Starring: Donna Martell, Ross Ford, Hayden Rourke, Larry Johns, Herb Jacobs, Barbara Morrison. Writer: Robert Heinlein, Jack Seaman. Producer: Jack Seaman. Director: Richard Talmadge. Released in 1953.
Commando Cody – Starring: George Wallace, Aline Towne, Roy Barcroft, William Bakewell. Writer: Ronald Davidson. Producer: Franklin Adreon. Director: Fred C. Bannon. Released in 1952.
Original air date: January 16, 1990
Ahh, the 1970s. Who knew it would be so futuristic, according to the world of “Project Moonbase.” We’ve obviously regressed 40 years later because they had Frisbee-like space stations, magnetic gravity boots, and even Moon bases, along with hot pants and disco! What happened? And according to the film, women have made the great leap towards commanding officers and positions of respect. But that doesn’t mean you can’t talk down to them and threaten a good spanking now and again.
Welcome to the weird, sexist, yet progressive, world of “Project Moonbase” – a movie filmed in the 1950s, back when people thought human beings would make astounding technological advances in only a few years. The 1960s were guilty of this, as well. The world of “2001: A Space Odyssey” is still years and years away. At least “Star Trek” took place hundreds of years in the future.
Here’s a film that easily opens itself up to ridicule and Joel and the robots do not disappoint in that regard. This Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode has some of the sharpest and most frequent riffing of the first season and nearly fits alongside the excellence of future seasons.
But “Project Moonbase” is not a long film. So we get two chapters in the ever repetitive “Commando Cody and the Radar Men from the Moon.” The Republic serial is so formulaic right now it doesn’t bear much explanation. In Chapter 7, “Camouflaged Destruction,” Cody and his rocket pack chase the Moon Men’s henchmen across the California countryside. But the baddies have a ray gun and try to shoot Cody and Ted down in their plane. These short films really wore on the writers after a while, but they seem to have picked up the riffs this time around. Instead of being a bore, there are some funny moments. For instance, when the henchmen are just sitting around, smoking cigarettes, Joel impersonates one of the guys asking, “Ever kissed a dog? I mean, right on the mouth?” Where do they come up with that? And when Ted keeps answering the plane’s radio calls asking “Who is it,” Joel (impersonating Cody) yells “It’s me! It’s always going to be me!”
Chapter 8, “The Enemy Planet,” has Cody and the gang traveling back to the Moon to stop the invasion. Cody and Ted sneak into the Moon base to get more information. For some reason, the sound of doors opening and closing resembles, well, farts. Servo as Ted: “I’m not sorry for that one. That felt wonderful!”
And that’s the theme for this episode, bountiful fart jokes. Scatological humor can get old real quick, as it does in later seasons, but here it works. Not only does “Cody” have its fair share of odd sound effects, but so does “Project Moonbase.” Cracks on dehydrated ice cream, holding it in and, “Ooh, that one set off the fire alarm” (Servo) abound.
But it’s not all flatulence. The film itself is funny enough. In the 1970s – The Future! – the United States has built a space station and are planning on colonizing the Moon to keep space safe from its enemies on Earth. A rogue nation, never explicitly identified, wants to destroy the station, so they plant an agent on a space mission. Meanwhile, Col. Breiteis (Donna Martell), pronounced “Bright Eyes,” leads a trip around the Moon for surveying. This ticks off Maj. Bill Moore (Ross Ford), because he used to date the colonel and she’s a woman leading the mission. My God! A woman!
Breiteis doesn’t help her image by appearing on screen and bitching right off the bat about Maj. Moore. Martell plays this leader of men as whiny and spoiled, hardly good behavior for a commanding officer. Even General “Pappy” Greene (Hayden Rorke) points this out and threatens to bend her over his knee and spank her. We’ve come a long way, folks! Of course, Joel and the bots have a field day with this. “He’s so military. I bet he gives good spankings,” Joel says at one point.
This film is unintentionally funny, too. Liftoff has crewmembers plastered to their seats, screaming and making funny faces. The joy of space travel. The special effects were clearly done on a small budget. (“That’s one small step for special effects, one giant leap for the imagination,” Crow remarks). And then there’s the big, bombastic woman reporter who scares the hell out of Joel and the bots. “She enters a room like a float,” Servo says.
Eventually in the film, the crew flies around the Moon, but is sabotaged by the spy. The survivors, Col. Breiteis and Maj. Moore, discover they’ll be spending some time on the Moon as they await rescue. Because of this, Gen. Greene suggests the two marry. It’ll be good for morale and the “papers,” he says. Of course, the general kicks Breiteis out of the room so he can have a man-to-man conversation with Maj. Moore via a view screen. That’s right. Woman shouldn’t be involved in life-altering conversations. It’s obvious the flame is still there for our two space travelers, so they tie the knot in the end. Wonderful.
The sexism in the film is counteracted by having a woman play the President of the United States. That’s one progressive ideal, as that has yet to happen. She congratulates the new couple via the view screen. Of course, Crow has to throw this in: “No, no, no. Put the President on, not his wife.”
A little tidbit of info here: “Project Moonbase” was originally supposed to be a TV series titled “Ring Around the Moon,” with this adventure as the pilot episode. The networks didn’t think the idea of a bickering husband and wife team settling the Moon would be a big hit, so they turned the episode into a movie. Also, famed science fiction author Robert Heinlein (“Starship Troopers”) wrote this. Not one of his better efforts, but critics point out it’s right in his style, thanks to the rampant sexism disguised among progressive achievements.
As the riffs improve, so do the performances in the theater. The bots move around more in their seats instead of being inanimate objects. And Joel uses props more and more. In the “Cody” chapters, he holds up large “Oof” and “Pow” cutouts during a fistfight. In “Project Moonbase,” Joel holds up cue cards during a long-winded, complicated discussion by Gen. Greene on space travel. The gags work surprisingly well.
The sketches are also decent. The invention exchanges aren’t as good as past episodes; Joel juggles water and the Mads invent the Insect-a-Sketch. At one point, Servo and Crow argue about who gets to play Cody with Joel, the three display neck ties of the future (very funny), and they also spoof an infomercial. And in keeping with “Project Moonbase’s” gravity boots, the robots read letters from the viewer’s upside down.
Overall, a successful episode, and one the show’s creators didn’t mind being shown alongside future episodes during MST3K marathons. javascript:void(0)
Rating: ***
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