[Helicopter Approaching]
Red Baron, control, Red Baron 5.
Radio: Go ahead, Red Baron 5.
Roger. Orbiting southeast corner sector Alpha Charlie.
We've spotted what appears to be a spacecraft
just outside the surfline.
Alert Rescue and advise to remain on station for 45 minutes.
And we'll squat 7700 for a radar fix.
Radio: Roger.
Rescue, I have Red Baron 5.
Report a possible spacecraft offshore
southeast sector Alpha Charlie.
Immediately launch chopper. Effect pickup and recovery .
Base radar will vector.
Man: Every body out! Come on!
Let's go! Ha! Ha! Ha!
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 Sta--
- Did you call the zoo? - Yes, sir, we're in luck.
Sick bay's almost empty, except for a mauled fox cub
and a deer with pneumonia and a depressed gorilla.
The apes will be hidden from the public. They'll be quarantined.
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 allow monkeys to 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?
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 up!
- Where did they get clothes? - They brought them with them, sir.
- What? - In that suitcase.
Suitcase?
Uh...
Greg, maybe you should give them their oranges.
Uh, well, they're--
They're going to the zoo infirmary .
Arrange for a police escort at 1 630 hours.
They'll have company there.
There's a gorilla in the next cage.
Why did he do that?
[Animals Screeching]
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 ofan ape war ofaggression.
[Growling]
Apes, at this instant in time,
cannot yet talk.
For the moment, we should follow their example.
[Tiger Roars]
[Elephant Trumpets]
[Bear Roars]
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 offplates with knives."
- Well, what is it, Lewis? - There was sort of
- Full offood? - No, clothes and it seems
I don't believe it.
[Bear Roars]
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 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 a cha--
Well, she seems to be pretty smart.
All right, let's make it more diffcult.
They, uh, haven't had their breakfast yet?
Not a bite. Just as you ordered.
Good. We'll offer the banana.
[Sighs]
- 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 ifshe was!
And I repeat the question. 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 ofGod 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 ofprimitive apparatus!
Primitive? It's prehistoric!
- Couldn't test the intelligence of a newt!
- I am calm! - Zira! Zira!
- Stop arguing! - [Grunting]
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! - [Gorilla Growling]
[Trumpets]
[Roars]
[Door Slams Shut]
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.
[Monkey Screeches]
Um, we mean you no harm.
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. - Zira: He's a gorilla!
Well, look, 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 halfmy life to humans.
Humans?
I'm a psychiatrist.
Oh, well, I'm--I'm a psychiatrist too.
Do you 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...
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.
[Murmuring]
- Good afternoon, gentlemen. - All: Mr. President.
I'm aware that what I have to tell you may conceivably create
- somewhat wider than the Grand Canyon. - [Laughing]
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 2 years now.
To be exact, the one commanded by Colonel Taylor.
[Murmuring]
Have they identified the bodies, Mr. President?
They have identified 3 bodies, yes, all living.
[Murmuring]
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. - [Murmuring]
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 lnquiry in Los Angeles tomorrow.
The 2 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.
[Speaking French]
[Speaking German]
[SpeakingJapanese]
One of the 2 American spaceships
believed until now to have disintegrated in orbit,
splashed down unexpectedly yesterday in the Pacific Ocean
off the coast ofSouthern California.
And is stated to have been manned--
if you can call it manned-- by monkeys.
Reporters: General!
No comment. I have nothing to say, gentlemen.
- Reporters: Senator! - I'm sorry , boys, not now.
I haven't the time now. A little later, please.
Reporter: Here comes the chairman.
Later. Later.
As the president's senior science advisor,
what do you expect to experience from this historic meeting?
- Fear. - [All Talking At Once]
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. - [Knock]
All right, it's time.
What do they think we are, gorillas?
I'm sorry .
That's it. Just be seated.
Uh, Mr. Chairman, members of the commission,
Iadies and gentlemen, my name is Lewis Dixon.
And I am the animal psychiatrist
who has been in charge of these 2 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.
- Ha ha ha! - Ha ha ha!
[Gavel Strikes Bench]
Dr. Dixon, as a zoologist, I know and respect your work,
but if you think you're going to 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 ofspeech.
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 ofspeech.
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.
[Crowd Gasps]
Certainly she can articulate,
which, in itself, is extraordinary !
Uh, but, Dr. Dixon, are we to infer that Zira is her name
or some phrase in her 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.
