Depicting a harsh and dystopian world (at least for the humans), “Planet of the Apes” has become an unlikely film franchise spanning over half a century. The original “Apes” from 1968 has some of the most fantastical, caveman-chic sets of any of the films. Art Directors William Creber and Jack Martin Smith were charged with the difficult task of building an entire futuristic world while limited by the budget of the first in an unknown, untested yet-to-be movie franchise.
Forbidden Zone
Planet of the Apes 1968 Concept Sketch of Forbidden Zone – Mentor Huebner
Ape Village
Planet of the Apes Village Set
As a result of the film’s lower budget, the centerpiece of the film, Ape Village, was filmed at 20th Century Fox’s movie ranch (now Malibu Creek State Park) less than an hour from its Century City studio. Except for a wide establishing shot (below) that shows just how small the set was, all other shots were kept tight and low by director Franklin J. Schaffner to disguise its tiny stature. Used also for “The Left Hand of God” with Humphrey Bogart the lake was dredged and enlarged by Fox over its early years of ownership.
Concept Sketch of Ape Village
Planet of the Apes 1968 Concept Sketch of Ape Village – Mentor Huebner
Mentor Huebner depicted a Gaudi world of craggy, skull-like buildings carved from stone.
Buildings Surrounding the Village
Planet of the Apes Set Surrounding Village
To give Ape Village a greater sense of size, additional buildings were constructed on the hills surrounding the town. Forced perspective likely was used to make the buildings look larger and farther away than they really were.
Stone Sky Bridge
Planet of the Apes Village Bridge Set
Amphitheater
Planet of the Apes Set Amphitheater
Church and Unique Circular Room Divider
Planet of the Apes Set Church and Circular Room Divider
The Apes’ church was enclosed by a semi-circular room divider made of stacked stones.
Museum of Man
Planet of the Apes Set Museum Interior
Hallway
Planet of the Apes Set Hallway
Another Hallway
Planet of the Apes Set Hallway
Courtroom
Planet of the Apes Set Courtroom
Courtroom Room Divider
Planet of the Apes 1968 Set Courtroom and Divider 1Planet of the Apes 1968 Set Courtroom and Divider 2 Close Up
The Tiki Torch is both older and newer than you might think. It’s newer in the sense that the tiki torch–or let’s use the brand name, Tiki Torch–burning in your backyard, the bamboo kind with a reservoir filled with petroleum-based fuel, has no basis in true Polynesian history. It’s older in the sense that those torches you see every spring and summer at Home Depot or Lowe’s go back to the 1950s.
Tiki Torch Original Package and Artwork
Summary
Tiki Torch is a brand name currently owned by Lamplight Farms, Inc., a “leisure and lifestyle brands” company.
Its initial MSRP was $4.99. Many Tiki Torch brand torches today cost around that same amount.
Tiki Torch was originally produced in Belgium, Wisconsin.
The 1947 voyage of Kon-Tiki was the basis for the word “tiki.”
1956 was Tiki Torch’s first year, but it was a slow one, with products only being sold in the Los Angeles area.
Between 1957 and 1960 were Tiki Torch’s biggest years before interest began to wane.
1956: The Torch Is Lit
The word tiki is ambiguous, but it likely stems from the 1947 Thor Heyerdahl expedition of the balsa wood raft Kon-Tiki. The point was to prove the theory that Polynesia was settled by South Americans. Heyerdahl derived the name from the Incan god Viracocha, also spelled Con-Tici or Kon-Tiki.
The Birthplace of Mid-Century Modern Polynesian Popular Culture: Wisconsin
600 Park Street Belgium WI Original Location of Tiki Torch
In 1956, Tiki Torches began to be produced in the most un-Polynesia of all places: Belgium, Wisconsin. The original location–600 Park Street–is now occupied by Holiday Trims, Inc.
In June 1956, the first Tiki Torches began to be sold around the Los Angeles, CA area for $4.99 per torch and $0.99 for a quart of the safety fuel. It was a slow start for Tiki Torch, with products sold only in the L.A. area that first summer.
Surprisingly enough, the bamboo poles and reed housings that we are familiar with today were not present at that time. The original Tiki Torches were constructed of 100% aluminum, in Antique Copper, Antique Brass, and Satin Ebony finishes. The poles came in separate sections that were fitted together to form a single 6 ft. pole. From an ad:
Enjoy the decorative mood set by this new lighting. This smart-looking TIKI TORCH will keep away annoying insects while adding a touch of scenic glamour that is reminiscent of the enchantment of the South Seas. “Welcome, have fun…” that’s what your TIKI TORCH will say to friends who call…
By the end of summer 1956, LA-based pharmacy Thrifty had slashed the price by a dollar. By September, Tiki Torches had pretty much disappeared from stores for that summer season.
