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Queen of Outer Space
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| Year: |
1958
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Director: |
Edward Bernds
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| Stars: |
Zsa Zsa Gabor, Eric Fleming, Dave Willock, Laurie Mitchell, Lisa Davis, Paul Birch, Patrick Waltz, Barbara Darrow, Marilyn Buferd, Mary Ford, Marya Stevens, Laura Mason, Lynn Cartwright, Kathy Marlowe, Coleen Drake, Gerry Gaylor, Joi Lansing
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| Genre: |
Science Fiction |
| Rating: |
  4 (from 1 vote) |
| Review: |
Captain Paterson (Eric Fleming) is called with his crew to see the Commander and told of his latest mission into space. The men can't hide their disappointment when the mission turns out to be a simple passenger trip, taking Professor Konrad (Paul Birch) to the space station he designed and nothing to do with exploration - a visit to Mars would have been nice. However, once the three man crew board their ship with the Professor, they don't know what they're letting themselves in for, especially when a death ray zaps the space station before they get the chance to reach it...
During the nineteen-fifties, many science fiction films featured spacecraft and encounters with strange alien races, most of whom wanted to do harm to the human race. A subgenre of these was the race of alien women, who usually have banished men from their planet by some means or other, with Cat-Women of the Moon and this film the most famous exponents. The appeal of them now, and who knows probably then as well to some extent, is that they're amusingly camp in a way that looks as if they were utterly unaware of how silly they were.
On the other hand, Queen of Outer Space had a couple of very talented writers behind it, namely Ben Hecht (best known for his work with Alfred Hitchcock, here contributing the story) and Charles Beaumont (respected genre scribe of Twilight Zone fame, here on scripting duties). They must have intended this to be a spoof? There's evidence they did, but nobody else in the film appears to be in on the joke as it all goes ahead in apparent deadly earnest, which naturally makes it all the sillier.
After fifteen minutes of introduction with the crew, they are suddenly scooped up by the ray and the opening credits arrive, announcing that the star is no mere male but the one, the only, Zsa Zsa Gabor. This lady is one of those famous for being famous celebrities, but she was indeed an actress and if you're hard pressed to recall any of ther films, then this may be the one which springs to mind (at a push). But even then she doesn't turn up until half an hour in, meaning a lot of meandering plotting which pussyfoots around the central idea, which is - wahey! - Venus is populated by nubile young ladies and that's where our heroes have ended up.
The females are not all pleased to see them, unfortunately, and soon the men are up before the masked, ruling council whose Queen (Laurie Mitchell) tells them in no uncertain terms "You will die!" This isn't what the space jockeys wanted to hear, and they like the sound of planet Earth being destroyed by the Disintegrator even less. Will nobody help them? Step forward chief scientist (cough) Zsa Zsa, who is planning an insurgency and the Earthmen will come in handy for kissing. Oh, and overthrowing the Queen who hates all men after getting blasted by their radiation... but what she really needs is male attention, the film implies. Actually, no, it doesn't imply that, it makes no bones about the idea that all women need is the right man to set their pretty little heads on the right path. The sexism is laid on so ludicrously thick that it surely cannot have been intended to be taken seriously, but take that laughable element away and you're left with a limp adventure that looks cheap even in colour and Cinemascope. Music by Marlin Skiles.
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| Reviewer: |
Graeme Clark
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