"ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES" Original Screenplay by PAUL DEHN Based on characters created by Pierre Boulle FINAL SCREENPLAY October 28, 1970 APJAC Productions Inc. ------------------------------------------------------------- REVISED 12/9/70 "ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES" FROM BLACK SCREEN SHOCK-CUT TO EXTREME CLOSEUP: 1 THE EXPLOSION OF ROCKETS as we watch as it speeds away from CAMERA. CUT TO: A-l EXT. SPACESHIP (STOCK) It soars into space. 2 INT. ORBITING SPACESHIP through whose windows the same light lividly illuminates three space-suited and helmeted ASTRONAUTS -- afraid and curiously hesitant at the controls. We establish a Dual Date Meter showing the year in terms both of "EARTH TIME" and "SELF-TIME." Both panels read: 3955. ASTRONAUT 1 (MALE) We made it. ASTRONAUT 2 (MALE) So far. But one thing is for certain. Whoever wins the war, there'll be no place on Earth for us. ASTRONAUT 3 (FEMALE) Where are we going? ASTRONAUT 2 (MALE) (briskly) Probably to our death. But just possibly -- 3 P.O.V. SHOT - EARTH'S RIM WHITENS TO INCANDESCENCE and a soundless explosion sends a column of fire an mushrooming up towards us. 4 SPACESHIP Appalled silence. Through the ship's windows the ASTRONAUTS are watching (and we with them) the nuclear disintegration of Earth. The incandescence almost burns through their space helmets. In awed voices: ASTRONAUT 2 The fools...they've finally destroyed themselves. ASTRONAUT 1 My God, the earth is no more. ASTRONAUT 3 And we've escaped. The spaceship begins to shudder. ASTRONAUT 2 We have, if we survive the shock wave. The shock wave of the huge, megatonic explosion hits the spaceship from below. Chaos and pandemonium inside. We multiply normal air turbulence a thousandfold and are bashed, buffeted, whirled, twirled, lifted a hundred miles and dropped fifty, before slowly flattening out to some semblance of equilibrium on (presumably) a new orbit. The Date Meter digits under "EARTH TIME" have begun to click and race erratically. ASTRONAUT 2 watches intently. ASTRONAUT 2 The shock must have ... unbalanced the mechanism. I don't understand. Now he turns to look at another dial. 5 ILLUMINATED PANEL LABELED "AUTOMATIC RE-ENTRY SEQUENCE" Across it curves the descending graphline which traces optimum re-entry path. Now the lights begin to trace the spacecraft's actual re-entry path, which sometimes slightly deviates to left or right of the graphline but always approximately follows its course. ASTRONAUT 2 We've been forced out of orbit. ASTRONAUT 1 (looking at panel) We're descending. ASTRONAUT 3 But where? The spacecraft is seared with flames and smoke as it plummets through space. The windows fog and blacken. ASTRONAUT feverishly works at controls to no response. A-5 LONG SHOT - SPACECRAFT (STOCK) The fiery missile descends on our screen. B-5 FLAMES AND SMOKE leap at the windows. Descent is rapid, and suddenly through the blackened windows the entry is completed for light can be seen flickering through the charred cracks. C-5 SUBJECTIVE P.O.V. We descend rapidly to be swallowed in a cloud bank. D-5 INT. SPACECRAFT SHOOTING across the frozen ASTRONAUTS, we see the Date Meter spin to a halt. EARTH TIME 1973 SHIP TIME 3955 E-5 SUBJECTIVE P.O.V. (STOCK) We are crashing rapidly into the ocean. F-5 SPLASHDOWN (STOCK) The spacecraft split the water into churning waves. Then all is still. 6 EARTH - AERIAL SHOT - THE PACIFIC OCEAN - DUSK We are watching it from the P.O.V. of a U.S. Marine helicopter PILOT flying on normal coastal reconnaissance duty; and the coast itself as plane banks to include it) is California. All is peaceful, empty and deserted. Until...PILOT mildly reacts to an object beached on the tideline far below. His prop- blades louden as he goes into a steep, investigatory dive. 7 FROM PILOT'S P.O.V. We ZOOM towards the floating and still-unopened spaceship. 8 INT. PILOT'S CABIN As he flattens off and reascends: PILOT (radio-reporting) Tower, this is Red Baron Five. I have an object beached on the tide- line -- uh -- seemingly one of our spacecraft. Coordinates are southeast corner of sector Alpha Charlie. Relay this to appropriate recovery forces. I have enough fuel to orbit for forty- five minutes. Please alert Red Baron Ops and I'll squawk Channel Two for radar fix. CUT TO: 9 INT. OPS ROOM DUTY OFFICER (on phone) Rescue, we have Red Baron Five report of possible spacecraft washed ashore in southeast sector Alpha Charlie. Immediately launch two choppers to effect pickup and recovery. Base Radar will vector them to the location. He picks up second phone and dials. DUTY OFFICER The Colonel, please. 10 EXT. COLONEL'S GARDEN The COLONEL, among friends, is barbecuing a steak on the lawn of his private quarters as the garden phone rings beside him. The roar of the o.s. helicopters passing overhead and the nature of the phone message itself distract him from the steak which, during the brief conversation's course, is burnt to a cinder. As the helicopters recede: COLONEL I didn't even know we had anything up. Okay, I'll call Washington. (seeing burnt steak) Damn! 11 HELICOPTERS IN FLIGHT 12 OFFICE IN WASHINGTON 3-star GENERAL BRODY stands against wall map of splashdown area and barks into phone. BRODY No serial number? ... Well, it may have been burnt out on re-entry. ... No, neither did I. I'll check with Deputy Director, NASA, and call you back. He cuts the call to initiate a new one. 13 EXT. HELICOPTER disgorging FROGMEN at spacecraft. First helicopter departs. 14 OFFICE AT CAPE KENNEDY INTERCUTTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR with BRODY in Washington. DEPUTY DIRECTOR (CIVILIAN) (patiently) General Brody, I'm telling you... We have no spacecraft up. BRODY (irritably) You're telling me that what never went up can't come down. And I'm telling you it just has. And now I'm going to tell the President. CUT TO: 15 EXT. BEACH AREA Military vehicles, combat Marines, trucks, jeeps, etc. swarm. 16 WHITE HOUSE OFFICE The PRESIDENT is an articulate, unruffled professional politician with a flair for irony. Into phone: PRESIDENT Let us hope and pray that you are right, General. But I think we should be alert to a remoter possibility: that the Russians retrieved one of our missing space- ships and remanned it with astronauts who have now accidentally splashed down in our own territorial waters. If they're alive, you may tell Colonel Winthrop at El Palomar to welcome them with caution. Whether they're alive or not, have NASA go over that ship with whatever's the scientific equivalent of a fine tooth comb. And until we know more, I want a full security clampdown on the entire operation. (dryly) You understand me, General. This is not for the networks. CUT TO: 17 EXT. SPACECRAFT being towed ashore by cable attached to truck winch. FROGMEN, swimming alongside, shout orders to truck on beach. CUT TO: 18 INSIDE SPACESHIP Its windows still fogged and blackened; the OCCUPANTS still helmeted. We hear 0.S. FROGMEN faintly shouting orders from outside. ASTRONAUT 2 We are being pulled. FROGMAN'S VOICE (0.S.) How the hell do you hold onto this thing. FROGMAN'S VOICE (O.S.) Some Frogman you are. He laughs. ASTRONAUT 1 They speak our language. At least they have intelligence. ASTRONAUT 2 (urgently) Then at least let us conceal our intelligence from our captors. Our safety may lie in silence. CUT TO: 19 EXT. FIRST HELICOPTER RETURNS and lands on beach. COLONEL emerges, with two AIDES, to view: 20 EXT. SPACECRAFT AT WATER'S EDGE 21 MARINES SURROUND SPACECRAFT AT THE READY 22 THE OPENING OF THE SPACESHIP'S HATCH Our helmeted ASTRONAUTS emerge, descend; and draw the selves up, line abreast, facing: 23 COLONEL AND AIDES COLONEL Welcome, gentlemen. Then their faces stiffen in aghast astonishment, as we: CUT TO: 24 FROM THEIR P.O.V. - THE ASTRONAUTS UNHELMETED They are all chimpanzees. One of them (MILO) is a character new to our series. The other two are CORNELIUS and is wife ZIRA. Over their heads we SUPER: TITLE AND CREDITS which continue over a: 25 MONTAGE A. CREDIT: ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES Frozen shot of the three apes. B. CREDIT: (STARRING) A shot of the Colonel and two aides. Camera ZOOMS into head shot of Colonel. C. CREDIT: RODDY McDOWALL Close shot of Cornelius. Pull back to Med. shot. He looks off. D. CREDIT: KIM HUNTER Camera pans to Zira. E. CREDIT: BRAD DILLMAN Full shot - beach action. Colonel and two aides run towards jeep. F. CREDIT NATALIE TRUNDY Colonel in f.g. reaches for phone in jeep. Two aides in b.g. G. CREDIT: ERIC BRAEDEN General Brody reacting to news on telephone (freeze frame). H. CREDIT: (CO-STARRING) Deputy Director, NASA, reacting to news (freeze frame). I. CREDIT: SUPPORTING CAST President of the U.S. reacting to the news (freeze frame). J. CREDIT: RICARDO MONTALBAN AS ARMANDO Full shot - Ops Room receiving news on teletype. K. CREDIT: MUSIC - JERRY GOLDSMITH Tighter shot - Ops Room - activity on phone. L. CREDIT: PHOTOGRAPHY - JOE BIROC Full shot - security gate. Trucks and ambulance entering air base. M. CREDIT: ART DIRECTION, ETC. Security gates being closed Zooming into off- limits sign. N. CREDIT: MAKEUP DESIGN AND FILM EDITOR Full shot - trucks and ambulance arriving at air base depot. O. CREDIT: UNIT MANAGER, ETC. Ambulance being opened to admit Ape-onauts. P. CREDIT: PANAVISION, ETC. by soldiers to guardhouse (director's note: possible two shot). Q. CREDIT: ASSOCIATE PRODUCER Low-bed truck carrying spacecraft. R. CREDIT: WRITTEN BY Tighter shot on moving truck carrying spacecraft. S. CREDIT: PRODUCED BY Jeep arriving at air base depot. Aide to Colonel enters building. T. CREDIT: DIRECTED BY Colonel and Aide emerge from building heading towards guardhouse. MONTAGE ENDS. 26 EXT. MARINE BASE - COLONEL AND AIDE who is carrying a large paperbag, as they walk past Headquarters Buildings. COLONEL Did you