Cat-Women of the Moon

Obviously Sonny Tufts was really hitting the bottle when he appeared in this film. He was touted as a new star in the 40's but his messed up personal life really did him in and he was reduced to playing in Grade Z movies and barely getting by. In several scenes he loses his train of thought and because of the low budget the scenes were not re-shot. What a hoot but at the same time pathetic.

This is one of those little sci-fi films that were so popular in the 1950s, usually low budget and inept. But if you are a bad film buff, you can't help but love Cat Women. There are some good actors in this film.....Victor Jory (how far he had fallen!); the wonderful Marie Windsor who made any film in which she appeared worth watching; and Douglas Fowley who was a film staple for years. And then there were the Cat Woman, slinking around in leotards and dog collars.

I won't go into the "plot" but suffice to say it was the same as all the other films which involved lost civilizations on distant moons. It is such fun and if you love low budget films with ridiculous special effects, bad acting and dialogue that makes you cringe, see Cat Women of the Moon. It's a treat!!

This film was originally released in full stereoscopic format in 1953, and a regular B/W print was released later under the title "Rocket to the Moon". The film is of historic interest as it was one of the first (perhaps the first) of many Sci-Fi movies about space travellers who encounter a "lost" civilization of nubile young women, not only in attractive dresses and perfect coiffures but also speaking perfect English. This theme was so successful that it has been repeatedly followed right up to today when everyone has a much more sophisticated understanding of the realities of space. Historically, it is interesting to compare this film with those of the same genre released more recently such as Femalien or the Emmanuelle in Space series. Over the two generations since Rocket to the Moon was released, films of this genre have gradually changed their intended appeal by becoming primarily skinflicks rather than Sci-Fi thrillers.

It is unfortunate that Hollywood quickly lost interest in the complexity of producing good stereoscopic films (which are most often now featured in specialist theatres such as the IMAX), and instead has followed what I feel has been a largely disasterous attempt to explore the potential of anthropomorphic lenses even though in the majority of cases these have no conceivable artistic contribution to make to the final product. Although produced for polarised projection, Catwomen of the Moon is one of the very few 3D films which has been made available on VHS tape in analglyphic (dual colour) stereographic format. It has also been released as a DVD, but in non-stereographic format. Whilst the analglyphic tape version will remain of interest to a most people interested in the history of the cinema, I find it very hard to understand the choice of this film for release as a regular DVD.

This film was not produced on such a low budget as some of its successors. The view of the rocket itself gives the impression that at a pinch this might be large enough for a small monkey, but for its period it makes a serious attempt to show the need for features such as spacesuits for the crew of the rocket. After their rocket lands on the dark side of the moon the astronauts find a deep cavern where air still exists and where these suits can be dispensed with. Scientific improbability returns when they travel back to the surface wearing casual sports clothes and encounter a fairly normal gravitational pull. More surprisingly (?), the cavern is occupied by giant spiders and a group of nubile catwomen who are threatened with extinction, not by the complete absence of any men but by the gradual loss of their air. Logically they therefore plan to steal the rocket and return to Earth in it. The whole plot is worked out in just over an hour (64 min) of quite easy watching; however the story (plot?) does not have the charm shown by the film Fire Maidens of Outer Space which appeared three years later. This is unfortunately not currently available in any home video format, although in my opinion it provides a more enjoyable example of movie nostalgia than the Catwomen.

"Cat-Women Of The Moon" is an unusual entry in the "male explores find a civilization with women but no men" for a couple of reasons. One is that one of the explorers is a woman, and the other is that it was filmed in 3-D. But nothing much is done with those two bursts of originality - the woman explorer could have been a male with very little rewriting, and there is almost no effort made to exploit the 3-D filming process. (I'm not asking to be hit in the face every few seconds, but some carefully composed shots would have been nice.)

The lazy efforts on those parts can be felt in other parts of the movies. Oh, there are a few things that made me laugh - the interior of the moon rocket, wobbily scenery, people shouting when in their spacesuits, and the "stabbing" scene. But most of the movie is kind of dull. It takes about 2/3 of the movie before the explorers directly interact with the cat women, and before that point (and afterwards), there is talk talk talk, little of which is amusing. I was kind of glad that the movie lasted just barely over an hour, but the ending is so sudden, so "That's it?!?" that part of me wished they went on a little longer to end things properly.

If you want to see a funny example of this genre, I suggest you watch "Queen Of Outer Space".

It says so much about the production that an early scene in which a character ascends a ladder is capped off by the actor hitting his head on the ceiling of a chamber in the spaceship - at which point the ceiling very obviously moves. The film is easily dated: black and white photography, meager practical or special effects and props, characters and dialogue written from a male-centric perspective on gender, and so on. 'Cat-women of the moon' is direly ham-handed, as one would surely expect of a genre picture from the 1950s. Still, if you can overlook the indelicacies of the timeframe, this isn't half bad.

The set design is actually quite fine, and I appreciate the consideration for details like hair, makeup, and costume design. Though coerced into a certain overtness by the writing and direction, I think the assembled actors give performances that are quite suitable. It's noteworthy that celebrated film composer Elmer Bernstein wrote the score for this slice of cinematic tomfoolery, one of his earliest credits in a long and fruitful career. The music undeniably echoes similar sci-fi fare of the era, but - though I admit bias - I think there's a subtlety and cleverness that shows the beginnings of what Bernstein would go on to achieve.

The scene writing and overall narrative are terribly gauche, but not outright terrible; I've borne witness to far worse screenplays. You'll never see me call this "great," however. Because for whatever strength there is in the concept, 'Cat-women of the moon' also creates a distinct dichotomy in which men are heroes, and strong, independent women are villains. But oh, wait, of course the power of love can overcome the influence of evil. Moreover, the climax is written and executed with extreme, curt, unconvincing inauthenticity, and at that, there are no surprises here - the plot is very predictable. Were this movie made in the 70s or later, one could easily imagine more inventive, subversive directions the tale may have taken - but with rare exception, we just weren't going to get that in the 50s.

Not absolutely bad, but not really good, the movie just languishes somewhere in the unremarkable middle. Surprisingly, there's enough here to keep us mildly engaged and amused, but I think it would be a stretch to claim any greater sense of entertainment. There's no reason to seek out 'Cat-women of the moon' (and no, there are no actual felines here), but so long as you can abide dubious writing and the shortcomings of the decade's technical craft, there are worse ways to spend an hour.

Thanks to Jeff Joseph of Sabucat Productions, I recently had the pleasure of seeing this film in all of its original polarized 3D glory at the Egyptian theater in Hollywood with 600 of my "closest friends"! ;-) (www.3dfilmfest.com) Sadly, though, while the presentation this time around was flawless, the print was in very poor condition, and it may not get too many more public performances - if ever again - which is a real shame. You see, this is one of those movies that has to be enjoyed in a theater, with a LOT of people, for maximum funness. It might be fun to sit around the living room and laugh at the campy dialogue and bad acting and VERY bad special effects with your friends, but to see it in a theater... well, there is no comparison. Especially when seen in polarized 3D... the fun factor goes up by a factor of at least ten!

If you're in the mood for a bad sci-fi film from the 50's, give this one a try. The more people you have watching it with you, the better. You'll get a real kick out of it, as this movie has some of the funniest lines ever, including my personal favorite, "You're too smart for me, baby... I like 'em stupid." Definitely recommended for a good laugh, and a great time. And if by some off chance you ever have an opportunity to see it in 3D, do not miss it!