Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)

Director:

Don Taylor

Writers:

Paul Dehn (written by)
Pierre Boulle (characters creator)

Release Date:

21 May 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Meet baby Milo who has Washington terrified.

Plot:

The world is shocked by the appearance of two talking chimpanzees, who arrived mysteriously in a U.S. spacecraft. They become the toast of society; but one man believes them to be a threat to the human race.

Plot Keywords:

Ape | Future | Spacecraft | Chimpanzee | Planet Of The Apes

Cast

Roddy McDowall	...	Cornelius
Kim Hunter	...	Zira
Bradford Dillman	...	Dr. Lewis Dixon
Natalie Trundy	...	Dr. Stephanie Branton
Eric Braeden	...	Dr. Otto Hasslein
William Windom	...	The President
Sal Mineo	...	Milo
Albert Salmi	...	E-1
Jason Evers	...	E-2
John Randolph	...	Chairman
Harry Lauter	...	General Winthrop
M. Emmet Walsh	...	Aide
Roy Glenn	...	Lawyer (as Roy E. Glenn, Sr.)
Peter Forster	...	Cardinal
Norman Burton	...	Army Officer
William Woodson	...	Naval Officer
Tom Lowell	...	Orderly
Gene Whittington	...	Marine Captain
Donald Elson	...	Curator
Bill Bonds	...	TV Newscaster
Army Archerd	...	Referee
James Bacon	...	General Faulkner
Ricardo Montalban	...	Armando
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Paul Bradley	...	(unconfirmed)
John Alderman	...	Marine Corporal (uncredited)
Walker Edmiston	...	Talking Baby Chimp (voice) (uncredited)
James W. Gavin	...	Helicopter Pilot (uncredited)
Joe Gray	...	Bodyguard (uncredited)
Robert Gunner	...	Landon (archive footage) (uncredited)
Robert Nichols	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Janos Prohaska	...	Heloise (uncredited)
Stephen Roberts	...	General Brody (uncredited)
James Sikking	...	Control Room Officer (uncredited)

Directed by
Don Taylor

Writing credits
Paul Dehn		(written by)
Pierre Boulle		(characters creator)

Produced by
Frank Capra Jr.	....	associate producer
Arthur P. Jacobs	....	producer

Original Music by
Jerry Goldsmith

Cinematography by
Joseph F. Biroc		(as Joseph Biroc)

Film Editing by
Marion Rothman

Art Direction by
William J. Creber		(as William Creber)
Jack Martin Smith

Set Decoration by
Stuart A. Reiss
Walter M. Scott

Makeup Department
Mary Babcock	....	hair stylist
Jack Barron	....	makeup artist
John Chambers	....	creative makeup design
Daniel C. Striepeke	....	makeup supervisor (as Dan Striepeke)
Verne Langdon	....	special makeup effects artist (uncredited)
Jan Van Uchelen	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
Francisco Day	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pepi Lenzi	....	assistant director

Art Department
Bill Sully	....	art illustrator

Sound Department
Theodore Soderberg	....	sound
Dean Vernon	....	sound
Raul A. Bruce	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Special Effects by
L.B. Abbott	....	special photographic effects (uncredited)
Howard A. Anderson	....	special photographic effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Jerry Brutsche	....	stunt performer (uncredited)
James W. Gavin	....	aerial stunts (uncredited)

Music Department
Arthur Morton	....	orchestrator
Bob Bain	....	musician: guitar (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Chris Haynes	....	driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Jack Hirshberg	....	unit publicist
Roy Kabat	....	animals furnished by

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (presents) (as Twentieth Century-Fox)
• APJAC Productions (produced by) (as APJAC Productions, Inc.)

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1971) (USA) (theatrical) (released by) (as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.)
• 20th Century Fox (1971) (France) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Japan (2001) (Japan) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (1999) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Abril Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1973) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Playhouse Home Video (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Howard A. Anderson Company (special photographic effects)

Also Known As:

Secret of the Planet of the Apes (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:PG (TV rating) | Brazil:Livre | Australia:M | Finland:K-11 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-12 (original rating) | Norway:12 (1972) | Sweden:11 | UK:PG (video rating: 1987) | UK:U (original rating) | USA:G | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The film's villain, Dr. Hasslein, had been briefly mentioned at the beginnings of Planet of the Apes (1968) and Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970).