call the Zoo? AIDE Yes, sir. We're in luck. The 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 want medical attention, it's available on the spot. And the experts can start giving them the once-over first thing in the morning. General Brody's very pleased. COLONEL Me, too. Can't have a lot of monkeys making messes in the Guardhouse. Have we fed them? Like raw steak or something? AIDE The Zoo tells me that chimpanzees, like all apes, are vegetarian, sir. COLONEL Good God. AIDE (indicating paper bag) They suggested oranges. They have reached: 27 EXT. GUARDHOUSE whose door is unlocked by an obviously shaken MARINE M.P. COLONEL What's the matter? MARINE M.P. helplessly ushers them into: 28 INT. GUARDHOUSE Its rear section (behind bars) is furnished with austere but serviceable beds, chairs, tables and a washing sink with plates and cutlery in rack above. On the floor: a capacious rawhide valise, from which ZIRA (gloved and shod) has extracted a robe into which she is changing. Her discarded space suit lies at her feet. MILO and CORNELIUS have already changed. Their space suits are hanging neatly from wall hooks. At COLONEL'S entry, MILO and CORNELIUS rise courteously to their feet, while ZIRA struggles hastily into her robe. From the threshold: COLONEL (automatically) Excuse me. I didn't mean to disturb.... (aghast to Aide) What am I saying? AIDE They're...pretending to dress. COLONEL What d'you mean, pretending? They are dressing. Where'd they get those clothes? MARINE M.P. (indicating valise) They brought them with them, sir. (gulping) In a suitcase. COLONEL Suit....? (with an effort; to Aide) Greg, give them their oranges. AIDE advances cautiously with paper bag. 29 MASTER SHOT We HOLD COLONEL and MARINE M.P. talking in f.g., while AIDE proffers oranges (which the TRIO gracefully accepts) in b.g. ZIRA, holding her orange, has gone straight to the sink rack, from which she takes three plates, three knives and three forks. COLONEL (not noticing; to Marine M.P.) Arrange prisoner escort for 16:30 hours... ZIRA distributes plates and cutlery to MILO and CORNELIUS. To AIDE's astonishment, the APES draw up chairs and sit round the table. COLONEL (not noticing; to Aide) We're sending them to the Zoo Infirmary. The APES start meticulously quartering their oranges on their plates with their knives. COLONEL (still to Aide) They'll have company. There's a gorilla in the next cage. ZIRA, overhearing this, reacts violently; rises, picks up her plate and hurls it to the ground. COLONEL (looking round at last) Now why the hell did it do that? The full implications of the plates and the knives only strike him as we: CUT TO: 30 INT. ZOO INFIRMARY - NIGHT We START on CLOSE SHOT of the deer with pneumonia, cradled under ultraviolet lamps which (as we PULL BACK) prove to be the huge, clinically furnished room's only light source -- for the sick animals must get their rest. We PAN past a recumbent camel and the mauled fox cub, into whose small sleeping body the rubber tube of a suspended flask is intravenously dripping plasma; and END on a white-coated KEEPER (with flashlamp) inspecting our APE TRIO, now installed in one of two large, contiguous cages at the dim room's center: straw for them to lie on; a bowl of water for drinking; and a generous supply of oranges and bananas, one of which he cautiously proffers to ZIRA through the bars, while playfully patting her head. ZIRA reacts the banana and slaps his face. Taken aback but still amicably: KEEPER Have it your own way, mate. Clang! He locks them in and exits. When the light from his flashlamp has faded to near-darkness, we hear an outer door more distantly locked. ZIRA (outraged whisper to Cornelius) I'm not his mate. I'm yours. CORNELIUS Zira, please control yourself. I think they're trying to be kind. ZIRA This cage stinks of gorilla. She sits down disconsolately on the straw. Instantly CORNELIUS sits by her and takes her hand. In undertones: ZIRA Cornelius -- where are we? What's happened? CORNELIUS helplessly shrugs. From the shadows, very softly: MILO I know where we are. I know what has happened. ZIRA and CORNELIUS stare at him. MILO In some fashion -- and I lack the intellect to know precisely how -- we have traveled from Earth's future into Earth's past. CORNELIUS But we saw Earth destroyed. MILO And Earth will be destroyed -- just as we saw it. Only, since fleeing 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? -- and we have returned to Earth almost two thousand years before its destruction. (solemnly) That is another reason for keeping silence. Our human captors would not be edified to know that, one day, their world will crack like an egg and fry to a cinder, because of an Ape war of aggression. His low tones have become just emphatic enough to disturb: 31 GORILLA IN NEXT CAGE It shifts, grunts and whimpers uneasily. 32 BACK TO SCENE The TRIO reacts. We CLOSE to: MILO Apes, at this instant in time, cannot yet talk. For the moment, we should follow their example. FADE OUT FADE IN 33 EXT. ZOO - MISTY MORNING SHOTS (6:00 A.M.) We hear occasional call of a tropical early bird, and CLOSE to two human early birds: LEWIS DIXON, a young animal psychiatrist, and his pretty (female) research assistant, STEVIE. As they walk: LEWIS (feeling in pocket) The driver brought e report from the Air Base. (scanning it) The usual imitatory behavior ... mimicking salutes ... hand-shaking ... sitting on chairs ... eating off plates with knives ... but-- He hesitates. STEVIE What, Lewis? LEWIS There was a sort of carpetbag in the ship. STEVIE With food? LEWIS No -- clothes. Stevie, they changed into them. STEVIE I don't believe it. But his reaction says it is true. We have reached the Infirmary's main (open) door which is guarded by two SOLDIERS. STEVIE What are they doing here? LEWIS Security. (undertone) Join the Marines and see the Zoo ... Passing between the SOLDIERS, they enter: A-33 INT. INFIRMARY CORRIDOR They don white smocks (marked with their own names) hanging from wall hooks; walk past the sick deer and the fox under treatment in small box-cages against the wall; and enter: B-33 MAIN ROOM - DOUBLE CAGE In one half of the cage sleeps the depressed GORILLA; in the other half, very much awake, sit CORNELIUS and ZIRA staring at the Intelligence Test apparatus. Outside the cage stands KEEPER. LEWIS Good morning, Arthur. ARTHUR Hi, Dr. Dixon.....Dr. Branton. Our APES survey them stonily. ARTHUR (fingering bruise on cheek) The female's a bit uppity, sir. LEWIS Okay, I'll be careful. We'll start with the Wisconsin Multiphasic. STEVIE opens the cage. LEWIS Go easy, Stevie. STEVIE They look pretty docile. LEWIS Yes, but don't take any chances. The Wisconsin Multiphasic is a screen which can be lowered and raised (like a window shade) between the Investigator on one side and the Subject on the other. ZIRA winks knowledgeably at CORNELIUS. MILO gestures her into more discreet behavior. KEEPER sets up apparatus during: LEWIS (to Stevie) Unless the spacecraft was remotely controlled, they must have been conditioned to press at least some of the right buttons. They can't be morons. (to Keeper) The female first, Arthur. And set up Tic-Tac-Toe. To everyone's surprise and KEEPER's relief, ZIRA promptly squats down on her side of the raised screen. The hyper-cautious MILO disapprovingly shakes his head. LEWIS raises screen and displays a single red cube for three seconds before lowering screen to mask ZIRA's view. When he raises it again, he is simultaneously displaying a blue pyramid, a green cone, a yellow sphere, a blue cube, a red octahedron and the red cube. ZIRA instantly selects the red cube, which she offers courteously back to LEWIS. LEWIS gives an astonished whistle. STEVIE, too, reacts in amazement. LEWIS She seems to be pretty smart. All right -- let's make it difficult. He lowers the screen, and readies an assortment of five colored blocks, then raises the screen only for a second, then lowers it. He now adds additional blocks to make it an even dozen, and breaks up the pattern of five previously seen by ZIRA. Now, almost smugly, he raises the screen, but any superiority he may have felt is quickly erased as ZIRA swiftly selects the original five blocks. LEWIS is dumbfounded, STEVIE drops her notebook and the KEEPER stares in utter disbelief. Now, LEWIS pulls the drawer out from the table, and we see that slots for all twelve blocks have been carved in the bottom. No slouch ZIRA. She deftly and swiftly fits all twelve blocks into their proper niches. Whereat she rises to her feet, clasps hands over her head like a boxer acknowledging victory. CORNELIUS responds with mirth, but MILO shakes his head. LEWIS has risen at this interplay between the apes and now questions the KEEPER quietly. LEWIS They haven't eaten this morning? ARTHUR Not a bite....just as you ordered. LEWIS Good. We'll go for the banana... Scattered about the cage are a number of oddly constructed wooden boxes, all gaily painted. STEVIE now adds several more, as ARTHUR tugs on a rope pulley to lower a banana from the top of the cage. This is a test unfamiliar to ZIRA, who responds to its challenge. She speculatively eyes the banana; then stoops to prowl among the boxes, which she carefully examines without touching them. Then she straightens... and thinks. The tension is insupportable. Suddenly ZIRA, moving into action, interlocks all the boxes so that they form a somewhat eccentric staircase leading to the banana. Having done so, she ascends the "stairs," sits on the top, and stares smugly at the banana, now only inches from her nose. STEVIE Why doesn't she take it? ZIRA Because I loathe and detest bananas. CORNELIUS Zira! As though in a slow nightmare, STEVIE sags and faints. Somehow, LEWIS catches her and lowers her to the cage floor. Somehow, KEEPER sluices water from the drinking bowl over her upturned race. As she recovers: