One Million B.C.
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| One Million B.C. | |
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 One Million B.C. |
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| Directed by | Hal Roach, Hal Roach, Jr. |
| Produced by | Hal Roach |
| Starring | Victor Mature |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | 1940 |
| Running time | 80 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
One Million B.C. is a 1940 American fantasy motion picture produced by Hal Roach Studios and released by United Artists. It is also known by the titles Cave Man, Man and His Mate, and Tumak.
Producer Hal Roach hired D.W. Griffith to produce this film and Of Mice and Men, writing to him, "I need help from the production side to select the proper writers, cast, etc. and to help me generally in the supervision of these pictures."[1] Although Griffith eventually disagreed with Roach over the production and parted, Roach later insisted that some of the scenes in the completed film were directed by Griffith. This would make the film the final production in which Griffith was actively involved. But cast members recall Griffith directing only the screen tests and costume tests. When Roach advertised the film in late 1939 with Griffith listed as producer, Griffith asked that his name be removed.[2]
The film stars Victor Mature as Tumak, a young cave man who strives to unite the uncivilized Rock Tribe and the peaceful Shell Tribe. Co-starring is Carole Landis as Loana, daughter of the Shell Tribe chief and Tumak's love interest. Lon Chaney Jr. Co-stars as Tumak's father and leader of the rock tribe. The film was one of the first to portray primitive humans in any sort of a serious manner.
One Million B.C. was a popular success and was nominated for two Academy Awards for its special effects and musical score.
The film was remade in 1966 as One Million Years B.C. starring John Richardson as Tumak and Raquel Welch as Loana.
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[edit] Plot
After a prologue, in which an elderly scientist introduces the story for his students, the film opens with a young man hunting a small, pig-sized Triceratops. He wrestles it to death, and he and his brutal tribe feed on the creature. Tumak leaves the group for a short amount of time, and gets lost. Unable to find his way back, he despairs until he finds a gentle woman, apparently of another tribe. Slowly he begins to gain acceptance into a smarter, more peaceful tribe, eventually winning the hand of Loana and uniting the two tribes in peace after both are threatened by an erupting volcano and a few dinosaurs.
[edit] Cast and Crew
- Directed by Hal Roach, Hal Roach Jr., and possibly D.W. Griffith
- Written by Mickell Novack and George Baker
- Victor Mature .... Tumak
- Carole Landis .... Loana
- Lon Chaney Jr. .... Akhoba
- John Hubbard .... Ohtao
- Nigel De Brulier .... Peytow
- Mamo Clark .... Nupondi
- Inez Palange .... Tohana
- Edgar Edwards .... Skakana
- Jacqueline Dalya .... Ataf
- Mary Gale Fisher .... Wandi
- Norman Budd .... Rock Person
- Harry Wilson .... Rock Person
- John Northpole .... Rock Person
- Lorraine Rivero .... Rock Person
- Harold Howard .... Rock Person
[edit] Facts
Runtime: 80 min.
Country: USA
Language: English
Color: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
[edit] Production
Lon Chaney Jr. designed his own makeup for Akhoba, but couldn't use it owing to Cosmetician's Union rules.
The two "dinosaurs" seen in the film are a pig in a rubber suit and a Rhinoceros Iguana. The rules for animal treatment in movies were put in place due to the crushing to death of the iguana at the end of the film.
[edit] Legacy
Stock footage of this film had appeared in numerous movies throughout the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. These films include Tarzan's Desert Mystery, one of the chapters of the Superman serial, Two Lost Worlds, The Lost Volcano, Jungle Manhunt, Untamed Women, Robot Monster, King Dinosaur, Teenage Cave Man, Valley of the Dragons, Journey to the Center of Time, and the Mexican films Island of the Dinosaurs (La Isla De Los Dinosaurios) and Adventure at the Center of the Earth (Aventura al centro de la tierra).[3]. The technique of using optically enlarged lizards to represent dinosaurs has been given the nickname of "slurpasaur" by fans.
[edit] Awards
Nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Musical Score and Best Special Effects.
[edit] References
- ^ Richard Lewis Ward, A History of the Hal Roach Studios, p. 109-110. Southern Illinois University, 2005. ISBN 080932637X. In his Biograph days, Griffith had directed two films with prehistoric settings: Man's Genesis (1912), and Brute Force (1913).
- ^ Ward, p. 110.
- ^ James Van Hise, Hot Blooded Dinosaur Movies, Pioneer Books Inc, 1993. Pg.20
