A Planet of the Apes bust of The Lawgiver

Twentieth Century-Fox, 1968. Large painted fiberglass likeness of The Lawgiver from the chest up, hollow on the inside. The Lawgiver is the orangutan prophet deity from the film and the "divine ape" whose writings and words the laws of the apes are drawn from. The bust is featured in the courtroom scene and can be seen behind the dais at the tribunal where Dr. Maximus (Woodrow Parfrey), Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans), and the President of the Academy (James Whitmore) are seated. The courtroom scene was inspired by the famous 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, and in the film, Charlton Heston is considered a "non-ape" and only a human with no rights under ape law. It is a powerful and thought-provoking scene which also features Roddy McDowell and Kim Hunter as Heston's defense council. When collector Wes Shank first saw Planet of the Apes, he recalled The Lawgiver bust as being "the one prop I'd really like to own." He eventually purchased it at the 1971 Twentieth Century-Fox auction. Accompanied by a DVD of the film.
34 x 35 x 22 in.