That was an excellent one.

Really Surprised!

Captivating movie !

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

One Million B.C. did good business on its release in 1940 and, despite the years, parts of the film have aged remarkably well. One of these is not its entirely unnecessary opening sequence, in which a bunch of hikers dressed in German lederhosen take refuge in a cave and happen upon a wizened pipe-smoking palaeontologist who, as the resident "expert", spins a yarn to his captive audience about cave people that, with the help of a dissolve, is dramatised for us on screen. This early sequence is so slow and contrived that contemporary audiences may not have the patience to get past it, which is a shame as parts of the film thereafter are quite absorbing and contain a decent dose of the spectacle that made fantastical prehistoric films so appealing. Directors Hal Roach Sr. and Jr. seem to at times approach their prehistoric tale from an anthropological perspective which both helps and hinders the film. They seem so concerned with representing the lifestyles of the prehistoric folk with such authenticity (!) that the action is at times painfully slow and at others simply laughable: prehistoric humans and dinosaurs did not exist simultaneously (a forgivable error in dinosaur films as facts have never stood in the way of Hollywood spectacle), but more glaring is the final scene which imposes a bizarre message about the sacredness of the contemporary nuclear family structure. Equally baffling is the idea that although speech has not yet developed beyond grunts and two syllable sentences, the more complex language of music is a given. The two tribes represented on screen are clearly at different levels of social advancement with Victor Mature, as Tumak making an unsuccessful grab for power in his own tribe that ends with his shunning and adoption into a more civilised order, with mixed results, Efforts to show the tribes levels of socialisation are at times so laboured that they become redundant and drag out for far too long. But dull moments aside, there are some remarkable sequences that will actually impress contemporary audiences if they can endure the slower moments. One such moment is the volcanic eruption and earthquake that causes rockslides and a lava flow that engulfs one of the characters in a scene that may have you wondering how on earth this was achieved without killing the actor. For lovers of practical effects, if you can get past the slow moments that dog this film and drag it out unnecessarily, you will find some impressive moments that still stand up no doubt inspired later dinosaur films such as the highly successful 1966 Hammer studios film One Million Years B.C. that follows the narrative as this Hal Roach creation.

A group of hikers are trekking through the forest when it suddenly begins to rain. To avoid an approaching storm they take shelter inside a cave where an archaeologist is examining some drawings painted during prehistoric times. Since the hikers express their interest in them the archaeologist tries to interpret what they mean. He tells them of a tribe known as the "Rock Tribe" which is a savage group of people who live by the rule of "survival of the fittest". As the story unfolds it appears that a young warrior named "Tumak" (Victor Mature) gets in a fight with "Akhoba" (Lon Chaney Jr.) who happens to be both his father and the leader of the tribe. Akhoba wins and Tumak is forced out. As he ventures into the wilderness he accidentally falls into a river and floats downstream where a beautiful woman named "Loana" (Carole Landis) of the "Shell Tribe" just happens to be fishing. Badly wounded, Tumak is taken into the cave harboring the Shell Tribe and has his wounds tended until he gets healthy. While there he begins to learn of differences between his tribe and Loana's which benefits him greatly. Anyway, rather than detail the entire story I will just say that this was an interesting movie for the most part. Although some scenes were rather obvious and boring there were plenty of other scenes which made up for it. I especially liked the special effects which utilized lizards, alligators and even an armadillo to make them appear like vicious dinosaurs. Even so, while the special effects might have been great during this particular time the movie itself doesn't age well. That said, all things considered I give it an average rating.

I was very surprised to see from the IMDb trivia that this was the highest grossing film released in 1940. I just wouldn't have imagined that a caveman film with dinosaurs consisting of lizards on tiny sets would have brought in that much money. I think it's because such a film would be passé today, but back in 1940 it viewed quite differently.The film begins with some travelers coming into a cave to get out of the storm. Inside was an archaeologist (Conrad Nagel) and he tells them a story about what life would have been like during early human history. Interestingly, the travelers played out the roles as cave people in the tale. You'll probably notice rather quickly that one of the cavemen (Tumak) is Victor Mature--in only his second film role. Carole Landis, a lovely contract actress with Hal Roach Studios and Lon Chaney, Jr. also star in this tale.Having actually seen the 1966 remake of this film in the theater (when it was re-released in 1970), I noticed very quickly that this 1940 version actually had better sets and special effects. While this version was impressive in its day, the 1966 version wasn't so cutting edge. I was particularly impressed by the matte paintings and sets in this 1940 version--it looked very professional, even though the Roach studio was NOT a fancy or rich operation. They generally seemed to make the most of what they had--including putting hairy suits on modern mammals to make them look wild and woolly.Mature is a bit of a wimp in the film--at least at the beginning. Despite his age and size, he's beaten up in a fight with an old man and is tossed from the cave--and has to fend for himself. He eventually floats down stream to another social group where he meets an exceptionally well-coiffed group of people (for cave dudes, most of them looked awfully nice--with nicely trimmed beards and clean skin). Landis, in particular, is quite a dish. Actually, now that I think about it, Mature looked amazingly good also. Despite his slightly unruly long hair, he was clean-shaven--something you wouldn't expect from such a guy.At first, Mature has some difficulty adjusting to life in the new tribe. However, soon he becomes an important member--especially after he saves a young girl's life by killing what appears to be a mini T-Rex. But, because he is a pile of raging hormones, he eventually is forced to leave this group--and Landis goes with him because he's such a hunk. Will the two ever be able to make it on their own? What will become of them? Tune in and see...or not.Generally, it's the sort of movie I could care less about unless it were made really, really poorly (then it's good for a laugh). While some of the animal fighting scenes between alligators and monitor lizards are cheesy, the rest of the film is not. Interestingly, however, the worst parts of the film (these reptile fights) were often re-used in later films--crappy ones such as ROBOT MONSTER and TEENAGE CAVE MAN. In addition to these scenes being poor, they were also amazingly cruel, as the reptiles actually were allowed to tear each other apart and fires were set in which they appeared to be killed or at least badly injured! I can see why censor officials in the UK insisted that these scenes be cut.Overall, if you insist on seeing a caveman movie, this or THE FLINTSTONES (1994) are your best bet. Still, even a good caveman film is something I can't get that excited about--after all, it's all a lot of grunting and modern animals pretending to be ancient. And, I doubt if my not being that impressed by this film is unusual for audiences in 2010. It's the sort of film that once packed 'em in, but now just seems a tad silly.

One Million B.C. (1940) ** (out of 4) Prehistoric tale of a member (Victor Mature) of the Rock people who is kicked out of the group after standing up to their evil leader (Lon Chaney, Jr.). Soon he finds himself with the more peaceful Shell people but various battles are about to follow. This here is basically a remake of D.W. Griffith's Man's Genesis and its sequel Brute Force. Both of those shorts are better than this film but there are some very interesting ideas here. It's worth noting that Griffith himself was hired to oversee the production of this movie but apparently him and Roach had a falling out after the legendary director thought he was being brought in to direct. One can only wonder what Griffith would have done with the film but Roach or his son weren't the right choice. I loved the idea at how they pretty much made a silent film as there is very little dialogue throughout. The only problem is that they don't know how to do a silent and this makes the picture drag along at several spots. What does work however are the wonderful special effects, which still hold up fairly well today. The volcano erupting is the highlight of the movie but the battle scenes are well done too.