Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) - full transcript
Following the events in "Beneath the Planet of the Apes", Cornelius and Zira flee back through time to 20th Century Los Angeles, where they face fear and persecution similar to what Taylor and Brent suffered in the future, and discover the origins of the stream of events that will shape their world.
Uh, Red Baron Control, Red Baron 5.
Go ahead, Red Baron 5.
Roger. Orbiting southeast corner,
Sector alpha Charlie.
We've spotted what appears
to be a spacecraft...
just outside the surf line.
Alert Rescue and advise
we can remain on station for 45 minutes.
- Then we'll squawk 7,700 for a radar fix.
- Roger.
Rescue, I have Red Baron 5.
Report a possible spacecraft off shore...
southeast Sector alpha Charlie.
Immediately launch chopper. Effect pickup
and recovery. Base radar will vector.
Everybody out! Come on! Let's go!
Everybody out! Come on! Let's go!
Sergeant,
get that half-track down here...
- and get a cable out to those frogmen.
- Yes, sir!
The general, sir.
- Anybody in that thing?
- I don't know, sir. We just beached it.
All right. Open her up.
Open it up!
Welcome, gentlemen, to the United S
- Did you call the zoo?
- Yes, sir, and we're in luck.
Sick bay's almost empty
except for a mauled fox cub...
a deer with pneumonia
and a depressed gorilla.
The apes will be hidden from the public.
They'll be quarantined.
If they need medical attention,
it's available right on the spot.
And the experts can start giving them
the once-over first thing tomorrow.
- General Brody's very pleased.
- Oh, me too. Me too.
We can't let a lot of monkeys
leave their messes on the floor, huh?
Have they been fed?
Raw steak or something?
The zoo tells me that chimpanzees,
like all apes...
are vegetarians, sir.
They suggested oranges.
Good God!
What's the matter, Corporal?
Oh, excuse me. I didn't mean
to disturb you while you're dressing.
What the hell am I saying?
They're pretending to dress, sir.
What do you mean pretending? They are dressing!
Where did they get those clothes?
- They brought them with them, sir.
- What?
- In that suitcase.
- Suitcase?
Uh
Greg, maybe, uh, you should
give them their oranges.
Uh, well, they're
They're going to the zoo infirmary.
Arrange for a police escort
at 1630 hours.
They'll They'll have company there.
There's a gorilla in the next cage.
Why did he do that?
Here you are, old fella.
Boy, you really are sick.
Hello, missy. Have a banana.
Have it your own way, mate.
Zira!
I'm not his mate. I'm yours.
Control yourself.
I think they're trying to be kind.
This cage stinks of gorilla.
Cornelius, where are we?
- What's happened?
- I know where we are.
I know what has happened.
In some fashion
and I lack the intellect
to know precisely how
we have traveled from Earth's future
to Earth's past.
But we saw the Earth destroyed.
And Earth will be destroyed,
just as we saw it.
Only since seeing it,
we have passed through...
a backward disturbance in time.
Did you notice
the date meter clicking down...
after the shock wave hit our ship?
Yes.
We have returned to Earth
nearly 2,000 years before its destruction.
That is another reason
for us to keep silent.
Our human captors
will not be edified to learn...
that one day their world will crack
like an egg and burn to a cinder...
because of an ape war of aggression.
Apes, at this instant in time...
cannot yet talk.
For the moment,
we should follow their example.
Oh, the driver gave me
this report from the air base.
Better read it before we start the test.
Yeah, it's the usual imitative behavior
"Mimicking salutes,
handshaking, sitting on chairs...
eating off plates with knives."
- Oh.
- Well, what is it, Lewis?
- There was a sort of carpetbag on the ship.
- Full of food?
No, clothes, and it seems they,
uh, changed into them.
I don't believe it.
Hi, Dr. Dixon, Dr. Branton.
- Good morning, Arthur.
- Morning.
- The female's a bit uppity, sir.
- Oh?
Okay, I'll be careful. I see you've
prepared the Wisconsin Multiphasic.
We'll begin with that.
Um, go easy now, Stevie.
Oh, they look pretty docile to me.
Yes, but, uh, don't take any chances.
Unless the spacecraft
was remotely controlled...
they must have been conditioned
to push at least some of the right buttons.
I mean, they can't be morons.
All right.
We'll take the female first.
Arthur, would you set up the chimp's
Well, she seems to be pretty smart.
All right.
Let's, uh, make it more difficult.
Mmm.
They, uh, haven't had
their breakfast yet?
Not a bite - just as you ordered.
Good. We'll go for the banana.
Well, why doesn't she take it?
- Because I loathe bananas!
- Zira!
- I don't believe it.
- Yes.
Arthur, I think Dr. Branton
needs some air.
Zira, are you mad?
Dr. Milo, please!
Do not call my wife mad.
I did not call her mad.
I merely asked her if she was.
Are you mad?
- I hate deceit!
Well, there is a time for truth...
and a time, not for lies,
but for silence.
And until we know who our friends are
and who our enemies-
And how in the name of God are we
to know that unless we communicate?
- We can speak, so I spoke.
- And we can listen!
Yes, to a lot of psychiatric small talk.
- And we can watch.
- A display of primitive apparatus!
- Primitive? It's prehistoric!
- Zira!
- Couldn't test the intelligence of a newt!
- Calm yourself.
- I am calm!
- Zira? Zira!
Stop arguing!
It's too late for that.
Use your heads and start thinking.
Now that they know we can speak,
how much will we tell them?
Milo!
We'll need a full autopsy.