[Laughs]
- Dr. Hasslein? - No... nothing.
- Mr. Chairman. - 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
It has been the language ofour ancestors
for nearly 2,000 years.
As to its origins, who can be sure?
Gorillas and orangutans ofour community believe
that God created the ape in his own image.
Nonsense!
Cornelius, as an intellectual, you know damned well
the gorillas are a bunch ofmilitaristic nincompoops.
And the orangutans are a bunch ofblinkered,
pseudoscientific geese!
As to humans, I've dissect--
I've examined thousands of them.
And until now, I've only discovered 2 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.
Dr. Milo was a genius well in advance ofhis time.
When the spacecraft first landed on our seaboard,
it was Dr. Milo who salvaged it.
He studied it and halfunderstood it.
Half? Was halfenough?
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 ofwar.
- War between whom? - The gorillas and whoever lives--Iived.
- 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 Colonel Taylor?
No. Is he a soldier?
We are peaceful creatures.
We are happy to be here.
May we be unchained?
Here they come. Gentlemen, do you have--
No comment. No comment.
- No comment. - No comment.
- Mr. Chairman, a word. - I'll give you one-- preposterous.
- Well, can you define that, Mr. Chairman?
As head of this commission, it will be our duty to sit through
the facts of this bizarre affair and pass our conclusions
onto the president of the United States for implementation.
- What a load ofhogger mogger. - Dr. Hasslein.
- 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!
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 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,
apes did not love humans.
They, uh, hunted them for sport,
much as you would animals.
Yes. We use their bodies, alive and dead,
experimentally for anatomical dissection
and scientific research.
Well, we do the same thing to animals.
I mean, as a scientist, I sympathize,
but 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. - Stevie: What?
They would have asked ifhe was still alive.
- And is he? - Oh, no, no, no, he can't be.
Well, how did you know?
Because
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
I repeat, talked to the Presidential Commission of lnquiry .
With me this evening in the studio is Dr. Otto Hasslein.
He is a senior scientific advisor at 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. - Would 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,
could travel from time past to time future
or, indeed, vice versa?
Mr. Bonds, I think that time can only be fully understood
by an observer with a godlike gift ofinfinite regression.
Could you explain infinite regression for us?
- Roll the film. - I'd more than happy to.
As a matter offact, I came prepared to do just that.
Now here's a painting of a landscape.
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 landscape.
So infinite regression then is--
It is the moment when our artist has regressed to the point ofinfinity,
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 ifhe were observing, let's say, time?
He would perceive, Mr. Bonds, that time is like a freeway
with an infinite number oflanes,
all leading from the past into the future,
however, not unto 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 diffcult to believe
that in the dark and turbulent corridors ofouter space,
the impact ofsome distant planetary , even galactic disaster,
jumped the apes from their present into ours.
Indeed, the prooflies 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 2 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 hotel,
and they will be given an extended tour of the city.
This is Bill Bonds reporting for Eyewitness News.
- Good night. - Good night.
[Siren]
[Dog Barking]
- Your luggage, ma'am? - Of course, it's mine!
Address, please.
- The zoo. - [Laughs]
40.
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 Furand 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 like grape juice plus.
Wait! Just a sip!
Madam Zira, what is your favorite fruit?
Grape.
And that's the way it was tonight
at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
- Ha ha ha. - Tomorrow, Zira is to speak
at the Bay Area's 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 theJungle Cruise.
Now, for a look at the weather.
Sunny California will not be exactly that tomorrow.
Clouds will cover the coastal area with light showers predicted.
The downtown--
[Knocking]
- Tired? - A little.
- How is that? - Soothing...
but very wet.
[Applause]
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!
[Crowd Cheering]
How do you like it, Cornelius?
Beastly.
A giant flesh-eating dinosaur.
Now, its scientific name is a compound
of the greek antron which means "hollow"
and dimas which means "body frame."
Referring to the backbone or vertebrae.
Now, this little fellow is Camptosaurus Marsh,
a primitive duckbilled dinosaur.
Its scientific name is a compound of the greek kampto,
which means "flexible or bent,"
and sauros, which means "Iizard."
Its generic name, therefore, is "flexible lizard."
In 1 879, O.C. Marsh of yale University
described the first known species
from the Jurassic beds of arikoma.
Since then, other specimens have been found--
- It must have been the shock. - Shock, my foot!
I'm pregnant.
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 go.
Lewis said only a sip.
Zira, it is an excellent restorative, I assure you.
