Queen of Outer Space (1958)

Director:

Edward Bernds

Writers:

Charles Beaumont (screenplay)
Ben Hecht (story)
(more)

Release Date:

7 September 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Mankind's first fantastic flight to Venus - the female planet!

Plot:

American astronauts are drawn by a mysterious force to the planet Venus, which they find to be inhabited only by beautiful women and their despotic queen.

Plot Keywords:

Space Station | Laser Beam | Ray Gun | Villainess | Disfigured Face

Cast

Zsa Zsa Gabor	...	Talleah
Eric Fleming	...	Capt. Neal Patterson
Dave Willock	...	Lt. Mike Cruze
Laurie Mitchell	...	Queen Yllana
Lisa Davis	...	Motiya
Paul Birch	...	Prof. Konrad
Patrick Waltz	...	Lt. Larry Turner
Barbara Darrow	...	Kaeel
Marilyn Buferd	...	Odeena
Mary Ford	...	Venusian Girl
Marya Stevens	...	Venusian Girl
Laura Mason	...	Venusian Girl
Lynn Cartwright	...	Venusian Girl
Kathy Marlowe	...	Venusian Girl
Coleen Drake	...	Venusian Girl
Tania Velia	...	Venusian Girl
Norma Young	...	Venusian Girl
Marjorie Durant	...	Venusian Girl
Gerry Gaylor	...	Base Commander
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Bleifer	...	Torture Victim (uncredited)
Brandy Bryan	...	Venusian Guard (uncredited)
Ralph Gamble	...	Officer in Anteroom (uncredited)
Joi Lansing	...	Larry's Girl (uncredited)
Ruth Lewis	...	Disintegrator Amazon (uncredited)
June McCall	...	Tyrus 4 Amazon Leader (uncredited)
Guy Prescott	...	Col. Ramsey (uncredited)

Directed by
Edward Bernds

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Charles Beaumont		screenplay
Edward Bernds		uncredited
Ben Hecht		story "Queen of the Universe"

Produced by
Ben Schwalb	....	producer

Original Music by
Marlin Skiles

Cinematography by
William P. Whitley

Film Editing by
William Austin

Casting by
Mickey Lewis		(uncredited)
Joe Rivkin		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Dave Milton		(as David Milton)

Set Decoration by
Joseph Kish

Makeup Department
Emile LaVigne	....	makeup artist
Alice Monte	....	hair stylist
Bunny Armstrong	....	body makeup artist (uncredited)
Olga Collings	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
John G. Holden	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Edward Morey Jr.	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Beaudine Jr.	....	assistant director

Art Department
Sam Gordon	....	property master
James West	....	construction coordinator
Ted Mossman	....	props (uncredited)
Art Williams	....	laborer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Joe Lapis	....	sound engineer (as Joseph Lapis)
Charles G. Schelling	....	sound editor (as Charles Schelling)
Bill Flannery	....	boom operator (uncredited)
B.F. Remmington	....	sound recordist (uncredited)
Al Yaylian	....	cable person (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Milt Rice	....	special effects (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Jack Cosgrove	....	special photographic effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Hilton Anderson	....	second grip (uncredited)
Mark Armistead	....	camera equipment (uncredited)
Walter Bluemel	....	first assistant camera (uncredited)
Todd Laclede	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)
Harry Lewis	....	grip (uncredited)
Fred Morgan	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Val O'Malley	....	camera operator (uncredited)
James Peters	....	best boy (uncredited)
George Satterfield	....	gaffer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Irene Caine	....	wardrobe supervisor
Thomas Pierce	....	wardrobe designer: Ms. Gabor
Neva Bourne	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Sid Mintz	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Sophia Stutz	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Phil Rand	....	color technician (uncredited)

Music Department
Jerry Irvin	....	music editor
Albert Harris	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)

Other crew
Richard Chaffee	....	set continuity
Herman Rotsten	....	dialogue director
Lester A. Sansom	....	assistant to producer
Charles Holmberg	....	doorman (uncredited)
Betty Rehm	....	production secretary (uncredited)
John Ward	....	first aid (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Allied Artists Pictures

Distributors

• Allied Artists Pictures (1958) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Fox Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Lorimar (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Company:

Allied Artists Pictures

Trivia:

In an interview, director Edward Bernds said that Zsa Zsa Gabor got very "testy" with the actresses playing the Venusian girls. They were mostly beauty contest winners, and were many years - and in some cases a few decades - younger than her. When she noticed that the crew was paying more attention to the tall, leggy, mini-skirted "Venusians" than they were to her, she became very difficult to work with. He said that Gabor gave producer Ben Schwalb such a hard time on the picture that Schwalb eventually wound up in the hospital with ulcers.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: As the ship flies toward the space station, the porthole shows a bright blue sky outside, in outer space.

Quotes:

Lt. Larry Turner:Even if they invented it, how could they drive it. You know how women drivers are.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001 (2007) (V)

Queen of more than Outer Space

"Vimmen cannot be happy vizout man!"

Thus spake Zsa Zsa Gabor, the most unlikely sci-fi heroine of the fifties. And I guess she'd know. Swanning around the Venutian landscape trailing yards of tulle - she has apparently learned nothing from Isadora Duncan's grisly demise - its up to Zsa Zsa to save the earth from obliteration from what appears to be a ready-to-assemble treehouse.

If logic were the order of the day here it would be patently obvious from this that we're all a-goner. Happily, logic has nothing to do with it; the Venus La Gabor inhabits bears no resemblance to anything in our solar system.

Not for the first time in movie history - I'm thinking "Fire Maidens from Outer Space" here - Venus turns out to be the province of buxom, slightly past their prime showgirls, and there's nary a man in sight. Why? Well, once upon a time the men folk started a nuclear war which caused many of the women, including the planet's ruler, to suffer hideous facial scars. Suitably stung, the men were banished to a nearby satellite; meanwhile the queen wears a stupid mask and the women evidently pass their time doing their hair. In each coif there's never a strand out of place, and somewhere on Venus somebody's doing a roaring trade on fire-engine red lipstick.

Things get sticky when a whole lot of Earth astronauts land on Venus, bringing with them the sets and props for "Forbidden Planet". (Even Anne Francis' gowns get a second outing from the #2 Venus babe. No hand me downs for Zsa Zsa though!) The women are at first hostile, but the natural order is restored when Zsa Zsa takes the helm, and long before the fadeout all is goo eyes and closed mouth kissing. The men are asserting their superiority, the women are all "dames", no doubt scuttling back to the kitchen, and those who showed even the smallest trace of backbone - ie the baddies - are all safely dead.

Its hard to say whether Zsa Zsa thought this was her big break or whether she knew how hilarious the whole thing is. At any rate she dominates the proceedings, which is no mean feat seeing as she has some of the silliest sets, dialogue and special effects to compete with. People who claim that Marilyn Monroe was never given a chance to extend her dramatic range might consider taking up Zsa Zsa's cause as well. I can see her now in a 1956 remake of "Mildred Pierce" in bright, bright Technicolor.

For the time being, enjoy what's on offer. "I hate zat qveen!" snaps our star.

Ah, but how the queens love you Zsa Zsa.