It wasn’t until December 25, 1956 that Tiki got around to filing the trademark on the name Tiki Torch.
In the 1960s, Interest Wanes
Next summer, Tiki Torches began to be sold across the United States. That $4.99 MSRP held firm for about three years, until interest began to wane around. By 1960, Tiki Torches could be scooped up for as little as $0.99 in some California stores.
Other brands, such as NOMA Luau Torches, Tonga Torches, Mai Kai Torches, and Tropic Torches, began to dilute the market, as well.
Tiki Torches and tiki culture in general were moribund through the period 1965 to 2003. Interest in mid-century modern Polynesian culture rose again in the mid 2000s when Sven A. Kirsten published the Taschen book The Book of Tiki. The Mad Men series also helped contribute to this mid-2010s interest in Polynesian pop culture, especially in Season 6, when Don and Megan go to Hawaii.
Tiki Torch Advertisement in the Los Angeles Times, July 2, 1961
Sure, the Cuningham Group of Culver City, CA-based architects may try to blow smoke in our direction with such slogans as “We exist to Uplift the Human Experience,” but we know better. Back in the Cuningham Group’s past lies the depravities of Nazi Germany–a prisoner of war camp, complete with guard towers, barbed wire, fierce German Shepherds, and cold, barren barracks.
Before the Cuningham Group legal division sends me a cease and desist letter, let it be known that obviously this is sarcasm–you people are beautiful! It’s all a send up of the fact that Cuningham is located on the very location of Stalag 13, the fictional German prisoner of war camp featured in the 1960s TV comedy show Hogan’s Heroes. It’s the old Desilu Culver City 40 acres backlot location.
40 Acres in the Mid-1960s
Today
The top photo is of the Desilu 40 Acres Backlot from the mid- to late-1960s. The bottom photo is from Google Maps, 2017, relatively the same angle.
Palm Trees and Power Lines in 1940s Germany
Often during Hogan’s Heroes you will see, in the background, some tell-tale palm trees that let you know that this is not Germany. The best shot I could find is actually from a Mission Impossible episode that used the Stalag 13 set.
In the photo below, we are now in the distance and at ground level. Those palm trees are still there.
Houses in Triangle
The houses in the “triangle” section along Lucerne Street on the right are mainly the same, though changes have been made. Imagine how the residents of those homes in the Sixties felt, having a POW camp just beyond the berm towards their backyard. Gone, too, are the distinctive eucalyptus trees you see in the show, gently waving in the wind.
Slider: 40 Acres Lot 1960s vs. 2019
Stalag 13 View of Baldwin Hills: 1960s vs. 2019
1960s:
2019:
Above is a shot of the Baldwin Hills from the front of the Cuningham Group, summer 2019.
Once there was a mountain in the middle of Los Angeles. Most movie studios, in their backlots or in movie ranches in the San Fernando Valley or in environs close to L.A., had a Western town. It was simply part of the time. Starting with The Squaw Man in 1913 (or The Great Train Robbery, 1903, considered the first Western film), all the way up to the late 1960s, Hollywood pumped out likely thousands of Western full-length features, shorts, and serials. The viewing public could not get enough.
Paramount Studio Mountain in Bonanza, S2/E5 “The Hopefuls”
Then, when the 1960s happened, the classic Western fell quickly, deeply out of favor. Westerns were seen as racist, imperialistic, colonialist, bigoted, xenophobic, misogynistic, albeist, sexist, homophobic. And admittedly, it had become a worn-out form. The immediate cure was the anti-Western, with such grotesqueries as Little Big Man, and the ultimate cure was to kill off Westerns altogether. It was time. The old days were over.
Western Street’s Mountain Backdrop
One victim of Paramount’s Western town pull-out was the scaled-down mountain backdrop behind Paramount’s Western town. Steven Bingen, in his excellent Paramount: City of Dreams, tells us that this mountain went up in 1955 and was constructed of chicken wire and plaster. It was a three-dimensional backdrop of sorts, though not with much dimension. As seen in those of the aerial photos below, the mountain was a fairly thin sliver covering up a warehouse.
For a rare glimpse at the mountain’s super-structure, check out Jerry Schneider’s Movie Locations Plus page on Paramount. This image shows that the mountain was almost like a flat cut-out with some texture that has been tilted back about 40 degrees.
Bingen continues to say that initially a painted backdrop of a cloudy blue sky was erected behind the mountain, “similar to the B-tank backdrop,” but this proved unnecessary because of Los Angeles’ already cloudy blue skies. (B-tank is a massive 914,023 water tank with a backing that measures 175’6″ wide by 61′ high.)
Accounts from people who worked at Paramount in the 1970s say that, by the late Seventies, the mountain was already looking decrepit, before it was finally torn down.
