Avenue of the Apes

Tomorrow, I vow am going to try to see a movie made in the 21st Century.
Tonight, events conspire to land me at the Charlton Heston Tribute/40th Anniversary screening of “Planet of the Apes.” This was the original “Planet of the Apes,” not the Tim Burton version as the person who introduced it pointed out – and with the exception of one fellow, the audience concurred that it was their preferred cinematic interpretation of the Pierre Boulle novel. Franklin J. Schaffner directed the 1968 film -- a science fiction classic -- from a script by Michael Wilson and Rod Serling. I thought I might watch the first half hour or so before sneaking off to something else but found myself sticking it out to the great ending.
“Apes” screened alfresco on Broxton Avenue just as the sun set and as miserably hot as the afternoon had been the evening was pleasant. The experience is a little like watching a movie on a very large, open-roofed airplane with surprisingly good sound and projection. The only downside was having to move a couple of times to avoid smokers. The film drew an appreciative crowd happy to watch astronaut George Taylor (Heston) realize his worse fears on the simian-run planet.
The evening’s biggest cheer? When Taylor screams, “Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!”