With special emphasis
on the cranial and oral areas.
Let us know when the report comes in.
Will you, please?
I'd better do this alone.
Um, we mean you no, uh, harm.
D- Do you understand?
We will not hurt you.
Poor Dr. Milo.
- Doctor?
- Yes. Doctor. You killed him!
No, I didn't. He did.
One of your own kind.
He's a gorilla.
Well, look, uh, there's nothing to be afraid of.
You see, he's in chains.
He's under sedation.
Do you understand that?
I should. I've been doing it
half my life to humans.
Humans?
I'm a psychiatrist.
Oh, uh, well,
I'm I'm a psychiatrist too.
Do you, uh, have a name?
My name is Cornelius.
This is my wife, Zira.
And I'm Lewis. Lewis Dixon.
Nobody's going to believe this.
- Believe what?
- That primitive apes can talk.
Primitive?
Uh, well, I mean that in our, um...
uh, primitive, um, civilization...
apes just don't talk.
I mean, I think it's important...
that when our primitive
security precautions are lifted...
that the first time
you say anything in public...
you should talk to
what we primitively call...
"the right people."
May I say something... personal?
Please.
I like you.
I have from the beginning.
- Good afternoon, gentlemen.
- Mr. President.
I'm aware that what I have to tell you
may conceivably create a credibility gap...
somewhat wider than the Grand Canyon.
Nonetheless, it is true.
Yesterday, a U.S. spacecraft...
splashed down
off the Southern California coast.
It was one of two that have been
missing in space for over two years now.
To be exact,
the one commanded by Colonel Taylor.
Have they identified the bodies, Mr. President?
They have identified three bodies, yes.
- All living.
- Taylor's alive?
At the time of their rescue,
through an unfortunate accident...
one of them was killed early this morning
in the Los Angeles Zoo.
Zoo?
What would astronauts
be doing in a zoo, Mr. President?
They are not astronauts,
General Faulkner.
They are apes.
Chimpanzees, to be more precise.
They're harmless, friendly
and, by all reports...
extremely intelligent
and sophisticated creatures.
But naturally, being animals...
they cannot tell us
where the ship came from...
or how they came to be in it.
I have, therefore, decided to convene...
a presidential commission of inquiry
in Los Angeles tomorrow.
The two surviving apes...
will be presented
to the commission for their inspection.
The press will be invited
to attend, not to participate.
I don't believe that we can withhold...
this extraordinary discovery
from the world any longer.
One of the two American spaceships
believed until now...
to have disintegrated in orbit...
splashed down unexpectedly yesterday...
in the Pacific Ocean
off the coast of Southern California...
and is stated to have been manned
if you can call it "manned"
by monkeys.
- General!
- General!
No comments. Nothing at this time.
I have nothing to say, gentlemen.
- Senator!
- I'm sorry, boys, not now.
I haven't the time now.
A little later, please.
Here comes the chairman.
I'll talk to you boys later.
I'll explain.
Would you give us
any information at all?
Have you got any comments, Paul?
As the president's senior science adviser,
what do you expect to experience...
from this historic meeting?
Fear.
What do you mean by fear?
All right now.
After I break the news, I want you
to start slowly with simple answers...
to what will certainly
be simple questions.
And if the questions become less simple?
Be yourself.
Your better self, Zira. Please?
They're ready, sir.
All right. It's time.
- Oh!
- What do they think we are, gorillas?
I'm sorry.
Oh.
That's it. Just be seated.
Uh Mr. Chairman,
members of the commission...
ladies and gentlemen...
my name is Lewis Dixon,
and I am the animal psychiatrist...
who has been in charge
of these two apes...
since they came to the Los Angeles Zoo.
My associate, Dr. Stephanie Branton,
and I...
are ready to answer your questions.
What may astonish you is that, um...
our chimpanzee friends
are ready to answer your questions too.
Not by signs,
not by looks or movements...
but by words.
Dr. Dixon, as a zoologist,
I know and respect your work...
but if you think you're gonna
turn a presidential inquiry...
into a ventriloquist's act,
I have to inform you
And I have to inform you, sir, that these two
apes have acquired the power of speech.
Come now, Doctor. You know
as well as I do their brain system...
is not developed in either
the vocal or abstract-thinking area.
Yes, sir, but I repeat that
they have the power of speech...
and it is for you gentlemen
to assess how far that power...
can be exercised intelligently.
Well, may we be told
which is the female of the species?
Did she rise as a reflex
to you having indicated her...
or in answer to my question?
That's for you to decide.
- Have you a name?
- Zira.
Certainly she can articulate...
which, in itself, is extraordinary!
Uh, but, Dr. Dixon, are we to infer
that "Zira" is her name...
or, uh, some phrase
in her own language?
Infer what you will, Mr. Chairman.
I suggest you rephrase the question.
What is your name?
Zi-ra!
One might as well
be talking to a parrot.
A parrot?
Mechanical mimicry.
Unique in an ape vocally,
without a doubt...
but, uh, does the other one talk?
Only when she lets me.
- Dr. Hasslein?
- No. Nothing.
- Mr. Chairman.
- Uh, yes?
What is the male's name, please?
- Cornelius.
- My lawfully wedded spouse.
- Wedded?
- We'll take that up later, Your Eminence.
Cornelius, do you
and your lawfully wedded spouse...
speak any language other than English?
What is English?
I speak the language taught to me
by my father and mother...
who were taught by their fathers
and mothers before them.
It has been the language of our ancestors
for nearly 2,000 years.
As to its origins, who can be sure?