LEWIS (sweating) Help me get her away. I'll come back. Jointly supporting STEVIE, they leave the cage, which KEEPER locks. We STAY with: 34 OUT 35 APE TRIO MILO Zira, are you mad? CORNELIUS Dr. Milo, please don't call my wife mad. MILO (evenly) I did not call her mad. I merely asked her if she was. And I repeat the question. (to Zira) Are you mad? ZIRA I hate deceit. MILO There is a time for truth and a time, not for lies, but for silence. Until we know who i8 our friend and who our enemy-- ZIRA And how in the name of God are we to know that, unless we communicate? We can speak. So I spoke. MILO We can also listen CORNELIUS To a lot of psychiatric small talk -- MILO And we can watch ... CORNELIUS A display of primitive apparatus -- ZIRA (kicking the apparatus) Primitive? Its prehistoric. It couldn't test the intelligence of a newt. She kicks the apparatus again, and it collapses. The GORILLA in the next cage gives a disturbed grunt. CORNELIUS Zira, calm yourself -- ZIRA I am calm. She knocks another piece of apparatus endways. Now even MILO's self-control snaps. He stalks to the side bars and (with eyes screwed shut in frustration) briefly but fiercely shakes them before spinning round, with back pressed against the bars, to glare at his two tormentors. We SHOOT AT AND PAST HIM into the next cage where the GORILLA now shambles to its feet and slowly advances from b.g., during: MILO Stop arguing. It's too late for that. His body masking the GORILLA's crouched and stealthy approach from them -- but not from us. MILO Use your heads and start thinking. Now that they know we can speak, how much shall we tell them? ow-- ZIRA (screaming) Milo-o-o! Through the bars two hairy hands converge on MILO's throat and strangle him to death. The roaring of the GORILLA, the throttled cries of MILO and ZIRA's screams combine to launch: 36 VARIOUS ZOO SHOTS of alarmed birds and beasts as panic briefly infects the Zoo. E.g., a sleeping owl opens huge eyes; cranes cry; mallards take off from pool; seals cough; apes gibber; tigers snarl; lions roar, and elephants trumpet. We might (instead of separating each cry) overlay sound cumulatively so that each new noise is added to its predecessors, as we build visually and aurally to a massive and bestial crescendo before: CUT BACK TO: 37 THE CAGE The "panic" is over. Outside, STEVIE (shaken but recovered) confers with LEWIS. As KEEPERS 1 and 2 lift a blanketed stretcher and carry MILO's body out of shot: LEWIS We shall want a full autopsy ... STEVIE With particular emphasis on the cranial and oral areas. LEWIS Keep him in cold storage till the reports in. Then send him to Taxidermy. (wryly) He's a museum piece. A low moan turns their heads toward the cage's interior. ZIRA sits crouched in a corner, her head in her hands and rocking from side to side. CORNELIUS is comforting her. LEWIS (to Stevie) I'd better do this alone. She nods and stays outside the cage, which LEWIS enters. He looks compassionately at the two huddled APES, the straw, the orange peel, the bananas, the abandoned Intelligence Test apparatus. LEWIS (gently) We mean you no harm. Silence and stillness. LEWIS Do you understand? We mean you no harm. Slowly and bitterly, ZIRA points an ironic and accusing finger at the next cage, where an anesthetized and chained GORILLA slumps in the shadows. LEWIS But he isn't us. He's your own kind. ZIRA (angrily on her feet in a flash) He's a gorilla. As CORNELIUS soothes her: LEWIS I mean he's of your race. He's an Ape. Look. You don't have to be afraid. We've put him in chains and under sedation. Do you understand that? ZIRA I should. I've been doing it half my life to Humans. LEWIS (dumbfounded) Humans? ZIRA (as though this explained everything) I'm a psychiatrist. A second shock. LEWIS covers dazed eyes with his hand and, after a struggle, regains his self-control. LEWIS So am I. And I mean you no harm. CORNELIUS (at last) We know that. LEWIS, over one hurdle, exhales. LEWIS Do you have a name? CORNELIUS My name is Cornelius. And this is Zira -- my wife. LEWIS My name is Lewis -- Lewis Dixon . He diffidently extends a hand, CORNELIUS takes it. ZIRA doesn't. LEWIS Nobody's going to believe it. CORNELIUS Believe what? LEWIS That primitive apes can talk. ZIRA (furious) Primitive? LEWIS (quick smile) I mean that in our 'primitive' civilization, apes just don't talk. I mean I think it's important that, when our 'primitive' security precautions are lifted, the first time you say something in public you should talk to what we 'primitively' call the Right People. ZIRA gives him a long, searching look ... and smiles. ZIRA May I say something personal? LEWIS (smiling back) Please ZIRA I like you. LEWIS look gratefully from her to: CORNELIUS I did from the beginning. 38 WHITE HOUSE OFFICE Round a long table the PRESIDENT meets his SERVICE CHIEFS OF STAFF and a scientific advlsor, DR. HASSLEIN - a tall, dominating university professor with pale, fanatical eye. PRESIDENT Gentlemen, I m aware that what I have to tell you may create a credibility gap somewhat wider than the Grand Canyon. Nonetheless it is true. We PAN expectant faces and return to: PRESIDENT The U.S. spaceship, which splashed down off the South Californla coast yesterday, is one of the two which were lost in outer space more than a year ago. To be axact, the one commanded by Colonel Taylor. Astonishment, but as yet no incredulity. ARMY Have they identified the bodies, Mr. President? PRESIDENT (kind of enoying himself) They have identified three -- ah -- bodies. All living... (sensation) ...at the time of their rescue, though by an unhappy accident one was killed early this morning in the Los Angeles Zoo. ARMY (aside to Air Force) Zoo? AIR FORCE What would astronauts be doing in a zoo? PRESIDENT They were not astronauts, General Faulkner. They were apes. The SERVICE CHIEFS jerk back in their chairs as though struck. Only HASSLEIN leans forward. PRESIDENT Chimpanzees, to be precise. Stunned silence. PRESIDENT They are harmless, friendly and by all reports extremely intelligent and sophisticted creatures -- but, being anlmals, they cannot of course tell us where the ship came from or how they got lnto lt. I have there- fore declded to convene a Presidential Commisslon of Inqulry ln os Angeles tomorrow, consistlng of leading experts in all flelds relevant to a situation whose impllcations -- whether zoological, biological, psychological, medical, mathematical, historical, physical or even spirltual -- are numberless. The two survlvlng Apes will be produced for the Commis810n8 inspection. No television coverage. The Press will be invited to attend but not participate. I see no reason any longer to conceal this extraordinary dificovery from the rest of the world. CUT TO: 39 MONTAGE - THE STORY BREAKS - On BBC TV News At Ten -- if possible, after its dramatic identificatory ZOOM to Big Ben' clock dial, which sounds the first stroke of the hour. BRITISH NEWSCASTER (very restrained) One of the two American spaceships, believed until now to have disintegrated in orbit, splashed down unexpectedly in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California today... (map in b.g. illustrates) ...and is stated to have been manned ... if you can call it manned ... by monkeys. Less and less restrainedly on German, French and Japanee TV. Finally, on American TV: U.S. NEWSCASTER (very unrestrained) LOST SPACESHIP HIJACKED BY ... APE-ONAUTS! MONTAGE ENDS. QUICK TIME DISSOLVE TO: 40 INT. HALL OF LOS ANGELES FEDERAL UILDING - MAIN DOOR Starting on bulletin-board announcing the session, we PULL EACK to lnclude imposlng V.I.P.'8 flling in; and pick out DR. HASSLEIN being nobbled by: REPORTER Dr. Hasslein -- as the President's senior scientific adviser, what do you expect to experlence from thls historic meeting? A pause. Then, turning to look stralght lnto TV camera: HASSLEIN Fear. 41 SMALL SIDE ROOM which will open into the main amphltheater. STEVIE, herself nervous, soothes CORNELIUS and ZIRA. LEWIS (entering) All set? She nods. LEWIS (to Apes) When I break the news, start slowly with simple ansers to what'll certainly be simple questions. ZIRA And if the questions become less simple? LEWIS Be yourself. CORNELIUS (wagging a warning finger at his wife) Your better self, Zira. Please. An USHER opens the door and beckons. LEWIS and STEVIE rise. So do the two APES and (CLANK!) we see that they re loosely chained together. ZIRA irritably shakes her chain. LEWIS I'm sorry. ZIRA What do they think we are -- gorillas? The two HUMANS escort the two APES into: 42 INT. FEDERAL BUILDING LEWIS, STEVIE and APES enter to stand centrally between the COMMISSION (seated at a long table) and an amphitheater -- in one sector of whlch sit some fifty V.I.P.s; in another, the PRESS. The chained APES sit in chairs six feet apart...whereat the AUDIENCE applauds. NOTE: Whatever the APES do and (later) say is bound to elicit strong AUDIENCE reactions -- particularly at the outset. LEWIS (to table) Members of the Commission... (to amphitheater) ...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 arrived at the Los Angeles Zoo. My assistant, Dr. Stephanie Branton, and I are ready to answer your questions. What may astonish you is that our chimpanzee friends are ready to answer your questions, too. A confused murmur. The AUDIENCE doesn't get it. LEWIS Not by signs. Not by looks or movements. But by words. In a silence punctuated by uncertain titters, the COMMISSION's elderly CHAIRMAN rises. CHAIRMAN Dr. Dixon, as a zoologist, I know and respect your work. But if you think you're going to turn a Presidential Commission into a ventriloquists act, I have to inform you --- LEWIS And I have to inform you, sir, that these Apes have acquired the power of speech. CHAIRMAN begins to laugh; and, taking its cue, the AUDIENCE laughs with him. When the laughter has subsided: LEWIS It is for you, ladies and gentlemen, to asess how far that power can be exercised intelligently. CHAIRMAN May we be told which is the -- ah -- female of the species? Over further laughter, LEWIS indicates ZIRA, who has simultaneously risen from her platform chair. CHAIRMAN Did she rise as a reflex to your having indicated her, or in answer to my questlon? LEWIS That is for you to decide. CHAIRMAN Have you a name ZIRA (distinctly; as though to a child) Zi-ra. A gasp of astonishment from AUDIENCE. CHAIRMAN (ruffled but under control) Certainly she can articulate, which in itself is extraordinary. But, Dr. Dixon, are we to infer that 'Zi-ra' is her name, or some -- some phrase in her own language which means ... 