The riots started by Caesar’s uprising were only the beginning; a bloody war followed in which humanity’s great cities were razed to the ground. Reduced to a primitive state, humans and apes try to co-exist peacefully according to Caesar’s wishes, and according to a simple set of laws: ape must never kill ape, and no human may ever say “no” to an ape again. But the truce is an uneasy one, and Caesar constantly has to keep the peace. With his human confidante MacDonald and an ape scientist named Virgil, Caesar decides to set out for the radioactive ruins of Los Angeles to retrieve archived video recordings of his parents, Cornelius and Zira, who are rumored to have spoken extensively of Earth’s history – effectively revealing the future. But L.A. isn’t unoccupied: Kolp, formerly Governor Breck’s security chief, has taken charge of a city of radiation-scarred human militants. When Caesar’s scouting party trips the alarms, Kolp’s men try to capture them, at first orders to capture them alive, but he then orders his men to shoot to kill. Caesar and his party escape, enraging Kolp. Kolp decides to form his own search party, to find Caesar’s people and wipe them out.
Returning home, though, Caesar is accosted by General Aldo, the gorilla leader of the apes’ security forces. Aldo demands to know where Caesar went and why, and is clearly not satisfied by Caesar’s cryptic explanation. That night, when his pet escapes, Caesar’s son tries to track it down and overhears Aldo rallying the gorillas for a takeover of the ape community; Aldo discovers this and critically injures the boy. While Caesar is distracted, the humans mount their first attack on the apes, and Aldo uses this as an excuse to imprison all of the humans living peacefully in the ape city and seize power by force. Kolp’s attack is routed, but Aldo’s thirst for revenge isn’t satisfied so easily: he wants even the peaceful humans in the city executed. When Caesar learns the truth about what happened to his son, he attacks Aldo, seeking vengeance…but in doing so, has Caesar merely sown the seeds of distrust that will eventually destroy the world?
story by Paul Dehn
screenplay by John William Corrington & Joyce Hooper Corrington
directed by J. Lee Thompson
music by Leonard RosenmanCast: Roddy McDowall (Caesar), Claude Akins (Aldo), Natalie Trundy (Lisa), Severn Darden (Kolp), Law Ayres (Mandemus), Paul Williams (Virgil), Austin Stoker (MacDonald), Noah Keen (Teacher), Richard Eastham (Mutant Captain), France Nuyen (Alma), Paul Stevens (Mendez), Heather Lowe (Doctor), Bobby Porter (Cornelius), Michael Stearns (Jake), Cal Wilson (Soldier), Pat Cardi (Young Chimp), John Landis (Jake’s Friend), Andy Knight (Mutant on motorcycle), John Huston (The Lawgiver)
LogBook entry by Earl Green