Especially in cases ofpregnancy, you know.
- How long have you known? - Oh, since well before the war.
Mmm.
- Do you mind if I smoke? - Uh-uh.
Oh, no, I shouldn't, not in 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.
Then we saw the rim of the Earth melt.
Then there was a tornado in the sky.
Wooo.
I feel magnificently sleepy.
The date meter on the spaceship.
What did it read af ter Earth's destruction?
1 9...
73.
And before-- before the white light and the tornado?
39...
50...
something.
Before the white light and the tornado?
Zira: 39...
50...
something.
- So? - So you have evidence, Mr. President,
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 ofwhat you merely inferred
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 2 innocents?
Or rather 3, 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?
I am saying that our 2 visitors seem to be 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 betterjob ofit than we have.
By destroying the world?
Are you quite 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 is 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-dayjungle or a present-day zoo.
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 urged the destruction of these 2 apes,
am I defy ing 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, Mr. President,
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.
There were hesitancies and small discrepancies in
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--
" 1 . The public should be informed
"that the apes, after their arduous space voyage,
"and the fatigue arising from its intended publicity,
"are to be afforded rest and privacy in a location whose identity
"will not be divulged to the public.
"2. 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 1 1 .
"Held there in his care for interrogation by the CIA
under the guidance and supervision of Dr. Otto Hasslein."
Zira: When we were in space,
we saw bright, white, blinding light.
Brighter than this?
- Ooh. - Ooh.
Zira: Then we saw the rim of the Earth melt.
Then there was a tornado in the sky.
That's your voice, isn't it?
How can I tell? 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 withheld nothing. Nobody asked me.
But ifsomebody 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 ofmurdering 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 ofman's decline and fall.
All we want to find out is how apes rose.
Well...
it began 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 ofinfection.
- There were dog bonfires. - Yes. And by the time
the plague was contained, man was without pets.
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.
Zira: Primitive and dumb,
but still 20 times more intelligent than dogs or cats.
Correct.
They were quartered in cages, but they lived
and moved freely in human homes.
They became responsive to human speech,
and in the course ofless than 2 centuries,
they progressed from performing mere tricks
to performing services.
Nothing more or less than a well-trained sheepdog could do.
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 3 more centuries, turn the tables on their owners?
How?
They became alert to the concept ofslavery ,
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.
At first, theyjust 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
over time without number by humans.
He said...
"No."
So that's how it all started.
Clip one, please.
Cornelius: 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.
Zira: As to humans, I've dissect--
I've examined thousands of them.
And until now, I've only discovered
2 who could talk in my life.
Why did you change words in the middle of a sentence?
Repeat first three seconds of clip two.
Zira: As to humans, I've dissect-- I've examined--
- What was the word you didn't finish? - I can't remember.
- Play the loop. - Zira: Dissect--Dissect--Dissect--
- Complete the word, monkey. - Look, I have told you--
- Complete the word! - Dissect--Dissect--Dissect--Dissect--
Dissect--Dissect--Dissect--
Sounds as if I had hiccups!
[Laughing]
Call for Dr. Dixon, please.
Dr. Dixon? Dr. Hasslein calling Dr. Dixon.
P.A.: Calling Dr. Dixon.
Ah, Dr. Dixon. Come in.
- Be good enough to administer this to the female.
Sodium Pentothal. 1/2 gram l.V.
- Dr. Hasslein, I'm an animal psychiatrist.
You have the commission's authority.
And that of the president. Please.
Zira, I've been asked to give you an injection--
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, it won't.
So, Zira, if you would just come with me, please.
Lewis, you can't use that on Zira!
- Please, take him to his quarters! - Really.
No, you mustn't!
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 1 0.
1 0...9...
8...7...
6...5.
4.
What comes after 4?
2.
- Thank you, Dr. Dixon. - It's customary to stay.
- Zira. - Hmm.
You worked in a room like this.
Hmm...
Bigger. Not so pretty.
And there you practiced--
Comparative.
Comparative what?
- An--an--an-- - Anatomy?
- Anata-- - Whose anatomies did you compare?
Apes and humans?
Zira, say yes if you mean yes.
- Yes. - So you dissected other apes?
Ye--yes...
when they died a natural death.
And humans, too, of course.
Yes...
as they were made available.
- Available? - Gorillas hunted them for sport
in nets and with guns.
The survivors were put in cages.
The army used some for target practice.
