Thursday, October 1, 2026
PLANET OF THE APES (1968): A BROKENSEA AUDIO ADAPTATION, VIA RETRO AUDIO THEATRE
I came upon an incredible, 2024, Retro Audio Theatre-bannered presentation of Planet of the Apes (1968) on YouTube. The production is a fan-made, BrokenSea Audio Productions creation from 2007, which runs an impressive five hours. It expands upon Rod Serling and Michael Wilson's acclaimed, script adaptation of Pierre Boulle's novella, Monkey Planet, as directed by the incomparable Franklin J. Schaffner.
The audio presentation reminds me of the 1970s, Power Records' Planet of the Apes, comic-book-accompanied releases, as well as The Twilight Zone, radio adaptations, from 2002 - 2012, and I dare say, the 1988, Simon & Schuster Night of the Living Dead, audio play.
Though I could confirm that Bill Hollweg produced the redux for audio, based on Michael Avallone's intricate script, I'm still uncertain who plays most of the parts in this version, since there were few details supplied on Retro Audio's YouTube platform. Nevertheless, the performers do a splendid job bringing the characters to life, giving their own spins for each. Hollweg, in particular, gives Taylor a new-fangled grit (his voice not Charlton Heston's but earthy and cynical all the same), and those who enact Cornelius and Lucius capture Roddy McDowall and Lou Wagner's tonalities to an uncanny degree. (It must be noted that Jerry Goldsmith's percussive score accompanies the dialogue exchanges, enhanced by stirring sound effects: a clever, complementing touch.)
For added enticement, this adaptation applies reflective segues inspired by Battle for the Planet of the Apes' poignant, Lawgiver wraparound, and there are flashbacks that detail Brent's mission to locate "the lost in space" Taylor: a hint of the shape of all things Beneath the Planet of the Apes. There are even Escape from the Planet of the Apes and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes references: prophetic, gap-filling allusions (springing from the foundations set by writer Paul Dehn). Caesar and Virgil are even mentioned, and Milo and Hasslein featured, as well as Urko from (I presume) the television series (live-action and/or animated), insinuating that the ambitious gorilla was ascending the ranks as Ursus reigned as its presiding general. (Of course, in the parallel, time-altered scheme of things, any number of explanations and outcomes can be considered and/or rationalized.)
From what I've unearthed, BrokenSea Audio has also produced an expanded, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, audio dramatization, which I hope to access and review, but for the present, this establishing trip should satisfy superior-simian fans for a long, time-tunneling spell. In other words, if you're an Apes fan, try it; you'll like it.🚀
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIBsd32Virc&t=4568s
PS: The individual, Apes episodes are available, as well, on the long abandoned, BrokenSea site, though the fused flow of Retro Audio's presentation makes for a much more convenient capture. Even so, here's the BrokenSea link:
I SAW BOORMAN AND THE DEVIL
Writer/director David (Pornography: A Thriller) Kittredge's documentary, Boorman and the Devil, focus on failure, or perhaps more so, a preordained outcome, damned by good intentions.
John Boorman's Exorcist II: The Heretic bombed in a spectacular way in the spring of 1977. It had more than enough time to seize and maintain momentum (and had a hardy enough premiere) even during the Star Wars craze, and yet it left fans feeling embittered and betrayed.
Boorman's original concept for the production is detailed at length in Kittredge's opus, and though it isn't explicitly stated, the content fell in step with Mario Bava's The House of Exorcism, which in its own right incorporated his movie, Lisa and the Devil. In other words, that film's exorcism featured an inner world, a detailed dream or memory as it were, and if The Heretic had done the same, depicting Max Von Sydow Father Lankester Merrin's earlier fight against his demonic adversary in lurid Africa, success may have come. However, the enterprising plan faded at some point, where a metaphysical, shared-dream journey, which would insinuate Boorman's Deliverance with Pressburger and Powell's Black Narcissus, had become minimized beyond recapture.
Per Kitteredge's narrative, the tale's preordained downfall began with Lee J. Cobb's passing (with a rewrite excising the actor's Lieutenant Kinderman) and was escalated when Boorman became ill for several weeks, leading writer/advisor Rospo Pallenberg to refashion much of the script. This led to further surreal segues that made an already convoluted vision not only hard to decipher, but comical and boring at its varying stages.
Kitteredge gives the humble Boorman ample time to reflect on the matter. Boorman confirms that he was Warner Brothers' first choice to direct The Exorcist, but he found William Peter Blatty's content objectionable, so he opted to make the hallucengetic Zardoz instead. The director explains how he wished to build something that would, in the end, uplift more than strike fear: a bold move considering The Exorcist's fanbase, which hungered for an extension of William Friedkin's immediate classic.
Linda Blair and Louise Fletcher bracket Boorman's lament, offering interesting tidbits on Richard Burton, who came to play Father Philip Lamont (a role for which John Voight, Jack Nicholson and Christopher Walken were considered). They also describe their frustrations with the production, with Fletcher stating that she felt the arduous affair would never end, and Blair expressing embarrassment over the movie's tap-dance sequence and marked disdain for Pallenberg.
