Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women * (1968, Mamie Van Doren, Mary Marr, Paige Lee) – Classic Movie Review 4859

Following Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965), the ever enterprising producer Roger Corman squeezed a second sci-fi movie out of cannibalising the 1962 Soviet film Planeta Bur.

The 1968 American science fiction film Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women is one of two films adapted from the 1962 Soviet sci-fi film Planeta Bur [Planet of Storms] for Roger Corman. The Soviet film was scripted by Alexander Kazantsev from his novel and directed by Pavel Klushantsev. The American adaptation was made by Peter Bogdanovich, who chose not to be credited, and includes 10 minutes of American-made scenes starring Mamie Van Doren and several other blondes to play Women of Venus.

Peter Bogdanovich made the adaptation but decided not to have his name credited on the film, with his American-made principal scenes starring Mamie Van Doren as Moana. He said he did not claim credit because ‘such a small piece of it is mine’. He is credited as Derek Thomas.

Also in the cast are Mary Marr as Verba, Paige Lee as Twyla, Gennadi Vernov as Astronaut Andre Freneau, Margot Hartman as Mayaway, Irene Orton as Meriama, Pam Helton as Wearie and Frankie Smith as Woman of Venus.

The film had a limited American release through American International Pictures (AIP) but is best known as a so-bad-it’s good favourite on cable TV, home video and the internet.

In the plot, astronauts land on Venus to explore the planet not realizing that they could be exploring sexy Venusian woman Moana Mary Marr (Mamie Van Doren) and the other local women. The astronauts kill a pterodactyl creature worshipped by the women, who try but fail to kill the astronauts by their superhuman powers. The astronauts escape the planet, and their robot, damaged by a volcanic fire, becomes the women’s new god!

Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965) with Basil Rathbone and Faith Domergue is the other film that Roger Corman made from Planeta Bur.

The DVD cover credits Bogdanovich, who recalls: ‘Planeta Bur was a Russian science-fiction film that Roger Corman had called Storm Clouds of Venus that he had dubbed into English. Corman came to him and said: “Would you shoot some footage with some women? AIP won’t buy it unless we stick some women in it.”

‘So I figured out a way to work some women in it and shot for five days, and we cut it in. I narrated it, because nobody could make heads or tails of it. Roger wouldn’t let me add any sound. It was just a little cheap thing we did, and people think I directed it when I really only directed 10 minutes of it.’

He said that people did not understand the film and its new sequences so he added the narration. He decided ‘the best looking one’ of the astronauts should narrate the film. Bogdanovich wrote the narration and voiced it, taking his sole credit.

He hired Mamie Van Doren and several other blondes to play Venusians ‘because I thought everyone should be blonde on Venus. I dressed them up in rubber suits, bottoms only and put shells over their breasts. I had them traipsing around Leo Carillo Beach shooting inserts that might relate to Venus.’ He gave the girl characters South Sea movie names because ‘it seemed right’.

The cast are Mamie Van Doren as Moana, Mary Marr as Verba, Paige Lee as Twyla, Gennadi Vernov (as Aldo Romani) as Astronaut, Andre Freneau (archive footage), Margot Hartman as Mayaway, Irene Orton as Meriama, Pam Helton as Wearie, Frankie Smith as Woman of Venus, Georgiy Teykh (as James David) as Capt. Alfred Kern, Judy Cowart as Woman of Venus, Vladimir Yemelyanov (as Roberto Martelli) as Cmdr. William ‘Billy’ Lockhart (archive footage), Robin Smith as Woman of Venus, Cathie Reimer as Woman of Venus, Yuriy Sarantsev (as Ralph Phillips) as Astronaut Howard Sherman (archive footage), Georgi Zhzhyonov (as Murray Gerard) as Astronaut Hans Walters (archive footage), Adele Valentine as Woman of Venus, and Peter Bogdanovich as Narrator (voice).

Mamie Van Doren launches her wine brand in 2007.

Mamie Van Doren (born Joan Lucille Olander on 6 February 1931) is perhaps best remembered for the rock ‘n’ roll, juvenile delinquency, exploitation movie Untamed Youth (1957). Here she is at the launch of her wine brand in 2007.

The complete movie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUAx5C0CO7A

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 4859

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com