Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)

Director:

Ted Post

Writers:

Pierre Boulle (characters)
Paul Dehn (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

26 May 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The bizarre world you met in 'Planet of the Apes' was only the beginning... What lies beneath may be the end!

Plot:

The sole survivor of an interplanetary rescue mission searches for the only survivor of the previous expedition. He discovers a planet ruled by apes and an underground city run by telekinetic humans.

Plot Keywords:

Ape | Astronaut | Planet Of The Apes | Survivor | Sequel

Cast

James Franciscus	...	Brent
Kim Hunter	...	Zira
Maurice Evans	...	Dr. Zaius
Linda Harrison	...	Nova
Paul Richards	...	Mendez
Victor Buono	...	Fat Man
James Gregory	...	Ursus
Jeff Corey	...	Caspay
Natalie Trundy	...	Albina
Thomas Gomez	...	Minister
David Watson	...	Cornelius
Don Pedro Colley	...	Negro
Tod Andrews	...	Skipper
Gregory Sierra	...	Verger
Eldon Burke	...	Gorilla Sergeant
Lou Wagner	...	Lucius
Charlton Heston	...	Taylor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Army Archerd	...	Gorilla (uncredited)
Edward Bach	...	Picket (uncredited)
James Bacon	...	Ape (uncredited)
Stan Barrett	...	Gorilla (uncredited)
Angelina Bauer	...	Chimp Protestor (uncredited)
Erlynn Mary Botelho	...	Ape (uncredited)
Dick Bullock	...	Gorilla (uncredited)
Bruce Fleischer	...	Gorilla (uncredited)
Paul Frees	...	Ending Voiceover (voice) (uncredited)
Roddy McDowall	...	Cornelius (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Ted Post

Writing credits
Pierre Boulle		(characters)
Paul Dehn		(story) and
Mort Abrahams		(story)
Paul Dehn		(screenplay)

Produced by
Mort Abrahams	....	associate producer
Arthur P. Jacobs	....	producer

Original Music by
Leonard Rosenman

Cinematography by
Milton R. Krasner		(director of photography) (as Milton Krasner)

Film Editing by
Marion Rothman

Art Direction by
William J. Creber		(as William Creber)
Jack Martin Smith

Set Decoration by
Walter M. Scott
Sven Wickman

Costume Design by
Morton Haack

Makeup Department
John Chambers	....	creative makeup design
Edith Lindon	....	hair stylist
Daniel C. Striepeke	....	makeup supervisor (as Dan Striepeke)
Peter R.J. Deyell	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Verne Langdon	....	special makeup effects artist (uncredited)
Sharleen Rassi	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Jan Van Uchelen	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
Joseph C. Behm	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Chuck Roberson	....	second unit director
Fred R. Simpson	....	assistant director (as Fred Simpson)

Art Department
Fred Harpman	....	art illustrator

Sound Department
Stephen Bass	....	sound
David Dockendorf	....	sound

Special Effects by
L.B. Abbott	....	special photographic effects
Art Cruickshank	....	special photographic effects

Stunts
Denny Arnold	....	stunts (uncredited)
Stan Barrett	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dick Bullock	....	stunts (uncredited)
Eldon Burke	....	stunts (uncredited)
Steven Burnett	....	stunts (uncredited)
William H. Burton	....	stunts (uncredited)
Hank Calia	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tap Canutt	....	stunts (uncredited)
Nick Dimitri	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gary Epper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tony Epper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Alan Gibbs	....	stunts (uncredited)
Mickey Gilbert	....	stunts (uncredited)
Orwin C. Harvey	....	stunts (uncredited)
Kent Hays	....	stunts (uncredited)
Eddie Hice	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dick Hudkins	....	stunts (uncredited)
Clyde Hudkins Jr.	....	stunts (uncredited)
Whitey Hughes	....	stunts (uncredited)
Loren Janes	....	stunts (uncredited)
Hubie Kerns	....	stunts (uncredited)
Hubie Kerns Jr.	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gene LeBell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Terry Leonard	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gary McLarty	....	stunts (uncredited)
George Sawaya	....	stunts (uncredited)
Walter Scott	....	stunts (uncredited)
Eddie Smith	....	stunts (uncredited)
Paul Stader	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)
Jack Williams	....	stunts (uncredited)