The gorillas and orangutans
of our community...
believe that God created the ape
in his own image.
And that our language
Nonsense!
Cornelius, as an intellectual,
you know damned well...
the gorillas are a bunch
of militaristic nincompoops...
and the orangutans a bunch of
blinkered, pseudoscientific geese!
As to humans, I've dissect
I- I've examined thousands of them...
and until now, I've only discovered
two who could talk in my life.
God knows who taught them.
Where we come from...
apes talk.
Humans are dumb.
Where do you come from, Cornelius?
I'm not sure.
- Dr. Milo was sure.
- Oh.
Dr. Milo was a genius
well in advance of his time.
When the spacecraft
first landed on our seaboard...
it was Dr. Milo who salvaged it.
He studied it
and, uh, half understood it.
Half? Was half enough?
It was enough for us to escape
when war became inevitable.
Enough for Dr. Milo
to be murdered in your zoo.
Enough for my wife and I
to be here now.
- From where, Cornelius?
- I told you. I'm not sure.
Maybe the female knows.
Of course the female knows!
We came from your future!
That doesn't make any sense.
It's the only thing that does.
- Mr. Chairman.
- Yes?
Cornelius, you spoke of war.
- War between whom?
- The gorillas and whoever lives- lived.
- Will live.
- Who won the war?
I don't know. Chimpanzees are pacifists.
We stayed at home.
- But you left before the war had ended.
- In a spaceship.
- Which Dr. Milo learned to navigate.
- Correct.
Cornelius.
Did you know a Colonel Taylor?
No. Is he a soldier?
Look, we are peaceful creatures.
We are happy to be here.
May we be unchained?
Here they come.
Gentlemen, do you have
No. No comment. No comment.
- No comments.
- No comment. Sorry.
- General?
- Mr. Chairman!
- Mr. Chairman, a word.
- I'll give you one preposterous.
- Well, can you define that, Mr. Chairman?
- Uh, no. Just let me say this.
As head of this commission,
it will be our duty...
to sift through the facts
of this bizarre affair...
and pass our conclusions on to
the president of the United States...
for implementation.
- What a load of hugger-mugger.
- Dr. Hasslein.
- Oh, Dr. Hasslein!
- No comment. No comment, please.
How will you advise the president
to handle this unique situation?
- No comment.
- All right then, Dr. Hasslein.
Could you tell us how
you personally would handle it?
No, gentlemen. No comment... yet.
Doctor
- You were fabulous! Just wonderful!
- You were marvelous.
They loved you. All that applause.
But
there was a moment
- There was, when he started to ask us
- Zira!
- Cornelius, I think we should tell them.
- No.
- But o-only to Lewis and Stevie.
- Oh, Zira.
I have to be honest with someone.
Cornelius, please.
You tell them.
Well, you see...
we did know Colonel Taylor.
We came to love him.
I don't understand what harm there could be
in telling that to the commission.
Where we come from,
uh, apes did not love humans.
They, uh, hunted them for sport...
uh, much as you would animals.
Yes. We used their bodies,
alive and dead...
experimentally for anatomical dissection
and scientific research.
Well, uh, we do
the same thing to animals.
I mean, as a scientist, I sympathize...
but, uh, I agree that
that's a revelation...
the masses would not take kindly to.
I think you did the right thing
in denying knowledge of colonel Taylor.
- There was another reason.
- What?
They would have asked
if he was still alive.
- And is he?
- Oh, no, no, no, he can't be.
Well, how do you know?
- Because
- Well?
From the windows of the spaceship
We saw the Earth...
destroyed.
Stand by.
Good evening. This is Bill Bonds
reporting from Los Angeles...
where the biggest story since the moon landing
broke this morning when two apes talked.
I repeat, talked to
the presidential commission of inquiry.
With me this evening in the studio
is Dr. Otto Hasslein.
He is a senior scientific adviser
with the White House...
and he'll be giving us his views on the crucial
statement made at this morning's session.
Dr. Hasslein, as I recall...
when you asked the male ape
where he was from...
the female replied, "From your future."
- Yes.
- Do you believe that?
Absolutely.
I think it is the only explanation.
Well, maybe the explanation
needs some explaining.
Now, you've written several learned
dissertations on the nature of time.
Could you explain in terms
that our viewers at home will understand...
how, for instance, a person, or persons...
- uh, could travel from time past to time future
- Mm-hmm.
or, indeed, vice versa?
Mr. Bonds, I think that time
can only be fully understood...
by an observer with a godlike gift
of infinite regression.
Could you explain
infinite regression for us?
- Roll the film.
- I'd be more than happy to.
As a matter of fact,
I came prepared to do just that.
Now, here's a painting of a landscape.
Now, the artist
who painted that picture...
says something is missing.
What is it? "It is I myself,
who was part of the landscape I painted."
So he mentally takes
a step backward, or regresses...
and paints a picture of the artist
painting a picture of the landscape.
But still something is missing,
and that something...
is still his real self
painting the second picture.
So he regresses further
and paints a third
a picture of the artist
painting a picture...
of the artist painting a picture
of the landscape.
But because something is still missing...
he paints a fourth and a fifth...
until he paints a picture...
of the artist painting a picture
of the artist painting a picture...
of the artist painting a picture
of the artist painting a landscape.
So infinite regression then is
It is the moment when our artist
has regressed to the point of infinity...
and himself becomes part
of the landscape he painted...
and is both the observer
and the observed.
Well, now,
in that peculiar condition...
what would he be observing
if he were observing, let's say, time?
