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Numerous classic films that have been canonized more for their historical import than their long-lasting merits. One such example of this phenomenon is Planet of the Apes, one of Charlton Heston’s many jaundiced, deeply cynical science-fiction action-adventure films which try extra hard to work as deep political allegories. Apes fares better than many of those films, but it still suffers from numerous problems that leave it just missing the unimpeachable classic mark.
With numerous sequels, remakes, and a currently popular rebooted franchise in theaters, does one really need to summarize or explain the basic plot of Planet of the Apes? Scientists on a space mission in 1972 crash land on a foreign planet and learn that the year is 3978. Upright talking apes run the planet, humans are enslaved and largely mute creatures reverted down to a feral state, Heston can only look on at the madness and rage against it. The writers use this topsy-turvy world to explore issues of science versus religion, race relations, and man’s confusion over technological progression and destruction.
None of it is particularly subtle, much of it boldly stated and with clunky dialog, cardboard thin characters, and uneven pacing that has the film oscillate between intriguing setups and long passages of awkward doldrums. Far too much of the film is eaten up by these moments in which the human characters stare soulfully into the barren, harsh landscape, or give vaguely meaningful looks to each other while their ape masters coldly treat them like test subjects or decorations. This wouldn’t be a problem if any of the human characters were even remotely interesting, but none of them are. Linda Harrison is nothing but pin-up mute babe material in a fur bikini, while Heston must contort and grimace with wild abandon, demanding answers for this strange world order and its secrets.
Far better are the three main ape characters – kindly Zira (Kim Hunter), sympathetic Cornelius (Roddy McDowell), and villainous Zaius (Maurice Evans). Emoting as best they can through Justin Chambers’s makeup, the three of them make the most lasting impression in the film, the ending image notwithstanding. Chambers makeup is another aspect of the film that gives it greater weight than it might otherwise deserve. To be blunt – it doesn’t hold up as well it should. For the time, this was a big bang, a huge evolutionary leap forward in the art of special effects makeup, but seen today these designs appear clunky, barely mobile, and like they were from the same mold. Facially, despite being different species of apes, none of them appears to be radically different from each other, only when you add in costuming and the voices of the various actors do their personalities come alive.
Yet Hunter, McDowell, and Evans seem to realize that there’s a certain amount of camp to the proceedings and go from there. Evans in particular seems to have great pride and relish in the opportunity to swing wide with his characterization. Hunter was an underrated actress, watch The 7th Victim or her Oscar winning work in A Streetcar Named Desire for proof, who was blacklisted and didn’t get the film opportunities her talents deserved. Here she manages to emote the strongest through the makeup, frequently appearing to be empathetic to Heston’s plight and the most intellectually curious about him. McDowell makes a lasting impact for his peculiar vocal presence alone, combined with his moral conflict over what to do about this strange talking human.
In many instances, Planet of the Apes feels like a two hour long episode of The Twilight Zone, for good and bad. It’s a strong premise, and frequently manages to craft movie magic with its pop culture landmark moments and strong performances, but the script never feels the need to make the characters more compelling or the dialog smoother. Yet none of this matters when we get to the ending scene, a moment so infamous that I’m not even sure there are people out there who don’t know what it is, whether or not they’ve even seen the film. If an ending can make or break a movie, then Apes stuck a difficult landing and got the gold despite its faults in performance up to this moment. I still think the film is a classic, but it’s not a masterpiece.