Music Department
Ralph Ferraro	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Dominic Santarone	....	caterer (uncredited)
Ruth Santarone	....	caterer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• APJAC Productions (as An Arthur P. Jacobs Production)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (presents) (as Twentieth Century-Fox)

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1970) (USA) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (1970) (France) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1973) (USA) (TV) (pan/scan)
• CBS/Fox (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• Playhouse Home Video (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Abril Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (1999) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Japan (2001) (Japan) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Planet of the Apes Revisited (USA) (working title)
Planet of the Men (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Brazil:Livre | Australia:M | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-16 (original rating) | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | Norway:16 (1970) | Singapore:PG | UK:15 (video rating) | UK:A (original rating) (cut) | USA:G | West Germany:16 | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Red Rock Canyon State Park - Highway 14, Cantil, California, USA

Company:

APJAC Productions

Trivia:

Thomas Gomez's final appearance in a film, and Gregory Sierra's first.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Brent finds the pay telephone in the subway he hits the stone wall and it gives, revealing it is only foam.

Quotes:

Mendez: May the Blessings of the Bomb Almighty, and the Fellowship of the Holy Fallout, descend upon us all. This day and forever more.
Congregation: [singing] Amen!

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Futurama: I Second That Emotion (#2.5)" (1999)

Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) ***

I guess you could say that this first sequel to PLANET OF THE APES is a nostalgic pleasure for me; I got hooked on it as a child and while I still think it's an interesting followup to the original, as an adult I'm naturally more aware of its flaws. Yet it's still works out as a good adventure film; less of a cerebral experience like PLANET OF THE APES, and more of a comic book story.

James Franciscus plays astronaut Brent, sent along the same trajectory as Taylor's (Charlton Heston's) old ship in an effort to rescue him. He crash-lands in the same vicinity as his friend, and goes through a similar nightmare when he comes to discover that the planet he's stranded on is dominated by intelligent, talking apes with a decidedly low opinion of mankind. General Ursus (James Gregory) is a war-hungry gorilla leader who's anxious to investigate strange unearthly occurrences in the Forbidden Zone with the aid of the ever-skeptical scientist Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans in a reprisal of his role from Part One).

Luckily, Brent runs into Taylor's mate, Nova (Linda Harrison looking prettier than she did in PLANET) and she is able to lead him to kindly chimpanzee couple, Zira (Kim Hunter) and Cornelius (David Watson this time; Roddy McDowall was busy directing a film). The pacifistic simians try to help their human friends along their journey to find Taylor, but Brent and Nova only succeed in getting themselves captured by gorillas anyway.

Up to this midway point in the film, all we're really seeing is a rehash of the first APES movie, which feels obligatory to set up the scenario. Where this chapter starts to develop its own identity and really take off is in its second half, as Brent and Nova escape and find themselves going underground (literally) in the Forbidden Zone and discovering the ruins of a ravaged city, along with a community of radiation-scarred mutations who have mastered mental telepathy and worship an atomic bomb as their god who has "created" them. And they know it won't be long before the Ape Army will invade their sanctuary.

Charlton Heston felt that sequels were not very challenging for an actor in those days, so at first he resisted appearing in this movie. He eventually agreed on what gradually evolved into a more extended "cameo" in BENEATH as a favor to Richard Zanuck, since the producer had taken a gamble on making the original film when Heston asked him to. The resulting sequel can be a downbeat and unusually pessimistic viewing experience, but in an odd way that actually helps to work in its favor.