ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES: Future Shock Gets An Earthly Reinvention
The unlikely saga of Escape From The Planet Of The Apes began with a telegram from Arthur P. Jacobs, producer of the original Apes film series, to Paul Dehn, the screenwriter who penned Beneath The Planet Of The Apes. It simply read "Apes exist. Sequel required." To create another Apes film would be no mean feat because the end of Beneath was designed to end the series forever. Thankfully, Dehn was an inventive author and the third Apes film not only continued the series in an inspired manner but also found unexpected ways to build out the series' mythology.
Escape'sstoryline begins on present-day Earth: the capsule of a spaceship turns up onthe California shore and the military is shocked to discover it containstalking chimpanzee-humanoids Cornelius (Roddy McDowell) and Zira (Kim Hunter).It is revealed that these two utilized a repaired spaceship to escape the events of Beneath, traveling backwards in time to warn those in the pastabout the doom that comes from their current course of action.
Cornelius and Zira charm the public and find allies insympathetic scientists Dr. Dixon (Bradford Dillman) and Dr. Benton (seriesregular Natalie Trundy)... but their sudden appearance inspires the sinistersuspicions of presidential advisor Dr. Hasslein (Eric Braeden). The futuristicduo soon find themselves threatened by Hasslein's paranoid mindset,particularly when he discovers Zira is pregnant. This sets the stage for athird act that moves into darker terrain as it weaves in the usual politicaland social commentary of the series.
EscapeFrom The Planet Of The Apes is a fascinating entry in the seriesfor more than one reason. It maintains the heady sci-fi concepts of the pastfilms in its themes and dialogues but strips back the visual component of thegenre, replacing post-apocalyptic landscapes with a recognizable earthlysetting and a predominantly human cast of characters, With this setup, Dehn isable to make Cornelius and Zira, members of the privileged caste of the pastfilms, into the alien minority that is regarded with suspicion like the humanheroes of the past two films.
It also forces the viewer to directly confront thenegative side of humanity through the actions of Hasslein, who functions as ahuman equivalent of Dr. Zaius: both use poise, sharp intellectual skills and agrasp of conservative social thinking to manipulate others into following theirparanoid, hateful mindset. The fact that he is a government figure forces theaudience to confront how the reach of government agencies can be used topersecute "the other" in society under a flimsy guise of nationalsecurity concerns. Counterpoint to his unfortunate example is provided by thecharacter of Armando (Ricardo Montalban), a carnival zookeeper whose 'animalrights' bent presents him as the film's voice of liberal, anti-establishmentconcerns.
Best of all, Dehn keeps the film from becoming a preachytreatise by couching all these thematic concerns in the guise of popstorytelling: suspense is generated by how the apes reveal their abilities andintellect to the humans, humor is generated by how the apes are received bydifferent sectors of American society and the storyline deftly shifts into athird act that becomes a thriller capped with an effectively deployed twistending. The real world setting adds a new layer of gravity to the proceedingsoverall. It's also worth noting thatlater in the film elements of backstory are revealed via the two heroes thatflesh out our understanding of the connection between the world we know and theone presented in the first two Apesfilms.
The pop storytelling feel is aided by tidy directionfrom Don Taylor, a journeyman whose c.v. includes cult faves like Damien: Omen II and The Final Countdown. His work provides a slick, well-crafted framefor the script and performances, aided in no small part by nice 'scope-formatcinematography by Aldrich film vet Joseph Biroc and a pop-tinged score by JerryGoldsmith. Taylor's staging of the film's suspenseful climax is particularlyeffective and at times emotionally wrenching.
Finally, the performances seal the deal here. Dehn'sscript leans heavily on characterization and dialogue and the filmmakers havebrought in an ace cast of character actors to bring it to life. McDowell andHunter are, of course, the twin anchors of the ensemble, covering everythingfrom light humor to searing drama with skill - all under heavy charactermakeup. Dillman and Trundy bring charm and warmth to the human side of things,as does Montalban. and Braeden is quietly chilling as the ideologically-drivenvillain. Look out also for William Windom, who does effective work in apresident role that is more dimensional than usual.
In short, Escape From The Planet Of The Apes is surprisingly effective for the third film in a series, finding new dimensions to core series concerns by reversing roles and adding new layers to the film's mythology. The fact that it achieves all this on a smaller, more intimate scale reliant on traditional storytelling makes it all the more impressive. It was also a hit, thus guaranteeing that neither Jacobs nor Dehn would be able to let the Apes saga rest, at least for a few more films.