We could pick from the rest.
In the interest ofscience, you dissected, removed,
and statistically compared...
bones, muscles, tendons, veins, arteries,
kidneys, livers, hearts,
stomachs, reproductive organs,
nails, tongues, eyes,
noses, nervous systems,
the various reflexes.
Reflexes?
Of the dead?
No, 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 lobotomy.
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 Colonel Taylor alive?
We loved Taylor.
We did all we could to help him--
Cornelius and l.
Cornelius!
She needs a nap.
She'll get it.
Orderly.
- Sir? - Take the female ape to its quarters.
We must get this to the commission.
- [Bangs Gavel] - Gentlemen, gentlemen.
I've received an off cial notification from the president
ratify ing the final recommendations made by this commission
in light of the tape recordings
delivered by Dr. Hasslein.
If you'll be seated, we'll get down to business.
Now, let me review our conclusions.
" 1 . By a majority vote,
"the commission finds no solid evidence for hostility
"by either ape towards the human race
as it is presently constituted in this year, 1 973."
- I disagree-- - Let me remind you
that this was by a majority vote.
"The male's attitude is that
"of a deeply interested 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 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 intelligence of animals?
"It's been noted that what apes will do to humans
"is no more than what humans now do to beasts.
"Nonetheless, the commission is sympathetic
"to Dr. Hasslein's conviction that these apes' progeny
"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's unborn child
"should be prevented
"and that after its prenatal removal,
"both the male and the female
"should humanely be rendered incapable
ofbearing 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 everyt hing, 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?
Ohh...
How long?
A week.
Maybe sooner.
They treated you like dirt.
- [Door Opens] - Ma'am, sir.
Chow time.
I'm not hungry .
Well, maybe somebody else is who can't talk yet.
Oh, come on, ma'am. It's pure vitamin C.
You better drink the soup and eat the oranges
- for that little monkey-- - Grr!
What have you done, Cornelius?
Nobody makes a fool out ofmy wife.
We just ought to leave.
I'll be going back with Dr. Hasslein soon.
I have to tell them.
- You've got to come help me. - I'll come right away.
Itjust seems so cruel and horrible and-- I don't know.
I'll see you.
- Cruel, Dr. Dixon? - Unbelievably.
Zira wants her baby.
- So do l. - But dead.
- Yes. - You'd prefer the parents dead too.
Shall we go?
[Telephone Rings]
Gate four.Just a minute, sir. I'll take a look.
No, sir. The lieutenant hasn't checked in yet.
- Good night, Charlie. - Night, Ed.
Yes, sir. I'll give him that message.
"Contact the motor pool." As soon as I see him.
[Hangs Up Telephone]
- [Telephone Rings] - Gate four.
Oh, yes, Captain.
The supply truck isn't due until 0600 hours.
- Well, I'm sorry , sir. - Good night, Charlie.
I said, "good night."
We can't 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.
I'll have him 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 killed their orderly.
- Where are they? - On the run.
Now they've killed. For that, they must be killed.
It has to be done before we start a stone rolling
that'll gather enough poison moss to kill us all!
Look. I'll go back to camp.
- I'll find Lewis and get help. - No. No.
I just lost my temper with the boy.
- 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 there's no need for a shooting match.
Not strictly speaking.
I am speaking strictly, Hasslein.
Science regards these apes as unique.
People regard them as practically human.
The killers of today could become
the mass murderers of tomorrow.
I can think ofno one better equipped emotionally
to persuade the people 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.
I want them taken, yes, but taken alive.
Is that clear?
Quite clear, Mr. President.
You lost, miss?
Oh, it's you, Dr. Branton.
Be careful. There's been a murder.
- Murder? - The monkeys have killed
What? I don't believe it. How did it happen?
All I know is they've killed their orderly,
And I've been given orders to find them. Drive carefully.
There will be a lot ofvehicles in the area.
Cornelius, what have you done?
I didn't mean to kill him.
He was teasing Zira. I hit him with a tray.
- Please believe me. - I do, Cornelius, but they won't.
- Where's Zira? - She's back there.
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?
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?
Aren't we rude enough to each other
without having to be rude to animals?
Anyway, he didn't mean to kill the boy.
Los trato bien, muchachos?
Si, patron. Salud!
I sure appreciate what you're doing.
You helped deliver our last baby.
Now you will deliver our next.
Lewis! What took you so long?
I had to make some excuse. They think I'm searching.
