| Queen of Outer Space | |
|---|---|
Film poster |
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| Directed by | Edward Bernds |
| Produced by | Ben Schwalb |
| Written by | Outline: Ben Hecht Screenplay: Charles Beaumont |
| Starring | Zsa Zsa Gabor Laurie Mitchell Eric Fleming |
| Music by | Marlin Skiles |
| Cinematography | William P. Whitley |
| Editing by | William Austin |
| Distributed by | Allied Artists Pictures |
| Release date(s) | September 7, 1958 |
| Running time | 80 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Queen of Outer Space is a 1958 American CinemaScope science fiction feature film starring Zsa Zsa Gabor, Eric Fleming, and Laurie Mitchell in a tale about a revolt against a cruel Venusian queen. The screenplay by Charles Beaumont was based on an outline supplied by Ben Hecht. The film was directed by Edward Bernds, has been broadcast on television, and has been released to VHS and DVD.
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Capt. Patterson (Eric Fleming) and his space crew (Dave Willock, Patrick Waltz, and Paul Birch) crash land on Venus and are captured. They learn the planet is under the dictatorship of cruel Queen Yllana (Laurie Mitchell), a masked woman who has banished men from the planet. In the palace, the astronauts are aided by a beautiful courtier named Talleah (Zsa Zsa Gabor) and her friends (Lisa Davis, Barbara Darrow, and Marilyn Buferd). The women long for the love of men again and plot to overthrow the evil Queen. When Patterson has the opportunity to remove the Queen's mask, he discovers she has been horribly disfigured by radiation burns caused by men and their wars. In a fury, the Queen decides to destroy Earth and its warlike peoples but she dies in the attempt. The Venusians are free again to enjoy the love of men.
Cast includes Guy Prescott as Col. Ramsey (uncredited), Gerry Gaylor as Base commander, Ralph Gamble as Officer in anteroom (uncredited), and Joi Lansing as an astronaut's girlfriend (uncredited). Venusians are played by Tania Velia, Norma Young, Marjorie Durant, Brandy Bryan, Ruth Lewis, and June McCall.
The Three Stooges and The Bowery Boys director Edward Bernds recalled that after famed producer Walter Wanger was released from prison for shooting agent Jennings Lang in the groin for having an affair with his wife Joan Bennett, Wanger could only find work at Allied Artists. In 1952 Wanger brought a ten page idea for a screenplay by Ben Hecht called Queen of the Universe that was a satirical look at a planet run by women. Several years later, with the idea of science fiction films being more common, Allied Artists revived the project with Wanger replaced on the film by Ben Schwalb who was then producing the Bowery Boys films. Screenwriter Charles Beaumont didn't think there was much in the Hecht screenplay, but Schwalb suggested spoofing the idea and had former Three Stooges screenwriter Ellwood Ullman touch up Beaumont's screenplay.[1] Allied Artists retitled the film Queen of Outer Space as they thought the original title sounded more like a beauty pageant.[1]
The film recycled many ideas such as a planet ruled by women from other science fiction films of the era as Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, Cat-Women of the Moon (both 1953) and the British Fire Maidens from Outer Space (1955). Queen of Outer Space also recycled many props and costumes, most prominently the C-57D crewmen's uniforms and Altaira's wardrobe from Forbidden Planet (1956),[2] models, sets, and special effects from Bernds's World Without End (1956), the usual stock footage of a V-2 and a rocketship model used by The Bowery Boys in Paris Playboys (1954) that was co-written by Bernds and Ullman. The facial makeup of the deformed Queen strongly resembles the effect of being hit by a pie thrown by The Three Stooges.
^ p. 169 Keep Watching the Skies: Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties, Vol. II, 1958-1962 McFarland 1982