The Classics Corner: "Planet of the Apes"
Tuesday, June 10, 2008 at 2:24PM | By Rachel Thuro 
Release year: 1968
The players: Director: Franklin J. Schaffner, Writers: Michael Wilson, Rod Sterlin, Cast: Charlton Heston, Kim Hunter, Roddy McDowall, Maurice Evans, Linda Harrison
The plot: An astronaut from Earth crashes on a strange planet where apes are the more supreme beings and humans are hunted, experimented on and traded as slaves.
Modern thoughts on a classic movie: The original “Planet of the Apes” is very dated. It screams “1968” to the modern viewer, but the film possesses several elements that keep the dated quality from overtaking the experience entirely.
The makeup is quite good for the time - so good in fact that it received an honorary Academy Award when a makeup category didn’t exist yet. It may seem comical at first, but it does not hinder the film in any way. Viewers soon tend to forget that a real person is underneath all that fur. The set design is a bit dull, but a majority of the production budget went to makeup, so this is entirely understandable. These things must be taken into consideration after all.
The story, as a whole, is certainly intriguing enough. Though it tends to drag in parts, it's fairly well-paced for a film in which not a lot of action takes place. And the iconic twist ending speaks volumes about human society, and can be interpreted on several levels.
Supporting actors Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter turn in fantastic performances as two apes trying to help the astronaut escape, because they see something special about him. In fact, their characters Cornelius and Zira are the easiest to relate to and feel for. This also lead to the movie's real problem: Charlton Heston.
Heston kills this film. His acting is so over the top and one-dimensional, and his character comes across as a self-righteous jerk. All the actors adorned with ape suits are by far more fascinating than Heston’s leading man. And if you fail to care about your hero, caring about the movie as a whole isn't that easy either. It will forever remain a mystery what they could have achieved with a better actor in the lead.
The final word: Though the movie is very dated and Heston’s acting is abysmal, a modern viewer can still survive it much more easily than the unforgivable remake Tim Burton unleashed on unsuspecting audiences 33 years later, but that’s another story. When choosing the lesser of two evils, the original “Planet of the Apes” is the way to go.
Article by Rachel Thuro
Reader Comments (6)
You are so right.. I rewatched this movie last night for the tenth time at least... and Heston's acting is so bad. Was he ever a good actor ?
I posed that same question on my personal blog the other day Fred, and I have yet to get a positive answer. My guess is no.
I saw the original, then the Tim Burton's version and then the sequel of the original version (Beneath the planet of the Apes)
I still go for the original versions, they're darker and the theme "the stupidity of mankind" is still actual.
Maybe they're a dated to some viewers but Burton' version will also be some day.
Charlton Heston could be Schwarzenegger's uncle, especially in the beginning of the Planet of the Apes (1968) when his character was smoking a cigar.
Charlton Heston's acting here is what I would call astounding. This includes the first and second film. I've heard that he did this film against the wishes of some his advisors. He wanted to do this film because he wanted to do something different from the parts that he had been doing.
On the contrary to the other comments I read on his acting ability, his acting carried this film. I don't know what planet those other people making those negative comments of Heston are from, maybe the planet of the apes!
James Stecker (Temple University - School of Radio, Television and Film graduate 1991 - Philadelphia)
I second James on the subject of Heston's acting. How to measure it? Provided you are content with the dialogue, I find it hard to imagine any of his contemporaries, and certainly not anyone of the subsequent generations, pulling off the same lines. This is even though my favourite actors, in terms of number of different movies sought out and seen, are Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. I can't see either of those two pulling off the classic lines, "Take your stinking paws off me, etc.", and "It's a madhouse! A maaadhouse!". These and the final lines are probably the most memorable in cinema for me.
The make-up and sets I find no more dated than the shark in "Jaws". They are good enough. Will anyone ever be able to convince an audience that apes can talk?
As for the plot, even though it's predicated on the false concept of a nuclear winter, it's a winner in my view - and an improvement on the original novel. The whole point about the character of Taylor, as I see it, is that he has abandoned Earth because he despairs of humanity's ability to transcend its inherent concupiscence. Then, through the apes' oppression of the mute humans, he finds himself acting as our champion. Finally, it all goes pear-shaped again, when he realises where he has landed.
For those doubting Heston's ability, I can also recommend his debut movie, the film noir, "Dark City".
Heston is THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!