Women of the Prehistoric Planet (1966)

A spaceship crashes upon an unexplored planet, and the rescuers sent to search for survivors discover that decades have passed due to time dilation.

Director:

Arthur C. Pierce

Writer:

Arthur C. Pierce

Stars:

Wendell Corey, Keith Larsen, John Agar

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Wendell Corey	...	Adm. David King
Keith Larsen	...	Cmdr. Scott
John Agar	...	Dr. Farrell
Paul Gilbert	...	Lt. Red Bradley
Merry Anders	...	Lt. Karen Lamont
Stuart Margolin	...	Chief
Robert Ito	...	Tang (as Roberto Ito)
Kam Tong	...	Jung
Todd Lasswell	...	Lt. Charles Anderson - Tang's Father (as Todd Laswell)
Ron Stokes	...	Sgt. Allen
Adam Roarke	...	Harris
Paul Hampton	...	Wilson
Sally Frei	...	Sally
Suzie Kaye	...	Ens. Stevens
Ronald Lyon	...	Sgt. Nevins (as Ron Lyon)

Storyline

A space ship crash lands on the third planet of a distant solar system, killing all hands except for a young boy named Tang. The rescue ship arrives some 20 years later. One of the crew, a girl named Linda meets Tang and falls in love with him. They are attacked by the native humanoids of the planet and many of them are killed off. Also, the crew encounters many strange beasts on this strange, but somewhat familiar world.

---

Plot Keywords:

outer space | racism | primitive man | interracial relationship | father daughter relationship | 

---

Taglines:

It's the battle of the sexes as savage planet women attack female space invaders!

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Romance | Sci-Fi

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 April 1966 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Prehistoric Planet

Company Credits

Production Co:

Standard Club of California Productions Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lt. Red Bradley's line, while boasting of Kung Fu skills, exclaims "Hi-kee-ba!"... becoming a MST3K 'secret hand-shake' phrase.

---

Goofs

After Tang is shot in the right arm, there is no visible wound.

---

Quotes

Lt. Red Bradley: You know me, I can light up a whole room.
[he laughs nervously]
Lt. Red Bradley: Just by walking out.

---

Connections

Featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Women of the Prehistoric Planet (1990)

---

Soundtracks

Caliban and Ariel
(uncredited)
Music by Desmond Leslie

User Reviews

Please, not another mistitled movie!!

Yoy! Shouldn't there be laws against fraudulent movie titles? The movie's title suggests something like "Fire Maidens in Outer Space", with scantily-clad women prancing here and there, doing liturgical dance and generally acting as hunk magnets for the film's beefy, 1950s-era heroes. Alas, such is not the case. What you get instead is something along the line of "Beatniks" (which had none in the movie).

The film's premise dealing with time travel is noble, but the continuous back and forth on how many years have passed since this or that event are confusing. John Agar stars along with Wendell Corey as leaders of a space expedition designed to both explore other worlds and revive the culture of a dying warrior society.

Agar's ship attempts to rescue a sister ship that crash landed on a distant planet. Eighteen years of real time have passed since the crash, or is it 18 years of my life that have been lost watching this movie? Anyhow, Linda, the only woman on this "prehistoric" planet is the one brought there by Corey, whom it turns out is the love child of Corey and a woman from the Centaurian society that he's trying to save. Linda meets up with Tang (breakfast drink or hunter-gatherer, you decide), who is the offspring of two of the crash's survivors.

The movie's ending leaves you groaning under the weight of the true premise of Tang & Linda existence on this planet. This premise comes from a decidedly non-Christian world view. Watch this if you are an MST3K fan; otherwise, skip this primordial soup starter.