One Million B.C. (1940)

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:

Originally, D.W. Griffith was supposed to direct the film. However, he quit in the middle of filming so Hal Roach and his son completed the project.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Aventura al centro de la tierra (1965)

Caveman Canon

Prehistoric man strives to elevate himself above the bestial in ONE MILLION B.C.

Hal Roach Studios produced this vivid and exciting film which ambitiously takes on nothing less than presenting the Birth of Civilization and the Beginning of Civility. That it does so without seeming pedantic or foolish is due in large measure to fine performances and special effects which still look good many decades later. The viewer knows the exploding volcano is a fraud and the dinosaurs are actually magnified lizards, but somehow it does not matter. The entertainment value is real and the sentiments presented by the actors still ring true.

Victor Mature & Carole Landis do quite well in roles which demanded speaking little more than nonsense words and grunts and using a significant amount of pantomime. They have no difficulty in conveying their thoughts and emotions to the audience. Their characters' efforts just to survive in an exceedingly harsh environment elicit the viewer's interest and respect.

Lon Chaney Jr, in a role his father would have relished, plays the brutal chief of the Rock People. Silent film actor Nigel De Brulier portrays the Shell People's gentle patriarch. Another star from silent days, Conrad Nagel, appears in the movie's opening sequence as the slightly obsessed scientist who interprets the cave paintings which tell the film's tale.