Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Hell Caesar

I was probably in my late teens when I saw the sui generis 1968 Planet of the Apes in a theater, not too many years after it first opened and still popular enough to merit a major studio re-release. Aside from the ending, which really was a hobnail-boot to the gut, I can’t say I was overly impressed even then. Not a huge fan of heavy-handed allegories. But credit where it’s due: Planet of the Apes’ final shot on that beach was a keeper, especially for someone born and raised in New York City.

I did once try to read an English-language translation of French novelist Pierre Boulle’s La Planete des Singes / Monkey Planet (1962), the source of the ’68 film, and was bored to tears. The word “didactic” still comes to mind years later. Fortunately, the novel was just the kernel of the idea that screenwriters Rod Serling — yes, that Rod Serling — and Michael Wilson made into something so unique and meaningful to so many people that we’re now up to an even ten Planet of the Apes movies, plus a TV series, with no end in sight. It remains a potent metaphor that transcends decades.