On Show In London’s West End Back In 1972 – Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes
“Since Franklyn Schaffner’s engaging Planet Of The Apes of 1969, there have been two sequels, the last pretty indifferent, and now comes a third, Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes (Carlton, AA), by J. Lee Thompson, which I can’t rate much higher … It is all done with great verve, but there is not the bite or allusion in the lines to turn it, for me at least, into anything very telling in the way of allegory.”
Patrick Gibbs, The Daily Telegraph, 28th July 1972
“If you are at all politically inclined, you will see all kinds of warning messages about impending world doom in Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes. In a fascist-type American state, apes are trained to perform menial tasks for their human masters. The apes are the new slaves, sold at auctions … and denied their civil rights … Paul Dehn’s script gives this science-fiction fantasy a touch of class, and battle scenes are spectacular.”
Arthur Thurkill, The Daily Mirror, 29th July 1972
On Sale In The UK’s Newsagents During This Week in 1972 – TV Action + Countdown #78
In addition to the gorgeous Gerry Haylock artwork on his and Dennis Hooper’s Doctor Who: The Enemy From Nowhere strip, TV Action + Countdown #78 featured a reprint of a 1967 TV21: Captain Scarlet tale, with typically exemplary Ron Embleton storytelling, a similarly old episode of Fireball XL5 reprinted in black and white, to the detriment of Mike Noble’s art, & a UFO tale with psychedelically-shaded work by John M. Burns. Overall, it was somewhat thin fare, with the few high points overwhelmed by the mediocre whole, but it was still the best British fantastical weekly comic on sale.
On Sale In The UK’s Vinyl Emporiums During This Week in 1972 – Hawkwind’s Silver Machine
It can be easy to forget what a huge hit Silver Machine was. It remained at #7 in the UK singles chart during this week in 1972 after 7 weeks in the Top 40 and it hadn’t peaked yet. As might be expected, Hawkwind’s purposefully brutal aural onslaughts didn’t please everyone, including this anonymous reviewer for the Stoke-On-Trent Evening Sentinel, who giveth with one hand etc etc:
“Hawkwind, mood synthesisers, audio generators, and an amazing light show, gave a great show at the Trentham Gardens last night. This is what Hawkwind are all about, a vicious blend of artificial sounds and lights. Take away the lights and the band are nothing.”
On Sale In The UK’s Booksellers During This Week In 1972 – Arthur C. Clarke’s Report On Planet Three And Other Speculations
In August 8th 1972’s The Guardian, Thomas Wiseman reviewed Clarke’s non-fiction collection, Report On Planet Three.:
“Stepping outside the confines of his fiction, he says that seriously he means it, the machines are going to take over … Clarke sees (the future) as a place run by ultra-intelligent machines and if they decided “that more than a million human beings constitute an epidemic, they might order euthanasia for anyone with an IQ of less than 150, but I hope that such drastic measures will not be necessary.””
From the perspective of 2025, Clarke may have been, uncomfortably, right …
The Almanac Of The Fantastical Will Return Tomorrow …
The Almanac Of The Fantastical 