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Queen of Outer Space
USA 1958
produced by
Ben Schwalb for Allied Artists
directed by Edward Bernds
starring Zsa Zsa Gabor, Eric Fleming, Dave Willock, Laurie Mitchell, Lisa Davis, Paul Birch, Patrick Waltz, Barbara Darrow, Marilyn Buferd, Mary Ford, Marya Stevens, Laura Mason, Lynn Cartwright, Kathy Marlowe, Coleen Drake, Tania Velia, Norma Young, Marjorie Durant, Gerry Gaylor, Joi Lansing, Guy Prescott, Ralph Gamble
screenplay by Charles Beaumont, based on the story Queen of the Universe by Ben Hecht, music by Marlin Skiles
review by
Mike Haberfelner
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On a routine flight to a space station, Captain Patterson's (Eric
Fleming) spaceship is shot out of space and inexplicably lands on Venus -
a planet that's of course inhabited solely by women (after all the men
have been sent to a prison moon for causing a war that is). Venus's
mask-wearing queen Yllana (Laurie Mitchell) condemns Patterson and his
crew (Dave Willock, Paul Birch, Patrick Waltz) to death immediately, but
she has taken a liking to the captain and thus orders him to his quarters
to convince her otherwise. The captain gets into charm-mode pretty
quickly, but then he (the fool) takes off her mask and sees a grossly
disfigured face that only makes him turn away in horror - upon which the
queen unsurprisingly is more determined than ever to execute the
intruders. But our heroes have an ally, beautiful Tallea (Zsa Zsa
Gabor), one of the women on Venus who wish men back for a bit of romance
and you-know-what - and she has of course fallen in love with the captain.
So she and her two right-hand girls (Lisa Davis, Barbara Darrow) - who of
course fall for two of the astronauts - help the men to escape through the
jungle ... but they are captured again by the queen's women. Somehow,
the astronauts and Tallea and her girls overcome the queen and now Tallea
wants to hide behind the mask to rule in her stead, but that plan's
spoiled as well. So the queen now decides to use her ultimate weapon (a
room with polka dots and something on top that's never fully shown) to
destroy the earth ... but for unknown reason, the ultimate weapon fails to
function properly and burns the queen to a crisp without even touching the
earth. And with the queen gone, Tallea has already won and everything ends
happily. Joi Lansing makes an uncredited appearance at the beginning of
the movie wishing one of the astronauts good-bye in such an over-the-top
way that it has become one of the most memorable scenes of the film. Over
the years, Queen of Outer Space has become known as one of the
pinnacles of 1950's trash sci-fi - which in my opinion is a bit unfair,
because the 1950's were so chock-full of trashy science fiction that this
does by no means take the crown ... and that said, the film is deliciously
trashy alright, its plot is utterly silly and simplistic and (at least
from today's point of view) sexist, the sets are pretty much hilarious in
their bargain basement futuristic style. The acting is suitably wooden and
the dialogue's stilted as well ... so yeah, the film's tons of fun, and if
you like cheap and cheesy 1950's space operas, this one's nothing short of
a must-see!
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find Queen of Outer Space at adultvideouniverse.com
