He was a Man among men, and had played the epic hero to the hilt in Biblical epics from the early 1950s through the mid-1960s, but it wasn’t until the late 1960s where an unconventional project brought Charlton Heston to the forefront of genre fans’ hearts with a classic science fiction turn scripted by leading writer Rod Serling.
Standing 6’3”, he was the embodiment of ultimate masculinity and often towered over his co-stars and leading ladies, both literally and figuratively. But when Heston was cast as the lead in PLANET OF THE APES, he took on an entirely different persona, one that stamped him indelibly as one of the genre’s most headstrong unforgettable personalities.
At the outset of the film, Heston’s Taylor is a cynical misanthrope who has undertaken a space voyage in search of some living entity that is better than man. After a lengthy first act, he has the tables completely turned on his character when he encounters a world where simians rule and speak while humans are relegated to unclean caged beasts.
What makes the film wholly compelling, in addition to Franklin Schaffner’s crisp direction, John Chambers’ award-winning ape makeups, and Jerry Goldsmith’s bizarre score, is Heston’s unifying performance. By circumstance, he is forced to stand up for man and his place in this upside-down world. The former pessimist becomes a champion of man and virtual humanist, fighting for the human position in a world run by animals.
Clever casting in this Civil Rights-era film also puts an African American astronaut on Taylor’s side of the fence, when the latter finds that the former has been killed and stuffed for a museum exhibit. Mirroring the late-1960s urban uprisings, this moment has Taylor not only fighting for his race but for all human races, something that Heston the man selflessly undertook at the time.
When Heston recovers from a throat injury and is at last able to speak, the anger at his humiliating persecution during a chase through an ape village culminates in his exclamation upon capture, “Get your stinking paws off of me, you damn dirty ape!” Heston’s ideal feeling for being the human race’s lone spokesman and spiritual leader gives the line a meaning that makes it one of the most impacting in cinema history.
After a lengthy period in which principal apes, especially orangutan Dr. Zaius and chimpanzees Cornelius and Zira, converse with Taylor and try to thwart his theories, he finally escapes, leading the team towards a desert-ridden Forbidden Zone. Finally able to justify man’s relative position in the chain of life, Taylor angrily confronts Zaius when he discovers in a cave a human doll that can speak when triggered.
Of course, the entire film ultimately serves as a preamble to the sequence when Taylor and his mute lady partner Nova take off on their own up a beachhead. Zaius curiously decides not to pursue them, noting that Taylor will find his destiny as he heads into the heart of The Forbidden Zone. What Taylor encounters and Heston’s impeccable delivery remain one of the most shocking endings in any type of movie. Presented without punctuating music, Schaffner lets Heston do the work by adamantly cursing his own people, who he ironically distanced himself from before encountering the ape-run society. His cries of exasperation towards his fellow man as he pounds the waves below him also rank among the more memorable film line readings of all time.
Heston, who passed away on April 4, made over 100 films and was perfectly cast in nearly all of them, but it might be PLANET OF THE APES for which diehard fans will remember him as an actor of undeniable strength and fortitude of character.
Scott Essman
VISIONARY MEDIA
scottessman@yahoo.com
P.O. Box 1722
Glendora, CA 91740
Ph 1 (626) 963-0635
FX 1 (626) 608-0309
I thought Tarzan was Lord of the Apes, and I never heard of Heston playing in that role. Now if you want to contemplate the Omega Man or Soylent green, those may be more in step with contemporary thoughts by final generation Heston Fans. Written by Here's some more spam for ya t-dub
on 4/9/2008
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