Tim Lucas VW wrote:

Terry's epigram reminds me that I was glancing through IN THE ARENA the other day to refresh my memory of it, and I was surprised to find Heston saying that we never learn the first name of his APES hero, Taylor. He also said that he did only a day's work on BENEATH, which he did as a freebie out of gratitude to producer Arthur P. Jacobs, and that he never bothered to see it or any of the later sequels.


Actually, Tim, Heston did BENEATH as a favor to Richard Zanuck, because Zanuck had stepped up to the plate and decided to go for broke with the original PLANET OF THE APES at Heston's urging, where nobody else would.


Terry Pace wrote:

I doubt that Heston worked on Beneath for more than two or (at most) three days, but he's certainly in more scenes than they could have possibly done in a day. One's on location in the desert, while the others take place on the subterranean Forbidden City sets. The flashback scene with Linda and Taylor's death scene with Dr. Zaius probably didn't take long to film, but the extended fight scene with James Franciscus must have taken a while, particularly with all the different camera set-ups.



If you read the fascinating book from Heston's journals called THE ACTOR'S LIFE, Heston agonizingly wrote in his diary how much he disliked working on BENEATH, because he actually thought there'd be nothing more to do for him than just a couple of scenes or a day's work or two. Unfortunately, his part kept getting bigger than he'd bargained for, so he found himself kind of trapped. I've just consulted the book, and the first day of shooting was (appropriately enough given today's date) April 14, 1969. The last thing he wrote during filming was May 2, 1969. Here are some of his writings from the book:

April 14 - After the mix-up yesterday, when I made my position clear on kiting off to the desert to spend three days there on these scenes [for the APES sequel] (not possible of course, with all I have to do), they flew me up on the crew's charter this morning and choppered me back home to the Mulholland fire station when I'd finished for the day. The script is still nothing much, the direction (by Ted Post of the old New York days) very brisk and permissive. This was all complicated by a terrible, tearing wind all day, plus the fact that the fall they made to match my long hair from the original APES is not good. I'm not hopeful of the result... but then, I won't be long in it.

April 18 - I'm still slaving away on my promised chore in the APES sequel. I'm beginning to regret it, for more than obvious reasons. This is the first film ... first acting ... I've ever done in my life for which I have no enthusiasm, which is a vital loss. To choose always the most expedient solution to a scene, to work without watching dailies... I can't adjust to this image of myself.

April 30 - It's very difficult to adjust to working on APES II. I thought there'd be nothing for me but a few simple physical scenes; instead, I find myself tangled in creative discussions in aid of a project in whose creative validity I have no confidence.

May 2 - I was distressed to realize one scene ( at LEAST one scene) of what we did in the cell would not play. We also had to reshoot the stuff with the girl after she's shot, partly because she couldn't lie dead without blinking, but mainly because I simply failed to make it work at all. Maybe I played a fair death scene. The concept WAS good, in fact. At least I've done what I told Dick Zanuck I would do.



Then - at the end of some of the diary entries, Heston makes a recent commentary on what he's learned from re-reading his own journals. In 1978, preparing this book, he adds:

(1978) -- I did my best during the shooting of the few scenes I had in the APES sequel to keep my mouth shut and do my work, a salutary experience for me. Still, I detect in these entries an excess of self-pity, the worst of human failings.


Last Edited By: Joe Karlosi Apr 14 08 7:41 AM. Edited 4 times.