Mars Needs Women (1968)

I was born in Dallas and lived there 50 years. I am almost certain that this movie was filmed entirely in Dallas and a suburb: Richardson. The opening "Space Center" scene was filmed in the Antenna Bldg. at Collins Radio. I worked on the various computers and tape drives depicted in that scene. I worked there in 1973 after it was sold to Rockwell International. The airport scene was at Dallas Love Field (with a man reading the Houston Chronicle). Additional footage was shot at the Southland Ice Plant at White Rock Lake, where they made ice for "7-11" convenience stores, Southern Methodist University Homecoming game (Homecoming Queen was an abductee), Dallas Fair Park (Planetarium, Lagoon, and Science Bldg.), Gypsy Room on Harry Hines Blvd., and the Southland Life Bldg. in downtown Dallas.

Five Martian men arrive at Earth and politely ask if they might acquire five female volunteers to save their dying race. Naturally, the emotionally overwrought cavemen in charge of the US military cannot consider anything as outlandish as that. Permit five American gals to do something as unconventional as volunteer to save an ancient civilization, thereby achieving something infinitely more noble than what their Earthly futures as wives and strippers might offer? Hell no!Therefore the Martians are left with no alternative than to abduct some women, though I daresay a couple of them are charming enough to have a shot at convincing them to volunteer even without the blessings of the patriarchy.Hidden amidst the scenes of wall-mounted speakers, stock footage, college football games, and strip shows, we get a genuinely effective scene wherein Tommy Kirk rescues a planetarium show by musing aloud about Mars and its civilization. To its credit, his speech accurately reflects what little was known (or believed) about Mars at that time.Finally, this movie features Yvonne Craig, whose appearance makes up for any weaknesses in the special effects.

When I first heard that "Mars Needs Women," in the 1967 TV movie of the same name, I must confess that my initial reaction was "Big deal. Who doesn't? Get in line. The line starts here!" But after seeing how serious and high-minded the quintet of Martian abductors in this film was, how peaceful and desirous of screening their potential victims, how they use hypnosis rather than violence to achieve their ends and save their dying planet...well, I grew a bit more sympathetic. Rather than trying to pick up women for the fun of it, these Martian dudes (who look just like us, by the way, especially after they steal some suits and ties and remove their antennaed helmets) literally have a world at stake when they go out and try to get lucky. We watch the five as they each go after a stewardess, a homecoming queen, a painter, a stripper (played by the appropriately named "Bubbles" Cash), and a lady scientist who's an expert on space sex (!). (I suppose each of the gals is expected to get pregnant around 1 million times!) This last is played by Yvonne Craig, who, in the mid-'60s, was responsible for tightening the manly hydraulics of many baby boomer boys, in her role as TV's Batgirl. Anyway, this film tries to be serious, but the dialogue is so stilted, the editing so inept, the acting so wooden, the stock footage so excessive, the FX so lousy and the pacing so draggy that it can't be regarded as anything but camp, and something of a labor to sit through. Somehow, though, unsatisfactory as the whole thing is, part of me liked it and found it almost touching; probably the part of me that understands how difficult it can be to meet suitable women, and the part that remembers lusting over Yvonne way back when. One final thing: The sound on the DVD that I just watched is pretty bad; you may want to turn up the volume on your sound system ALL the way before going in. And having a few beers beforehand, too!

****SPOILERS**** Far out story about a crew of five very human-looking Martians led by their captain Dop, Tommy Kirk, who land on Earth and gather five very attractive healthy and child-bearing young women. To bring back to Mars to help re-populate that dying planet due to the low birth-rate of females there. Called operation "Sleep Freeze" the Martians have just a few days to achieve their mission. I was prepared to get a few laughs watching the movie "Mars Needs Women" just by what it's title indicated but was surprised about just how serious and intelligent the movie was. "Mars Needs Women" is, I think, the first movie to ever even mention much less explain what DNA, Deoxyribonucleic Acid, is: The unique and individual blueprint of every single human and animal that ever lived on Earth. This in a movie released in 1967 when most people never even heard of DNA. The Martians abduct a number of women through their use of hypnosis, stewardesses exotic dancers and home-coming queens, to take with them back to Mars. Where the Martians there are desperately waiting for and eagerly wanting to impregnate them in order to save their dying race. Yeah thats all the Martians want from the young and shapely earthling. Having a good time making out with the beautiful young ladies never crossed their minds for one second. Dop falls in love with the woman that he's supposed to bring back to Mars with him the pretty as well as brilliant young Dr. Majorie Bolen, Yvonne Craig, who's a Pulitzer Prize winning author in the field of DNA and extra-terrestrial genetics. Dop has a change of heart at the end of the movie and scuttles the plan "Sleep Freeze" at the expense of his safety and well being back on Mars. The movie is much like another film about aliens who come to Earth to destroy it. Then one of them rescues the doomed Earthlings by giving up his life to save them like the plot in the movie "Teenagers from Outer Space".The movie "Mars Needs Women" is not what you might think it is, cheesy and erotic, but very serious and will surprise you in how ahead of it's time it is in the science of human DNA. How it makes up what we all are at a time when the word DNA was just three letters in the English alphabet in the minds of those who heard it.