Goofs:

Continuity: During the "multiphasic" test, the position on the blocks shift between shots even when the vet isn't jumbling them.

Quotes:

Cornelius: If we are caught, we will almost certainly be killed. Please give us the opportunity... to kill ourselves?
Dr. Lewis Dixon: I shouldn't do this, but I guessed you'd ask.
[Dr. Dixon hands Cornelius a gun]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: (#22.9)" (1999)

A Film in its Own Right, Not Just a Sequel

After "Planet of the Apes" was completed, its star, Charlton Heston, argued strongly that there should not be a sequel. The original film was complete in itself, and any sequel would only dilute its impact and tarnish its reputation. In the event, a sequel was made and Heston was reluctantly persuaded to appear in it. He suggested, however, that it should end with the destruction of the Earth, a denouement that, he hoped, would put paid to any attempt to extend the series beyond two films.

In one respect Heston was to be proved right. "Planet of the Apes" is a classic, one of the best science-fiction movies ever made and one that combines an exciting plot with philosophical depth. It is frequently said that sequels are generally inferior to the original films, but seldom is this is as true as in the case of "Beneath the Planet of the Apes", a hopeless mess of a film. Neither its lack of artistic merit, however, nor its explosive ending dissuaded the filmmakers from making a third "Apes" film. An ingenious device was found to avoid the problems posed by planetary destruction; it is explained that shortly before the Earth was destroyed three of the apes found the wreckage of Taylor's spacecraft, repaired it and used it to travel back in time to 1970s America.

Although one of the apes is killed in an unfortunate incident shortly after arrival, the American public take to the two survivors, Cornelius and his wife Zira (both of whom played important parts in the first two films). The two intelligent, talking chimpanzees become media celebrities, and the early scenes are much lighter in tone than the two earlier films, at times even comic, as the two apes become after-dinner speakers and discover the joys of alcohol. The tone, however, gradually darkens. Figures in the government become alarmed by talk of a future in which men are dominated by apes, and Dr Hasslein, the President's sinister Germanic adviser, (based on Henry Kissinger?) is convinced that Zira and Cornelius represent a threat to the human race, especially after it is discovered that Zira is pregnant.

My disappointment with "Beneath...." had hitherto dissuaded me from watching any more of the later episodes in the "Apes" canon, so I was pleasantly surprised by "Escape.......". Although it lacks the depth and brilliance of "Planet of the Apes", it is considerably better than its immediate predecessor. The reason for its relative success lies with the fine contributions of its two stars, Roddy McDowell and Kim Hunter. Their characters played important supporting roles on the original film; here they take centre stage. The original had Heston's character Taylor at its centre, a human in danger from the apes. In "Escape......" the roles are reversed, with two lovable, and deeply human, apes in danger from humans. There is, however, a difference between the two films. The danger to Taylor came largely from ignorance; the apes, particularly Dr Zaius, saw him as a brute beast, like the other humans of their planet, and refused to listen to the evidence that suggested that he was, in fact, an intelligent being like themselves. Cornelius and Zira are in danger because of both their human and their non-human characteristics. Hasslein knows that they are intelligent beings who seem human and yet are not, and hates and fears them for precisely that reason. Just as they pitied and befriended Taylor, so they are in their turn befriended by two human scientists who try and save them from Hasslein.

There are a couple of inconsistencies between this and the earlier films, where the apes' society is shown as being technologically less advanced than ours, on a par with sixteenth or seventeenth century Europe. It is not explained how individuals from such a society could have succeeded in repairing and operating a spacecraft. Another inconsistency is that Cornelius and Zira know how the apes came to seize control of the Earth from humans and even state that this story is told in the Sacred Scrolls, the holy books of the apes' religion. In "Planet of the Apes" we are to understand that the Scrolls explicitly deny that humans ever had the powers of speech and reason, which is why Zaius is so reluctant to admit that Taylor can speak. These inconsistencies, however, are not really plot-holes as such and are unlikely to worry those who come to "Escape......." without having seen its predecessors. "Escape......." can be seen as a film in its own right rather than as a mere sequel, a film which starts out as a comedy and then turns into a serious thriller as the apes try to escape from their human enemies. Although it is less philosophical than the first film, it can perhaps be seen as an allegory of racism as Hasslein's paranoia leads him to treat as enemies those who bear no ill-will to him and his kind and whose only crime is to be different from him. It is significant that his name is derived from the German for "hate". 6/10