Sunday, January 31, 2021

Don't Make a Scene: Planet of the Apes (1968)

The Story:
Whenever I see Planet of the Apes listed around I click over to it, but I never watch it to the end. I watch this scene and I watch the Main Titles because Jerry Goldsmith's music is so great. Then, I'll drop off anywhere along the way.

But, I always watch this scene without fail. Its effectiveness is due to the fact that I've seen the movie before and I've seen the character arc of Astronaut George Taylor (Charlton Heston), the cynical, world-weary (Earth-word, anyway) Last Man from Earth, who's not only agreed to accept his fate as a traveler through time and space, he's embraced it.

What kind of a guy IS that? He knows that everyone he's ever known is dead by the end of his mission. And he's okay with that. "There was no one to hold me there," he'll say at some point. "I'm a seeker too," he admits after mocking his fellow survivors' traditional mission dogma. "But my dreams aren't like yours. I can't help thinking that somewhere in the universe there has to be something better than man. Has to be!"

Despite his sneering, he's more an optimist than his ship-mates. Maybe he's one of those science-fiction heroes who hasn't read much science-fiction. Because where he finds himself stranded—like a futuristic Gulliver—is a civilization that's even worse...for him, anyway...but awfully familiar in the failings of what aspires to be civilization. This one, like so many on Earth, are ruled by arrogance and theocracy, ignoring science, embracing myth, and denying the obvious. Meet the new boss...

Eventually, he'll realize that he hasn't been looking at the stars, he's been looking in a mirror, reflecting the same ignorance he'd hoped to escape. 

The final irony is that the science has failed him, as well.

The Set-Up: The year: 1972. Or is it 2673? The ship: The Liberty 1, nicknamed "Icarus." Mission: first interstellar travel by humans from Earth. Not sure what they've been doing for six months, but for the next 12 months, they're on auto-pilot to...wherever it is they're going, and the crew will be sleeping through it all. The Captain is the last to go under. And before he does, he has a last smoke...and makes his final report.

Action.

Descriptions are from Michael Wilson's Final Shooting Script.* Dialogue is mostly Wilson's but has been buffed and polished during filming.

FADE IN 
1 EXT. CONSTELLATION OF ORION - NIGHT 
Stars glitter like diamonds on the black velvet backdrop of space. The Belt of Orion is center screen, but much nearer and larger than ever seen by an Earth-bound astronomer. A speck of light appears in the lower left corner of the screen. No spaceship can be seen, but only a glowworm, a solitary spermatosoan gliding through the womb of the universe. 
Over this we HEAR the voice of an astronaut. He is concluding a report.
George Taylor:
...And that completes my final report until we reach touchdown. 
Taylor: 
We're now on full automatic, in the hands of the computers.

2 INT. CABIN OF SPACESHIP - ESTABLISHING SHOT - NIGHT The cabin is neither cramped nor spacious, but about the size of the President's cabin in Air Force One. In the immediate f.g. is a console of dials and switches flanked by four chairs. Only one of the chairs is occupied. The astronaut's back is to CAMERA. There is a ladder amidships which leads to an escape hatch. The after Dart of the cabin is obscured in darkness. We hear the MUSIC of a Mozart sonata emanating from a phonograph of stereotape. The astronaut is speaking into a microphone. 
Taylor:
I have tucked my crew in for the long sleep and I'll be joining them...soon. 
Taylor: 
In less than an hour, we'll finish our sixth month out of Cape Kennedy. Six months in deep space -

3 TWO LARGE CLOCKS - ON CABIN WALL One clock is marked SELF TIME, but instead of twelve numerals it has twenty-four. One of the needles is moving very slowly. The other clock is labeled EARTH TIME, and its units, like those of a tachometer, are given by hundreds and thousands. The largest needle of this clock makes one revolution every second. Over this we hear:  
Taylor: 
...by our time, that is. According to Dr. Haslein's theory of time, in a vehicle travelling nearly the speed of light...

