Post by B5Erik on Aug 9, 2015 15:17:59 GMT
You can thank Arthur P. Jacobs for the Planet of the Apes movies.
He optioned the Pierre Boulle novel, Monkey Planet, in 1963. Jacobs loved the concept and was convinced that it would make for a great, and completely new and original, movie. Boulle thought the novel was his worst work, but Jacobs saw the cinematic potential of the story. Most studios didn't believe in the concept, and didn't think it would be possible to convincingly present the talking apes. Jacobs found the project a tough sell despite putting together a promotional package that included among it's 130 or so pages dozens of paintings and sketches to show the visual ideas he had for the movie. Jacobs had worked in public relations, and he knew the how to sell a star or a project. Still, he found no studio executives who would be willing to take a chance on such an outlandish project.
Until he talked with Richard Zanuck, the head of 20th Century Fox, about it. Zanuck saw the possibilities, and liked the idea - but he needed to see that it was actually feasible to film the apes. Could convincing make-up be created?
Jacobs produced a screen test starring James Brolin and Edward G. Robinson to show that it could be done. The make-up was crude and looked more human than ape - but it did show that the concept could work. With further refinements to the make-up they could actually hire actors to convincingly play apes. Zanuck greenlit the project and gave Jacobs a significant budget - but not enough to match the level of technology the apes had in the original novel. So the apes were presented at a lower level of technology, which actually served the movie well. It created a more unique look and atmosphere. Budget limitations may have actually made the movie better.
Make-up artist John Chambers came up with the make-up designs and the techniques used to bring them to life. His work was revolutionary, and still stands as some of the finest prosthetic make-up work in the history of filmmaking.
Charlton Heston, already a legendary figure in Hollywood, didn't like the novel, but he loved the potential for a great movie, and he signed on. Edward G. Robinson had been signed to play Dr. Zaius, but the screen test for the make-up proved difficult for him due to health issues, so he dropped out of the project. A fantastic cast signed on to the movie, including Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, and James Whitmore, giving the movie a credibility that would be needed to sell the public on the concept of a planet of talking apes. Then Franklin Schaffner was hired to direct, and a better choice could not have been made. Schaffner recognized that standard filming techniques would not be sufficient to successfully present a planet of intelligent, talking apes, so he used odd camera angles and camera movement that would give the movie something of an other-worldly feel.
Schaffner would be working from a script written by Michael Wilson, who had taken scripts written by Twilight Zone legend Rod Serling (Serling was the first writer commissioned by Arthur Jacobs to translate Boulle's novel to a screenplay) and made several changes, including new dialogue, a new ending, and several new scenes. Wilson had to take out the use of automobiles and aircraft by the apes due to the budget limitations. Wilson's final script is an absolute classic, and gave Schaffner the foundation for a great movie.
The final piece of the puzzle would come in the form of the musical score. Composer Jerry Goldsmith was hired to create the score for the movie, but he, too, recognized that standard operating procedure wouldn't be sufficient. He came up with a score that featured odd sounds, odd melodies, and sudden dynamic shifts. It was a score that sounded like it had been written by highly intelligent apes. It was perfect for the movie, and absolutely revolutionary. It set the tone and the mood in the movie in such a manner as to help make the concept even more convincing.
The end result was one of the greatest movies of all time. A unique, somewhat bizarre, concept, a fantastic screenplay, great direction, outstanding performances from the actors, and a sense of visual flair that hadn't been seen to that point. And it was a hit. A huge hit. And, again ahead of it's time, the first Apes movie spawned sequels. A whole movie series - five movies in all. In the 1930's and 1940's it was common to have 'B' Movie series (before television) where you would have two to four movies per year in a particular series. But they were designed to be series, whereas Planet of the Apes was not. However, Jacobs recognized the lush new cinematic world he had helped create lent itself to multiple stories, so he immediately had a sequel approved and put into motion.
The only problem was they didn't have a story...
He optioned the Pierre Boulle novel, Monkey Planet, in 1963. Jacobs loved the concept and was convinced that it would make for a great, and completely new and original, movie. Boulle thought the novel was his worst work, but Jacobs saw the cinematic potential of the story. Most studios didn't believe in the concept, and didn't think it would be possible to convincingly present the talking apes. Jacobs found the project a tough sell despite putting together a promotional package that included among it's 130 or so pages dozens of paintings and sketches to show the visual ideas he had for the movie. Jacobs had worked in public relations, and he knew the how to sell a star or a project. Still, he found no studio executives who would be willing to take a chance on such an outlandish project.
Until he talked with Richard Zanuck, the head of 20th Century Fox, about it. Zanuck saw the possibilities, and liked the idea - but he needed to see that it was actually feasible to film the apes. Could convincing make-up be created?
Jacobs produced a screen test starring James Brolin and Edward G. Robinson to show that it could be done. The make-up was crude and looked more human than ape - but it did show that the concept could work. With further refinements to the make-up they could actually hire actors to convincingly play apes. Zanuck greenlit the project and gave Jacobs a significant budget - but not enough to match the level of technology the apes had in the original novel. So the apes were presented at a lower level of technology, which actually served the movie well. It created a more unique look and atmosphere. Budget limitations may have actually made the movie better.
Make-up artist John Chambers came up with the make-up designs and the techniques used to bring them to life. His work was revolutionary, and still stands as some of the finest prosthetic make-up work in the history of filmmaking.
Charlton Heston, already a legendary figure in Hollywood, didn't like the novel, but he loved the potential for a great movie, and he signed on. Edward G. Robinson had been signed to play Dr. Zaius, but the screen test for the make-up proved difficult for him due to health issues, so he dropped out of the project. A fantastic cast signed on to the movie, including Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, and James Whitmore, giving the movie a credibility that would be needed to sell the public on the concept of a planet of talking apes. Then Franklin Schaffner was hired to direct, and a better choice could not have been made. Schaffner recognized that standard filming techniques would not be sufficient to successfully present a planet of intelligent, talking apes, so he used odd camera angles and camera movement that would give the movie something of an other-worldly feel.
Schaffner would be working from a script written by Michael Wilson, who had taken scripts written by Twilight Zone legend Rod Serling (Serling was the first writer commissioned by Arthur Jacobs to translate Boulle's novel to a screenplay) and made several changes, including new dialogue, a new ending, and several new scenes. Wilson had to take out the use of automobiles and aircraft by the apes due to the budget limitations. Wilson's final script is an absolute classic, and gave Schaffner the foundation for a great movie.
The final piece of the puzzle would come in the form of the musical score. Composer Jerry Goldsmith was hired to create the score for the movie, but he, too, recognized that standard operating procedure wouldn't be sufficient. He came up with a score that featured odd sounds, odd melodies, and sudden dynamic shifts. It was a score that sounded like it had been written by highly intelligent apes. It was perfect for the movie, and absolutely revolutionary. It set the tone and the mood in the movie in such a manner as to help make the concept even more convincing.
The end result was one of the greatest movies of all time. A unique, somewhat bizarre, concept, a fantastic screenplay, great direction, outstanding performances from the actors, and a sense of visual flair that hadn't been seen to that point. And it was a hit. A huge hit. And, again ahead of it's time, the first Apes movie spawned sequels. A whole movie series - five movies in all. In the 1930's and 1940's it was common to have 'B' Movie series (before television) where you would have two to four movies per year in a particular series. But they were designed to be series, whereas Planet of the Apes was not. However, Jacobs recognized the lush new cinematic world he had helped create lent itself to multiple stories, so he immediately had a sequel approved and put into motion.
The only problem was they didn't have a story...
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