One Million Years B.C.

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One Million Years BC

U.S. Theatrical poster
Directed by Don Chaffey
Produced by Michael Carreras
Starring Raquel Welch
John Richardson
Percy Herbert
Robert Brown
Martine Beswick
Music by Mario Nascimbene
Cinematography Wilkie Cooper
Editing by Tom Simpson
Distributed by Hammer Film Productions
Release date(s) 30 December 1966 (UK)
February 21, 1967 (USA)
Running time 100 min. (U.K) 91 min. (U.S.)
Country  United Kingdom
Language English

One Million Years B.C. is a 1966 (released in the United States in 1967) adventure film/fantasy film starring Raquel Welch set - loosely - in the time of cavemen. The film was made by UK's Hammer Film Productions, and was a remake of the 1940 Hollywood film One Million B.C.. It is marketed with the tagline "Travel back through time and space to the edge of man's beginnings...discover a savage world whose only law was lust!"

Like the original film, this remake is largely ahistorical. It portrays dinosaurs and humans living together, whereas the last dinosaurs became extinct roughly 65 million years BC, and homo sapiens (modern humans) did not exist until about 200,000 years BC. Harryhausen has stated in a commentary of the unfinished film, Creation, shown on the King Kong 1933 DVD, that he did not make One Million Years B.C. for "professors" who in his opinion "probably don't go to the cinema anyway."

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[edit] Plot synopsis

Tumak, a caveman from the Rock tribe, is banished to the harsh desert because of a fight with his father, Akoba, the tribal leader. After surviving many dangers, such as a giant lizard and a giant spider, he collapses on a remote beach, where he is spotted by "Loana the Fair One" and her fellow fisherwomen of the Shell Tribe. They are about to help him when an Archelon (which is three times the size of the actual prehistoric Archelon) makes its way to the beach. Men of the Shell Tribe arrive and apparently fend off the giant turtle with spears. ( Although, in fact, it appears the turtle just wanders out to sea, where it originally intended to go anyway. )

Tumak is taken to their village, where Loana tends to him. Scenes follow emphasising that the Shell Tribe is more advanced and more civilized than the Rock Tribe. They have cave paintings, music, delicate jewellery made from shells, and rudimentary language - all things Tumak seems to have never before encountered.

When the tribe women are fishing, an Allosaurus attacks. The tribe flees to their cave but in the panic, a small girl is left trapped up a tree. Tumak seizes a spear and rushes forward to defend her. Emboldened by this example, Loana runs out to snatch the child to safety and other men come to Tumak's aid, one of whom is killed before Tumak is finally able to kill the creature.

In the aftermath, a funeral is held for the dead men - another custom Tumak seems to not know. Leaving the funeral early, he re-enters the cave, and apparently attempts to steal a spear. A sleeping man wakes, and angered by the attempted theft, fights for his spear. The ensuing commotion attracts the rest of the tribe, who unite to cast Tumak out. Loana leaves with him, and one of the men of the tribe - Ahot - gives him a spear.

Meanwhile, Tumak's brother, Sakana, tries to kill their father in order to take power. Akoba survives, but Sakana is the new leader. While this is happening, Tumak and Loana encounter a battle between a Ceratosaurus, and a Triceratops, eventually won by the Triceratops which fatally gores its opponent.

The outcasts wander back into the Rock Tribe's territory and Loana meets the tribe, but again there are altercations. The most dramatic one is a fight between Tumak's current love interest, Loana, and his old girlfriend, "Nupondi the Wild One". Loana wins the fight, and refuses to strike the killing blow, despite the encouragement of the other members of the tribe.

While the cave people are swimming - seemingly for the first time, and inspired by Leona's example - they are attacked by a a female Pteranodon. In the confusion, Loana is snatched into the air by the creature, and dropped bleeding into the sea as a second pterosaur Eudimorphodon intervenes.

Tumak initially believes her dead, but she has survived the ordeal. They are reuinited just as war breaks out between their tribes: the Rock Tribe, seemingly jealous of the Shell Tribe, attacks without warning. In the midst of a savage hand-to-hand battle, a volcano suddenly ( and symbolically ? ) erupts: the entire area is stricken by earthquakes and landslides that overwhelm both tribes.

As the film ends, Tumak, Loana, and the surviving members of both tribes emerge from cover to find themselves in a ruined, near-Lunar landscape. They all set off - now united - to find a new home.

[edit] Main cast

Raquel Welch as Loana the Fair One in One Million Years B.C. (1966).
Actor Role
Raquel Welch Loana
John Richardson Tumak
Percy Herbert Sakana
Robert Brown Akhoba
Martine Beswick Nupondi
Jean Wladon Ahot

[edit] Production notes

 Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (May 2009)
  • As the Shell People are attacked by a giant turtle, the women call it "Archelon" which is the real scientific name for the animal.
  • Robert Brown (Akhoba) wears makeup similar to that worn by Lon Chaney Jr. in the same role in the 1940 version One Million B.C.
  • The exterior scenes were filmed at Lanzarote and Tenerife in the Canary Islands in the middle of winter.
  • The film uses two live creatures: a Green iguana and a tarantula. Ray Harryhausen has been asked repeatedly about these two un-animated creatures and he confesses that they were his idea. At the time he felt that the use of real creatures would convince the audience that all of what they were about to see was indeed real.
  • As there were no active volcanoes in the Canary Islands the studio had to construct a 6-7 foot (2 metre) high volcano on the ABPC studio back lot. The eruption, lava explosions and lava flows were composed of a mixture of wallpaper paste, oatmeal, dry ice and red dye.
  • The publicity shot of Welch from the movie became more famous than the movie itself, becoming a best-selling poster and something of a cultural phenomenon. The image can be recognized by people around the world, even among those who are not familiar with the film. Many noted photographers had been flown to Tenerife by 20th Century Fox on a publicity junket, but the iconic pose of Welch was taken by the unit still photographer, who never made anything more than his weekly salary for his world-famous work.
  • Roughly nine minutes were cut from the American print, including a provocative dance from Martine Beswick and a gruesome end to one of the ape-men in the cave.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Million_Years_B.C."
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