What makes The Heretic's failure so painful is that many of its contributors hoped it would match the success of The Godfather II, French Connection II and Magnum Force: sequels that more than held their own with their originals. From a visual stance, it at least delivered the goods, thanks to its elaborate sound stages and Garrett Brown's dizzying, locust, POV sequence. There's also Ennio Morricone's brilliant score, which bewitches all on its own.
Despite its aesthetic qualities, The Heretic is the least popular chapter in The Exorcist franchise, but still has its followers (those who get it and appreciate its intent). On the flipside, it hasn't gained the reassessed exaltation of Zardoz, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Seconds or Star Trek--The Motion Picture. Nevertheless, its lackluster status didn't derail Boorman's career, which resumed with Excalibur, The Emerald Forest and Hope and Glory.
By sheer default, Boorman and the Devil acts as the sequel's shining moment: an unconventional love letter to a creation that should have been far more than it was and, in all sincerity, may never be more than it is.
REMIND MAGAZINE (OCT 2026): HALLOWEEN HAPPENINGS
The Halloween season is in full, autumnal swing, as ReMind Magazine's October 2026 issue offers a joyful glimpse at some of the best spooky, television episodes ever made, including those from The Munsters, The Adams Family, Night Gallery, Star Trek, Bewitched, Happy Days, The Honeymooners, The Andy Griffith Show, Ozzie & Harriet, The Wild Wild West, Starsky & Hutch, Barney Miller, The Brady Bunch, The Jeffersons, Lassie, Dennis the Menace, The Waltons and Little House on the Prairie.
In addition, October's ReMind shares installments on Halloween lore, haunted locales, favorite candies, classic costumes and urban legends, along with rare photos of celebrities getting into the weird revelry.
Readers are also treated to a fruitful flashback to the pop-cultural landmarks of 1989, plus a sweet tale of how Jerry Lewis' Telethon connected a fan to good old Jay North.
As with any ReMind issue, one will find plenty of theme-related trivia, puzzles, games and TCM listings for one's utmost convenience and fulfillment.
If you love Halloween as much as I do, ReMind's October 2026 issue is a clear-cut must-possess.
Order this terror-ific issue (and/or subscribe) at
https://www.remindmagazine.com/welcome
OF COWARDS, THIEVES & BUMS
My car was stolen several weeks back by a group of reputed repeat offenders. My car was found, thanks to the police, but was left in horrible condition. I had a heap of additional obstacles to face as a result, including matters with my insurance, obtaining a rental and of course, getting my car repaired. It appears that those who did the deed are now roaming free, thanks to NJ's infuriating, Criminal Justice Reform Act. Nice, real nice.
There's no doubt that those who committed the crime possess skills (a certain know-how when it comes to automobile wiring and such), and so it makes me wonder why they wouldn't apply those skills toward something worth while. Why waste it on harmful, go-nowhere mischief?
This brings to mind a blabbering bum I know who's spent years eschewing a veritable job, whether fulltime or parttime. He claims he's far too fearful of work (i.e. he has some behavioral hindrance that makes working for a living an impossibility). As a way to rationalize his claim, he belittles people like me. For example, he says the only reason I ever gained a job was through pure luck, and I've no right to complain about a hard day at the office, when those of his sorrowful sort live off meager food stamps and blah, blah, blah, wah, wah, wah.
Every job I've held came about through commitment, diligence and perseverance. I've taken jobs scared out of my wits, fearing I'd fail, and it took a tremendous amount of courage for me to walk into a building and prove myself, knowing full well I might fall flat on my face. (I often liken such to overcoming a fear of spiders: seeing such specimens for what they are, in order to understand their purpose and necessity, as opposed to avoiding them.) Despite my tremulation, I always went that extra mile, ascended the ranks, accumulated the necessary expertise, and made my mark. That's not luck. That's courage. That's doing the right thing.
To evade an honest wage is a copout. It's even worse to get paid not to work on the taxpayer's dime. That's plain thievery. Bureaucracy, in that respect--and this also applies to the car thieves and those who've granted them leniency--allows and encourages such behavior. Hell, I know people plagued by genuine, physical impairments, and they're unable to receive government assistance, and yet a pompous ass who flaunts his cowardice gets an unjust, monetary blessing. Those who steal a car get a slap on the wrist and are inspired to steal again. What a bunch of bunk!
There are other such examples that I can offer: higherups in the work place who criticize staff but never learn the essential ropes, or the creampuff at the gym who critiques those who exercise with diligence and focus, while the degrader remains out of shape. If such derisive dimwits would only try to improve themselves instead of diminishing others' success, they might rise up in life, but ah, why pursue the obvious, right?
Such ass-backwards antics drive me crazy, but I'm not inclined to sit back and let them go. Whenever the opportunity arrives, I'm inclined to call out these nimrods. If you know people of this loathsome ilk, you should toss their criticism right back at them, and that also goes for the administrators who allow them to go scot-free. It's only right. Yeah, it may seem a vain effort at the outset, but it's an crucial commencement for the long, righteous stretch. I mean, there's nothing wrong with fighting fire with fire; so why not stoke the tit-for-tat flames by calling a coward a coward, a thief a thief, a bum a bum?🤷
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