It cost $5.8 million to make the 1968 science-fiction movie “Planet of the Apes.” Of that figure, just under $1 million — about 17 percent of the film’s price — was spent on makeup.
It was a good portion of the budget, sure, but this wasn’t your mother’s powder-my-nose rouge and lipstick. This was a technique that broke new ground, as host Roddy McDowall explains in “Behind the Planet of the Apes,” a two-hour documentary covering the entire “Apes” saga that premieres Sept. 6 on American Movie Classics.
For a plot about an upside-down world where apes rule and humans are enslaved, the story’s credibility hinged on the makeup.
“John Chambers said of the makeup, `I haven’t the foggiest how it’s going to work out,’ ” Kim Hunter, who played the chimpanzee Dr. Zira in three “Apes” films, said from her New York home. “And he had been working for six months. (He said,) `We may turn out to produce our own reality or we may be Mickey Mouse.’ He didn’t know how people would respond to it.”
People responded well. The believable makeup, the timely themes of prejudice, class struggle and oppression, and the sheer adventure and action combined for a dynasty that spanned five motion pictures, two television shows and a landslide of merchandise. Even today, “Apes” references pop up in TV programs.
Makeup artist Chambers, a former World War II medical technician who designed prosthetics for injured soldiers, created the makeup allowing actors’ emotions to bleed through.
It worked brilliantly, but putting it on was tedious. What initially took six hours was streamlined to three, but an unhealthy Edward G. Robinson (who was to play the orangutan Dr. Zaius) nonetheless bailed out of the project for that reason. Up to 80 makeup artists, hairstylists and wardrobe personnel were needed for scenes involving as many as 200 actors, and this delayed other movies around Hollywood due to the lack of qualified makeup artists.
This is great stuff for “Apes” fans, for anyone wanting to eavesdrop on the gamut of filmmaking, or for anyone seeking a lesson on how a pop culture phenomenon develops. And what’s above just scratches the surface. (Warning: The highlights give away the ending of each film.)
“Behind” includes interviews with the stars, directors, artists and executives of the movies and the live-action TV show (there also was a Saturday morning cartoon). James Naughton, a star of the TV show, says he still gets fan mail from around the world, and this for a series that aired 24 years ago — for just four months.
The documentary is available in a remastered and THX-certified “Apes” collector’s edition, a $50 boxed set ($55 for widescreen) of the five movies released Tuesday by Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. In addition to airing the documentary, AMC will present the five movies on Sept. 6 and 7.
The lasting appeal of “Apes” comes from the strong messages combined with the entertainment value, said Hunter, who studied chimps at the Bronx Zoo before arriving on the first film’s set.
“It’s an interesting thing. Creatures, as we all are, tend to be terrified and frightened of creatures not like us,” she said. “That’s one of the main things the film has to say. It’s an important, valid message, good then and good now, but I hope we stop being like that, become more able to embrace creatures that are not like us.”
The first step toward that goal is to look behind the makeup.
