Planet Of The Apes (Franklin Schaffner, 1968)
Planet of the Apes is a 1968 American science fiction film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and based on the novel La planète des singes by Pierre Boulle, which was published in 1963. The film stars Charlton Heston and features Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, James Daly and Linda Harrison. It was released by 20th Century Fox.
The film tells the story of an astronaut crew who crash-land on a strange planet in the distant future. Although the planet appears desolate at first, the surviving crew members stumble upon a society in which apes have evolved into creatures with human-like intelligence and speech. The apes have assumed the role of the dominant species and humans are mute animals wearing animal skins.
The script was originally written by Rod Serling but had many rewrites before eventually being made. Changes included character names and a more primitive ape society, instead of the more expensive idea of having futuristic buildings and advanced technology. J. Lee Thompson and Blake Edwards were approached to direct the film but the film's producer Arthur P. Jacobs, upon the advice of Charlton Heston, chose Franklin J. Schaffner to direct the film....
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