Classic 60s Movie: Planet of the Apes

January is Classic 60s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Mike Sweeney.

Movie Title: Planet of the Apes

Year: 1968

Writers: Rod Serling and Michael Wilson (based on the novel by Pierre Boulle)

Lead Actors: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans

Director: Franklin J. Schaffner

IMDb Plot Summary: An astronaut crew crash lands on a planet in the distant future where intelligent talking apes are the dominant species and humans are the oppressed and enslaved.

Why I Think This is a Classic ’60s Movie: Planet of the Apes came about at a time when America had moved past the post-war idyll of the 1950s and into a tumultuous period of social upheaval and questioning of authority. Co-screenwriter Rod Serling, already well known for his complex morality plays and humanist point of view, brought a healthy dose of Vietnam-era cynicism to yet another cautionary tale about man’s failure to recognize his own fallibility. Astronaut George Taylor (Charlton Heston) sees only the worst in his fellow man, saying that he has left his own planet behind with no regrets. Of course, had he known what Rod Serling had in store for him, he probably would have stayed where he was.

My Favorite Moment in the Movie: While it’s easy to pick out the iconic ending as the standout moment in the film, my personal favorite moment happens minutes before the coup de grace. It’s the moment on the beach where, at the behest of Dr. Zaius, Cornelius reads from a sacred scroll that warns of mankind’s blood lust and penchant for destruction. “He is the harbinger of death,” reads the ancient text. A pall comes over Cornelius as he recites the verse. Once sympathetic to Taylor’s plight, we now get the sense that even he is questioning man’s best intentions. It’s a chilling moment that reaffirms Taylor’s own cynical views of humanity and adds emotional resonance to the shocking final twist.

My Favorite Dialogue in the Movie:

Dr. Zaius: “You are right, I have always known about man. From the evidence, I believe his wisdom must walk hand and hand with his idiocy. His emotions must rule his brain . He must be a warlike creature who gives battle to everything around him, even himself.”

Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie: From a screenwriting perspective, Planet of the Apes is a great example of how to create a layered and complex villain. Dr. Zaius emerges as one of the more interesting antagonists in science fiction film. In his world, religion and science are not mutually exclusive, so long as they both serve his need to prove ape’s dominance over man. On the religious side, he affirms the sacred scriptures of the Lawgiver to back up his assertions that there is no such thing as an intelligent human, going so far as to suppress or destroy any evidence to the contrary. On the surface, this might make him seem like just another fanatic, but there is method in his madness. His constant need to dominate the scientific and theological arenas is not driven by a selfish desire for personal gain but rather to preserve what he sees as a fragile society that is susceptible to collapse.

Zaius believes that ape civilization can only survive through order, discipline, and an unquestioning respect for authority, a perilous thought indeed to audiences of the prevailing counterculture. He views mankind as a nuisance, a parasite that ravages the land, driven by arrogance and a tendency toward self-destruction. Taylor writes off these admonitions as the ravings of an extremist, but soon comes to see that Zaius was right all along. In the film’s legendary climax, with the Statue of Liberty looming over the beach like a desiccated colossus, Taylor learns the hard way that mankind’s destruction was always inevitable. As an audience, we realize that Zaius wanted him to find it, if only to prove his point that a lack of order and control will always lead to annihilation. For all his bluster and pomposity, Zaius is driven by his need to safeguard his own species. He wants them to learn from mankind’s mistakes and not repeat them. In this respect, he’s more than just a mustache-twirling heavy. He’s a dark father figure fighting for the survival of his children. Though we may not sympathize with his methods, we can still understand his motivations.

As with all of Rod Serling’s work, it leaves us with something to think about, something to learn, and hopefully the desire to better ourselves in some small way, lest we become the maniacs who blow it all up.

Thanks, Mike! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!

Twitter: @Courier12.

We already have a set of classic 70s movies, 80s Movies and 90s Movies. This month, we’re working on 60s Movies.

We have 32 volunteers. I have put in bold those who have already sent their guest post to me.

Ipsita Barik — Rosemary’s Baby
Ipsita Barik — Bonnie and Clyde
Mike Dobbins — The Sound of Music
Brandnewusedcar — Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Markham Cook — Jules et Jim
Steve Cook — The Blue Max
JasperLamarCrab — 2001: A Space Odyssey
N D — Lonely are the Brave
Drew Dorenfest — Easy Rider
Rick Dyke — Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Rick Dyke — Fail Safe
Felicity Flesher — The Music Man
PaulG — Lawrence of Arabia
D.L. Gill — Zulu
Jeff Guenther — Cool Hand Luke
Kate Hagen — Repulsion
John Henderson — Night of the Living Dead
John Henderson — The Odd Couple
John Hörnschemeyer — The Graduate
Zach Jansen — They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
Will King — The Pink Panther
William Leitch — If…
Lisaisfunny — Blow Up
Jack McDonald — Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Nick — Lonely are the Brave
Daryl Powell — The Apartment
jprichard — Persona
Ally Shina — The Jungle Book
Mike Sweeney — Planet of the Apes
Mark Twain — The Loved One
Liz Warner — The Manchurian Candidate
Michael Waters — Dr. No

For those who have signed up, but have yet to email me your post, please do so ASAP.

Thanks in advance!

For the original post explaining the series, go here.

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