Cat-Women of the Moon (1953)
Five male astronauts travel to the dark side of the moon and discover a cave with a breathable atmosphere. Venturing in they find the remains of a buried city and the last surviving members of a 2 million year old civilization, who all happen to be sexy leotard dressed women. Though greeted with food and drink, little do our male astronauts realise that the Cat-Women are really just after their rocket ship.
There are a few films with this general war-of-the-space-sexes plot but I think this is the first of them. Beyond that it’s a pretty cheap effort with inconsistent continuity, a paper-thin plot and borrowed sets and costumes. That said it really is that bad that it’s good and so it has its fans.
Looking at the space suits it’s interesting to note, and for no discernible reason, that we’ve got a mix of suits here with a couple of them being from Project Moonbase and the others from Destination Moon.
Steve
Your post inspired me to track this one down, I caught it on YT a week or so ago. I quite like this one, it's got some flaws to be sure but one or two elements that place it in relief against the general crowd of Saturday Morning fair.
ReplyDeleteThere's element of panto in the script that make it a nice kids drama, one example is the heroin's prophetic slip early on, which I can imagine getting a the whispers going amongst the aisles. The hero and slightly inexplicable romantic, lead appears to a paranoid psychopath who's demeanor is vindicated by the perils that unfold. He contrast nicely with well intentioned but dopey mission commander.
Best of all are the Catwomen, they're truly other-worldly and their costumes which, except for a couple of cuts that look as though they were edited in late, are lit in such as way that their figures have no highlights or shade on them. So their figures contrast sharply with their super-shiny hair and the metallic guimpe that is a feature of the costume.
Of course it takes a bit of suspension of disbelief for this work for and adult, actually more than a bit. There's some continuity howlers and although I could be bothered to verify what I heard, I think there's at least one instance where they forget they're on the moon.
There's scope for a remake but don't tell that to Sony or Time Warner.
The title alone makes it worth remaking. I'll try and find the time to go watch it. As always thanks for feeding back you thoughts
ReplyDeleteIncredibly, this was remade as Missile to the Moon.
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