One Million B.C. (1940)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Directors:

Hal Roach
Hal Roach Jr.

Writers:

Mickell Novack (original screenplay) &
George Baker (original screenplay) ...

Release Date:

5 April 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Fantasy | Romance | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

UNBELIEVABLE! The World at the Dawn of Time!

Plot:

Tumak, member of the prehistoric Rock tribe, is exiled and makes his way to the more peaceful Shell tribe...

Plot Keywords:

Cave | Volcano | Prehistoric | Caveman | Avalanche

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Victor Mature	...	Tumak
Carole Landis	...	Loana
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Akhoba
Conrad Nagel	...	Narrating Archaeologist
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

Also Known As:

Battle of the Giants
Cave Man (USA) (reissue title)
Man and His Mate (UK)
The Cave Dwellers

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #6079) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Hal Roach Studios

Trivia:

When the film was released in Britain, it was heavily edited due to their strict laws against animal cruelty.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Aventura al centro de la tierra (1965)

Leapin Lizards

A group of mountain travelers find refuge in a cave where professor Conrad Nagel is examining prehistoric wall drawings. Nagel soon goes into a lengthy examination of the meaning of these pictures for his newly arrived guests which turns into the flashback which is the film. The pictures are the story of two prehistoric peoples: the tribal, brute rock people and the pleasant, peaceful shell people. Naturally, the story is a romance between stars Victor Mature(just his second feature film) and the lovely blonde Carole Landis. This film, produced by Hal Roach, has some things going for it. I liked the division between the two tribes and how each sustained life in a prehistoric world. The acting was surprisingly good with Mature and Landis doing credible jobs despite spouting occasional gibberish meant to be taken as caveman lingo. Landis in fact is quite affable and charming(being in a mini-cave dress always helps too). Lon Chaney Jr. gets his start in this type of film so to speak as the head of the rock people and as Mature's father. Chaney is good and is able to emote lots of emotion while using little dialog. The special effects are unfortunately not too special as we are basically given Irwin Allen/Bert I Gordon dinosaurs. You know the type. Iguanas and other common lizards, as well as an alligator, dressed up in fins and the like. For the technology used, these effects are okay and predate my examples of movies using them. There are also some very non-scientific bits of information used throughout the film...like man has already got domesticated dogs for just one example. Overall, this movie is a pleasant fantasy of what life might have been back then. It should not be taken too seriously as it is in truth a fairly simple tale with a simple message of how man might change through the influence of another(Landis on Mature and his people).