(There are Spoilers) The movie starts with a narration by Conrad Nagle about this group of people out to see the sights going into a cave ,during a violent thunderstorm, for shelter. Finding this worldly and wise old man studying the ancient writings on the caves wall the sightseers are then told this fantastic story that he deciphered about what happened back then when it was carved, or written, as we go back in time to One Mllion B.C.
Tumet is the bull-headed young son of Akhobo the leader of the warrior-like Rock People who's independence and disobedience towards his father is just too much for him to take. Getting into a fight with the old man during dinner over who gets the biggest piece Tumak is kicked out of the tribe and left on his own to fend for himself in the wild. Being attacked by this woolly mammoth Tumek ends up falling into a nearby stream almost breaking his neck. Found by gorgeous and sexy Loana of the far more civilized and peaceful Shell People Tumak is slowly nursed back to health and to a new world of understanding of his fellow man in that sharing is the secret to surviving in these wild and crazy times. Unlike where the leader takes all and give out the scraps to those lesser in his tribe, like with the Rock People, who are subservient to him.
It takes a while for Tumek to get the hang of it in living in a society where caring and looking after your fellow tribesman was more important then how brave strong and victorious your were in taking on and killing everyone who's a threat to you and your tribe.
The fact that Tumek's life was saved by the foreign Shell People where he was earlier ostracized into the wilderness to die by his own flesh and blood made him to be more akin with them. Also the fact that he's now in love with Loana, a stranger to his tribe, was more reason for him to feel like that.
The movie really gets moving in the last fifteen minutes or so after a number of family squabbles between Tumek and Lnana as well as fights that Tumek has with his former tribe the Rock people. Tumek's father Akhobo is unseated from his leadership position after he was badly injured trying to take down a prehistoric ox and is left a shell of his old self. Tumek in taking back his leadership of the Rock People in hand to hand combat with their new leader instills in them what he learned in shearing the pie, or a form of prehistoric socialism, from the shell People that makes things a bit more bearable for everyone in it.
With both the former enemy Rock and Shell people now living in peace together all hell breaks loose with the nearby volcano blowing it's top leading to a massive earthquake with all the wild animals, mostly giant lizards, going bananas attacking each other and the people in the area. Top special effects for it's time back in 1940 make "One Million B.C" a real novelty item. With a very realistic volcanic eruption followed by a heart-stopping lava flow that wipes out just about everything, man and animal, in it's path.
It was really a shame that the animal scenes were not supervised by members of the Humane Society back then which lead to most of the lizards in them ending up dead and mangled in the fights they were encouraged to have in the movie. In fact the scenes of the lizards fighting with each other and attacking and killing the cavemen were, unfortunately, so good and realistic that they were incorporated into scores of movies and TV shows over the next thirty years.
The movie ends not with Conrads Nagels narration to his captive band of sightseers about the story of Tumek and Loana but with both tribes, Rock & Shell, now living in peace and harmony. As we see them walking into the sunset with their adopted son who's mother was killed, when he was overtaken by the deadly lava flow, after the earth shaking volcanic explosion in the film.
Tumet is the bull-headed young son of Akhobo the leader of the warrior-like Rock People who's independence and disobedience towards his father is just too much for him to take. Getting into a fight with the old man during dinner over who gets the biggest piece Tumak is kicked out of the tribe and left on his own to fend for himself in the wild. Being attacked by this woolly mammoth Tumek ends up falling into a nearby stream almost breaking his neck. Found by gorgeous and sexy Loana of the far more civilized and peaceful Shell People Tumak is slowly nursed back to health and to a new world of understanding of his fellow man in that sharing is the secret to surviving in these wild and crazy times. Unlike where the leader takes all and give out the scraps to those lesser in his tribe, like with the Rock People, who are subservient to him.
It takes a while for Tumek to get the hang of it in living in a society where caring and looking after your fellow tribesman was more important then how brave strong and victorious your were in taking on and killing everyone who's a threat to you and your tribe.
The fact that Tumek's life was saved by the foreign Shell People where he was earlier ostracized into the wilderness to die by his own flesh and blood made him to be more akin with them. Also the fact that he's now in love with Loana, a stranger to his tribe, was more reason for him to feel like that.
The movie really gets moving in the last fifteen minutes or so after a number of family squabbles between Tumek and Lnana as well as fights that Tumek has with his former tribe the Rock people. Tumek's father Akhobo is unseated from his leadership position after he was badly injured trying to take down a prehistoric ox and is left a shell of his old self. Tumek in taking back his leadership of the Rock People in hand to hand combat with their new leader instills in them what he learned in shearing the pie, or a form of prehistoric socialism, from the shell People that makes things a bit more bearable for everyone in it.
With both the former enemy Rock and Shell people now living in peace together all hell breaks loose with the nearby volcano blowing it's top leading to a massive earthquake with all the wild animals, mostly giant lizards, going bananas attacking each other and the people in the area. Top special effects for it's time back in 1940 make "One Million B.C" a real novelty item. With a very realistic volcanic eruption followed by a heart-stopping lava flow that wipes out just about everything, man and animal, in it's path.
It was really a shame that the animal scenes were not supervised by members of the Humane Society back then which lead to most of the lizards in them ending up dead and mangled in the fights they were encouraged to have in the movie. In fact the scenes of the lizards fighting with each other and attacking and killing the cavemen were, unfortunately, so good and realistic that they were incorporated into scores of movies and TV shows over the next thirty years.
The movie ends not with Conrads Nagels narration to his captive band of sightseers about the story of Tumek and Loana but with both tribes, Rock & Shell, now living in peace and harmony. As we see them walking into the sunset with their adopted son who's mother was killed, when he was overtaken by the deadly lava flow, after the earth shaking volcanic explosion in the film.