'yes' or 'no', for example? LEWIS (politely) Infer what you wish, Mr. Chairman. I suggest you rephrase the question. CHAIRMAN What is your name? ZIRA Zi-ra. CHAIRMAN (jocosely to Audience) There you are, you see. One might as well be talking to a parrot -- - except that a parrot would have answered... (mimicking) ..."Pol-ly." ZIRA (outraged) Polly? CHAIRMAN (told-you-so) What did I tell you? Mechanical mimicry. Unique in an ape, vocally, without a doubt, but... (dismissive gesture) Does the other one talk CORNELIUS (rising) Only when she lets me. A moment's stunned silence, broken by a yell of delighted laughter from ZIRA, who runs to CORNELIUS and hugs him. Then with a whoosh! the entire AUDIENCE rises to its feet except for CHAIRMAN, who collapses in his seat. ZIRA, still chuckling, resumes hers. So, under LEWIS's paciying gesture, does the AUDIENCE. Except for one. LEWIS Dr. Hasslein? But HASSLEIN is not standing to ask a question. He is standing transfixed by the limitless implications of an ape answering unmechanically, sensitively, lucidly and, above all, humorously a question which was not even addressed to him. HASSLEIN (abstractedly) No. Nothing. He sits and an amiable young (NEGRO) LAWYER rises. LAWYER What is the male's name, please CORNELIUS Cornelius. ZIRA (affectionately) My lawfully wedded spouse. To STEVIE's (but not ZIRA's) consternation, an empurled CARDINAL rises in outrage. CARDINAL Wedded...? LEWIS (placatory) Later, Your Eminence. LAWYER (smiling) Cornelius, do you or your ... lawfully wedded wife speak any language other than English? CORNELIUS What is Eng-lish? (mild sensation) I speak the language taught me by my father and mother, who were taught by their fathers and mothers before them. It has been the language of my ancestors for at least two thousand years. As to its origins, who can be sure? The gorillas and orang-utans in my community believe ... believed... We FLASH-IN a CUT of HASSLEIN alert to this hesitation. CORNELIUS ...that God created Apes in his own image and that our language--- The CARDINAL is on his feet again. But so is ZIRA. ZIRA (to Cornelius) Nonsense! CARDINAL (approvingly) Hear, hear. He sits down. ZIRA As an intellectual, Cornelius, you know damned well that the gorillas are a bunch of militaristic nincompoops and the orang-utans a bunch of blinkered, pseudo-scientific geese. (laughter and applause) As to Humans, I've dissec-- As she checks herself, we FLASH again to the ever-alert HASSLEIN. ZIRA --examined thousands of them and, until now, Ive only dlscovered two who could talk in my life. God knows... (to Cardinal) ... Excuse me ... who taught them. CORNELIUS Where we come from, Apes talk and Humans are dumb. LAWYER, stunned, sits down amid confused and incredulous AUDIENCE reactions. Now HASSLEIN uncoils to put the crucial question. HASSLEIN Where do you come from, Cornelius? CORNELIUS I'm still not sure. ZIRA Dr. Milo was sure. She buries her head in her hands. CORNELIUS (an arm on her shoulder) Dr. Milo was a genius in advance of his time. When the spaceship first landed intact on our seabord, he salvaged it, studied it ... and half understood it. A SCIENTIST Half? Was 'half' enough? CORNELIUS (angry) Enough for us to escape, when war became inevitable. Enough for him to have been murdered in your Zoo. Enough for my wife and I to be here. Over murmurs of sympathy: HASSLEIN (softly lnsistent) But from where, Cornellus From where? CORNELIUS (hesitates) I told you.... I'm not sure. A beat: CHAIRMAN Maybe the 'female' knows. ZIRA (irate) Of course, the 'female' knows. We came from your future. A pin-drop silence. Then: CHAIRMAN That doesnt make sense. HASSLEIN (quietly) It's the only thing that does. He sits down and covers his eyes, the better to meditate. ARMY OFFICER Cornelius, you spoke of war. War between whom? CORNELIUS Between the Gorillas and whoever lives ... lived ... will live... HASSLEIN uncovers piercing eyes. CORNELIUS ...beneath the territory next to ours. ARMY OFFICER Who won the war? CORNELIUS How should we know? Chimpanzees are pacifists. We stayed at home... ...and left before the war had ended. ARMY OFTICER In a spaceship... CORNELIUS Which Dr. Milo learned to handle. NAVAL OFFICER Did you know Colonel Taylor A fractional pause in which CORNELIUS and ZIRA exchange warning glances. There could be trouble here. The Apes' treatment of Humans (Taylor included) was not a pretty one. Then: CORNELIUS No. Is he a soldier? ZIRA We are peaceful creatures. We are happy to be here. May we be unchained? TIME DISSOLVE TO: 43 INT. HALL OF FEDERAL BUILDING - NIGHT Reporters flock, as MEMBERS of the Commission exit building. First to be encountered is the CHAIRMAN. REPORTER 3 Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman ... a word ... CHAIRMAN (continues walking) I'll give you one ... Preposterous! REPORTER 2 Could you define that, Mr. Chairman? The CHAIRMAN halts. Carefully, he chooses his words as an expert politician would. CHAIRMAN No! Just let me say this. As Head of this Commission it will be our duty to sift the facts from this bizarre affair and pass our conclusion on to the President of the United States for instrumentation. He moves on, leaving the REPORTERS, cynics all, with a bit of egg on their face. REPORTER 3 What a load of hugger-mugger! Then they spy HASSLEIN, zero in immediately on target. REPORTER 1 Dr. Hasslein, how will you advise the Presldent to handle thls ... unique situation? HASSLEIN No comment. REPORTER 2 Can you explain it? HASSLEIN No comment ... yet ...! 44 INT. SMALL SIDE ROOM - NIGHT as LEWIS and STEVIE help CORNELIUS and ZIRA out of their chains: STEVIE You were both fabulous. LEWIS They loved you. But I thought there was a moment... ZIRA There was. CORNELIUS (troubled) Zira, are you sure we should-- ZIRA Quite sure. CORNELIUS Even to Lewis nd Stevie? ZIRA Only to Lewis and Stevie. I have to be honest with someone. STEVIE Why not with everyone? ZIRA Because truth can sometimes harm the innocent. And because I have a reason for wanting to survive. Will you keep two secrets? LEWIS If it'll do no harm. ZIRA It can only do good. LEWIS Then... ZIRA Tell them, Cornelius. CORNELIUS We did know Colonel Taylor. We came to love him. STEVIE But what harm could there be in telling that to-- CORNELIUS Because, where we come from, Apes do not -- did not -- love human beings. They hunted them for sport, as you might hunt animals. LEWIS flinches. ZIRA We used their bodles, alive and dead, experlmentally -- for anatomlcal dlssectlon and scientific research. LEWIS covers his eyes -- at first through distaste; then through the need to ponder. At length he looks up. LEWIS We do the same to animals. I'm a scientist and I sympathize. But I agree that's a revelatlon the masses wouldnt take kindly to. I think you were rlght to deny knowledge of Colonel Taylor. ZIRA There was another reason. STEVIE What? ZIRA They would have asked if he was alive. LEWIS And is he? CORNELIUS He can't be. LEWIS How d'you know? ZIRA (haunted eyes) From the windows of the spaceship... She can't go on. CORNELIUS ...we saw Earth destroyed. SHOCK CUT TO: 45 TIGHT CLOSEUP - SINISTER PERSON In thick pebble glasses. PERSON Ten seconds. O.S. creaking and shuffling. PERSON Stand by... Someone coughs. Then silence, for: PERSON Four, three, two, one -- He cues with his finger and we PULL BACK to: 46 FULL SHOT - TV STUDIO The wall clock is ticking to 7:00 p.m. as we END PULL-BACK on HASSLEIN about to be interviewed by BIL BONDS. 47 THE INTERVIEW (MASTER SCENE ) Shot and cut as we should see it on TV, but not masked by TV screen. After ABC identification announcement: BONDS 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. He turns to HASSLEIN. BONDS With me in the studio is Dr. Otto Hasslein, a senior scientific advisor at the White House, who will give his views on the most crucial statement made to him during today's session. We show sketch of CORNELIUS by artist, during: BONDS Dr. Hasslein, when you asked the Male Ape where he came from, he answered: 'From your future'. Do you believe that? HASSLEIN Absolutely. It is the only explanation BONDS But the-explanation itself needs explaining. Doctor, youve written learned dissertations on the Nature of Time. Could you explain, in terms that will be understood by less knowledgeable viewers, how a person or persons could travel from Time Future to Time Past -- or, indeed, vice versa? HASSLEIN Time can only fullY be understood by an observer with the godlike gift of infinite regression. BONDS (wincing) Could you please explain infinite regression? 