Cat-Women of the Moon (1953)

Director:

Arthur Hilton

Writers:

Al Zimbalist (based on a story) and
Jack Rabin (based on a story) ...

Release Date:

3 September 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Horror | Romance | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

They're fiery...fearless...ferocious!

Plot:

Astronauts travel to the moon where they discover it is inhabited by attractive young women in black tights.

Plot Keywords:

Astronaut | Moon | Rocket Ship | Earth | Cavern

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Rocket to the Moon

Runtime:

64 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved

Company:

Z-M Productions

Trivia:

William Phipps told interviewer Tom Weaver, "When I saw that spaceship set, I thought I was workin' for Soupy Sales! And that giant spider! They held it up with big ropes above us on the cave set and dropped it down on our heads. At the time, I thought it was the most outrageous, absurd thing in the world - how did spiders get on the Moon?! It was all just incredible - I thought, 'How can anybody put this in a movie? It's gonna ruin it!'"

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Alone with Walt in the gold cave, the Cat-Woman Beta's voice is heard replying to his exclamations - she calls him "Doug".

Quotes:

Helen Salinger: [on being told that she can't come on the trip to the moon] Someone's got to cook your meals for you!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Project Moonbase (#2.8)" (1990)

Camp 101

Cat-Women of the Moon (1953)

** (out of 4)

Five astronauts (four men and a woman) land on the moon only to discover that there's oxygen on the thing but not only that but there's some "cat women" who want to steal their ship and go to Earth. For every masterpiece like The Day the Earth Stood Still you had fifty movies like this one and if you have a sense of humor towards bad films then you should enjoy this one. The film runs a very short 63-minutes and it's the type of film where you keep waiting for something to happen and it never does. I'm really not sure what the idea behind this film was other than to cash in on the sci-fi genre as the screenplay offers up nothing. I guess the so-called story deals with the cat women wanting to get back home but none of this really takes place until ten minutes to go and everything leading up to that point is just the astronauts walking around being amazed at what they see. There are some really campy moments including one sequence where the group walks into a cave only to be attacked by giant spiders on strings. Other campy moments include the cat women trying to seduce the men as well as a laughable scene where the astronauts learn that there is oxygen on the moon. Another funny thing is that there are several instances where the astronauts come off so stupid you really have to wonder if they were just homeless men on the street who were picked up and sent on a space mission. Another error happens in the gold cave when the actress accidentally calls the character she's talking to under the actors name. Heck, even future Oscar winner Elmer Bernstein did the score here. If you hate low budget, bad films then you'll hate this one as well but if you like bad movies then there's enough here to make this one "so bad it's good".