CORNELIUS:

(pointing)

Right there. The human doll.

Zaius deigns to stoop and pick it up.

359CLOSE ON DOLL - IN ZAIUS' HAND

It is only a porcelain fragment, but the head is intact, and it is

unmistakably the form of a human child.

ZAIUS:

What does this prove? My grand-

daughter plays with human dolls.

360FULL SHOT - THE EXCAVATION - INCLUDING TAYLOR

Exasperated, Zira turns to the man for confirmation.

ZIRA:

Taylor! Tell him.

TAYLOR:

He has a point. On my planet children

often play with ape dolls.

Zaius idly tosses the doll to the ground near Nova. She picks it up,

studies it.

361GROUP SHOT - THE THREE APES

Cornelius tries again.

CORNELIUS:

A doll alone proves nothing. True. But

the doll was found beside the jawbone

of a man -- and no trace of simian fossils

has turned up in this deposit.

ZAIUS:

Your conclusion is premature. Have you

forgotten your Scripture? The Thirteenth

Scroll?

(quoting from memory)

'And Proteus brought the upright beast

into the garden, and chained him to a tree,

and the children made sport of him.'

CORNELIUS:

(impatiently)

No sir, I haven't forgotten.

ZAIUS:

Well? For a time the ancients kept humans

as household pets.Until the Lawgiver

proved that man could not be tamed. Keep

digging Cornelius. You'll find evidence of

the master of this house: an ape.

A-361ANOTHER ANGLE - TO INCLUDE TAYLOR AND NOVA

As Zira again appeals to the man.

ZIRA:

Are you going to let that pass without

an answer?

Taylor, who has been toying with objects in the dirt, looks up.

TAYLOR:

Yes. I have to agree. From all you've

found so far, his position's as good as

yours.

CORNELIUS:

(annoyed)

What are you doing there?

TAYLOR:

Reconstructing a life. Care to have a

look?

Cornelius and Zira cross the pit and Zaius walks around the rim of the

excavation.

B-361MED. CLOSE SHOT - FAVORING TAYLOR AND NOVA

As the apes come close. A number of artifacts have been arranged in

front of Taylor.

TAYLOR:

(to Cornelius)

These were found near the human doll,

right?

(Cornelius nods)

Well, whoever owned them was in pretty

bad shape.

He picks up the twisted fragment of a pair of spectacles.

TAYLOR:

Defective eyesight..

As Taylor continues his monologue, he picks up the other objects one by

one.

TAYLOR:

He wore false teeth.

(pause)

He suffered from a hernia and used

this truss to hold up his insides ...

(pause)

And toward the end, these little rings

of stainless steel enclosed a prefab-

ricated valve in his failing heart.

Taylor pauses. Zaius picks up two of the steel rings, studies them.

TAYLOR:

I don't say he was a man like an Earthman,

but I'd call him a close relative, for

he was plagued by most of man's ills.

(to Zaius pointedly)

Yet, fragile as he was, he came before you

-- and was superior to you.

ZAIUS:

(a calm smile)

That's lunacy. I can give an alternate

description for everyone of those objects

that's equally as inventive as yours. But

it would be conjecture, not proof.

362WIDER ANGLE - TO INCLUDE TAYLOR AND NOVA

She is poking her finger inside the decapitated head of the doll. From

it comes a distorted SOUND.

DOLL'S HEAD

Mamma! Mamma! Mamma!.

The apes stare at the doll in astonishment. Taylor snatches the doll

from Nova, brandishes it at the astonished Zaius.

TAYLOR:

Dr. Zaius! Would an ape make a human

doll that talks?

Zaius looks at him, speechless. At that moment the CRACK of a distant

rifle shot reverberates through the cavern. All present freeze,

listening.

ZIRA:

Lucius....

363-

364OUT

365FULL SHOT - THE CAVERN - REVERSE ANGLE

Taylor alone is armed. Raising his rifle, he glowers at Zaius.

TAYLOR:

You louse!

Cornelius is already crossing the pit. He climbs out arid races toward

the mouth of the cave. Taylor runs after him. Zira and Nova hurry after

Taylor.

366MED. SHOT - ZAIUS

Expressionless, he looks down at the doll, then moves toward the mouth

of the cave.

367EXT. TRAIL FROM CAVE TO CAMP - ANGLING UP

Cornelius emerges from mouth of the cave and runs down the trail toward

CAMERA. He halts in f.g., looking down at:

368THE CAMP SITE - AS SEEN FROM THE TRAIL

Two of Zaius' gorillas have disarmed Lucius and are clubbing him with

their rifle butts. Two other mounted apes are driving the scientists'

horses back beyond the trees.

369EXT. THE TRAIL - AS SEEN FROM THE BEACH

Cornelius, Taylor, Nova and Zira (in that order) can be seen high

above, descending the trail. CAMERA PULLS BACK TO DISCLOSE A GORILLA

SNIPER in immediate f.g., crouching behind a boulder near the water. He

sights his rifle at the man on the trail. Taylor is still too distant

to make a sure target, and so the sniper waits.

370CLOSER ANGLE - TAYLOR ON THE TRAIL

This portion of the trail has no cover or concealment. Unaware of the

sniper, Taylor looks down at the camp as he makes his descent.

371LONG SHOT - TAYLOR - AS SEEN IN THE SNIPER'S SIGHTS

The gorilla fires.

372CLOSE SHOT - TAYLOR

The bullet ricochets off the rock wall a foot above his head. Taylor

scans the terrain bewlow, looking for the sniper. Nova comes to his

side, pointing at:

373THE SNIPER - FROM THEIR P.O.V.

His head is visible behind the boulder as he reloads his piece.

374FLASH SHOT

He aims and fires.

375FLASH SHOT - THE SNIPER

Taylor has missed him, but the sniper ducks behind the boulder.

376THE TRAIL - PANNING WITH TAYLOR AND NOVA

Taylor takes her hand and they race back up the trail to where Zira is

standing. Outcroppings of rock offer some cover here. Taylor pushes

Nova down behind a rock and signals for Zira to follow suit.

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