48 INT. CONTROL ROOM DIRECTOR (to Technician) Roll the film. CUT TO: 49 TIGHT SHOT - A LANDSCAPE PAINTING We shall later see that it is only the central part of a much larger painting, as we PULL BACK (when indicated), during: HASSLEIN'S VOICE (O. S.) Here is the painting of a landscape. But the artist who painted it says, - Something is missing. What is it? It is I myself who was a part of the landscape I painted.' So he mentally takes a step backward -- or 'regresses' -- and paints... (PULL BACK) ...a picture of the artist painting a picture of the landscape. And still something is missing. And that something is still his real self painting the second picture. So he 'regresses' further and paints a third... (PULL BACX) ...a plcture of the artlst painting a picture of the artist painting the landscape. And because something is still mlssing, he palnts a fourth and fifth picture... (BIG, SLOW PULL,BACK) ...until he has painted a picture of the artist painting a picture of the artit painting a picture of the artist painting a picture of the artit painting the landscape. CUT BACK TO: 50 MASTER SCENE BONDS (blinking) It's enough to drive you mad. HASSLEIN (very seriously) Yes. BONDS So infinite regression is-- HASSLEIN --The moment when our artist, having regressed to the point of infinity, himself becomes a part of the picture he has painted and is both the Observer and the observed. Even Bonds has begun to sweat. BONDS What, in that pecullar condition, would he observe if he were observing Time? HASSLEIN He would perceive that Time is like a freeway with an infinite number of 'lanes' -- all leading from the past into the future. But not into the -- same future. A driver in Lane IAI may cTash, while a driver in Lane 'B' survives. It follows that a drlver, by changing lanes, can change his future. You, Mr. Bonds, may walk out of this building at eight- p.m. and be killed by a bus. (wry reaction from Bonds) But suppose you decide to walk out of the building at elght siteen. By your action you 'change lanes'. The bus has slready passed. And you wlll be allve. There is a slgh of relief from BONDS. HASSLEIN leans forward. HASSLEIN Mr. Bonds, I do not find it hard to believe that, in the dark and turbulent corrldors of Outer Space, the impact of some distant planetary or even galactlc disaster 'jumped' the Apes from their present into ours. And indeed the proof lies in their arrival among us... We PULL BACK to include screen of a TV set ln: 51 INT. INFIRMARY CAGE HASSLEIN (on TV) ...and in their spoken, I repeat, spoken testimony. The Gorilla's cage has been vacated; and CORNELIUS, ZIRA and LEWIS are watching in what has now become a two-cage suite incongruously furnished with chairs, a double divan- bed, a dining table, the TV set, etc. BONDS (on TV) Thank you, Dr. Hasslein. It has to be the mot incredible tory this reporter has ever covered. (0.S.) And I think by their intelligence and good humor, the so-called Ape-onauts have already captured the hearts of the entire American nation. They will not be required by the Commission at tomorrow's sesion, which will be held in private. Meanwhile, they are to be transferred from the Zoo Infirmary to a hotel and will be taken on an extended tour of Los Angeles. As the APES delightedly react: BONDS (on TV) This is Bill Bonds, for Eyewitness News from Los Angeles. Good night. As LEWIS switches off set: ZIRA (not used to TV) Good night. TIME DISSOLVE TO: 52 APES ON THE TOWN A. APES in CHAUFFEUR-driven Mercedes escorted by two POLICE MOTORCYCLES and second car containing two BODYGUARDS. ZIRA sees the lmposing, tall-hatted DOORMAN of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. ZIRA Look! A priest! The DOORMAN advances to open the car. ZIRA (pretendlng fright) Goodness! What have I done? B. The DOORMAN arms ZIRA out of car. CORNELIUS follows. Cameras click and whirr. A small crowd applauds. C. Inside hotel, at Reception, CLERK proffers Visitors' Card, which LEWIS signs for them. CLERK Address, please? LEWIS looks helplessly at: CORNELIUS (shrugging) The Zoo. A BELLHOP takes the rawhide valise; and, followed by their ever-present BODYGUARD, the GROUP ascends by elevator to: D. Their flower-filled suite, which contains numberless gift baskets (from members of the public) piled high with bananas. Two further gifts (with cards attached) are a small seesaw and a stationary bicycle. STEVIE is on her knees unwrapping...a child's multicolored rubber ball. CORNELIUS cautiously opens the refrigerator; jumps when it lights up; and is inspectlng the Managers complimentary bottle of champagne, as we LOSE him and FOLLOW ZIRA through bedroom to bathroom. Here she discovers two hygienically wrapped toothbrushes; unwraps one and begins to brush her hair with it. CORNELIUS joins her in shot and warily tests a small chromium lever. It flushes the (closed) toilet. They look at each other speculatively. E. CORNELIUS with LEWIS (and BODYGUARD) driving up to Carroll & Company ... where a TAILOR removes his tape from around CORNELIUS's chest. TAILOR May I measure your inside leg, sir? CORNELIUS (coldly) No. He emerges, new suited, into street, where ZIRA (waiting in Mercedes with STEVIE) is unable to conceal her hilarity. Two SALESMEN emerge behind him, carrying boxes to car and unmasking door sign: "WARDROBE FOR GENTLEMEN". F. A fashlon show at Giorgio's for ZIRA and STEVIE (with BODYGUARD). The dazzled ZIRA chooses a high-necked, long- sleeved, maxi-skirted cocktail dress. She emerges into street and "model" dress for the waiting CORNELIUS, who goes into stitches. Three SALESWOMEN with boxes follow her towards car. 53 OUT A-53 INT. BEVERLY WILSHIRE SUITE To the sound of chatter and clinking glasses, ZIRA (in her cocktail dress) iB being interviewed by: lST FEMALE REPORTER (notebook poised) Madam Zira, I represent 'Fur and Feather', a pet magazine -- ZIRA (twinkling) D'you think I'm a pet? lST FEMALE REPORTER (smiling) Yes, I do rather. We PULL BACK to include LEWIS listening RIGHT, and WAITER entering LEFT to proffer champagne glasses in tray. LEWIS takes two glasses. LEWIS (to Zira) Try some. It's sort of ... Grape Juice Plus. ZIRA seizes glass and is about to take a hearty swig. LEWIS Hey! Just a sip. 2ND FEMALE REPORTER (pencil ready) Madam Zira, what is your favorite fruit? ZIRA (smacking her lips) Grape. PAN to CORNELIUS being interviewed by: MALE REPORTER And how d'you find our women, Mr. Cornelius? CORNELIUS (diplomatically) Very human. CUT TO: B-53 NEW ANGLE Party apparently continuing -- but, for a second or two, WITHOUT SOUND. Over this: NEWSCASTER'S VOICE Tomorrow Zira is to speak at the Bay Area Women's Club... We PULL BACK to include a TV screen in: 54 INT. HOTEL SUITE - NIGHT After the party's over. CORNELIUS in fancy pajamas, obliquely viewing end of "party - newsreel on TV. NEWSCSTER'S VOICE ...and will later accompany Dr. Hasslein to the Museum of Natual History -- while Cornelius will attend a prizefight - his first -- before visiting Disneyland to dedicate a new boat for the Jungle River Ride. CORNELIUS has risen and walked across sitting room into: 55 BATHROOM ZIRA is lying in a bubble bath. CORNELIUS Tired? ZIRA A little. CORNELIUS (sniffing bath) How's it feel? ZIRA Soothing -- but very wet. CUT TO: 56 INT. BAY AREA WOMEN'S CLUB From AUDIENCE, we PAN to: ZIRA (from platform) A marriage bed is made for two -- but every damned morning it's the woman who has to make it. We have heads as well as hands. I call upon Man to let us use them! Tumultuous applause. CUT TO: 57 The ardent applause to ZIRA's speech bleeds through into a crescendo of screaming and yelling, for our picture is a TIGHT SHOT of Two Boxers, one hammering the other into senselessness. A-57 TIGHT SHOT - AUDIENCE The crowd, standing, yelling for blood, as CAMERA ferrets out a sitting, unemotional CORNELIUS. LEWIS, flushed with excitement, resumes his seat beside him. LEWIS Well, how do you like it, Cornelius? CORNELIUS continues to stare straight ahead, then: CORNELIUS Beastly...! 58 EXT. MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY (USC) We start on rose garden in front of which the limousine is parked. A small crowd has gathered on the steps. 59 INT. MUSEUM The CURATOR, talking incessantly, is leading ZIRA, DR. HASSLEIN and her bodyguard into the Rotunda dinosaur exhibit. CURATOR We are now approaching the Amtrodemus Valeus Leidy, a giant flesh-eating dinosaur. The scientific name is a compound of the Greek Amtron, which means hollow, and Demus, which means body frame, referring to the backbone or vertebra. The trivial name is valons, Latin for strong. The complete technical designation can be translated as: a strong hollowed vertebra. And this little' fellow is the Camptosaurus Marsh, a Primitive Duckbill Dinosaur. The scientific name is a compound of the Greek Campto which means flexible or bent; and Saurus, which means lizard. The generic name therefore means flexible lizard. In 1879, O. C. Marsh, of Yale University, described the first known species of this genus from the Jurassic Beds of Wyoming. Since that time other specimens have been found throughout the Rocky Mountain area. Camptosaura is a primitive member of the Ornithopoda or Bird Footed Dinosaurs. Although primarily Bipedal, Camptosaurus could drop to all feet to feed or amble. The teeth are well developed for grinding vegetation. During this, ZIRA has continued walking and now approaches a majestic gorilla with dead glass eyes. ZIRA, looking up at the eight-foot monster, suddenly gasps, staggers as though giddy. 