He would perceive, Mr. Bonds,
that time is like a freeway...
with an infinite number of lanes...
all leading from the past
into the future.
However, not into the same future.
A driver in lane "A" may crash
while a driver in lane "B" survives.
It follows that a driver,
by changing lanes, can change his future.
Now, Mr. Bonds,
I do not find it difficult to believe...
that in the dark and turbulent
corridors of outer space...
the impact of some distant planetary,
even galactic disaster...
jumped the apes
from their present into ours.
And indeed, the proof lies
in their arrival among us...
and in their spoken
and I repeat spoken testimony.
Thank you very much, Dr. Hasslein.
It's certainly the most incredible story
this reporter has ever covered.
I think that by their intelligence
and their good humor...
the two so-called "ape-o-nauts"
have already captured the hearts...
of the entire American nation.
They will not be required to appear
before the commission tomorrow.
That hearing, of course,
is going to be held in private.
They will, however, be taken
from the zoo infirmary to a hoteI...
and they will be given
an extended tour of the city.
This is Bill Bonds reporting
for Eyewitness News.
- Good night.
- Good night.
Oh!
- Your luggage, ma'am?
- Of course it's mine!
Address, please.
The zoo.
Hmm.
Forty.
May I measure your inside leg, sir?
- No.
- Oh.
Dr. Cornelius, tell me,
how do you find our women?
Very human.
Very good. Very good.
Excuse me. Madam Zira?
I represent Fur and Feather,
a pet magazine.
Do you think I'm a pet?
Well, yes, I do rather.
- Say, why don't you try some?
- What is it?
Well, it's sort of,
uh, like grape juice plus.
Wait!Just a sip.
Madam Zira,
what is your favorite fruit?
Grape.
Higher! Higher!
And that's the way it was tonight...
at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
Tomorrow, Zira is to speak
at the Bay Area Women's Club...
and later she'll accompany Dr. Hasslein
to the Museum of Natural History.
Meanwhile, Cornelius will attend
a prizefight. That's his first one.
Later, he'll visit Disneyland to dedicate
a new boat for the jungle Cruise.
Now, for a look at the weather. Sunny
California wilI not be exactly that tomorrow.
Clouds will cover the coastal area,
with light showers predicted.
The downtown
- Tired?
- A little.
How is that?
Soothing...
but very wet.
Hmm. Hmm.
A marriage bed is made for two...
- but every damn morning
it's the woman who has to make it.
We have heads as well as hands.
I call upon men to let us use them!
Right! Right.
How do you like it, Cornelius?
Beastly.
We are now approaching
Antrodemus valens Leidy...
a giant flesh-eating dinosaur.
Now, its scientific name
is a compound...
of the Greek antron,
which means "hollow"...
and demus,
which means "body frame"...
referring to the backbone or vertebrae.
Now, this little fellow
is Camptosaurus Marsh...
a primitive duck-billed dinosaur.
Its scientific name is a compound
of the Greek kampto...
which means "flexible" or "bent"...
and saurus, which means "lizard."
Its generic name, therefore,
is "flexible lizard."
In 1879,
O.C. Marsh of Yale University...
described the first known species
from the Jurassic beds of Wyoming.
Since then, other specimens
have been found throughout
- It must have been the shock.
- Shock, my foot!
I'm pregnant.
Mmm.
I shan't leave you
until Cornelius is back.
- No, no, no, no!
- No, I insist. Please sit down.
Now, is there anything
I can get you, Zira?
Well, I have a strange craving.
That is only natural.
For grape juice plus.
Grape juice plus?
It's in the the refrigerator.
All right.
Is this it?
Here we are.
Lewis said only a sip.
Zira, it is an excellent restorative,
I assure you...
especially in cases of pregnancy,
you know.
How long have you known?
Oh, since well before the war.
Mmm.
- Do you mind if I smoke?
- Mm-mmm.
Oh, no, I shouldn't
not in view of your condition.
Who won your war?
It wasn't our war.
It was the gorillas' war.
Chimpanzees are passion
pacifists!
We stayed behind.
We never saw the enemy.
But which side won?
Neither.
But how do you know
that if you weren't there, Zira?
When we were in space, we saw...
bright, white, blinding light.
And then we saw
the rim of the Earth melt.
Then there was a tornado in the sky.
Whoo.
Oh, I feel magnificently sleepy.
The date meter on the spaceship?
What did it read
after Earth's destruction?
1973.
And before?
Before the white light and the tornado?
3950...
something.
Before the white light and the tornado?
3950...
something.
So?
So you have evidence that one day
talking apes will dominate this Earth...
and eventually destroy it
by 3950-something.
I doubt that we shall
still be in office by then.
And according to the NASA experts...
who are still subjecting the spaceship
to microscopic scrutiny...
the precise year of what you merely
infer to be Earth's destruction...
is recorded on the flight synthesizer
as 3955.
A.D., presumably.
Now, what do you expect me
and the United Nations-
though not necessarily in that order
to do about it?
Alter what you believe to be the course of
the future by slaughtering two innocents?
Or rather three,
now that one of them is pregnant.
Herod tried that, and Christ survived.
Mr. President,
Herod lacked our facilities.
He also became very unpopular,
historically unpopular.
- And we don't want that to happen, do we?
- Are you actually saying
I am saying that our two visitors...
seem to be very charming,
peaceful people or rather creatures
and that the voters love them.
Do you want them and their progeny
to dominate the world, Mr. President?
Well, not at the next election, no.
But one day, if the progeny turn out
as well as the parents, who knows?
