In a time at the very dawn of history, man is not much more than a primitive savage struggling to eke out an existence in the harsh; volcanic landscape; it is a time when huge dinosaurs roam the earth (!) and man is not only the hunter but also the hunted. Against this backdrop, Tumak, the son of the leader of the Rock tribe, battles with his brother Sakana and is banished into the desert. Somehow surviving the rigours of the wilderness, he reaches the shore of a great ocean and there he joins the Shell tribe, a peaceful, more advanced people, and meets the beautiful Loana…..
Production Details
A Hammer Film production presented by Associated British Pathe Limited and released through Warner-Pathe Distributors Limited (UK) and Twentieth Century-Fox (USA)
Copyright MCMlXVl Hammer Film Productions Ltd, – All rights reserved
MPAA Approved Certificate
The characters and incidents portrayed and the names used herein are fictitious and any similarity to the name, character, or history of any person is entirely accidental and unintentional
RCA Sound System
Made at the Elstree Studios of Associated British Productions Ltd Herts, England
Technicolor 100 mins
Filming Began: 30th September 1965
UK Release: 30th December 1966
Studio:
Elstree Studios of Associated British Picture Corporation, Hertfordshire
Location:
Teide National Park, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Timanfaya, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain
Lago Verde, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain
Stills from film
Click an image for enlarged slideshow
Cast & Crew
Red = Uncredited
Crew | Name | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Credits | Uncredited | Total Hammer | |
Adapted by | Mickell Novak | 49 | 24 Aug 1917 | 22 Jan 2009 | 91 | 1 | 1 | ||
Adapted by | Joseph Frickert | 24 Mar 2005 | 1 | 1 | |||||
Adapted by | George Baker | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Art Director | Robert Jones | 6 | 6 | ||||||
Assistant Art Director | Kenneth McCallum Tait | 51 | 4 Nov 1915 | Jul 1985 | 69 | 2 | 2 | ||
Assistant Director | Dennis Bertera | 48 | 1918 | 1997 | 79 | 3 | 3 | ||
Assistant Editor | Anthony Sloman | 21 | 6 May 1945 | 6.05.1945 | 79 | 1 | 1 | ||
Assistant Editor | Bob Dearberg | 27 | 3 Feb 1939 | 8 May 2017 | 78 | 10 | 2 | 12 | |
Assistant Stand-by Props | Mickey Pugh | 22 | 1944 | 01.01.1944 | 80 | 3 | 3 | ||
Associate Producer | Aida Young | 46 | 11 Aug 1920 | 12 Aug 2007 | 87 | 8 | 6 | 14 | |
Associate Producer | Hal Roach | 74 | 14 Jan 1892 | 2 Nov 1992 | 100 | 1 | 1 | ||
Boom Assistant | Peter Margrave | 8 | 8 | ||||||
Camera Operator | David Harcourt | 51 | 27 Sep 1915 | 5 May 2013 | 97 | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
Clapper Loader | Ken Nicholson | 36 | 1930 | 01.01.1930 | 94 | 1 | 1 | ||
Clapper Loader | Michael Garfath | 22 | 1944 | 01.01.1944 | 80 | 1 | 1 | ||
Clapper Loader | Ted Deason | 25 | Nov 1941 | 01.11.1941 | 82 | 1 | 1 | ||
Composer: Additional Music | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/philip-martell/# | 59 | 6 Oct 1907 | 11 Aug 1993 | 85 | 104 | 1 | 105 | |
Continuity | Marjorie Lavelly | 45 | 12 Apr 1921 | 22 Sep 2006 | 85 | 8 | 8 | ||
Continuity | Gladys Goldsmith | 40 | 1926 | 1979 | 53 | 6 | 6 | ||
Costume Designer | Carl Toms | 39 | 29 May 1927 | 4 Aug 1999 | 72 | 7 | 7 | ||
Derssing Props | Brian Lofthouse | 22 | 1944 | 01.01.1944 | 80 | 3 | 3 | ||
Director | Don Chaffey | 49 | 5 Aug 1917 | 13 Nov 1990 | 73 | 6 | 6 | ||
Director of Photography | Wilkie Cooper | 55 | 19 Oct 1911 | 15 Dec 2001 | 90 | 3 | 3 | ||
Draughtsman | Colin Monk | 21 | 9 Mar 1945 | 9.03.1945 | 79 | 1 | 1 | ||
Editor | Tom Simpson | 6 | 6 | ||||||
