Skullduggery
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Gordon Douglas
Burt Reynolds
Susan Clark
Roger C. Carmel
Paul Hubschmid
Chips Rafferty
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Douglas Temple, a young adventurer searching for phosphorous deposits in New Guinea, persuades attractive archeologist Dr. Sybil Greame to allow him to join her expedition. She reluctantly grants permission to Douglas and his associate, Otto Kreps, who accompany her and Father "Pop" Dillingham, a Catholic missionary, to the interior of the island. Upon arrival, Douglas and Otto scatter some old bones around the area to retain Sybil's interest. Later, she finds a skull that she believes may be the missing link between man and ape; the group then discovers an ape-man tribe, which they name the Tropis. They befriend the ape-people, and Otto becomes attracted to Topazia, a young female. Sybil radios news of their discovery to Vancruysen, the financier of the expedition, who flies in immediately to see the newly discovered species. Douglas is horrified to learn that Vancruysen intends to breed the Tropis and sell them as slaves. The two adventurers then take Topazia away from the interior, in the hope of persuading the world that the Tropis are more human than animal. Upon arriving at Sydney, Australia, Douglas discovers that Topazia has been impregnated by Otto. When she delivers a stillborn child, a doctor is summoned to sign a death certificate, and Douglas asserts that he murdered the infant to gain publicity. The resulting trial becomes a political circus, with testimony coming both from black power advocates and white supremacists. When Topazia is brought into court as a caged exhibit, she escapes in panic and is killed. The judge, stating that society rather than the court must decide whether the ape-men are animal or human, frees Douglas.
Cast
Burt Reynolds
Susan Clark
Roger C. Carmel
Paul Hubschmid
Chips Rafferty
Alexander Knox
Pat Suzuki
Edward Fox
Wilfrid Hyde-white
William Marshall
Rhys Williams
Mort Marshall
Michael St. Clair
Booker Bradshaw
John Kimberley
James Henry Eldridge
Totty Ames
James Bacon
Gilbert Senior
Clarence Harris
Burnal "custus" Smith
John Woodcock
Newt Arnold
Wendell Baggett
Michael Preece
Charles Washburn
Cliff Bell Jr.
Alex Gradussov
Jim Alexander
Saul David
Bernard Pike
Eddie Fuchs
Students Of University Of Djakarta
Crew
Newt Arnold
Hilyard Brown
Evelyn Coffey
Saul David
Saul David
Martin Fink
Nelson Gidding
Edith Head
Robert Buzz Henry
John Wallace Hyde
Richard Kuhn
Lee Lukather
William Lukather
John Keith Mccarthy
John Mclean
George Milo
Robert Moreno
Oliver Nelson
Ronald Pierce
Universal Title
Waldon O. Watson
Bud Westmore
Albert Whitlock
Frank H. Wilkinson
Stanley Wilson
John Woodcock
Jack Young
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Based on the novel "Ye Shall Know Them" by the French novelist, Vercoeur. Vercoeur was allegedly the pseudonym for Pierre Bouille who wrote Planet of the Apes.
Producer 'Saul David' created and named the character of Berle Tanen in honor of then-MCA executives Berle Adams and Ned Tanen.
Notes
Location scenes filmed in New Guinea and Jamaica. Douglas replaced Wilson as director one week into production; Wilson receives no screen credit.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States Spring March 1970
Released in United States Spring March 1970