They may do a better job of it
than we have.
By destroying the world?
- Are you sure that what they saw destroyed was the world?
- Well, aren't you?
I consider it dispassionately
as a possibility...
not hysterically as a
fact.
Mr. President, we have their own testimony
that they provoked the war.
And they seemed to have provoked you
pretty thoroughly into the bargain.
I'm not saying that you're wrong,
Hasslein, but I am saying...
that before I have them
shot against the wall...
I want convincing that
the handwriting on the wall...
is calculably true.
Now, convince me.
By their own testimony, we know that apes one day
will acquire the power of intelligent speech.
By Zira's testimony,
we know that she's pregnant with child.
By my own testimony, we know that
it's genetically possible for this child
provided, of course,
always that we permit its birth
to bear or beget a talking ape
by a dumb one...
in a present-day jungle
or a present-day zoo.
But do you truly believe that
by deliberate present-day action...
we can neutralize that possibility...
that we can alter the future?
- Yes, Mr. President, I do.
- Do you also believe that we should?
Given the power to alter the future,
have we the right to use it?
I don't know.
I've wrestled with this, Mr. President.
I just don't know.
How many futures are there?
Which future has God, if there is a God,
chosen for man's destiny?
If I urge the destruction
of these two apes...
am I defying God's will or obeying it?
Am I his enemy or his instrument?
An assassin would say the latter.
Do you approve of assassination?
Well, we condoned the attempted
assassination of Hitler because he was evil.
Yes, but would we have approved killing him
in babyhood when he was still innocent?
Or killing his mother
when he was still in her womb?
Or slaughtering his remote ancestors?
We have no proof, Hasslein,
that these apes are evil.
- Mr. President, there are very strong indications.
- Such as?
There were hesitancies and small discrepancies
in their answers to the commission...
which suggests to me that if they
were properly interrogated
Are you suggesting that they
were improperly interrogated?
- Let us say "unprofessionally."
- You want it professional?
- The full works, Mr. President.
- Tell that to the commission.
I'll abide by their findings.
Having convened in secret session...
at the request of the president...
the commission makes the following
interim recommendations.
The public should be informed...
"that the apes,
after their arduous space voyage...
"and the fatigue arising
from its attendant publicity...
"are to be afforded rest and privacy...
"in a location whose identity
will not be divulged to the public.
Since, however,
there is justifiable cause...
"for suspecting that they have withheld
vital information from this commission...
"the 'ape-o-nauts' will, in fact,
be escorted by Dr. Lewis Dixon...
"to the installation
known as Camp Eleven...
"held there in his care
for interrogation by the C.I.A...
under the guidance and supervision
of Dr. Otto Hasslein."
When we were in space...
we saw bright, white, blinding light.
Brighter than this?
- Ooh.
- Oh.
Then we saw the rim of the Earth melt.
Then there was a tornado in the sky.
That's yourvoice, isn't it?
How can I tell?
I- I don't even remember.
Why don't you remember?
Because Dr. Hasslein made me drunk!
Why did you tell something
to Dr. Hasslein when drunk...
that you never told
the commission when sober?
Because you and your husband
were frightened...
for the safety of yourselves
and your unborn child?
- I-I withheld nothing. Nobody asked me.
- But if somebody had asked?
I should have said that chimpanzees...
had no part in the destruction of Earth.
Only the gorillas and the orangutans.
What's the difference?
You're all monkeys.
Please!
Do not use the word "monkey."
It is offensive to us.
As an archaeologist,
I had access to history scrolls...
which were kept secret
from the masses.
And I suspect that the weapon
which destroyed Earth...
was man's own invention.
I do know this.
One of the reasons
for man's original downfall...
was your peculiar habit
of murdering one another.
Man destroys man.
Apes do not destroy apes.
Cornelius.
This is not an interracial hassle,
but a search for facts.
We do not deny the possibility
of man's decline and fall.
All we want to find out
is how apes rose.
Well, it began, uh, in our prehistory...
with the plague that fell upon dogs.
And cats.
Hundreds and thousands
of them died...
and hundreds and thousands
of them had to be destroyed...
in order to prevent
the spread of infection.
- There were dog bonfires.
- Yes. And by the time the plague was contained...
man was without pets.
Oh. Of course, for man,
this was intolerable.
I mean, he might kill his brother...
but he could not kill his dog.
So humans took primitive apes as pets.
Primitive and dumb...
but still 20 times more intelligent
than dogs or cats.
Hmm. Correct.
See, they were quartered in cages...
but they lived and moved freely
in human homes.
They became responsive
to human speech...
and, in the course
of less than two centuries...
they progressed
from performing mere tricks...
to performing services.
Nothing more or less than
a well-trained sheepdog could do.
Look, could a sheepdog cook
or clean the house...
or do the marketing for the groceries
with a list from its mistress...
or wait on tables?
Or, after three more centuries,
turn the tables on their owners?
How?
They-They became alert
to the concept of slavery.
Mmm. And as their numbers grew,
to slavery's antidote...
which, of course, is unity.
Well, at first, they began
assembling in small groups.
They learned the art
of corporate and militant action.
They learned to refuse.
Oh, at first, they just, uh,
grunted their refusal.
But then, on an historic day
which is commemorated by my species...
and fully documented
in the sacred scrolls
there came Aldo.
He did not grunt.
He articulated.
He spoke a word
which had been spoken to him...
oh, time without number by humans.
He said...
"No."
So that's how it all started.
Clip one, please.
Where we come from, apes talk.
Humans are dumb.