1957
The Tin Star, with Henry Fonda and Anthony Perkins, 1957
1960
Bonanza – The Last Trophy – March 26, 1960 – Season 1, Episode 27
Above, a good close shot of the Paramount mountain from Bonanza.
This is a tight close-up of the backside of the mountain in 1960. Due to the angle of the shot, the mountain’s size is almost impossible to detect. The first image in this article, the one with all of the movie-making equipment laid out, was taken around the upper-right side of the photo, pointing leftward. That was one of the favored angles for many TV shows and movies to come.
A close-up of the above photo. The area in the upper-left is where the Mission Impossible scene referenced later was filmed.
1961
Paramount Western Street – Jerry Lewis Errand Boy, 1961
1966
Obviously, this is not the mountain but a sightline down a different Paramount Western street toward B-tank and its sky. This shows the type of building roof (though higher) that the Western mountain was covering. It’s also a good demonstration of how well the backdrop’s blue matches the L.A. sky. Above is Bonanza actor Dan Blocker with the sports car he owned named the Vinegaroon and driver John Cannon.
In the aerial view of the Western set below, the Blocker photo is taken diagonally. Imagine a line in an 11 o’clock position, and that’s the direction of the Blocker photo. The mountain would be at a roughly 8 to 9 o’clock position.
1968
In the Mission Impossible TV series, S3/E12 (“The Exchange”), for the 1968-1969 season, you can see the back of the mountain. The actors Barbara Bain and John Vernon are behind the mountain, starting at the base of the iconic Paramount water tower. The edge of the mountain can be seen in the upper-left. In the next two images, they advance:
1971
From “Mission Impossible,” Season 6, Episode 2, “Encore.” William Shatner stumbles onto a Western set at the fictional Majestic Studios, which is actually the Western section of Paramount Studios’ backlot.
1971
Brady Bunch Paramount Mountain Ghost Town USA, 1971
That favorite blended family of 1970s television, The Brady Bunch, found themselves in the shadow of the Paramount mountain in 1971’s “Ghost Town U.S.A.”
1976
The last photo of Paramount Mountain, 1976, roughly the same angle as the 1960 image.
1982
Paramount Pictures Aerial Facing North, 1982
By September 1979, the entire Western street had been bulldozed away to make way for the parking lot. In 1982, nothing was left.
Today: Location of the Mountain
Today, the mountain is long gone. In the above map, the missing mountain is shown as a red strip and indicated by the arrow. It would have been to the side of the larger Visitor Parking near the Blue Sky Tank Parking. The structure housing the Prop Warehouse, Studio Supply Center, and The Loft replaces the previous building.
In fact, the Paramount tour takes you directly under or at least very near to the mountain. After the stop at the Prop Warehouse, you walk north on a walkway, then take a right to walk between the two parking lots.
Paramount Mountain, Date UnknownParamount Mountain, Close-Up, Date Unknown
Built in Disneyland in 1957 as a joint project between Disneyland, Monsanto, and MIT, the House of the Future was constructed of 16 identical plastic shells that were fabricated off-site and then shipped to the building site for assembly. The home was meant to display technological marvels, such as the microwave oven and speaker phone, but mainly showed the many ways that plastics could be incorporated into home-building of the future. Materials included: Acrylon, melamine, rayon, vinyl (flooring), and even plywood. Each of the four wings was capable of supporting 13 tons. Besides showing off the wonders of plastic, this was an attempt to build a home of fewer but large parts rather than the current (and still current) method of building homes of many small parts.
Floor Plans
Cross Section
Dimensions: Each wing was 16 feet long and the utility core was itself a 16 foot square. Thus, total length was 48 feet.
Disneyland Monsanto House of the Future – Cross Section with Dimensions
Under Construction
Exterior: PR Materials and Tourist Images
Interior – Living Room
The living room was the swankiest area of the house, with a futuristic (and presumably non-functional TV) and both built-in and free-standing custom-made furniture that was curved to follow the curves of the house.
Interior – Family Room
The family room, like many mid-century modern homes of the time, had a family room, intended as a more casual place for family (meaning: kids) to hang out in. Since the house did not have a separate dining room area, this doubled as dining facilities.
Kitchen – Utility Core Area
The kitchen occupied the central section called the utility core and was by far the most technologically advanced room of the house with a microwave, ultrasonic dishwasher, cabinets that electrically descended from the ceiling, and not a refrigerator but a “cold zone” divided into three functional areas: cool refrigeration, frozen, and cool irradiated food.
Interior – Second, or Children’s, (Divided) Bedroom
The second bedroom could be divided into two areas with a light-weight accordion door.
Interior – Master Bedroom and Vanity Area
The master bedroom occupied an entire quarter, or wing, of the House of the Future. It had its own bathroom which, as a promotional film stated, was constructed out of just two pieces. The bathroom had its own intercom and closed circuit TV system for communicating with callers at the front door.
