Fire Maidens from Outer Space (1956)

Director:

Cy Roth

Writers:

Cy Roth (story)
Cy Roth (screenplay)

Release Date:

6 September 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

SCIENCE-FICTION'S GREATEST THRILL!

Plot:

A team of astronauts lands on a moon of Jupiter to find it populated with beautiful young women looking for mates. An old man explains to the explorers the group's story, as well as the moon's dangers.

Plot Keywords:

Moon | Jupiter | Monster | Technician | Journey

Cast

Anthony Dexter	...	Luther Blair
Susan Shaw	...	Hestia
Paul Carpenter	...	Captain Larson
Jacqueline Curtis	...	Duessa
Harry Fowler	...	Sydney Stanhope
Sydney Tafler	...	Dr. Higgins
Rodney Diak	...	Anderson
Maya Koumani	...	Fire Maiden
Owen Berry	...	Prasus
Richard Walter	...	The Monster
Norma Arnould	...	Fire Maiden
Jan Holden	...	Fire Maiden
Sylvia Burrows	...	Fire Maiden
Shane Cordell	...	Fire Maiden (as Eunice Jebbett)
Ann Elsden	...	Fire Maiden

Also Known As:

Fire Maidens of Outer Space (USA)
The Thirteenth Moon of Jupiter (UK) (original script title)

Runtime:

80 min | USA:68 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Criterion Films

Trivia:

This 1956 release take place on the 13th moon of Jupiter. The 13th moon of Jupiter was not discovered until almost two decades later, in 1974.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Whenever the all-controlling twin-lever guidance device is used, it clearly moves revealing it to be unattached to the flight panel.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Radar Secret Service (#6.20)" (1993)

Soundtrack:

Polovestian Dances

Not the good kind of bad.

I just saw this at the Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival 31. I have a few observations to offer.

This movie certainly falls within the realm of "there go eighty minutes of my life that I'll never get back again". In fact I have two quite earnest theories about this movie that may account for at least a part of its overall horribility.

It is quite obvious that the film was only minimally scripted. There were all the hallmarks of improvised dialog, but not in an artsy experimental cinema kind of way. More like "OK, We've got this sound stage for an hour, but no dialog written. Action!" My other suspicion is that the studio contracted for a film of a specific length, and the director was actively trying to pad it out. This is quite obvious. Another commenter mentioned product placements for Longines watches, but not every time we were subjected to real-time half-minute closeups of clocks were we looking at a Longines.

Finally, If I ever hear Borodin's "Stranger in Paradise" again, I'll strangle myself! It was played at least twelve times, I'd swear.

I've officially named the villain "Mr. Tiki-Head" for reasons that will be obvious if you have the misfortune to view this dreadful excuse for a movie.