You recognize your husband's words
to the commission?
Yes.
So humans were dumb.
Were they happy? Clip two.
As to humans, I've dissect
I- I've examined thousands of them.
And until now, I've only discovered
two who could talk in my life.
Why did you change words
in the middle of the sentence?
Repeat first three seconds of clip two.
As to humans, I've dissect I've examined
- What was the word you didn't finish?
- I-I can't remember.
- Play the loop.
- ... dissect... dissect- ... dissect
- Complete the word, monkey.
- Look, I have told you
- Complete the word!
- ... dissect... dissect... dissect-
...dissect... dissect- ... dissect
Sounds as if I had hiccups.
Call for Dr. Dixon, please.
Dr. Dixon.
Dr. Hasslein calling Dr. Dixon.
Calling Dr. Dixon.
Ah, Dr. Dixon. Come in.
- Be good enough to administer this to the female.
- Why? What is it?
Sodium Pentothal. One-half gram, I.V.
- Dr. Hasslein, I'm an animal psychiatrist.
- And a qualified vet, Dr. Dixon.
You have the commission's authority.
And that of the president. Please.
Zira, I've been asked to give you
an injection that's going to put you
You can't use that!
We only use those things for killing.
- Killing?
- No, this is not for killing, Cornelius.
This is for relaxing.
It won't harm her.
- Will it harm my baby?
- No. No, it won't.
So, Zira, if you would
just come with me, please.
- Lewis, you can't use that on Zira!
- I promise you, Cornelius-
- Please, take him to his quarters!
- Really.
Lewis, you No, you mustn't!
You
Zira. Zira.
Please.
Just lie down on the couch.
And bare your arm, please.
You don't have to tell me.
This has the same effect
as grape juice plus.
Now count backward from 10.
Ten, nine, eight, seven...
six, five, four
What comes after four?
Two.
- Thank you, Dr. Dixon.
- It's customary to stay.
- Zira.
- Mmm.
You worked in a room
like this.
Mmm.
Bigger. Not so pretty.
And there you practiced
Comparative
Comparative what?
- An-An-An
- Anatomy?
Whose anatomies did you compare?
Apes and humans?
Zira, say "yes" if you mean yes.
Yes.
So you dissected other apes?
Ye-Yes.
When-When they died a natural death.
- And humans, too, of course.
- Yes.
- As they were made available.
- Available?
Gorillas hunted them for sport...
with nets and with guns.
The survivors were put in cages.
The army used some of them
for-for target practice.
We could take
our scientific pick of the rest.
And in the interest of science...
you dissected, removed,
and statistically compared
Bones, muscles, tendons.
And veins, arteries,
kidneys, livers, hearts.
Stomachs, reproductive organs.
Nails, tongues, eyes.
Noses, nervous systems,
the various reflexes.
Reflexes? Of Of the dead?
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Of the living.
You can't make
a dead man's knee jump...
any more than you can test a corpse's
reaction to a prefrontal lobotomy.
You mean you were advanced enough...
to perform experimental brain surgery
on living humans?
Oh, yes.
We even tried to stimulate
their atrophied speech centers.
Did you try to stimulate
Colonel Taylor's speech centers?
Of course not.
He could talk already.
When you left,
was ColoneI Taylor still alive?
We-We loved Taylor.
We did all we could to help him...
Cornelius and I.
Cornelius?
She should have a nap now.
She'll get it.
Orderly.
- Sir?
- Please take the female ape to its quarters.
Yes, sir.
We have to get this
to the commission immediately.
Gentlemen, gentlemen.
I've just received an official notification
from the president...
ratifying the final recommendations
made by this commission...
in light of the tape recordings
delivered to us by Dr. Hasslein.
Now, if you'll just be seated,
we'll get right down to business.
Now, let me review
our conclusions.
By a majority vote,
the commission finds no solid evidence...
"for hostility by either ape
towards the human race...
as is presently constituted
in this Year of our Lord, 1973."
Mr. Chairman! I disagree
Let me remind you
that this was by a majority vote.
"The male's attitude is that of a deeply
interested and well-disposed academician...
"who studied the alleged future
downfall of the human race...
"with the true objectivity
of a good historian.
"The female's case is different...
"in that she undoubtedly committed
actions against the human race...
"of a sort which,
if they were to be committed today...
"would be called atrocities.
"But would they be so called
in 2,000 years' time...
"when it is alleged that humans
will have become dumb brutes...
"with the restricted intelligence
of animals?
"It has been pointed out that
what apes will do to humans...
"is no more than what humans
are now doing to beasts.
"Nonetheless, the commission
is sympathetic to Dr. Hasslein's conviction...
"that the progeny of these apes
could, in centuries to come...
"prove an increasing threat
to the human race...
"and conceivably end by dominating it.
"This is a risk we dare not ignore.
"Therefore, the commission
unanimously recommends...
"that the birth of the female ape's
unborn child should be prevented.
"And that after its prenatal removaI...
"both the male and the female...
should humanely be rendered
incapable of bearing another."
I now declare this commission dissolved.
Savages!
They are savages!
Jabbing needles into my pregnant wife.
I've done that, too, dear, and worse.
Taylor thought we were savages at first.
Did they make you tell them
about Taylor too?
They made me tell them everything,
Cornelius.
- Brutes.
- Shall I tell you something?
I'm glad I did.
We can't live with lies.
After this, I doubt
we shall be allowed to live at all.
Do you mean that?
Oh.
How long?
A week. Maybe sooner.
They treated you like dirt.
Ma'am, sir.
