Planet of the Apes

1968 1 hr 52 min

G

Charlton Heston stars in this sci-fi classic which spawned a franchise lasting more than 50 years. Heston plays an astronaut whose crew crashes on a planet in the distant future where intelligent talking apes are the dominant species, and humans are oppressed and enslaved. The original PLANET OF THE APES boasts a brilliant script, amazing production design, impressive makeup effects, and one of the most memorable endings in film history.

Ross Amico has been sharing his love of classical music and film music for nearly 40 years. After working in community radio while an undergraduate at Temple, he joined WWFM The Classical Network, where he hosted live air shifts and produced recorded concerts for the next 25 years. He has also hosted regular shows on WPRB Princeton and WRTI Philadelphia. He continues to explore film music on Picture Perfect and examines seldom-heard composers and recordings on The Lost Chord. These long-running shows air in syndication along with his light music program, added in 2023, Sweetness and Light. As a writer, he has promoted the local and regional arts scene through articles and reviews for The Times of Trenton and U.S. 1. He has interviewed, among others, JoAnn Falletta, Leon Fleisher, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Marc-André Hamelin, Sharon Isbin, Peter Schickele, Caroline Shaw, Chris Thile, Dawn Upshaw, Pinchas Zukerman, and Christopher Walken. A record collector from the age of 10, Ross credits his fascination with film with having introduced him to the symphony orchestra.

Composed and arranged by the esteemed Jerry Goldsmith, who boasts over 250 credits in music composition, PLANET OF THE APES revolutionized the scoring of science fiction films through its innovative techniques. This film is recognized as one of the first mainstream productions to feature a score in an avant-garde style. Goldsmith's experimental methods included using the orchestra to replicate the grunting of apes, employing horns without mouthpieces, and integrating unconventional instruments such as hollow bamboo tubes, stainless steel mixing bowls, and anvils to produce distinctive percussive effects. This groundbreaking approach, characterized by its atonal and dissonant qualities, played a crucial role in establishing the film's eerie and otherworldly ambiance. Goldsmith's contribution to this film is regarded as a significant milestone in the history of film music, earning a place at #18 on the AFI’s list of the Top 25 American Film Scores of all time.

Director Franklin J. Schaffner

Cast Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter

Country USA

Language English

Aspect 2.35

More info on IMDB ››