60 FULL SHOT - MUSEUM'S APE SECTION ZIRA faints into HASSLEIN'S arm. 61 NEW ANGLE - KNEELING HASSLEIN SUPPORTS RECUMBENT ZIRA HASSLEIN (to O.S. Curator) It must have been the shock ... ZIRA (opening eyes; straight into camera) Shock, my foot. I'm pregnant. NOTE: From here on, ZIRA'S clothes will need increasing padding. QUICK DISOLVE TO: 62 INT. HOTEL SUITE ZIRA resting on sofa, with HASSLEIN hovering in oddly over- solicitous attendance. HASSLEIN I shan't leave you till Cornelius comes back... No, no, I insist. Is there anything I can get you? ZIRA I have a strange craving -- HASSLEIN That is only natural -- ZIRA -- for Grape Juice Plus. As Hasslein reacts, mystified: ZIRA It's in the ... (new word) ...re-frig-er-ator. With a secret look of curious satisfaction, HASSLEIN extracts and unstoppers the complimentary bottle of champagne and pours it generously into a sizeable wine goblet, which he places on a low table beside her. ZIRA Lewis said only a sip. HASSLEIN (eagerly) I assure you it's an excellent restorative -- especially in cases of pregnancy. How long have you known? ZIRA (sipping) Since well before the war. It was another reason for escaping. HASSLEIN draws up a chalr, takes a lighter and cigarette case from his pocket, then "checks" himself. ZIRA drinks, during: HASSLEIN Forgive me. In view of your condition, I shouldn't smoke. He repockets lighter but does something with his thumb to the "cigarette case" which he leaves on the low table. We CLOSE to it, during: HASSLEIN Who won your war? Back to: ZIRA (drinking) It wasn't our war. It was the gorillas' war. Chimpanzees are pashy... (the champagne is working) ...pacifists. We stayed behind. We ne-ver saw the enemy. HASSLEIN But which side won? ZIRA (drinking) Neither. HASSLEIN (refreshing her glass) How do you know that if you weren't there? We can continue to INTERCUT the "cigarette case", during: ZIRA (slurred) When we were in space...we saw a bright, white, blinding light. We saw the rim of Earth melt. Then there was...a tornado in the sky. She hiccups and slops a little champagne on the table top. HASSLEIN instantly lifts the "cigarette case" and (after mopping the wet patch dry) carefully replaces it on the table. ZIRA I feel magnificently sleepy. HASSLEIN (earnestly) Zira, the Date Meter in the spaceship...? ZIRA Mm. HASSLEIN What did it register after Earth's destruction? ZIRA Nineteen...seventy...three. We CLOSE to CLOSEUP of "CIGARETTE CASE". HASSLEIN'S VOICE And before? Before the white light and the tornado? QUICK MIX TO: 63 "CIGARETTE CASE" on DIFFERENT TABLE TOP ZIRA'S VOICE (filtered) Thirty-nine...fifty..something. As HASSLEIN clicks off and opens up the bugging device, we PULL BACK to reveal HASSLEIN and the PRESIDENT in: 64 PRESIDENT'S OFFICE PRESIDENT (coolly) So? HASSLEIN (hotly) So you have evidence, Mr. President, that one day talking Apes will dominate the Earth and finally destroy it in thirty-nine fifty-something. PRESIDENT (massive calm) I doubt if we shall still be in office by then. (opening a file) 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 thirty-nine fifty-five. (a beat) A.D., presumably. HASSLEIN discomfited. PRESIDENT 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's pregnant? Herod tried that, and Christ survived. HASSLEIN Herod lacked our facilities. PRESIDENT He also became unpopular. Historically unpopular. And we don't want that, do we? HASSLEIN (aghast) Are you actually saying -- PRESIDENT I'm saying that our two visitors seem really very charming and peaceable people -- or rather creatures -- and that the voters love them. HASSLEIN Do you want them and their progeny to dominate the world? PRESIDENT Well, not at the next election. But one day, if the progeny turn out to be as nice as the parents -- who knows? They might make a better job of it than we did. HASSLEIN By destroying the world? PRESIDENT Are you sure that what they saw destroyed was the world? HASSLEIN Aren't you? PRESIDENT I consider it dispassionately a a posslblllty -- not hysterically as a fact. HASSLEIN winces. HASSLEIN We have their own testimony that they provoked a war. PRESIDENT And they seem to have provoked you pretty thoroughly into the bargain. I'm not saylng you're wrong, Hasslein. Im saying that before I have them shot against a wall, I want convincing that the writing on the wall is calculably true. Now. Convince me. HASSLEIN (rising and pacing) By their testimony, we know that Apes will acquire the power of intelligent speech and become the master race on Earth. By Zira's testimony, we know that she is pregnant with chlld. By my own testimony, it would be genetically possible for thls child -- provided always that we permit its birth -- (a sharp glance from the President) -- to bear or to beget a talking Ape by or from a dumb one in a present-day ungle or a present-day zoo. PRESIDENT And do you truly believe that by deliberate, present-day action we can neutralize that possibility? That we can alter the future? HASSLEIN I do. PRESIDENT But do you believe that we should? Given the ability to alter the future, have we the right to do so? HASSLEIN buries his head in his hands; then looks up at the PRESIDENT with genuine unhappiness. HASSLEIN I don't know, Mr. President. I've wrestled with this, and I don't know. How many futures are there? And which future has God, if there is a God, chosen for Man's final destiny? If I urge the destruction of these Apes, am I defying God's will or obeying it? Am I God's enemy or His instrument? PRESIDENT An assassin would say the latter. Do you approve of assassination? HASSLEIN We condoned the attempted assassination of Hitler because he was evil. PRESIDENT 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 evidence, Hasslein, that these Apes are evil. HASSLEIN There are indications. PRESIDENT (sharply) Such as? HASSLEIN There were hesitancies and small discrepancies in their answers to the Commission which suggest that, if properly interrogated -- PRESIDENT Are you suggesting they were improperly interrogated? HASSLEIN Shall I say "unprofessionally"? PRESIDENT You want them given the works by the C.I.A. or something? HASSLEIN The full works, Mr. President. PRESIDENT Then tell that to the Commission. I will abide by their findings. 65 INT. FEDERAL BUILDING - DAY COMMISSION sitting. On the dais, the CHAIRMAN reads. CHAIRMAN Therefore, having convened in secret session, the Commission makes the following interim recommendations: CAMERA singles out LEWIS, a very tight-faced, discouraged young man. CHAIRMAN (Cont.) One: 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. They wi then be found resesrch employment suited to their high intellectual capacities. Two: Since, however, there is justifiable cause for suspecting that they have withheld vital information from the Commission, the Ape-onauts will in fact be escorted by Dr. Lewis Dixon... (we pick him out, deadpan) to the installation known as Camp Eleven and held there, in his care, for interrogation by the C.I.A. under the guidance and supervision of Dr. Otto Hasslein. CUT TO: 66 WHITE HOUSE OFTICE PRESIDENT reading the speech's continutation to HASSLEIN. PRESIDENT "Three: On the interrogation's completion, the Commission will reconvene to discuss its findings and make such further recommendations as may be deemed just and/or expedient." I find that "and/or" somewhat sinister, Hasslein. HASSLEIN (suavely) Just technical phraseology, Mr. President, I can assure you. 67 EXT. STATION WAGON WITH POLICE CAR AND MOTORCYCLE ESCORT winding through bare, hilly country at DUSK. 68 INT. STATION WAGON LEWIS speaks to rear-view mirror whlch reflects CORNELIUS and ZIRA in back seat. LEWIS (troubled) I wish I knew how to advise you. They may try to make you angry -- but don't be, or you'll be trapped into wrong answers. Try to keep polite. CORNELIUS You hear that, Zira? ZIRA stares grimly ahead. CORNELIUS For the baby's sake. She nods. Through the windshield, the Camp gate distantly looms, during: LEWIS And whatever you do, don't tell them what you told me. He halts at the security-signed gate; shows his pass and/or badge to GUARD, who breaks the electric circuit by pressing buttons on a metal wall panel just insid his window. To CORNELIUS's fascination, the gate latch clicks and GUARD opens gates manually -- saluting as they pass through. 63 EXT. FROM OUTSIDE THE GATE - STATION WAGON RECEDES INTO DEEPENING DUSK The GUARD clangs the iron grille of the gate shut in'our faces. We ZOOM to its security sign. It says: "DANGER". We FADE TO a: 70 BLACK SCREEN ZIRA'S VOICE (filtered and tipsy) When we were in space ... we saw a bright, white, blinding light... The tape stops with a click. We hear a switch being depressed, and CUT IN: 71 CLOSEUP - A LIGHT of almost solar intenslty, 6wlvellng into CAMERA. HASSLEIN'S VOICE Brighter than this? The light is shining on: 72 ZIRA She screws her dazzled eyes shut, then slowly opens them to reconfront: 73 HER THREE EXAMINERS HASSLEIN seated between E.1. (amiable) and E.2. (icy) at a table on which stands the lamp that dazzled ZIRA. HASSLEIN presses a button. 74 PULLING BACK FROM ZIRA to include CORNELIUS listening nervously by her side. From a wall speaker: ZIRA'S VOICE (filtered and tipsy) We saw the rim of Earth melt. Then there was ... a tornado in the sky. E.1. (amiably to Zira) It is your voice, isn't it? ZIRA How can I tell? I dont even remember. E.1. Why don't you remember? ZIRA Because Dr. Hasslein made me drunk. E.1. (quietly to Zira) Why did you tell something to Dr. Hasslein when drunk which you never told to the Commission when sober? Because you and your husband were afraid for the safety of yourselves ... and your unborn child? ZIRA (perturbed) I withheld nothing. Nobody asked me. E.1. And if somebody had? After a beat: ZIRA I should have said that Chimpanzees had no part in the destruction of Earth. Only the Gorillas and the Orangutans. E.2. What's the difference? You're all monkeys. CORNELIUS (politely but firmly) Please do not use the word monkey'. We find it offensive. As an archeologist I had access to history scrolls kept secret from the masses, and I suspect that the weapon which destroyed Earth was Man's invention. I know that one reason for Man's original downfall was your peculiar habit of murderlng one another. Man destroys Man. Apes do not destroy Apes. HASSLEIN (cooling the heat) Cornelius, thls is not an inter- racial hassle but a search for facts. We admit the possbility of Man's decline and fall. But what all of us here would like to know is how Apes rose. The emotional temperature drops. CORNELIUS (unexpectedly) It began, in our prehistory, with the plague that fell upon dogs. ZIRA And cats. CORNELIUS Hundreds and thousands of them died. And hundreds and thousands had to be destroyed to prevent the spread of the infection. ZIRA There were dog bonfires ... For the first time we see a tape recorder (concealed from the APES) slowly revolving. CORNELIUS By the tlme the plague was contained, Man was without pets; and for Man, this was intolerable. 