Chow time.
I'm not hungry.
Well, maybe somebody else
is who can't talk yet, huh?
Oh, come on, ma'am.
It's pure vitamin "C."
You better drink your soup
and eat the oranges...
for the sake of that little monkey
you got
What have you done, Cornelius?
- Nobody makes a fool out of my wife.
- But oughtn't we to call
Shh! We just ought to leave.
I'll be going back with Dr. Hasslein
in a few minutes.
I'm the one who has to tell them.
- Stevie, you've gotta come help me.
- I'll come right away.
It just seems so cruel and horrible and
I don't know. I'll see you.
- Cruel, Dr. Dixon?
- Unbelievably.
- Zira wants her baby.
- So do I.
- But dead.
- Yes.
You'd prefer the parents dead too.
Shall we go?
Gate 4.Just a minute, sir.
I'll take a look.
No, sir. The lieutenant
hasn't checked in yet.
- Night, Charlie.
- Night, Ed.
Yes, sir.
I'll give him that message.
"Contact the motor pool."
Yes, sir. Just as soon as I see him.
Gate 4.
Oh, yes, Captain.
No, sir. The supply truck
isn't due until 0600 hours.
Well, I'm sorry, sir.
- Good night, Charlie.
- I said good night.
We haven't any way
to contact them until then.
Well, the depot's closed, sir.
Okay, sir. I'll be off duty,
but the relief comes on at 0430 hours...
and I'll get him to pass the message.
Yes, sir.
Zira, what's the matter?
I I think my pains have begun.
Oh, my dear.
Administration, Doctor.
It's urgent.
- What happened?
- The apes have killed their orderly.
- Where are they?
- On the run.
Now they've killed.
And for that, they must be killed.
It has to be done and done quickly
before we start a stone rolling that will
gather enough poison moss to kill us all!
Look, I'm going back to camp.
- I'm going to find Lewis, and I'm going to get help.
- No. No.
Zira, I just lost my temper with the boy.
Now maybe
- It's better now. I can walk.
- Listen to me.
They may punish us for what we did...
but at least the baby will be born.
- Were they armed?
- No, I don't believe so.
Then, when they're found, there's no need
for a shooting match, is there?
Not strictly speaking, no.
I am speaking strictly, Hasslein.
Science regards these apes as unique.
The people regard them
as practically human.
Mr. President, the people must be told
that the killers of today...
could become
the mass murderers of tomorrow.
Of course they must, Hasslein...
and I can think of no one better equipped
emotionally than yourself...
to persuade them of that possibility.
But, in a democracy, we do not shoot
unarmed suspects on sight...
for a murder in which
their participation is still legally unproven.
Now, I want them taken, yes,
but taken alive.
- Is that clear?
- Quite clear, Mr. President.
You lost, miss?
Oh, it's you, Dr. Branton.
You'd better be careful, ma'am.
There's been a murder.
- Murder?
- Yes, ma'am.
The monkeys have killed their orderly
and escaped.
What? I don't believe it.
How did it happen?
I don't know, ma'am.
All I know is they've killed their orderly.
And I've been given orders to find them.
Drive carefully, Dr. Branton. There will be
a lot of vehicles in the area tonight.
- Cornelius, what have you done?
- Stevie, I didn't mean to kill him.
He was teasing Zira, and I thought
I just hit him with the tray.
- Please believe me.
- I do, Cornelius. I do, but they won't.
- Where's Zira?
- She's back there. She's hiding in the bushes.
Stevie, she's in labor.
Oh, God. Get in.
Stevie, you won't take us back
to the camp?
Get down. I have a better idea.
Now, wait a second.
Just a moment.
Let me get this straight.
You are asking me to risk imprisonment...
for the sake of two fugitive apes?
Well, the answer is,
a thousand times yes.
Oh, yes.
I do it for you and for Stevie...
and for your two distinguished friends.
- Uh, "notorious" now.
- The hell with notoriety.
What is a husband expected to do
stand by and see his wife insulted?
Good God. Aren't we rude
enough to each other...
without having to be rude to animals?
And anyway, he didn't mean to kill the boy.
It was an accident.
- ¿Los tratan bien, muchachos?
- Sí, patrón. ¡Salud!
I sure appreciate
what you're doing, Armando.
Well, you helped deliver our last baby...
and now you will deliver our next.
Lewis. What took you so long?
After your phone call, I had to work out
some excuse. They think I'm searching.
- Armando's been a saint.
- A minor one. St. Francis would have fixed it better.
- Never.
- Say hello to Héloïse.
And your goddaughter, Salome.
- Hello, Salome.
- The first chimp ever born in a circus.
No. Los Angeles has had four.
Los Angeles is not a circus.
Los Angeles is a zoo.
So New Yorkers say.
Lewis is here.
Lewis, I was not responsible
for the death
I know, but you will be responsible
for a birth. How is she?
The pains are coming
every five minutes now.
Every four.
Oh, look. Look at Héloïse.
She's showing an expectant mother
what to expect.
Mama. Mama.
Say it. Mama.
- Mama.
- Zira.
Zira, don't waste
your breath and strength.
You know that the child of two primitive apes
will never learn how to speak.
I'm getting into practice.
Mama. Mama.
Mam
There. That's good.
Come on. Over here.
Mmm. What are we going to call
- Him.
- Him?
Milo?
Milo.
Milo.
- Milo.
- Congratulations.
Oh.
- No?
- No.
- But, sir
- Captain, I'm fully aware of the fact...
that you've canvassed all the areas
we first established.
