Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Ted Post (1918 - 2013)


The press reported last night the passing of legendary Hollywod film director Ted Post (1918 - 2013), a talent who worked in the science fiction genre throughout the 1970s. 

Although Mr. Post may be best known for directing the Dirty Harry (1971) sequel, Magnum Force (1973) as well as Hang 'Em High (1968), he is also remembered in s.f. circles for his helming of the second Planet of the Apes (1968) film, Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970).  This first sequel saw the (book-end) return of Charlton Heston's Taylor, and ended in shocking fashion with the detonation oft he Alpha-Omega Bomb.

Ted Post also worked in genre television for many years.  He directed the TV movie (also starring Beneath actor James Franciscus...) Night Slaves (1970), and  lensed several episodes of Rod Serling's original The Twilight Zone (1959 - 1964), including "A World of Difference," "Mr. Garrity and the Graves," "Probe 7 over and Out," and "The Fear."  Post also directed two episodes of the Boris Karloff horror anthology, Thriller (1961 - 1962), from roughly the same vintage.

In the 1970s, Mr. Post directed several episodes of Filmation's Saturday morning post-apocalyptic/s.f. series, Ark II (1976) including "The Drought," "The Lottery," "Don Quixote" and "The Cryogenic Man."  He also lent his talents to such short-lived s.f. TV efforts as Future Cop (1977) and Beyond Westworld (1980).


I recently watched Beneath the Planet of the Apes again, and appreciated how successful many aspects of the film remain, despite a drastically reduced budget compared to its predecessor.  The film isn't widely appreciated or beloved, but Ted Post made it more than a knock-off or cheap sequel, and paved the way for the franchise to continue.  It's very unlikely we would see Dawn of the Planet of the Apes in the near future if Beneath the Planet of the Apes had not proven that sequel stories in that universe could work, and work well.

Today, our thoughts are for Mr. Post's family, and we remember his sturdy work on the silver screen and on our television screens.

5 comments:

  1. Always enjoyed his work. Fine tribute, John.

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  2. John, very nice comments for a very talented director. Ted Post's work on The Twilight Zone["The Fear"], Beneath The Planet Of The Apes and Ark II make him one of my boyhood favorites from the '70s. He did so much with limited budgets which is a lesson to today's current directors with $100 to $200 million dollar budgets.
    R.I.P. Ted Post, my avatar full-scale A.N.S.A. spaceship '74 photo is a nod to him.

    SGB

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, SGB. Mr. Post was a mainstay of television in the 1960s and 1970s, I agree, and he contributed so much great entertainment to us as kids. I like your tribute to him, in the form of that avatar...

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  3. He also directed The Baby, one of the most disturbing horror films of the 70s. I was actually surprised you didn't give more coverage of this unforgettable movie in your Horror Films of the Seventies book. You mentioned something about doing a revised edition, so I hope this will be rectified.

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