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 twenty times more intelligent than dogs or cats. CORNELIUS They were quartered in cages, but they lived and moved freely in human houses. They became responsive to human speech. And in the course of only two centuries progressed from performing mere tricks to performing services . E.1. Like sheep dogs ... CORNELIUS Could a sheep dog cook? Could a sheep dog clean the house? Or go marketing for groceries with a list from its mistress Or wait on tables? ZIRA (with dangerous pride) Or, after three more centuries, turn the tables on their owners? HASSLEIN (instantly) How? CORNELIUS lays a restraining hand on ZIRA's. CORNELIUS They became alert to the concept of slavery and (as their numbers grew) to slaverys antidote, which is unity. They began to assemble in small bands. They learned the art of corporate and militant action. They learned to refuse. We INTERCUT concealed tape recorder, inexorably revolving. Then back to: CORNELIUS At first they barked their refusal. And then, on a historic day comemorated by my species and fully documented in the secret scrolls, there came an Ape called Aldo, who didn't bark. He articulated. He spoke a word which had been spoken to him, time without number, by Humans. He said 'No'. The tape recorder revolves. HASSLEIN So that's how it all started. E.2. (buzzing intercom) Cllp One, please. From a wall speaker: CORNELIUS'S VOICE (flltered) Where we come from, Apes talk and Humans are dumb. E.2. You recognlze your husband's words to the Commission? ZIRA Yes. E.2. So Humans were dumb. (to Cornelius) Were they happy? CORNELIUS cannot meet his cold stare. E.2. (to intercom) Clip Two. From the wall speaker: ZIRA'S VOICE (filtered) As to Humans, I've dissec-- examined thousands of them and, until now, I've only discovered two who could talk in my life. E.2. Was one of the two who talked Colonel Taylor? ZIRA I never met Colonel Taylor. E 2 (to intercom) Repeat first three seconds of Clip Two. From the wall speaker: ZIRA'S VOICE (filtered) As to Humans, Ive dissec-- examined thousands of them -- The sound cuts out. E.2. What was the word you dldnt finish? ZIRA (frightened) I can't remember. E.2. (to intercom) Play the loop. From the wall speaker: ZIRA'S VOICE (filtered) Dissec ... Dissec ... Disec ... The loop continues playing, intolerably, during: E.2. Complete the word, monkey. CORNELIUS (furiously) I told you E.2. Complete the word. ZIRA'S VOICE Dissec ... Dissec ... Dissec ... ZIRA (with a touch of her old spirit) It sounds as if I had hiccups. With a snort of contempt, E.2. flicks off intercoq and wall speaker to look inquiringly at E.1., who ln is turn looks inquiringly at HASSLEIN. HASSLEIN (nods) Send for Dr. Dixon. E.2. (to intercom) Dr. Dixon, please. Dr. Hasslein calling Dr. Dixon. CUT TO: 75 INT. CORRIDOR - LEWIS Striding anxiously towards a door, whose GUARD admits him. We FOLLOW LEWIS into: 76 OUT 77 INTERROGATION ROOM HASSLEIN Ah. Dr. Dixon. He is holding something wrapped in cotton, which he hands to LEWIS. HASSLEIN Please be good enough to administer this. LEWIS raises hostile, inquiring eyebrows as he unwraps the cotton. HASSLEIN Sodium Pentothal. One-half gram IV. The cotton contains a charged hypodermic. LEWIS (not taking it) Dr. Hasslein, I'm an animal psychiatrist -- HASSLEIN (curtly) And a qualified vet. We have the Commission's authority and... (indicating E.1. and E.2.) ...that of the C.I.A. LEWIS, after hesitation, takes hypodermic; and we PAN him into shot with the seated APES. LEWIS (gently) Come, Zira. Lie down on the couch. But CORNELIUS has seen the hypodermic and rises in anguish. CORNELIUS No! No! No! When we use those things, it's for killing. HASSLEIN Killing whom? CORNELIUS grabs ineffectually at the hypodermic and is with difficulty restrained by E.2. LEWIS (stepping in to cover up) This isn't for killing, Cornelius. It's for ... relaxing. It won't harm her. ZIRA Will it harm my baby? LEWIS No. So, please. Lie down. CORNELIUS moans and whimpers. HASSLEIN (to E.2.) Take it to its quarters. LEWIS guides ZIRA, who looks pathetically back over her shoulder. 78 OUT A-78 ANOTHER ANGLE LEWIS tests hypodermic and indicates couch. LEWIS (smiling) Bare your left arm, please. ZIRA (wry whisper) You dont have to tell me. As he bends over her to roll back her sleeve: LEWIS (whisper) It has the same effect as Grape Juice Plus. He injects the hypodermlc lnto her hairy arm. LEWIS Count backwards from ten. As HASSLEIN enters, followed by E.1. only: ZIRA Ten...nine...eight...even... six ... (gettlng drowsy) ...five...four... She pauses. LEWIS What's after four? ZIRA (slurry) ...two... During the above, E.1. has switched on the tape recorder, drawn up a chair to the couchs side and now (hand mike poised) looks inquiringly at LEWIS, who withdraws hypo- dermic and pads the crook of ZIRA' s arm with cotton. HASSLEIN (holding door open) Thank you, Dr. Dixon. LEWIS (coldly) It's customary to stay. Their eyes lock. LEWIS I am a member of the Commission. LEWIS wins. HASSLEIN leans agalnst the wall, motionless and impassive until the scene has ended. We CLOSE to: 79 CLOSE SHOTS - E.1. and ZIRA, INTERCUTTING HASSLEIN AND LEWIS Most of E.1.'s "questions" are less questions than statements, He is confronting ZIRA with situations which she can confirm or deny. E.1. (gentle throughout) Zira. ZIRA (slurry at first) Mm. E.1. You worked in a room like this? ZIRA Bigger. But not so ... pretty. CAMERA roves the cold, clinical little room. Pretty ...! E.1. With ... two assistants? ZIRA Three. E.1. And there you practiced... ZIRA (as though this were all) Comparative. E.1. Comparative what? ZIRA Ana ... ana... E.1. Anatomy. ZIRA Mm. E.1. Whose anatomies did you compare? ZIRA hesitates; restlessly moves her head from side to side. E.1. Apes' and Humans'? ZIRA Mm. E.1. (still gently) Say yes if you mean yes. ZIRA Yes. E.1. So you dissected other Apes? ZIRA Yes. When they died a natural death. E.1. And Humans, too, of course. ZIRA Yes. As they were ... made available. E.1. Available ... ? We CUT IN quick, soundless, subliminal FASHES from APES 1 and APES 2, luridly illustrating: ZIRA The Gorillas hunted them for sport -- with nets and with guns. The survivors were put in cages. The Army used some of them for target practice. FLASHES END. As the drug's hypnotic effect diminishes, ZIRA becomes increasingly articulate and euphoric. ZIRA We could take our scientific pick of the rest. E.1. (matching her enthusiasm) And in the interests of science, you dissected, removed and statistically compared... ZIRA (proudly) Bones, muscles, tendons, veins, arteries, kidneys, livers, hearts, stomachs, reproductive organs... We CUT IN subliminal FLASH from APES 1: CLOSEUP ZIRA, from O.S. patient's P.O.V., bending over to operate with scalpel. And back to: ZIRA ...nails, tongues, eyes... E.1. turns to see HASSLEIN, riveted. ZIRA ...noses, ears, nervous systems, the various reflexes -- E.1. (as though puzzled) Reflexes? Of the dead? ZIRA 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. LEWIS, sweating, looks at HASSLEIN, concentrating. E.1. ("admiringly") You mean you were ... advanced enough to do experimental bran surgery on living humans? ZIRA Oh, yes. We even tried to stimulate their atrophied speech centers. E.1. Successfully? ZIRA Not yet. (confused) I mean not now ... anymore. She draws a hand across her eyes. E.1. looks at LEWIS, who looks at his watch. LEWIS Two minutes. HASSLEIN scribbles a note, which he hands to: E.1. Did you stimulate Colonel Taylor's speech centers? ZIRA (irritated mutter) Of course not. He could talk already. Exhausted after her euphoria, she doesn't realize what she has admitted. The three MEN do and react strongly. But the obect of pentothal is to lull the patient into truth. E.1. (offhand) Colonel Taylor had colleagues ... ZIRA Oh, yes. There was one who ... somehow ... died before we found out he could talk. He possessed a unique skin. We had it stuffed and put in our museum. Like the gorilla I saw in yours. E.1. A unique...? ZIRA ...skin. (a beat) It was black. We CUT IN ghoulish FLASH from APES 1: stuffed NEGRO ASTRONAUT with milky glass eyes in Ape City's museum. And back to: HASSLEIN (a whisper) Lieutenant Dodge. ZIRA (sleepily) Until we came here, we'd never seen that before. E.1. When you left, was Colonel Taylor still alive ZIRA (scenting accusation) We loved Taylor. CUT IN FLASH from APES 1: ZIRA kissing TAYLOR. And back to: ZIRA We did all we could to help him, Cornelius and I -- As she names her husband, normal consciousness returns. She lifts herself on one elbow and looks desperately around for a sign of him; but sees only the cold, white room, E.1. by the couch's side, LEWIS with the hypodermic, and HASSLEIN blocking the intercommunicating door. ZIRA (desolate moan) Cornelius! LEWIS (putting down hypodermic) She'll need a nap now. HASSLEIN She'll get it. He raps at the outer door; and a young, white-coated, muscular, blond and good-natured male ORDERLY enters. E.1. is unemotionally dismantling the tape recorder, during: ORDERLY Sir? HASSLEIN Take her to their quarters, please. E.1. hands tape spool to HASSLEIN. HASSLEIN We must get this to commission immediately. ORDERLY approaches ZIRA's wheeled couch and looks down on her. She is almost asleep. ORDERLY (gently) Come along, ma'am. It's over now. (looking down at her) Boy! She's really out. LEWIS and HASSLEIN turn at door. HASSLEIN, unemotional, exits, but the concern on LEWIS's face is clearly visible. He exits sadly. CUT TO: 80 INT. FEDERAL BUILDING - WEARY COMMISSION - LATE AFTERNOON LEWIS is with them and we shall CUT frequently to his reactions We CLOSE to: CHAIRMAN (reading) I have to announce that the President