CATWOMEN OF THE MOON (1953)

When watching CATWOMEN OF THE MOON (1953), you will be subjected to bad acting and cheesy sets that include military cots, office furniture, and hangar looking interior of the space spaceship are just part of the charm of this movie made on a shoestring budget. Oh, yes let's not forget about the MOON SPIDERS that makes it even more PURRFECT. Generally, CATWOMEN OF THE MOON is regarded as the film that influenced later science fiction films like MISSLE TO THE MOON (1956). FIRE MAIDENS FROM OUTER SPACE (1956), QUEEN OF OUTERSPACE (1956) and VOYAGE TO THE PLANET  OF PREHISTORIC WOMEN (1968). The plot being a civilization inhabited by only beautiful women...NO MEN. But CATWOMEN OF THE MOON was not the first of its kind, the first one was MESA OF THE LOST WOMEN (1951).

Our story begins with a rocket ship in outer space with five astronauts  ( four men and one woman). What peculiar about these astronauts is that they are NOT dressed like astronauts. Instead of wearing space uniforms, they are wearing military attire. Even the inside of their rocketship resembles like the inside of a military bunker with the exception of suspended military cots that hang from the ceiling. There is no fancy computer monitors, or gadgets either, just the ordinary dispatcher equipment you would find in war films. You can clearly see there was on no extravagant spending on a costume or set design for this film.

Marie Windsor plays Mission Navigator Helen Salinger, who is trying to get the rocket ship back on course after being hit by a bright light from outer space. But something strange happened after Helen was able to chart a course. She alerted someone in the name of Alpha that they were on their way. Being knocked off course is not the only danger that our crew faces.  Nitric acid is leaking from the atom chamber. It is up to Victor Jory who plays Kip Reissner to save the day, dressed in a white radiation suit and a gas mask from WWl. After Kip ( Victor Jory ) is sealed in the atom chamber, everyone checks their watches and holds their breath. Kip saves himself and the crew from impending danger, after he put it out with a fire extinguisher, then returns back to the crew to pass out.

Kip wakes up to find Helen by his side, giving him mixed signals, because her heart belongs to Captain Laird Grainger( Victor Jory). Kip tries to make his moves on her, but she won't have it. Kip tells Helen to get lost. She rushes over to Laird, who reminds her of the incident when she calling to someone in name of Alpha. Helen doesn't have any recollection of the incident. Probably because Helen is being manipulated by the Catwomen through the use of the telepathic ability. Helen is all set with the landing spot in a valley on the dark side of the moon. Kip is skeptical about Helen's choice of the dark side of the moon but agrees with her decision because she 's the navigator.

Now, its time to explore the dark side of the moon. What's strange is that Helen seems to know where to go for someone who has never been on the moon before. All of a sudden, a bright light is soaring in their direction, like the one that hit their rocket ship. It missed, it turns out that our bright light is a meteorite.  They continued on until they come to the dividing line, Laird asks Helen for one of those silly cigarettes to demonstrate an experiment for his crew witness. After being handed the cigarette, Laird tosses it on the moon surface, which immediately is engulf in flames. Now, everyone is more appreciative of their silly looking space suits.

                                                

Helen brings her crew to a cave which they discover has oxygen. They immediately shed their space suits and gear and hid them behind some rocks. It seems that our space travelers are not alone in this cave, because it habits MOON SPIDERS. Who knew that spiders lived on the moon. Helen screams at the first MOON SPIDER, which sends all the men to pounce on it. Then Helen runs to the other side of the cave, only to be attacked by another MOON SPIDER. Helen's shrilling screams send the men to rescue this damsel in distress once again. I just want to prepare the viewers that these MOON SPIDERS look CHEAP and FAKE, but then again it's part of its charms.

The men want to return back to the rocket ship,  but Helen wants to press on, which is surprising after she was mauled by a moon spider. You would have thought she would have been the first one out of the cave. Well, it turns that men have no choice, but continue on as Helen suggested. Someone or something has taken their space suits and gear. Finally, they arrive what looks like Mt. Olympus( which really a set that was used for the film THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO POLO) at the end of the cave. It seems to be a lost civilization until Doug is attacked by one of the Catwomen, when he and Helen went looking around. Doug tells the others that Helen did nothing to help him when he was jumped. Now, Helen is nowhere to be found.

Helen is introduced to the leader of the Catwomen Alpha Carol Brewster), and her Second in Command Beta ( Suzanne Alexander) and Lambda (Susan Morrow), also with the promise that she will meet the others in time. These slinky catwomen in black leotard tell the earth woman, that they are desperate to leave their planet because soon the air will not be fit to breathe. There are only eight of them left, all women, no men from the two-million-year-old civilization. Alpha tells Helen, they have no control over men, only women like themselves. Helen confesses that she knows nothing about operating the rocketship. But the Catwomen aren't worried , they plan to seduce the men to get what they want.

Helen and her new sorority of Catwomen join the men with a bounty of food and drink. Everyone partakes in the generosity of the Catwomen, except for Kip who is waiting for the return of his spacesuit and gear. In a matter of minutes, Doug and Lambda fall hopelessly in love and as for Walt, he has fallen in love with the prospect of being rich after being told by Beta, there is a gold mine on the moon ( that's right a GOLD MINE  on the moon ).

