James Daly

This memorable adaptation of the novel Monkey Planet, authored by Pierre Boulle (the same guy who wrote The Bridge on the River Kwai), was brought to life by the infamous producer Arthur Jacobs, who eventually oversaw the production duties for the entire Apes saga. No studio except Fox would touch the project with a ten-foot pole, despite the participation of Rod Serling, who co-authored the screenplay adaptation of Boulle's novel (and which led to 30 drafts), Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, and Kim Hunter (Stella from A Streetcar Named Desire), and the amazing ape makeup by first-timer John Chambers.

Continue reading: Planet Of The Apes (1968) Review

In the parlance of Elmore Leonard's 1960s novel, a bounce refers to a crime, and party girl Nancy (Leigh Taylor-Young in one of her first screen roles) is really into bouncing. When drifter Jack Ryan (no, not that Jack Ryan), played by Ryan O'Neal, shows up, Nancy encourages Jack's bad-boy past, goading him into riding along on her minor crime wave. Eventually of course that takes a turn for the worse (this being an Elmore Leonard book), and while much of this is obviously intended as twisty comedy a la Get Shorty, television director Alex March never gets a firm grasp of the material, leaving the proceedings quite flat. The big finale couldn't be more unsatisfying.

Continue reading: The Big Bounce (1969) Review