Planet of the Apes, 55 Years Later…

Lake Powell

Fox Movie Ranch/Malibu Creek State Park Before and After

The Ape City was built in this area which is adjacent to the Century Lake, which is no longer visible because of the overgrowth.

Malibu Creek State Park Before/After

Fox Movie Ranch and Point Dume Beach in Malibu. The movie ranch is now the Malibu Creek State Park and is open to the public.

Fox Movie Ranch/Malibu Creek State Park

The cage to hold the humans was set up on the old foundation of what was once the Crags Country Club Lodge. The private lodge was built around 1900 and subsequently torn down by 20th Century Fox after purchasing the land. 

This area currently known as the large group camping area of the Malibu Creek State Park was the location used as the area where the apes were hunting the humans in the fields of corn.

This area currently known as the large group camping area of the Malibu Creek State Park was the location used as the area where the apes were hunting the humans in the fields of corn.

The movie ranch is now the Malibu Creek State Park and is open to the public.

Fox Movie Ranch/Malibu Creek State Park Before and After

Pirates Cove at Point Dume in Malibu. A famous Nude Beach. Around the he corner is another famous location, Paradise Cove and its iconic little pier.

The final scenes take place in what is known as Pirates Cove at Point Dume in Malibu. A splendid place to surf!

The costumes were extremely revealing for impressible, young, soon to be teenagers, especially on the big screen.

Hours in the make -up chair is how your day begins…

Roddy and his classy Quellazaire, used by both men and women.

No one smokes a “Fag” as eloquently as Audrey Hepburn.

MGM Backlot 2…1974. Pictures from Donnie Norden collection. No Cameras on set!.

Arc Lights glowing above a Subway. An Earth Quake is about to take place.

Roddy McDowell in Blue Robe, smoking, fresh out of hours of make-up, going over first scene of day. His cigarette smoke rose upwards and I shared this “smoke” with him, in my hiding place.

Good time to invest into the future. All this smoking can make an ape thirsty…

Everywhere I turn they’re smoking, the only time they don’t is when the camera is rolling.

These two have been hiding out in my backyard next to other movie props.….for decades! Cool toys for cool Boys!

Spring 1968, We Begin;

Most everyone my age remembers Woodstock and the impact it had on culture in 1969, but another phenomenon proceeded this time and space. Planet of the Apes was the name of a novel written in 1963 by Pierre Boulle. It was adapted for a screenplay written by Michael Wilson and my hero, Rod Serling. Sci-Fi director Franklin J. Schaffner was chosen to lead a cast that includes two actors I would “in the not to distant future” watch act before my eyes in movies on the MGM backlot.

The early 70’s became all things apes.

In 1968, I was in a Catholic elementary school, St Augustine. “Education by the end of a ruler” as I call it. A school that prepared you for life. Some nuns you feared, like apes, no nonsense. I bring up this comparison to several scenes where apes intimidate and rule humans in a setting of caves, fields and beaches. In other words, I related with Charlton Heston, Kim Hunter and Roddy McDowell.

I vividly remember walking down train tracks all the way to the iconic Culver Theater, now Kirk Douglas Theater. The Bill Boards around town were effective and lured you in. The fact Apes could talk and became dominate over man is all the plot you would need. Needless to say, after 2 hours of popcorn and candy, the walk back home was surreal. This is what movie making is about. We were captivated by what my Pal Jimmy and I just witnessed. A fast walk to the theater changed to a slow walk home alongside good old MGM.

Both of us go to different schools, and quickly this film spread like a wild fire. Nothing was ever done like this before. For an eight year old, this was frighteningly real. You wouldn’t want to run into this group of Apes on Horses, with rifles no less.

Locations included California, Utah, and Arizona. The final cost was $5.8 million dollars. It returned a whopping $33.3 million into the pockets of the producers. It received honors for Best Make Up, Best Costumes, and Best Original Score. It launched a franchise, 4 sequels, a television series, an animated series, comic books and tangible items such as lunch pales and costumes for Halloween.

Fast forward 1974…The T.V Series

By now, the world could not get enough of this concept, I’m now 14 years of age. I already started my backlot trespassing lifestyle, watching Charlton Heston in another thriller, Soylent Green, on the MGM backlot in 72.’ Imagine my surprise when truckload after truckload of broken cement was delivered to MGM’s backlot for use in a T.V Series of the same name, Planet of the Apes, 20th Century Fox Television…starring Roddy McDowell.

In my book Hole in the Fence, I take you with me on set. I meet Roddy, an absolute Gentleman and a kid from the MGM stable himself. I wear Urko’s helmet while the crew took lunch. I slipped on ape hands, then toted a rifle. MGM security saw me in costume and totally flipped out. I looked pretty intimidating.You can read the rest in my book.

Sadly, do to the high cost of filming, the series was discontinued. Not before Roddy McDowell escorted all the neighborhood kids who were trespassing- onto the set. Like he is one of us.

I excitedly watched every sequel made in this franchise leading up to this T.V series. Never in my wildest imagination could I have imagined I would live this.

Final memories;

Yes, Apes smoke cigarettes, all the time. They read newspapers and follow the stock market when not in scenes, they also make phone calls on rolling phones, to their agents. They eat meals, in costume, removing what garments they can in the hot summer sun. Horses have gun holsters and finally, No Cameras, allowed on set.

Today, I bring you back to simpler times, when apes ruled the world !

Many of the scenes from POTA were filmed at 20th Century Fox Ranch. This movie ranch is known today as Malibu Creek State Park, and has been open to the public since 1976, after the State of California bought the property from Fox in 1974. The lake in the park is named Century Lake after it’s former owners.

Stuff...

The shocking ending—in which the remains of the Statue of Liberty are found, revealing that the supposedly unknown planet is really Earth—ranks among the most famous in film history.

The immense popularity of the film resulted in four sequels: Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972), and Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) and a TV series (1974). In addition, Director Tim Burton remade the first film in 2001. MGM or Sony -technically had an ape village built wall to wall inside Stage 27.

Written and lived by…Donnie Norden.