Focus Puller | Geoff Glover | 32 | 1934 | 01.01.1934 | 90 | 3 | 3 | ||
Gaffer | Steve Birtles | 52 | 12 Nov 1914 | 2003 | 88 | 14 | 15 | 29 | |
Hairdressing Supervisor | Olga Angelinetta | 64 | 1 May 1902 | 18.01.1995 | 88 | 3 | 3 | ||
Key Grip | Martin OConnor | 53 | 31 Jan 1913 | 12 Jan 1997 | 83 | 1 | 1 | ||
Make-up Supervisor | Wally Schneiderman | 44 | 27 Aug 1922 | 8 Apr 2021 | 98 | 3 | 3 | ||
Matte Painter | Bob Cuff | 44 | 1922 | 10 Feb 2010 | 88 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
Music and Special Musical Effects Composer | Mario Nascimbene | 53 | 28 Nov 1913 | 6 Jan 2002 | 88 | 4 | 4 | ||
Musical Supervisor | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/philip-martell/# | 59 | 6 Oct 1907 | 11 Aug 1993 | 85 | 104 | 1 | 105 | |
Painter | Michael Finlay | 18 | 23 Apr 1948 | 23.04.1948 | 76 | 1 | 19 | 20 | |
Producer | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/michael-carreras/# | 39 | 21 Dec 1927 | 19 Apr 1994 | 66 | 84 | 8 | 92 | |
Production Accountant | John Trehy | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Production Manager | John Wilcox BSc | 61 | 7 May 1905 | 31 May 1979 | 74 | 6 | 1 | 7 | |
Prologue Designer | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/les-bowie/# | 53 | 10 Nov 1913 | 27 Jan 1979 | 65 | 30 | 13 | 43 | |
Publicist | Bob Webb | 4 | 4 | ||||||
Publicity Director | Alan Thomson | 3 | 3 | ||||||
Recording Director | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/aw-lumkin/# | 53 | 1 Feb 1913 | 25 Oct 1985 | 72 | 30 | 30 | ||
Scenic Artist | Bill Beavis | 52 | 9 Aug 1914 | 7 Feb 1997 | 82 | 2 | 2 | ||
Screenplay | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/michael-carreras/# | 39 | 21 Dec 1927 | 19 Apr 1994 | 66 | 84 | 8 | 92 | |
Second Assistant Director | Colin Lord | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Second Unit Cameraman | Jack Mills | 24 Mar 2005 | 3 | 3 | |||||
Sound Editor | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/roy-baker/# | 39 | Jul 1927 | Feb 2011 | 83 | 29 | 1 | 30 | |
Sound Editor | Alfred Cox | 41 | 1925 | 2005 | 80 | 21 | 4 | 25 | |
Sound Mixer | Len Shilton | 56 | 30 Apr 1910 | Jun 1985 | 75 | 4 | 1 | 5 | |
Sound Mixer | Bill Rowe | 35 | 2 Feb 1931 | 29 Sep 1992 | 61 | 10 | 10 | ||
Special Effects | George Blackwell | 59 | 26 Feb 1907 | 1975 | 67 | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
Special Visual Effects Created | Ray Harryhausen | 46 | 29 Jun 1920 | 7 May 2013 | 92 | 1 | 1 | ||
Stagehand | Wayne Evans | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Still Photographer | Ronnie Pilgrim | 53 | 24 Apr 1913 | 2003 | 89 | 1 | 1 | ||
Still Photographer | Pierre Luigi | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Stunt Double:Raquel Welch | Gillian Aldam | 25 | 2 Feb 1941 | 02.01.1941 | 83 | 1 | 1 | ||
Stunts | Norman Hibbert | 33 | 1933 | 01.01.1933 | 91 | 1 | 1 | ||
Supervising Editor | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/james-needs/# | 47 | 17 Oct 1919 | 4 Feb 2003 | 83 | 110 | 1 | 111 | |
Third Assistant Director | Ray Atcheler | 18 | 1 Sep 1948 | 1968 | 19 | 1 | 1 | ||
Wardrobe Mistress | Ivy Baker | 50 | 16 Jul 1916 | 1 | 1 | ||||
Cast | Name | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Credits | Uncredited | Total Hammer | |
1st Rock Man | Frank Hayden | 37 | 1929 | 1988 | 59 | 5 | 1 | 6 | |
1st Shell Girl | Mickey De Rauch | 1 | 1 | ||||||
1st Shell Man | Terence Maidment | 34 | 28 Apr 1932 | 28.04.1932 | 92 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Ahot | Jean Wladon | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Akhoba | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/robert-brown/# | 45 | 23 Jul 1921 | 11 Nov 2003 | 82 | 6 | 1 | 7 | |