of the United State has ratified the following final recommendations made by thi Commission in the light of the C.I.A. tape recordings delivered to us by Dr. Hasslein. We PULL BACK to include HASSLEIN seated rather gloomily on the dais next to: CHAIRMAN (reading) One: By a maority vote the Commission finds no solid evidence for hostility by either Ape towards the Human Race as at present constituted in this year of our Lord, nineteen seventy-three. The MINORITY (including, alas, the CARDINAL) becomes sufficiently vocal for the CHAIRMAN to hammer for silence. CHAIRMAN (emphatically reading) 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 obectivity of a good historian. The female's case is different, in that he undoubtedly committed actions againt 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 two thousand 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. Dubious murmurs from the MINORITY. CHAIRMAN (holdlng up hand) Nonetheless, the Commission is sympathetic to Dr. Hasslein's conviction that the progeny of these Apes could, in the 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: Two: The Commission unanimously recommends that the birth of the female Ape's unborn child should be prevented; and that, after lts prenatal removal, both the male and the female should humanely be rendered incapable of begetting or bearing another. Thus, the parents can still be employed to serve the community in a manner to which their undoubted talents are best suited. He raises his gavel. CHAIRMAN I now declare this Commission dissolved. As the gavel begins to fall: SHOCK CUT TO: 81 CORNELIUS'S INTERLOCKED HANDS... ...smashing down on a white-enameled metal table top. As we PULL BACK: CORNELIUS They're savages! We PULL BACK further to: 82 MASTER SHOT - APES' QUARTERS - NIGHT Cold, white, fluorescent llghtlng reveals barred windows wlth no drapes; two austere cots, on one of which lies ZIRA, fully clothed; two uneasy easy chairs; and two white-cushioned metal ones by the table, on which CORNELIUS once again smashes down his interlocked hands. CORNELIUS Savages! Jabblng needles into a pregnant woman! ZIRA (mildly) I've done that, too, dear. And worse. Taylor thought we were savages -- at first. CORNELIUS Did they make you tell them about Taylor, too? ZIRA They made me tell them about everything, Cornelius. CORNELIUS Brutes! ZIRA And shall I tell you something? I'm glad I did. We can't live with lies. CORNELIUS (himself savagely) After this, I doubt we shall be allowed to live at all. She sits up suddenly and anxiously on the side of the cot with one hand held to her very pregnant belly. ZIRA Do you mean that? He takes her hand away from her belly and holds it to his cheek. CORNELIUS How long, now? ZIRA A week. Maybe more. CORNELIUS (a snarl) They treated you like dirt! A key rattles in the lock. Is this the death sentence? But the door opens only to admit their young, agreeable ORDERLY with two bowls of soup, four oranges and a glass pitcher of water on a heavy white-enameled tray. ORDERLY Sir. Ma'am. It's chow time. He is about to set down the tray when CORNELIUS, still fuming, shakes his head. ORDERLY looks hopefully at: ZIRA I'm not hungry. ORDERLY (genuinely concerned) But maybe someone else is who can't talk yet. Come on, ma'am. It's pure Vitamin C. Drink your soup and eat your orange for the sake of... (unwittingly) ... the little monkey inside you, and -- CORNELIUS loses his temper. Pushes tray (upwards from beneath) into ORDERLY's face, which the hot soup scalds, as the glass pitcher splinters at his feet and the oranges roll across the floor. CORNELIUS wrests the heavy tray from ORDERLY and crashes it down on his head. As ORDERLY staggers forward, his foot trips over an orange and he falls -- hitting the side of his head on a corner of the metal table and landing face downwards in the splintered pitcher's jagged glass. ZIRA (rising aghast) Cornelius, what have you -- CORNELIUS (breathing hard) Nobody makes a fool of my wife. (squatting) He's unconscious. ZIRA We ought we to call for -- CORNELIUS We call for nobody and nothing. We leave. He quietly opens the door and peers left and right. Directly across the passage is another door which he opens to reveal an unused office with window in b.g. CORNELIUS opens the window; and, one leg already over the sill, beckons to ZIRA, whom we have HELD throughout in f.g. She exits the door of their own quarters, closing it softly behind her. As it shuts, we ANGLE DOWN and PAN from the debris on the floor to: 83 TOP SHOT - GASHED BLOND HEAD OF ORDERLY face downwards in the broken glass. Blood is beginning to spread across the floor. CUT TO: 84 INT. FEDERAL BUIDING SIDE ROOM - LEWIS ON PHONE - INTERCUTTING STEVIE IN ZOO INFIRMARY - NIGHT LEWIS At least they'll be allowed to live, but it's cruel and horrible. And I'm the one who has to tell them. Stevie, you've got to come and help me. STEVIE Of course. I'll come right away. LEWIS Thanks, Stevie. I'll be going back with Dr. Hasslein any minute now. LEWIS hangs up, turn to see HASSLEIN, who obviously has overheard. HASSLEIN (a light smile) Cruel, Dr. Dixon? LEWIS Unbelievably. Zira wants her baby. HASSLEIN So do I. LEWIS But dead. HASSLEIN Yes. LEWIS And you'd prefer the parents dead as well...wouldn't you? HASSLEIN doesn't answer. He doesn't need to. HASSLEIN Shall we go...? He leaves, and LEWIS, disturbed and quite fearful, follows. CUT TO: 85 EXT./INT. GUARDHOUSE - NIGHT The lncoming GUARD 1 moves to ringing phone, as outgoing GUARD 2 presses button on metal wall panel, during: GUARD 1 (on phone) Gate four ... No, sir, the Lieutenant hasn't checked in yet. GUARD 2 (leaving) 'Night, Charlie. GUARD 1 (hand over mouthpiece) 'Night, Ed. The pressed button has released the latch of the gate, which GUARD 2 opens and closes behind him, manually, before departing. We PAN to CORNELIUS's head cautiously surveying this from outside guardhouse window. GUARD 1 (to phone) Yessir. I'll give him that message... yessir. He puts down phone; and CORNELIUS iB wondering what to do, when phone rings again. CORNELIUS ducks out of view, during: GUARD 1 Gate four ... Yes, Captain ... No, sir, the supply truck isn't due till 0600 hours ... Well, I'm sorry, sir. We've no way of contacting them before then ... We PICK UP CORNELIUS approaching wall panel on guardhouse's further side, during: GUARD 1 The depot's closed, sir. CORNELIUS presses the panel button. To smother sound of gate clicking open: CORNELIUS (mimicking) 'Night, Charlie. GUARD l (hand over mouthpiece) I said good night. (into phone) Okay, slr. I'll be off duty by then, but the relief comes on at 0430 hours and I'll get him to pass the message ... Yessir ... yessir ... just leave it to me ... CORNELIUS beckons ZIRA into shot and they pass through gate, which CORNELIUS gently closes behind them. CUT TO: 86 APES RUN OFF HIGHWAY into and through bushes. ZIRA staggers, clutches her belly and falls. CORNELIUS (over shoulder; from ahead) Zira! A pause. Then the pain suddenly goes and, with a deep sigh, she rises and joins him. CORNELIUS (as they advance) What's the matter? ZIRA I think my pains have begun. CORNELIUS strikes his forehead with his hand, as we: CUT TO: 87 EXT. HASSLEIN'S CAR EN ROUTE FOR CAMP ELEVEN - NIGHT Car approaches CAMERA, pulling to a stop as the scream of a siren rents the night. An ambulance flies past, CAMERA HOLDING on HASSLEIN and LEWIS in the car. They exchange a shrug, and the car moves out. 88 OUT 89 APES IN SAME SPOT as last seen. CORNELIUS How are the pains? ZIRA They come and go. But they're beginning to come quicker and go slower. CORNELIUS You ought to rest. But I'd like to get farther away before... He helps her up and, in so doing, disturbs an (unseen) bird which flies off into the darkness with a clatter of wings that disturbs them both. ZIRA (ominously) Like a machine gun. CORNELIUS Just a bird. They begin to walk away from the direction of the Camp where, after a few seconds, an ambulance siren distantly but piercingly warbles. ZIRA (stopping) What's that? CORNELIUS (soothingly) Another bird. They stumble on and down, through the thinning trees until the darkness swallows them. CUT TO: 90 INT./EXT. - HASSLEIN TAKES THE SHARP TURN TO CAMP GATE GUARD 1 (scrutinizing passes) You're wanted in Administration, Doctor. Urgent. The car roars up drive and brakes sharply at main door- HASSLEIN and LEWIS alight and enter. 91 ADMINISTRATION CORRIDOR HASSLEIN strides ahead of LEWIS down corridor and turns through open door into: 92 ANOTHER ANGLE LEWIS stays in doorway. HASSLEIN walks towards E.1., E.2. and MARINE CAPTAIN. HASSLEIN What's happened? We PAN, fractionally, to include something sheeted on a stretcher. E.2. twitches sheet to reveal: 93 TOP SHOT - DEAD ORDERLY'S GLASS-GASHED FACE Over this: E.2.'s VOICE The Apes have killed their Orderly. LEWIS reacts, appalled. Back to: 94 HASSLEIN baring his teeth in a smug I-told-you-so smile of satisfaction. HASSLEIN Where are they? CAPTAIN On the run. HASSLEIN's smile fades and is replaced by a look of desperate sincerity which his earlier interview with the President foreshadowed. To E.1.: HASSLEIN Now they've killed, and must be killed. It has to be done -- and done quickly -- before we start a stone rolling that'll gather enough poisoned moss to kill us all. We CUT AWAY to LEWIS, listening (deadpan) in open doorway. He turns on his heel and walks away. Back to: HASSLEIN Nothing but weakness, indifference and apathy! Who cares what's going to happen to the Human Race two thousand years from now? With E.1., E.2 and CAPTAIN, he begins a walk down the corridor, from which LEWIS has already vanished. HASSLEIN (walking) Who cares whether, long, long after we're dead, a Man who might have been another Shakespeare, another Buddha, even another Christ, will be crawling the face of this earth- on all fours like a dumb brute unable to do more