Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
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''Conquest of the Planet of the Apes'' is a 1972 American
science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...
directed by J. Lee Thompson and written by
Paul Dehn Paul Edward Dehn (pronounced "Dain"; 5 November 1912 – 30 September 1976) was a British screenwriter, best known for '' Goldfinger'', '' The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'', ''Planet of the Apes'' sequels and ''Murder on the Orient Express''. ...
. It is the fourth of five films in the original ''
Planet of the Apes ''Planet of the Apes'' is an American science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a world in which humans and intelligent apes clash for control. The franchise is based on Frenc ...
'' series produced by
Arthur P. Jacobs Arthur P. Jacobs (March 7, 1922 – June 27, 1973) was a press agent turned film producer responsible for such films in the 1960s and 1970s as the ''Planet of the Apes'' series, ''Doctor Dolittle'', ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'', '' Play It Again, Sam'' ...
. The film stars
Roddy McDowall Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 4 October 1998) was a British actor, photographer and film director. He began his acting career as a child in England, and then in the United States, in ''How Green Was My Valley'' (1 ...
,
Don Murray Don Murray may refer to: * Don Murray (actor) (1929–2024), American actor * Don Murray (clarinetist) (1904–1929), American jazz musician * Don Murray (drummer) (1945–1996), American drummer and aminator * Don Murray (footballer) Donald Ja ...
and Ricardo Montalbán. It explores how the apes rebelled from humanity's ill treatment following '' Escape from the Planet of the Apes'' (1971). It was followed by '' Battle for the Planet of the Apes'' (1973). The first film in the 2010s reboot series, '' Rise of the Planet of the Apes'' (2011), has a similar premise to ''Conquest'', but it is not officially a remake.


Plot

Following a North American
pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...
from a space-borne disease that wiped out all dogs and cats in 1983, the government has become a series of police states that took apes as pets before establishing a culture based on ape slave labor. These events were foretold in 1973 as testimony by two chimpanzee scientists, Cornelius and Zira, before being killed. Widely believed to be dead, their baby was secretly raised by the circus owner
Armando Armando may refer to: * Armando (given name) * Armando (artist) (1929–2018), the name used by Dutch artist Herman Dirk van Dodeweerd * Armando (producer) Armando Gallop (sometimes written as Armando Gallup) (February 12, 1970 – December 17, ...
as a young horseback rider. In 1991, now fully grown and named
Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...
, the ape is brought to one of the cities to distribute flyers for Armandos's circus. During their trip, Armando advises Caesar not to speak in public for fear of his life. After seeing a gorilla being beaten and drugged, Caesar shouts out "lousy human bastards!". Armando difuses the ensuing commotion by taking responsibility for the exclamation. He plans to turn himself in to the authorities and bluff his way out while instructing Caesar to hide among the apes for safety. Caesar obeys and hides in a cage of orangutans, finding himself being trained for slavery through violent conditioning. He is then sold at auction to Governor Breck. Caesar is then put to work by Breck's chief aide MacDonald, whose African American heritage allows him to sympathize with the apes to the disgust of his boss. Meanwhile, Armando is interrogated by Inspector Kolp, who suspects his "circus ape" is the child of Cornelius and Zira. Kolp's assistant puts Armando under a machine that psychologically forces people to be truthful. Realizing he cannot fight the machine, Armando jumps through a window and dies. When Caesar learns of Armando's death, he loses faith in human kindness. In secret, he begins teaching the apes combat and has them gather weapons. Unfortunately, Breck eventually learns that Caesar is the ape the police are hunting. Meanwhile, Caesar realizes MacDonald is an ally to the apes' cause and reveals himself to him. MacDonald understands Caesar's intent to depose Breck,but expresses his doubts about the revolution's effectiveness. Caesar is later captured by Breck's men and is electrically tortured into speaking. Hearing him speak, Breck orders Caesar to be killed. With McDonald's help, the heroes manage to trick Breck into believing Caesar died. Once Breck leaves, Caesar kills his torturer and escapes. To build his numbers, Caesar takes over Ape Management. While setting the city on fire, Caesar and the rest of the apes proceed to the command center, killing most of the riot police that attempt to stop them in the process. After succeeding in this, Caesar has Breck marched out to be executed. MacDonald attempts to plea Caesar not to succumb to brutality and be merciful to the former masters. Caesar ignores him, deciding to dedicate his life to man's downfall. In the theatrical cut, as the apes raise their rifles to beat Breck to death, Caesar's girlfriend Lisa voices her objection, shouting "No!". She is the first ape to speak other than Caesar. Caesar reconsiders and orders the apes to lower their weapons, deciding that, after their recent victory, they can afford to be humane.