Evidently, we were wrong
because you haven't found them yet!
Thank you.
Now, Dr. Dixon, can you
pinpoint the probable date...
of the baby's birth
with any degree of accuracy?
Well, I never examined her,
but, from appearances...
I'd say a week to 10 days.
Well, if it's that's close,
she can't have gone far.
- Where do apes go?
- To other apes.
Of course.
Captain, I want you to start
an immediate and systematic search...
of every menagerie, every zoo,
every circus in the city.
I'll augment your force
with the city police.
I want to be kept fully informed
about all results...
- whether positive or negative.
- Yes, sir.
- Lewis will think of something.
- I am so sorry.
I had planned it all so well.
In just one month, we move on
to our winter quarters in Florida.
I could have released you in the Everglades,
and, oh, my dear, dear friends...
you might have lived happily ever after.
But now What can I do?
You have done enough
to make us grateful to you forever.
I did it because
I like chimpanzees best of all apes
and you,
the best of all chimpanzees.
I did it because I hate those
who try to alter destiny...
which is the unalterable will of God.
And if it is man's destiny one day
to be dominated...
then, oh, please, God,
let him be dominated by such as you.
All I can now do to help you...
is give you this for the baby.
- It's a medal of St. Francis of Assisi.
- Who is he?
He was a holy man who loved
and cared for all animals.
- Yes.
- Oh, thank you.
We'll hang it around the baby's neck.
For protection, huh?
- Thank you.
- Yes.
And now, my dear, dear friends...
before the police come
and the audience gathers...
you and your pretty baby must go.
Lewis is on his way.
- Armando.
- Yes?
I should like to say good-bye
to Héloïse first.
If only she could speak,
she would say how very sorry she is.
I know,
but we understand each other.
All right. All right.
This is as far as we dare to take you.
The police have got roadblocks
on every main exit from town.
- Here are your supplies.
- Thank you.
Can you read a map?
I'm an archaeologist.
I can even draw one.
All right.
We're at the city limits...
at the southern edge
of this oil field here.
Once you're over this hill,
you'll pass through more oil wells...
an abandoned refinery.
You'll be looking down at a harbor
to the southeast.
It's a kind of graveyard for old ships
that have become unseaworthy.
I used to play there as a kid.
Anyway, there's a derelict tanker
at one end.
- You could hide there for a week.
- A week?
Until the commotion dies down a bit...
and we can smuggle you
back to the circus.
And then, as Armando says,
you can travel with them to Florida...
found your own colony in the Everglades,
and live happily ever after.
Mama. Mama.
Mama.
It's, uh, time that you were moving on.
- Lewis.
- Yes?
If they find us, we shall be killed?
Ultimately.
Then, uh, give us
the opportunity to kill ourselves...
if that moment should come.
Please.
I shouldn't do this,
but I guessed you might ask.
You're the second human I've kissed.
And you are the first.
Come along, Zira.
Now, don't dawdle.
- The ape with the kid.
- Héloïse?
Oh, she's been with the circus
seven years now.
And the baby's birth
was registered 16 days ago.
Look how he's growing.
The first chimpanzee
ever to be born in a circus!
Do you realize
what a distinction that is, huh?
Why, it's like being the first fish
to be born on dry land.
- Nothing.
- It's like being the first bird to be born without an egg.
It is like being the first baby
to be born on the moon.
It's like being the
Negative! Negative! Negative!
Don't worry.
We'll catch 'em sooner or later.
That's what I'm worried about "later."
Later, we'll do something
about pollution.
Later, we'll do something
about the population explosion.
Later, we'll do something
about the nuclear war.
We think we've got
all the time in the world!
How much time has the world got?
Somebody has to begin to care.
Oh! Like stars in space.
Isn't it beautiful?
Yes, it is from here.
Well
We must move on.
Hmm.
- Who found it?
- Field superintendent.
Routine service check.
It was hidden here in the workings.
- I guess she didn't need this anymore.
- So why don't we get moving?
It's a big area. We've called in
for helicopters to direct us.
- How long till they get here?
- Twenty minutes.
- Why so long?
- They're running down a fire report out in the Simi Valley.
- Keep me posted.
- Yes, sir.
- What's the matter?
- They found Zira's suitcase.
Did Lewis really play here?
Well, it was probably cleaner then.
- It stinks- of man.
- Oh, no, no, no.
That's, uh, oil and dead fish.
Is that what man wanted oil for
to kill fish?
You don't like them very much, do you?
- Who?
- Humans.
We've met hundreds
since we've been here...
and I trust... three.
Mama. Mama.
Mama.
He wants feeding.
Oh, yes, well, um
Well, there must be
someplace cleaner than this.
I'll look around.
Cornelius?
Cornelius?
I see you've had your baby, Zira.
The presidential commission has
empowered me to take it in my care.
Give it to me.
Cornelius!
Spread your men out along the pier!
- All right, men! Move out!
- Get them down there!
Get down in front and move out!
Move! Move! Go!
All the way down to the end!
All right! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!
Stevie.
Zira.
I want that baby. And if you
won't give it to me, I'll shoot.
My God! Stop him!
No!
Keep your men here! Come on!
Zira!
What's she doing?
Oh, my God.
All hands on the guy lines.
Drop the bale ring!
All extra hands in the back yard.
To the quarter pole.
- On the double!
- Come on! Let's go!
As soon as you get that canvas packed...
I want every hand
on the menagerie tent.
All right?
Intelligent creature.
But then,
so were your mother and father.
Mama.
Mama. Mama.
Mama!