One Million Years B.C.

One Million Years B.C. - 1966 | 100 mins | Adventure | Colour

The Production Team

Director: Don Chaffey.
Producer: Michael Carreras.
Script: George Baker and Michael Carreras.
Cinematography: Wilkie Cooper.
Editing: Tom Simpson.
Art Direction: Robert Jones.
Costume Design: Carl Toms.
Make-up: Robert J. Schiffer and Wally Schneiderman.
Special Effects: George Blackwell.
Visual Effects: Ray Harryhausen.
Original Music: Mario Nascimbene.

The Cast

Raquel Welch - Loana
John Richardson - Tumak
Percy Herbert - Sakana
Robert Brown - Akhoba
Martine Beswick - Nupondi
Jean Wladon - Ahot
Lisa Thomas - Sura
Malya Nappi - Tohana

Plot Synopsis

One Million Years BC was a remake of the 1940 Hal Roach classic One Million Years BC, which had the added box office fillip of being heavily promoted as Hammer's one-hundredth production. Hammer for once decided to pull all the stops out and hired effects wiz Ray Harryhausen to provide the film with some rather more realistic-looking creatures.

The story is a straightforward prehistoric adventure that pits humans against dinosaurs. In prehistoric times, Loana (Raquel Welch), a young girl from the Shell People falls in love with Tumak (John Richardson, a young man from the Rock People, despite the fact their tribes are at war with each other. Being ostracised is the least of the couple's worries, surviving earthquakes and attacks by pterodactyls being of greater importance. Freed of all but the most elementary dialogue, the film was a visual treat and one of Hammer’s more pleasing ancient epics.