Cat-Women of the Moon

''Cat-Women of the Moon'' is an independently made 1953 American black-and-white three-dimensional science-fiction film, produced by Jack Rabin and Al Zimbalist, directed by Arthur Hilton, that stars Sonny Tufts, Victor Jory, and Marie Windsor. The film was released by Astor Pictures.

Notably, the musical score was composed by Academy Award–winner Elmer Bernstein, though his last name is misspelled as "Bernstien" in the opening credits.

Plot

Utilizing a spaceship equipped with wooden tables and chairs, a "scientific expedition" to the Moon encounters a race of cat-women, the last survivors of a two-million-year-old lunar civilization. Residing deep within a Moon cavern, the cat-women have managed to maintain not only the remnants of a breathable atmosphere and Earth-like gravity, but also a pair of gigantic Moon-spiders. The cat-women wear black unitards, have beehive hairstyles, and wear elaborate cosmetics. Realizing that their remaining atmosphere will soon be exhausted, the cat-women plan to steal the expedition's spaceship and return to Earth, where, in the words of the cat-women's leader, Alpha (Carol Brewster), "We will get their women under our power, and soon we will rule the whole world!"

Through the use of their telepathic abilities, the cat-women have been subliminally controlling Helen Salinger (Marie Windsor), the mission navigator and only female member of the Earth expedition. Once on the Moon, the cat-women take control of Helen's mind, after which she leads the entire crew (clad in spacesuits and equipped with matches, cigarettes, and a gun) to the cat-women's cavern. Although unable to directly control male minds, the cat-women are able to influence the male crew through Helen, using their own superior intellectual abilities and feminine wiles. As explained to Helen by the cat-woman Beta (Suzanne Alexander), "Show us their weak points. We'll take care of the rest."

Along with telepathy, the cat-women can transport themselves, unseen and instantly, from place-to-place within the cavern. They use this ability to steal the crew's unguarded spacesuits, which forces the crew deeper into the cavern and into violent confrontations with the two Moon-spiders and the cat-women. Failing to exterminate the men, the cat-women approach them openly, using Helen to help establish friendly relations. Kip (Victor Jory), who has been suspicious of the cat-women, confronts Alpha about the missing spacesuits; she promises to return the suits in the morning. Food and drink are then brought, and private conversations between both groups begin. As these progress ("You're too smart for me, baby. I like 'em stupid"), the gun-wielding Kip sits alone, unable to intervene, while the cat-women successfully manipulate the "weak points" of expedition commander Laird (Sonny Tufts) and the other men.

By that evening, the cat-women have learned how to pilot the spaceship. Following a modern dance performance by the cat-women, Walt (Douglas Fowley) is stabbed to death by Beta. Lambda (Susan Morrow) has fallen in love with crew member Doug (William Phipps) and tells him of the cat-woman plot, saying, "I love you Doug, and I must kill you". The male crew now realizes they are in danger. Carrying three spacesuits, Alpha, Beta, and Helen run toward the spaceship. Lambda teleports ahead to delay them and is bludgeoned to death by Beta. Kip catches up and fires several shots, killing Alpha and Beta but leaving Helen uninjured. The surviving expedition members escape the cavern, reach the spaceship, and return to Earth.

Cast

* Sonny Tufts as Laird Grainger
* Victor Jory as Kip Reissner
* Marie Windsor as Helen Salinger
* William Phipps as Doug Smith
* Douglas Fowley as Walt Walters
* Carol Brewster as Alpha
* Suzanne Alexander as Beta (credited as Suzann Alexander)
* Susan Morrow as Lambda
* Bette Arlen as Cat-Woman
* Roxann Delman as Cat-Woman
* Ellye Marshall as Cat-Woman
* Judy Walsh as Cat-Woman

Critical reception

Upon the film's release, ''Variety'' magazine wrote: "This imaginatively conceived and produced science-fiction yarn n original story by producers Zimbalist and Rabintakes the earth-to-moon premise and embellishes it with a civilization of cat-women on the moon ... Cast ably portray their respective roles ... Arthur Hilton makes his direction count in catching the spirit of the theme, and art direction is far above average for a film of this calibre. William Whitley's 3-D photography provides the proper eerie quality".

''The New York Times'' wrote: "They (the Cat-women) try to get their hands on the visitors' rocket ship, hoping to come down here and hypnotize us all. Considering the delegation that went up, it's hard to imagine why".

'' The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' calls the film absurd, but notes that it "qualifies as one of the most influential science-fiction films ever made" as it influenced later low budget films "in which astronauts discover decadent, all-female (or almost all-female) civilizations on other planets, including '' Fire Maidens from Outer Space'' (1956), '' Missile to the Moon'' (1958), ''Queen of Outer Space'' (1958), '' Nude on the Moon'' (1961), nd''Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women'' (1968)."

Legacy

* An original two-projector, polarized 3D-format showing of ''Cat-Women of the Moon'' was featured at the first 3D Film Expo at Hollywood's Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in September 2003, and also at the "3-D at the Castro" film festival, at the historic Castro Theatre in San Francisco, on October 17, 2006.
* The 1995 Englewood Entertainment VHS video release was in the red-and-blue anaglyph 3D format.
* The first "flat" version of ''Cat-Women of the Moon'' was released on DVD by Image Entertainment.
* ''Cat-Women of the Moon'' was used as the title of a two-part documentary about sex in science fiction broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August and September 2011. They were presented by the writer Sarah Hall, and produced in Manchester by Nicola Swords; they featured a number of British writers, including Iain M. Banks, China Miéville, and Nicola Griffith.
* ''Cat-Women of the Moon'' was remade as '' Missile to the Moon'' (1958), which was also released by Astor Pictures.
* ''Cat-Women of the Moon'' inspired several songs on Shakespears Sister's 1992 album '' Hormonally Yours'', among them their UK number-one hit "Stay".
* The opening track of '' Is It ... Man or Astroman?'' uses the opening narration from the film prior to the start of the song "Taxidermist Surf".
* Stock footage from this film was later used in the 1961 film '' Valley of the Dragons''.
*The trailer for this film is included in the big-screen film loop shown to Disney's Hollywood Studios guests throughout the day at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant at Walt Disney World in Florida

See also

* List of films featuring extraterrestrials