Original "Conquest" ending

Wow! I've never seen this before! Although it was spoken of in the "Behind the Planet of the Apes" documentary, they did not show any footage from this original ending to "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes". I was amazed to learn (through this user on YouTube) that FOX had actually broadcast it with the first finish intact! How this ended up happening is anyone's guess.

The reason why the studio changed the ending was because it depicted the slave apes taking full charge and no prisoners without pause or reflection. They felt this would have been particularly dangerous as the film was released during a lot of racial unrest in this country. The apes plight obviously paralleling the wrongs that blacks felt they were being succumb to by whites in the early 70's. So a second epilogue was written where Roddy McDowell, as Caesar, spoke to the rioting apes about compassion and understanding, urging them to lower their weapons now that they had taken control.

So before all of of the 'PC' rethinking, here is what was originally intended to be released in theaters. Chilling and brutal. Be aware that the user shot this off of a TV screen. However you can clearly see what's happening in the scene.