Movies
One Million Years BC (Hammer 1966, Raquel Welch, John Richardson)
Director Don Chaffey teamed up with special-effects star Ray Harryhausen again to rework the 1940 screenplay One Million BC, creating a prehistoric world populated by earthquakes and dinosaurs in which (curiously) man doesn’t quite rule the earth. It is an inhospitable landscape populated by two tribes – the Rock People and the Shell People. As the names imply, the Rock People are aggressive and ferocious while the Shell People are a gentle, dare-one-say more intelligent group.
When Tumak (John Richardson) is banished from the Rock People following a fight with his father, he wanders the land to do battle with roaming dinosaurs before teaming up with Loana of the Shell People (Raquel Welch in her now-iconic fur bikini).
After the requisite number of battles against Harryhausen’s superbly-animated monsters, the pair head off into the sunset to face up to new hazards. This was Hammer’s biggest box-office hit for years (and their 100th film) and inspired a cycle of similar films, none of which could match the peerless effects and dinosaur wrestling of this one.
production details
UK | Hammer | 100 minutes | 1966
Writer: Michael Carreras
Cinematography: Wilkie Cooper
Music: Mario Nascimbene
Producer: Michael Carreras
Director: Don Chaffey
cast
Percy Herbert as Sakana
Robert Brown as Akhoba
Raquel Welch as Loana
John Richardson as Tumak
Martine Beswick as Nupondi
Jean Wladon as Ahot
Lisa Thomas as Sura