Women of the Prehistoric Planet
| Women of the Prehistoric Planet | |
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One-sheet for Women of the Prehistoric Planet
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| Directed by | Arthur C. Pierce |
| Produced by | George Edwards |
| Written by | Arthur C. Pierce |
| Starring |
Wendell Corey Keith Larsen John Agar Paul Gilbert Merry Anders Stuart Margolin Todd Lasswell Irene Tsu |
| Music by | Gordon Zahler |
| Cinematography | Archie R. Dalzell |
| Edited by | George White |
| Distributed by | Realart Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Women of the Prehistoric Planet is a 1966 American science fiction/action film directed by Arthur C. Pierce and starring John Agar. It was featured in the first season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in 1989.
A spacefaring crew from an advanced civilization is preparing to return home after an extended voyage. The crew includes "humans" (represented in the film by Caucasian actors and actresses) and "Centaurians" (represented in the film by Asian actors and actresses). The Centaurians have been rescued from their home planet after a catastrophic event, not explained in the movie, has devastated their planet. They are being brought back with the spacefaring explorers with an expectation that they will be assimilated into their new parent culture. One of the ships in the fleet is hijacked by a few of its Centaurian passengers and crash-lands on a prehistoric planet in the "Solaris" system. Countermanding orders, the rest of the fleet returns to search for survivors after the crash. In the film's "twist", by the time that the rescuers (traveling at fast sublight speeds) are able to return to the planet, they are encountering the descendants of the original crash survivors - explained in a simplified version of time dilation. Linda, a Centaurian from the rescue ship, falls in love with Tang after he saves her from drowning. After fighting with the planet's indigenous species (1960s-era special effects including giant iguanas meant to represent dinosaurs), Tang and Linda are marooned on the prehistoric planet - the latter revealed to be the captain's own daughter. In the film's coda, this savage and primitive planet is revealed to be the Earth.
Race relations are the movie's overarching theme, although the movie's approach to the subject has been criticized.
"... a blatant social commentary on race relations (from a mid-60s point of view). Even though the screenplay tries to preach fairness, some of the subtle signals send contradictory messages. The crew members of the Cosmos are portrayed as superior. The Centaurians as inferior. The crew are clearly all-white. They dress in tidy white uniforms with snappy cravats. They are in control, follow orders, and are concerned for others. The Centaurians are "rustic," (and all played by asians) Their outfits are sleeveless. Their men are hotheads and trouble makers. (their women are nice, though). Even the "progressive" notion of Tang being the mixed-race son of a "white" and a Centaurian, is undermined by his apparent comfort at being a cave man. Subtle signal: "They" are savages at heart.
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Wikipedia