Apes On Set: filming Cornelius And Zira (1977) Part 1

A few behind-the-scenes shots from our own home-made Apes movie from the 70s. Cornelius And Zira was filmed on a standard-8mm cine camera and starred three schoolkids. The makeups, costumes, sets, props and special effects were all made by us - mostly by Dave Barclay, our director and the brains behind the whole project, though we all had a hand in various bits and pieces. We roped in various friends and family members to operate the camera - Mike Barclay (Dave's dad), Andy Dumbleton, Bernie Drummond, Jim Burton and Jim Wesley to name them. We were also lucky enough to be able to make use of a couple of horses which belonged to Dave's cousin - though one went mad and ran off with me at one point, and I didn't have a bloody clue how to ride. If only the camera had been rolling at that point.

Some of these shots have been taken from a fifth-generation DVD copy of the outtakes reel, so the quality ain't great. (Standard 8 - VHS - Betamax - VHS - DVD)

Jackie Lawrence as Zira

David Barclay as Cornelius

Gary Cook as Milo

Frank Seymour as Aboro

Ernest Morris as Zaius

Jackie Lawrence

Dave Barclay a.k.a. Ernest Morris

Gary Cook a.k.a. Frank Seymour

Jackie on the cave set (Forest Rd)

Gary on the cave set

Dave with little Kevin from next door (Scarborough Rd)