After the Catwomen are gone, Kip demands answers from Helen taking her out on the balcony and squeezing her hand. Helen almost passes out and tells him not to let go. She tells him the Catwomen plan to KILL him and the other men, force her to go with them, while they take the rocket ship back to earth. Helen tricks Kip that she has feelings for him, not Laird, showing us her hand that she still under the influence of the Catwomen. Helen tells Kip not to tell Laird about them or the Catwomen's plans until they come with a plan themselves to defeat them. Kip agrees to sneak in another passionate embrace.

Meanwhile, Walt shows Catwoman Beta around the rocketship, with the promise she would show him around the gold mine. Apparently, in this movie, there is a gold mine on the moon, and Beta takes Walt there like she promised. But unfortunately for Walt, she never promises that he would leave there alive. Beta stabs Walt in the back, while he was admiring the gold on the wall of the cave.

It seems that the seduction plan went awry when slinky Catwoman Lambda confesses that she has fallen in love with Doug. This does not sit well with Alpha, who then promises after they conqueror the Earth by mind-controlling its women. She could have a choice specimen of men after they have been dominated to have girl babies with. Lambda decides to turn her back on her kind for the man she loves. Which only infuriates Alpha not to wait, but to strike now.

The cat is out of the bag after Doug tells Kip the secret plan that the Catwomen and Helen are planning, which he learned from Lambda. Helen is caught red-handed seducing Laird for vital information needed to operate the rocketship. Helen confesses after Kip squeezes her hand, which seems to temporarily relieve her from Alpha's mind control. Kip even takes it a step further, squeezing her hand harder until she confessed she loved him instead of Laird. All hell breaks loose when Kip and Laird go at it, which enable Helen to slip away and join her slinky sorority sisters.

Lambda brings Doug and Kip their space suits and weapons for they can try to catch Helen and the Catwomen. Lambda has a secret weapon of her own that I forgot to mention, she has the ability to disappear and reappear at will. And she does, heading off Helen, Alpha, and Beta, before they made it to the rocketship. Lambda tries to help Helen break free from Alpha's mind control. But Lambda is quickly stopped by Beta, who smashes her head with a rock. Doug and Kip arrive on the scene too late to save Lambda. But Kip managed to kill shooting Alpha and Beta before they made it on aboard the rocketship. Helen is safe and no longer under the control of the Catwomen. Unfortunately for Doug, Lambda didn't have NINE LIVES.

                                    FILM FACTS

 After appearing in so many B Pictures, Marie Windsor was dubbed  as the Queen of the B- Movies, which includes  
DAKOTA LIL (1950), OUTLAW WOMEN (1952), THE NARROW MARGIN (1952), CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS (1953), SWAMP WOMEN (1953), ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE MUMMY (1955).. just to name a few from her filmography.

                                IMMOTAL DIALOGUE

 " If Helen would FISH me out one of those SILLY cigarettes. I     will SHOW you something ."

     
       Helen: " There it is ."
       Kip: " You said that like you knew it all the time."
       Walt: It ain't true, it can be another world in the BOWELS OF                  THE MOON."

                 
                             " You're ONE of Us, now ."                 

                                      

          
           Kip: " Helen, What's the matter?"
           Helen: " DANGER, Kip, they want to KILL you, they'll                                 take the spaceship and they'll make me go with
                         them."
            Kip: " Well. how? "
            Helen: " They can Kip, they CONTROL ME."
            Kip: " Control you? "

   

    
       Lambda: " I love you, Doug and I must KILL you ."
       Doug: " I love Lambda and I am not afraid."

           FABRICATED DIALOGUE

     " I told you that I'm NOT  doing a SEQUEL to CATWOMEN            OF THE MOON ."   

   
    " If you want to get to SECOND BASE, I need some CATNIP."

                                 " CATNIP PUFFS anyone? "      

     
        " I feel like BARBARELLA, QUEEN OF THE GALAXY ."

      " BACK OFF, you ALLEYCATS... I saw HIM  first...
         He's Mine !!!"

             IMMORTAL GOOF...

Beta says the name DOUG, instead of saying the character's name, which is WALT in this scene.

                        THE CAST

                Laird Grainger .... SONNY TUFTS
                Helen Salinger ... MARIE WINDSOR
                Kip Reissner ... VICTOR JORY
                Doug Smith ... William Phipps
                 Lambda ... Susan Morrow
                Walt Walters ... Douglas Fowley
                Alpha ... Carol Brewster
                Beta ... Suzanne Alexander
                Catwoman... Betty Arlen
                Catwoman ... Roxann Dillman
                Catwoman ... Ellye Marshall
                Catwoman ... Judy Walsh

                       
                        MY BOTTOM LINE IS ...

CATWOMEN OF THE MOON (1953) is one of those film, in which the kitschy title is actually better than the movie itself.
Instead of becoming a forgotten film disappearing in the realm of obscurity. CATWOMEN OF THE MOON (1953) managed to cultivate a fanbase, appearing on Mystery Science Theater 3000. Even though the loyal fans enjoy lampooning CATWOMEN OF THE MOON (1953), oddly enough they have a strange fondness for it as well. Believe me, there is much to lampoon here, as I have stated throughout my synopsis.

I see this film as an early statement of female empowerment in a dominated Man's World of the fifties. Silly as it is, CATWOMEN OF THE MOON (1953) shows women taking charge, not needing a man to fulfill her life and that women can be rulers. Remember, this way before the women's liberation movement. So the next time you watch this Golden Turkey, be aware of the subtext!