One Million Years B.C.
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| One Million Years BC | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster to One Million Years B.C. (1966) |
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| 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) | December 30, 1966 (UK) February 21, 1967 (USA) |
| Running time | 105 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | 100 min. / USA:91 min. |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
One Million Years B.C. is a 1966 (released in the U.S. in 1967) adventure film and fantasy film starring Raquel Welch set - loosely - in the time of cavemen. The film was made by Great Britain'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!"
The film is largely ahistorical. It portrays dinosaurs and man living together, whereas current scientific thought shows that the dinosaurs died out sixty-four million years prior to the date at which the film is set. Since a million years ago the closest thing to a modern human being was Homo erectus, it seems doubtful whether Raquel Welch could have portrayed one very convincingly. In addition, it is very unlikely that clothes had been invented by that time, with humans living in Africa with its warm climate, there was no need for clothes. If at all, the clothes would not have resembled a bikini. However, since it is a fantasy, Ray Harryhausen and Hammer felt free to put man and dinosaurs from different times together and invent a few fancy clothes. Harryhausen has stated in a commentary of the unfinished film, Creation (1931 film) shown on the Kong 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 anyways."
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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 makes its way to the beach. After the men of the Shell Tribe fend the giant turtle away, they take Tumak to their village, where Loana tends to him. The Shell Tribe are much more advanced and civilized than the Rock Tribe.
When Loana and some men are fishing, an Allosaurus attacks and Loana is trapped. After saving her from the Allosaurus, the men fight the Allosaurus. Several of the men are killed before Tumak impales the Allosaurus with a spear and kills it. After attempting to steal a spear from the one of the people of the Shell Tribe, they cast him out. However, Ahot, one of the tribe, gives Tumak a spear in recognition for what he did for them. Meanwhile, Tumak's brother, Sakana, tries to kill their father in order to take power; while Akoba survives, Sakana is the new leader. As this happens, the twice exiled Tumak and Loana go on a journey and encounter a Ceratosaurus, which fights a Triceratops in a battle. Tumak watches the Triceratops gore the Ceratosaurus to death.
The outcasts wander back into the Rock tribe's territory and Loana meets the tribe, but again there are altercations. Chief among them is the fight that ensues between Tumak's current love interest, Loana, and his old girlfriend, "Nupondi the Wild One". While she is bathing one day, Loana gets snatched into the air by a Pteranodon, who drops her bleeding into the sea after it is attacked by a Rhamphorhynchus. Tumak believes her dead, but she has survived the ordeal. The Rock tribe, jealous of the advanced Shell Tribe, goes to war and fights until the whole land is engulfed by a volcanic eruption. As the film ends, Tumak, Loana, and the surviving members of the tribes set off to find a new home.
[edit] Main cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Raquel Welch | Loana |
| John Richardson | Tumak |
| Percy Herbert | Sakana |
| Robert Brown | Akhoba |
| Martine Beswick | Nupondi |
[edit] Trivia
- 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 identical to that worn by Lon Chaney Jr. wore in the same role in the 1940 version One Million B.C.
- The exterior scenes were filmed in the Canary Islands in the middle of winter.
- This was the 100th production of Hammer Film Productions.
- There was a scene with a Brontosaurus being attacked by villagers that never made it to the final film, Michael Carreras decided that the sequence wasn't necessary. The Brontosaurus remains in the finished film, however, as it is briefly encountered by Tumak at one point.
- The film uses two live creatures: an Iguana and a Tarantula. Ray Harryhausen is asked over and over about these two un-Harryhausen 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 they had to construct an 6-7 foot high volcano in the studio, 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 (see picture) became more famous than the movie itself, becoming a best-selling poster and somewhat of a cultural phenomenon. The image can be recognized by people around the world; even among those who are not familiar with the film.
- The poster with Raquel Welch on it can be seen in the movie The Shawshank Redemption as the last of three posters in Andy Dufresne's cell, and in Ralph’s bedroom in Wah-Wah.