4 CLOSE ON ASTRONAUT This is TAYLOR. He wears simple dungarees (or Churchill suit) and comfortable boots. He seems calm and pensive. Extracting the butt of a cigar from the breast pocket of his dungarees, he lights it, then continues:  
Taylor: 
...the Earth has aged nearly 700 years since we left it, 
Taylor: 
...while we've aged hardly at all. 
Taylor: 
Maybe so. 
Taylor: 
This much is probably true - 
Taylor: ...
the men who sent us on this journey are long since dead and gone. You who are reading me now are a different breed - I hope a better one.

He begins to roll up his left sleeve.  
Taylor: 
I leave the 20th century with no regrets. But... 
Taylor: 
...one more thing - if anybody's listening, that is. 
Taylor: 
Nothing scientific. It's purely personal. 

He removes the cigar from his mouth, turns to look out through one of the portholes into the astral night.
Taylor: 
But seen from out here... 
Taylor: 
...everything seems different. Time bends. Space is...boundless. 
Taylor: 
It squashes a man's ego. 
Taylor: 
I feel lonely. 
He extracts a hypodermic needle from his breast pocket and injects it into the vein of his forearm. He continues speaking.
Taylor withdraws the hypodermic needle from his vein and secures it in a drawer of the console. 
Taylor: 
That's about it. 
Taylor: 
Tell me, though. 
Taylor:
Does man, that marvel of the universe, that glorious paradox who sent me to the stars...
Taylor: 
...still make war against his brother? Keep his neighbor's children starving?
Taylor snuffs out the cigar butt and places it in the drawer beside the hypodermic. Then, flicking a switch Au cut off the Mozart, he rises and looks up again at:
5 THE CLOCK MARKED EARTH TIME The longest needle of this clock now makes nearly two revolutions per second. The shortest needle points to the numeral 2105
6 INT. CABIN - TRACKING WITH TAYLOR Space scientists have presumably solved the problem of weightlessness, for Taylor walks the short distance from; the console to the after section without particular effort.  
CAMERA FOLLOWS him, and we can now see four glass capsules, or "caskets", in the rear of the cabin. Taylor looks down at them.
7- SEVERAL SHOTS - THE FOUR CASKETS - FROM TAYLOR'S P.O.V. 
10 One of them is open. The other three are occupied by astronauts: DODGE, LANDON and STEWART. They, too, wear dungarees and boots. Dodge and Landon are thirtyish, clean-shaven, virile -- America's finest.
Stewart is a handsome young woman, her hair bobbed short. Their eyes are closed and they do not appear to be breathing -- yet no undertaker could make them so alive.
11 ANOTHER ANGLE - FAVORING TAYLOR He grasps the handle of his own casket and slowly pulls himself into it. Continuing SILENCE.
CAMERA MOVES IN as Taylor Dulls the glass lid shut and secures it. He adjusts two dials inside the capsule and lies back, buckling his safety belt. CAMERA MOVES INTO A CLOSEUP of Taylor. His eyes are open. He seems serene, even enraptured.
(NOTE: Credits will appear here over a series of shots designed to convey a sense of loneliness, of separation, and of the passage of time.)


Words by Rod Serling and (mostly) Michael Wilson


Planet of the Apes is available on DVD and Blu-Ray from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.


* Michael Wilson's script 05/05/1967
FADE IN 
1 EXT. CONSTELLATION OF ORION - NIGHT 
Stars glitter like diamonds on the black velvet backdrop of space. The Belt of Orion is center screen, but much nearer and larger than ever seen by an Earth-bound astronomer. A speck of light appears in the lower left corner of the screen. No spaceship can be seen, but only a glowworm, a solitary spermatosoan gliding through the womb of the universe. 
Over this we HEAR the voice of an astronaut. He is concluding a report. 
ASTRONAUT'S VOICE (o.s.) So ends my last signal until we reach our destination. We are now on automatic, a mere hundred and five light years from our base ... and at the mercy of computers. I've tucked in my crew for the long sleep. I'll join them presently. 