Caveman | https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/dido-plumb/# | 61 | 23 Jun 1905 | 4 Mar 1991 | 85 | 10 | 10 | ||
Caveman | Heraclio Niz Mesa | 37 | 27 Jul 1929 | 23 May 2010 | 80 | 1 | 1 | ||
Caveman | James Payne | 5 | 5 | ||||||
Loana | Raquel Welch | 26 | 5 Sep 1940 | 15 Feb 2023 | 82 | 1 | 1 | ||
Loana (Voice) | Nikki Van der Zyl | 31 | 27 Apr 1935 | 6 Mar 2021 | 85 | 5 | 5 | ||
Narrator | David Kossof | 47 | 24 Nov 1919 | 23 Mar 2005 | 85 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Narrator | Vic Perrin | 50 | 26 Apr 1916 | 4 Jul 1989 | 73 | 1 | 1 | ||
Nupondi | Martine Beswick | 25 | 26 Sep 1941 | 26.09.1941 | 83 | 3 | 3 | ||
Payto | William Lyon-Brown | 59 | 4 Jan 1907 | 17 Jan 1971 | 64 | 2 | 2 | ||
Sakana | Percy Herbert | 46 | 31 Jul 1920 | 6 Dec 1992 | 72 | 6 | 6 | ||
Sura | Lisa Thomas | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Tohana | Malya Nappi | 51 | 15 Jan 1915 | 15 Sep 2003 | 88 | 1 | 1 | ||
Tumak | John Richardson | 32 | 19 Jan 1934 | 5 Jan 2021 | 86 | 3 | 3 | ||
Ullah | Yvonne Horner | 23 | 25 Mar 1943 | 4 Nov 1998 | 55 | 2 | 2 | ||
Young Rock Man | Richard James | 1 | 1 |
Original Poster
Click to enlarge
Footnotes
Billed as their 100th film, One Million Years B.C. turned out to be Hammer’s biggest money-spinner. It is a remake of the 1940 Hal Roach production One Million B.C. (aka. Man and his Mate), hence the credit to the original screenwriters of that film.
Anachronistically placing man in a world still populated by dinosaurs, the film features the stop-animation effects of cinema wizard Ray Harryhausen and was nearly a year in production, thanks largely to his painstaking work as well as extensive location filming in the Canary Islands.
Inspired in his youth by the genius of Willis O’Brien, the man who brought the original King Kong to life in 1933, Harryhausen’s own creations include The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953). After that he worked mainly with producer Charles H. Schneer on It Came from beneath the Sea (1955), Earth vs the Flying Saucers (1956), 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957), The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958),The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960), Mysterious Island (1961), Jason and the Argonauts (1963), First Men in the Moon (1964), The Valley of Gwangi (1969), The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973), Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) and Clash of the Titans (1981).
Hammer needed a director experienced in filming actors doing battle with thin air (the dinosaurs were of course added later) and therefore had no difficulty choosing Don Chaffey, who had directed Jason and the Argonauts. Chaffey returned to Hammer later in 1966 to direct The Viking Queen and again in 1971 for Creatures the World Forgot.
After their success with Ursula Andress, Hammer adopted a policy of trying to nurture the talents of largely unknown, beautiful young actresses, not always successfully. With this film, however, they managed to catapult Raquel Welch into the cinematic firmament (with a little help from that prehistoric designer bikini, of course!).
Actress Martine Beswick had appeared in the James Bond film From Russia with Love (1963) and later starred in Hammer’s Slave Girls (1968). However, her best role for them was to come in 1971, when she played the female half of the mad scientist in Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde.
Details of Hammer’s justification for their claim that One Million Year’s B.C. was their 100th film, are in our Features section.