Mars Needs Women
| Mars Needs Women | |
|---|---|
DVD cover
|
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| Directed by | Larry Buchanan |
| Produced by | Larry Buchanan |
| Written by | Larry Buchanan |
| Starring |
Tommy Kirk Yvonne Craig Patrick Cranshaw |
| Narrated by | Larry Buchanan |
| Music by | Ronald Stein |
| Cinematography | Robert Jessup |
| Edited by | Larry Buchanan |
|
Production
company |
Azalea Pictures
|
| Distributed by | American International Television |
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Release date
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Running time
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80 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20,000 (estimate) |
Mars Needs Women is a 1967 independently made American science fiction film from Azalea Pictures, produced, written, and directed by self-proclaimed artist/auteur Larry Buchanan, that stars Tommy Kirk, Yvonne Craig, and Byron Lord. The film was syndicated directly to television by American International Pictures without a theatrical release.
A U. S. military station in Houston, TX, the United States Decoding Service (U.S.D.S.), NASA Wing, has intercepted a message from outer space. After decoding, the message contains only the cryptic statement:
"Mars ... Needs ... Women"
Martians have developed a genetic deficiency that now produces only male children. A mission to Earth is launched, consisting of five Martian males, led by Dop (Tommy Kirk). Once here their team intends to recruit Earth women to come to Mars in order to mate and produce female offspring, saving their civilization from extinction. Using their sophisticated transponder, Dop attempts to make contact with the U. S. military, who have now tracked the aliens' arrival on Earth.
The military eventually views the Martians as invaders, so the team takes on the guise of Earth men, acquiring human clothes, money, maps, and transportation. They finally select their prospective candidates, setting their sights on four American women: a homecoming queen, a stewardess, a stripper, and, most especially, a Pulitzer Prize-winning scientist, Dr. Bolen (Yvonne Craig), an expert in "space genetics". Resorting to hypnosis, the women are captured, but Dop quickly becomes enamored with Dr. Bolen; soon he is ready to sabotage their mission for her. After the military discover their hideout, the Martians are forced to return home without their female captives.
Mars still needs women.
Main roles and screen credits:
John Ashley, who had just made The Eye Creatures (1965) for Buchanan, says he was meant to play the lead role but got busy on another project and Tommy Kirk then stepped in.
Kirk called the film "undoubtedly one of the stupidest motion pictures ever made. How I got talked into it, I don't know".
Kirk had previously played a Martian seeking Earth women in AIP's Pajama Party (1964). He had made his mark as a Disney child star, but after being fired, was hoping to revive his career with Mars Needs Women treating it as a serious project, to the extent of rewriting some of his dialogue. Reportedly, Buchanan allowed Kirk to create his own soliloquy for his scene in a planetarium (at Dallas Fair Park) as he explains that his world is dying.
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