Cast

*
Roddy McDowall Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 4 October 1998) was a British actor, photographer and film director. He began his acting career as a child in England, and then in the United States, in ''How Green Was My Valley'' (1 ...
as
Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...
*
Don Murray Don Murray may refer to: * Don Murray (actor) (1929–2024), American actor * Don Murray (clarinetist) (1904–1929), American jazz musician * Don Murray (drummer) (1945–1996), American drummer and aminator * Don Murray (footballer) Donald Ja ...
as Governor Breck * Ricardo Montalban as Armando *
Natalie Trundy Natalie Trundy (born Natalie Trundy Campagna, August 5, 1940 – December 5, 2019) was an American stage, film, and television actress. Early years Trundy (pronounced "Troon-dee") was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of an Italian fa ...
as Lisa *
Hari Rhodes Hari Rhodes (April 10, 1932 – January 15, 1992) was an American author and actor whose career spanned three decades beginning around 1960. He was sometimes billed as Harry Rhodes, and appeared in 66 films and television programs, such as ABC ...
as MacDonald *
Severn Darden Severn Teakle Darden Jr. (November 9, 1929 – May 27, 1995) was an American comedian and actor, and a founding member of The Second City Chicago-based comedy troupe as well as its predecessor, the Compass Players. He is known from his film appe ...
as Kolp * Lou Wagner as busboy * John Randolph as commission chairman * Asa Maynor as Mrs. Riley *
H. M. Wynant H. M. Wynant (born Chaim Winant; February 12, 1927) is an American film and television actor. Biography Wynant was born in Detroit, Michigan. He made his feature film debut as an Indian in Samuel Fuller's ''Run of the Arrow'' (1957). In the ...
as Hoskyns * David Chow as Aldo * Buck Kartalian as Frank (Gorilla) * John Dennis as policeman * Paul Comi as second policeman * Gordon Jump as auctioneer * Dick Spangler as announcer


Production

J. Lee Thompson, who had maintained an interest in the franchise ever since producer
Arthur P. Jacobs Arthur P. Jacobs (March 7, 1922 – June 27, 1973) was a press agent turned film producer responsible for such films in the 1960s and 1970s as the ''Planet of the Apes'' series, ''Doctor Dolittle'', ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'', '' Play It Again, Sam'' ...
invited him for the original ''
Planet of the Apes ''Planet of the Apes'' is an American science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a world in which humans and intelligent apes clash for control. The franchise is based on Frenc ...
'', was hired to direct ''Conquest of the Planet of the Apes''. Thompson had worked with Jacobs on two earlier films, ''
What a Way to Go! ''What a Way to Go!'' is a 1964 American black comedy film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Shirley MacLaine, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, Bob Cummings and Dick Van Dyke. Plot In a dream-like pre-credit sequ ...
'' and '' The Chairman,'' as well as during the initial stages of ''Planet'', but scheduling conflicts had made him unavailable during its long development process. Thompson staged every scene with attention to detail, such as highlighting the conflicts with color: the humans wear black and other muted colors, while the apes' suits are colorful.
Don Murray Don Murray may refer to: * Don Murray (actor) (1929–2024), American actor * Don Murray (clarinetist) (1904–1929), American jazz musician * Don Murray (drummer) (1945–1996), American drummer and aminator * Don Murray (footballer) Donald Ja ...
suggested to Thompson his wardrobe with a black turtleneck sweater, and rehearsed his scenes after translating his dialogue into German "to get this kind of severe feeling of the
Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
". Screenwriter
Paul Dehn Paul Edward Dehn (pronounced "Dain"; 5 November 1912 – 30 September 1976) was a British screenwriter, best known for '' Goldfinger'', '' The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'', ''Planet of the Apes'' sequels and ''Murder on the Orient Express''. ...
wrote the film incorporating references to the racial conflicts in North America during the early 1970s, and Thompson further highlighted by shooting some scenes in a manner similar to a news broadcast. The primary location was Century City, Los Angeles, that had previously been part of the
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
backlot and translated well the bleak future with monochromatic buildings in a sterile ultramodern style."Riots and Revolutions: Confronting the Times", ''Conquest of the Planet of the Apes'' Blu-Ray Also used as a shooting location was the
University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...
, in Orange County. In addition, TV producer Irwin Allen contributed
props A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...
and clothes to the film: he let the makers of 'Conquest' borrow his
Seaview Seaview or Sea View may refer to: Places * Clifton Beach, Karachi, also known as Sea View, a beach in Pakistan * Sea View, Dorset, a suburb in England * Seaview, Isle of Wight, a small village in England * Seaview, Lower Hutt, an industrial suburb ...
jumpsuits from '' Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'', brown clothes and computers and cabinets for Ape Management that were used first on ''
The Time Tunnel ''The Time Tunnel'' is an American color science fiction TV series written around a theme of time travel adventure starring James Darren and Robert Colbert. The show was creator-producer Irwin Allen's third science-fiction television series and ...
'' and other sets and props from other Allen productions. Of the five original films, ''Conquest'' is the only entry filmed in
Todd-AO 35 Todd-AO is an American post-production company founded in 1953 by Mike Todd and Robert Naify, providing sound-related services to the motion picture and television industries. For more than five decades, it was the worldwide leader in theater sou ...
using Arriflex ARRI 35IIC cameras with lenses provided by the Carl Zeiss Group; the other ''Apes'' pictures were filmed in Panavision.


