‘Planet Of The Apes’ Originally Written By French Spy

For most fans of Planet of The Apes, the most popular association to the franchise is the movie by Charlton Heston, which was released in 1968. What if we told you that’s not where the story first originated? What if we said that the concept was first originated by a French spy?

Is your mind blown yet? Read on. According to BBC News, a man by the name of Pierre Boulle, who just happened to be a French spy, had the idea that humans would travel into time which would lead to discover an ape civilization. His 1963 novel La Planete des Singes (Planet of the Apes) was the first book of its kind to cover this topic. Pretty cool, right?

As we stated, he was also a French spy. Back in the 1930s, the author was a rubber planter for a British company located in Malaysia. Additionally, it’s believed that in World War II he acted as an undercover agent for the Special Operations Executive.

There’s a saying that a writer must write what he or she knows. For the Planet of the Apes originator, it’s said that he wrote about his times at war. This came out in his autobiography which he called The Sources of the River Kwai.

According to Jean Loriot, the head of Association of Friends of Pierre Boulle, in 1941 Boulle:

“Signed up to the Free French, and was seconded to what became known as Force 136. This was the British SOE operation in South East Asia.”

He speaks first hand on what it was like with Pierre:

“Serious gentlemen taught us the art of blowing up a bridge, attaching explosives to the side of a ship, derailing a train, as well as that of despatching to the next world — as silently as possible — a night-time guard.”

As for his Planet of the Apes book, it was originally a story about two newlyweds who are honeymooning in space and find a bottle that has a manuscript. The manuscript tells the story about a French journalist who traveled to find a planet overrun by monkeys.

In the French author’s book, the events take place on a far off planet. It’s believed that Tim Burton’s 2001 version of the franchise, while universally panned by critics, was closer to the original version than the present franchise.

Clement Pieyre who has read Boulle’s manuscripts at the French National Library said of the original:

“It is a big difference. In the film there is this sense of human responsibility. It is man that has led to the destruction of the planet. But the book is more a reflection on how all civilizations are doomed to die. There has been no human fault. It is just that the return to savagery will come about anyway. Everything perishes.”

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