- Armando's been a saint. - Saint Francis would have
- Never. - Say hello to Heloise
and your goddaughter Salome.
- Hello, Salome. - The first chimp ever born in a circus.
Los Angeles has had four.
Los Angeles isn't a circus. It's 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.
Every four.
[Chattering]
- Look. Look at Heloise. - [Baby Chattering]
She's showing an expectant mother what to expect.
Mama. Mama.
Say it. Mama.
- Mama. - Zira.
Zira, don't waste your breath.
You know the child of two primitive apes
will never learn how to speak.
I'm getting into practice.
Mama. Mama.
Mam-- [Moaning]
There. That's good.
Come on. Over here.
What are we going to call...
- Him. - him?
Milo?
Milo.
- Milo. - Congratulations.
Oh.
[Coughing]
- No? - No.
- But, sir-- - Captain, I'm aware
the areas we first established.
Evidently, we were wrong because you haven't found them!
Thank you. 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 1 0 days.
If 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 search
ofevery menagerie, zoo, and circus.
I'll augment your force with the city police,
and I want to be kept informed about all results.
- Yes, sir. - [Door Closes]
- Lewis will think ofsomething. - I am so sorry .
I had planned it so well.
In one month, we move on to our winter quarters in Florida.
I could have released you in the Everglades.
You might have lived happily ever af ter.
But now... what can I do?
You have done enough to make us grateful 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 ofGod.
Ifit is man's destiny
one day to be dominated,
Iet him be dominated by you.
All I can now do to help you
is give you this for the baby.
It's a medal of Saint Francis of assisi.
- Who is he? - He was a holy man
who loved and cared for 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 Heloise first.
Ifshe could speak, she'd say she's sorry .
I know, but we understand each other.
All right. All right.
This is as far as we dare to take you.
The police have roadblocks on every main exit.
- Here are your supplies. - Thank you.
Can you read a map?
I'm an archaeologist. I can even draw one.
We're at the city limits
at the southern edge of this oil field.
Over this hill, you'll pass through
more oil wells, an abandoned refinery ,
and you'll be looking down at a harbor.
It's a graveyard for old ships.
I played there as a kid.
There's a derelict tanker at one end.
- You can hide there for a week. - A week?
Until the commotion dies down and we can smuggle you back to the circus.
Then you can travel with them to Florida,
found a colony in the Everglades, and live happily ever after.
[Baby Cry ing]
Mama. Mama.
Mama.
It's 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?
She's been with the circus seven years now.
The baby's birth was registered 1 6 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?
It's like being the first fish born on land.
- Nothing. - It's like being the first bird
the first baby born on the moon.
It's like being--
Ha ha ha!
Negative! Negative! Negative!
We'll catch them sooner or later.
Later we'll do something about pollution.
Later we'll do something about the population explosion.
Later we'll do something about 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.
Ah! Like stars in space.
Isn't it beautiful?
Yes, it is...
from here.
Well...ha ha ha!
We must move on.
Hmm...
[Baby Cry ing]
- Who found it? - The field superintendent.
Routine service check. It was hidden in the workings.
- She didn't need this anymore. - Why don't we get moving?
- We've called in for helicopters. - How long till they get here?
20 minutes. They're running down
a fire report in the Simi Valley.
- Keep me posted. - Yes, sir.
- What's the matter? - They found Zira's suitcase.
[Horn Honks]
Did Lewis really play here?
It was probably cleaner then.
It stinks... ofman.
Oh, no, no, no.
That's 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...
there must be someplace cleaner than this.
I'll look around.
Zira: 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.
[Baby Chattering]
Cornelius!
[Tires Screeching]
Spread your men out along the pier!
All right, men! Move out!
- Get them down there! - Move! Move! Go!
Down to the end!
All right! Let's go!
[Tires Screeching]
Stevie.
Zira.
I want that baby. If you won't give it to me, I'll shoot.
[Baby Shrieks]
My God! Stop him!
[Gunshot]
Aah!
- [Gunshots] - No!
[Gasping]
Keep your men here! Come on!
Zira!
What's she doing?
Oh, my God.
Armando: All hands on the guy lines.
Drop the bale ring!
All extra hands in the back yard.
Come on! Let's go!
When you get that canvas packed,
I want every hand on the menagerie tent.
Intelligent creature.
But then, so were your mother and father.
[Ah Ah Ah]
Mama.
[Oh Oh Oh] Mama. Mama.
Mama. Mama!