So farewell, then, Charlton Heston, gun nut and ultra-conservative. But a fine actor, nonetheless, and my Saturday evenings as a boy were peppered with his iconic portrayals of various heroes, from El Cid to Ben Hur. But my all-time favourite film of his has to be Planet of the Apes. I’ll never forget my shock when I first saw the ending. Am I the only person who didn’t see that coming?

There’s a great (semi-relevant) story in the most recent issue of SFX magazine, which claims that Nasa insiders once planned to play a joke on US senator John Glenn when he returned to earth after his flight in the shuttle: “Let’s all wear monkey masks and freak him out…”

Anyhoo, by way of tribute to old Chuck, here’s that amazing final scene. God damn them all to hell…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cmw6Jne0tAQ]