2 INT. CABIN OF SPACESHIP - ESTABLISHING SHOT - NIGHT The cabin is neither cramped nor spacious, but about the size of the President's cabin in Air Force One. In the immediate f.g. is a console of dials and switches flanked by four chairs. Only one of the chairs is occupied. The astronaut's back is to CAMERA. There is a ladder amidships which leads to an escape hatch. The after Dart of the cabin is obscured in darkness. We hear the MUSIC of a Mozart sonata emanating from a phonograph of stereotape. The astronaut is speaking into a microphone. 
ASTRONAUT Within the hour we shall complete the sixth month of our flight from Cape Kennedy. By our time, that is ... 
He pauses, looking up at: 
3 TWO LARGE CLOCKS - ON CABIN WALL One clock is marked SELF TIME, but instead of twelve numerals it has twenty-four. One of the needles is moving very slowly. The other clock is labeled EARTH TIME, and its units, like those of a tachometer, are given by hundreds and thousands. The largest needle of this clock makes one revolution every second. Over this we hear: 
ASTRONAUT'S VOICE (o.s.) But according to Dr. Hasslein's theory of time in a vehicle traveling at close to the speed of light, old Mother Earth has aged a few thousand years since our departure -- while we have scarcely aged at all. 
4 CLOSE ON ASTRONAUT This is TAYLOR. He wears simple dungarees (or Churchill suit) and comfortable boots. He seems calm and pensive. Extracting the butt of a cigar from the breast pocket of his dungarees, he lights it, then continues: 
TAYLOR It may be so. This much is probable: the men who sent us on this journey have long since been moldering in forgotten graves; and those, if any, who read this message are a different breed. Hopefully, a better one. 
He begins to roll up his left sleeve. 
TAYLOR I leave the twentieth century without regret. Who was it? Marshall? ... said 'Modern man is the missing link between the ape and the human being.' 
He removes the cigar from his mouth, turns to look out through one of the portholes into the astral night. 
TAYLOR One final thought -- nothing scientific, purely personal. Seen from up here, everything looks different ... Time bends and space is boundless. It squashes a man's ego. He begins to feel like no more than a mote in the eye of eternity. And he is nagged by a question: what if any- thing, will greet us on the end of man's first journey to a star? Are we to believe that throughout these thousands of galaxies, these millions of stars, only one, that speck of solar dust we call Earth, has been graced -- or cursed -- by human life? (pause) I have to doubt it. 
He extracts a hypodermic needle from his breast pocket and injects it into the vein of his forearm. He continues speaking. 
TAYLOR (sardonically) That's about all. I wonder if Man, that marvel of the universe, that glorious paradox who has sent me to the unknown... still makes war against his brother., and lets his neighbor's children starve. 
Taylor withdraws the hypodermic needle from his vein and secures it in a drawer of the console. 
TAYLOR Well then, Earthmen: A missing link salutes you. Bless you, my descendants. 
Taylor snuffs out the cigar butt and places it in the drawer beside the hypodermic. Then, flicking a switch Au cut off the Mozart, he rises and looks up again at: 
5 THE CLOCK MARKED EARTH TIME The longest needle of this clock now makes nearly two revolutions per second. The shortest needle points to the numeral 2105. 
6 INT. CABIN - TRACKING WITH TAYLOR Space scientists have presumably solved the problem of weightlessness, for Taylor walks the short distance from; the console to the after section without particular effort. CAMERA FOLLOWS him, and we can now see four glass capsules, or "caskets", in the rear of the cabin. Taylor looks down at them. 
7- SEVERAL SHOTS - THE FOUR CASKETS - FROM TAYLOR'S P.O.V. 
10 One of them is open. The other three are occupied by astronauts: DODGE, LANDON and STEWART. They, too, wear dungarees and boots. Dodge and Landon are thirtyish, clean-shaven, virile -- America's finest. Stewart is a handsome young woman, her hair bobbed short. Their eyes are closed and they do not appear to be breathing -- yet no undertaker could make them so alive. 
11 ANOTHER ANGLE - FAVORING TAYLOR He grasps the handle of his own casket and slowly pulls himself into it. Continuing SILENCE. 
CAMERA MOVES IN as Taylor Dulls the glass lid shut and secures it. He adjusts two dials inside the capsule and lies back, buckling his safety belt. CAMERA MOVES INTO A CLOSEUP of Taylor. His eyes are open. He seems serene, even enraptured. 
(NOTE: Credits will appear here over a series of shots designed to convey a sense of loneliness, of separation, and of the passage of time.)

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