Original opening and ending

The original cut of ''Conquest'' ended with the apes' execution of Governor Breck. After a preview screening in Phoenix on June 1, 1972, the impact of the graphic content caused the producers to rework the film, even though they did not have the budget to do so.
Roddy McDowall Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 4 October 1998) was a British actor, photographer and film director. He began his acting career as a child in England, and then in the United States, in ''How Green Was My Valley'' (1 ...
recorded a complement to Caesar's final speech, which was portrayed through editing tricks - Caesar being mostly shown through close-ups of his eyes, the gorillas hitting Breck with the butt ends of rifles played backwards to imply they were acquiescing to Caesar's directive of non-violence - and assured a lower rating. The film's Blu-ray version adds an unrated version, restoring the original ending and many other graphic scenes. ''Conquest'' is the only Apes film without a pre-title sequence. The film's script and novelization describes a nighttime pre-title scene where police on night patrol shoot an escaping ape and discover that his body is covered with welts and bruises as evidence of severe
abuse Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...
(in a later scene Governor Breck refers to the "ape that physically assaulted his master," thereby prompting MacDonald to report that the escape must have been the result of severe mistreatment). The scene appears in the first chapter of John Jakes' novelization of the film, and in the
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
adaption of the film in the early 1970s, both of which were probably based directly on the screenplay and not on the final edit of the actual film. An article in the Summer 1972 issue of '' Cinefantastique'' (volume 2, issue 2) by Dale Winogura shows and describes the scene being shot, but it is unknown why it was cut. The Blu-ray extended cut does not contain the pre-credit opening.


Continuity

Screenplay writer Paul Dehn, who wrote and co-wrote the sequels, said in interviews with ''Cinefantastique'' (quoted in ''The Planet of the Apes Chronicles'', by Paul Woods) that the story he was writing had a circular timeline:


Reception

Howard Thompson of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote that "J. Lee Thompson's direction furiously propels the action in a compact chromium-and-glass setting—and wait till you see that last battle royal." Arthur Murphy of '' Variety'' wrote, "McDowall is extremely good as usual in simian character, and Thompson's staging keeps the pace very lively."
Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...
of the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' gave the film 2.5 stars out of four, calling it "excellent in the first half hour," but found "the concluding action sequences run on too long without any original slashing, maiming, or setting on fire." Kevin Thomas of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' wrote that the film "may be the best since No. 1, 'Planet of the Apes'," calling it "a self-contained allegory in which man's cruelty to beasts becomes symbolic of man's inhumanity to man. It is a simple but powerful premise, thoroughly developed with a good balance between dialog and action by Dehn and splendidly directed by J. Lee Thompson." Clyde Jeavons of '' The Monthly Film Bulletin'' wrote, "This comic-book adventure is a far cry from the provocative Pierre Boulle vision so impressively realised by Franklin Schaffner four films ago; and in spite of some crude allegorical pretensions, it can't really be considered seriously as more than another excuse by APJAC to get maximum wear out of an expensive set of costumes." On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an approval rating of 52% based on 23 reviews. The critical consensus reads: "''Conquest of the Planet of the Apes'' is as angry and relevant as any of its predecessors, but budget constraints and a stale script rob this revolution of the scope it requires."


Box office

The film earned $4.5 million in theatrical rentals at the North American box office."All-time Film Rental Champs", ''Variety'', 7 January 1976 p 48


See also

* List of American films of 1972


References


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes 1970s science fiction films 1972 films 1970s dystopian films 20th Century Fox films American science fiction films American science fiction adventure films American sequel films American dystopian films Films about rebellions Films about time travel Films directed by J. Lee Thompson Films scored by Tom Scott Films set in the future Films set in 1991 Films set in North America Films shot in Los Angeles Films with screenplays by Paul Dehn Planet of the Apes films Films about viral outbreaks 1970s English-language films 1970s American films