Queen of Outer Space



The quintessential space-explorers-discover-a-planet-inhabited-entirely-by-beautiful-women 1950s B Movie (see also Cat-Women of the Moon, Fire Maidens from Outer Space, Missile to the Moon).

Capt. Neal Patterson (Eric Fleming) and his space crew of Lt. Mike Cruze (Dave Willock), Lt. Larry Turner (Patrick Waltz) and Prof. Konrad (Paul Birch) leave on a mission to do something pertaining to a station. Upon arrival, however, they witness the station being destroyed by a mysterious ray. They are then caught in the ray themselves, and crash land on Venus. Setting out into the jungle, the four are beset upon by minidress-clad beautiful women armed with rayguns. They are taken to the palace of tyrannical Queen Yllana (Laurie Mitchell), and thrown in prison, where they are given the scoop; in the midst of a nuclear war between Venus and a planet called 'Mordor' (no, really), Yllana led an uprising in which she wrested control of the planet from men and banished said men to Venus's moon (not that Venus has a moon). She believes that the astronauts are spies gathering intelligence for an attack on Venus by Earth, and plans to destroy Earth with the same ray that destroyed the space station. Luckily for the men, it seems that there's a rebel faction, lead by Talleah (who is played by Zsa Zsa Gabor), who long for the return of the company of men and are thus plotting to depose Yllana, and are willing to aid them.

A copious amount of the props and costumes in this film are recycled from Forbidden Planet.

Joi Lansing has an uncredited role as the Earth girlfriend of one of the astronauts.

This film provides examples of:

 * Aliens Speaking English: Venusians speaking English!
 * Artistic License Physics: Apparently, a planet's size determines the breathability of its atmosphere.
 * B Movie
 * Big Creepy Crawlies: Some creature that looks like a cross between a beetle and a spider ambushes one of the astronauts in a cave.
 * Butter Face: Yllana.
 * Camp
 * Does Not Like Men: Yllana.
 * Gendercide: Venus' men have been imprisoned for the crime of maleness.
 * God Save Us From the Queen
 * La Résistance
 * Lady Land
 * Lampshade Hanging/Hand Wave: One of the astronauts comments briefly on the fact that Venus was thought to have unbearable pressure and temperature.
 * Space Clothes: Minidresses and high heels. Such a likely choice of clothes in a society with no men. And such a practical choice of clothes for traipsing around in jungles and swamps.
 * What We Now Know to Be True: "Isn't Venus's atmosphere unbreathable?" "Yes, I formulated those theories myself. Obviously I was wrong."