Movie: (1968) A girl from a rural truck stop goes to Los Angeles to work as a go-go dancer, but soon gets involved with drug dealers.
First shown: April 18, 1999
Opening: Crow explains his WWBSMD bracelet; Pearl has evil plans
Intro: More bracelets; Pearl, seeking board certification from the Institute of Mad Scientists, impresses the visiting inspector
Host segment 1: Crow exacts petty, childish revenge on Mike
Host segment 2: Crow is shakin’ his moneymaker, much to Mike’s dismay
Host segment 3: Mike sings in the rain, causing much havoc
End: The movie has caused M&TB dress like the ugly thug in the movie and chuckle; this fails to impress the inspector — but Brain Guy does!
Stinger: “Oh, God, I wish I had that pretty mind back!”
(329 votes, average: 4.70 out of 5)
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• I have to put this one in the “good-not-great” category–despite some excellent riffing and host segments that are more funny than not–and the reason is the movie. This was our only real foray into the grimy, nasty world of director Ted V. Mikels, and once was enough. There are no real protagonists in this greasy little flick. Even Critter, who comes to despise the world he’s landed in, doesn’t seem to be trying very hard to break away. Even the dark and polluted world of “Manos” seems cheerful after this thing. Bleah.
• Paul’s thoughts are here.
• This episode is included in Rhino’s The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Vol. 4.
• Despite Paul’s concerns about the mad science story arc, this episode’s opening salvo is actually pretty funny. That’s Paul, of course, as the inspector.
• I love the “I want to give you a hump” bit. Bill plays it perfectly.
• Segment 1 works for me, entirely because of Servo, hand over mouth, going “Ohh!”
• It’s amusing (to me, at least) that beer afficianado Mike is drinking Coors. Maybe he thinks it’s only good for pouring onto bicycle seats?
• Host segment callback: “I didn’t mean to turn you on.”
• This print is chopped to shreds, so much so that it actually starts creating riff material, such as when Buz bilocates into a scene. “I’m back!”
• As a longtime fan of lileks.com, he’s taught me to notice when a movie suddenly becomes an unintentional documentary, as this one does when our trio arrives in 1967 L.A. and they drive around seeing the nighttime sights. I don’t know L.A. well, but I bet folks who do find it fascinating.
• I particularly like Servo’s lyrics about L.A. of that era: “Charles Manson is walkin’ the streets…”
• Speaking of that scene, I’m a collector of weird Christmas songs, and this movie has one: Larry Cartell’s “I’m a Lonely Cowboy Santa.”
• This is another movie that shows a night club with a GIANT space for the floor show. I assure you, real night clubs jammed every table onto the floor they could manage.
• You know that guy who plays Leo? He was married to Judy Garland for two years. I am not kidding.
• I do not want to know what sort of moneymaker Crow is shaking in segment 2.
• I really enjoy Crow’s exuberant dancing in the theater. Note that his arms move a bit!
• The musician who talks to Critter is Chris Howard, the composer of most of the songs in the movie. He seems embarrassed and he should be.
• Segment 3, with Mike singing “Oh, I Am Sad” (music by Mike, lyrics by Paul) as the ship catches fire, is hilarious. And by the way it’s only the first of several fires on the ship this season.
• Whoa! Slam on Lea Thompson outta nowhere!
• There’s a nice moment in the theater when Joanie yells “Get out!” and Crow promptly gets up and leaves.
• The bit in the theater where Mike produces a pool cue and begins playing pool is cute and kinda Joel-esque. Then he says he’s been saving the sight gag eight years. Hmm. Comments like that used to make the a certain faction of this show’s viewers very upset.
• Cast and crew roundup: Director Ted Mikels was also cinematographer for 1967’s “Catalina Caper.” (Makes sense, right?) Sound guy Sam Kopetsky also worked on “Eegah.” (Also follows.) In front of the camera: Jody Daniels was also in “Attack of the the Eye Creatures.”
• CreditsWatch: Directed by Kevin. Intern Nick Prueher returns for one more episode. Additional photography (whatever that means): Kevin Galligan. Prop assistant: Julia Pratt (in just this one episode–either she didn’t work out or she owned a very special prop).
• Fave riff: “Honey! Way to play the harmonica with your ass!” Honorable mention: “Suddenly I like the Allman Brothers!”
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JCC here (I need to stop using this trolling account). He sure does get done et! He falls off a ladder and becomes a dino snack by implication. They show it twice in the movie!
Gee, I’m sorry, but I just checked and it turns out you’re not the boss of me.
ADDENDUM: Just to be clear, I didn’t give bad wolf any orders (unless “try to understand” counts), so I’m allowed to take issue with you giving me an order.
Okay, then it was some other guy who was still alive later in the movie, I guess. Sorry for my error.
Really? Why, when it’s working so well?
One of my posts gets two likes, another three, a third only one, but there’s no pattern, no particular distinctions between posts, what does it all mean?
Eh, who cares.
Anyway, in case anyone’s at least faintly interested — those who can’t manage even that may easily cease reading at this point — Astro-Zombies combines our current film’s musical sets by having BONGOS played AT a night club. The dancer’s already almost completely nude, though, so no stripping as such proves to be necessary.
At least five actors from GIGB are confirmed to also appear in Astro-Zombies:
Tom “Buzz” Pace is again a main character, this time as federal agent Eric Porter, younger partner of Agent Holman (Wendell Corey). That’s right, not only is icky elf-boy a good guy this time, he’s stated to be smart enough to have successfully infiltrated a government-run research lab. He even has the female lead as his girlfriend. Go figure.
William Bagdad (Marty…the pseudo-beatnik who worked with Buzz, right?) has the plum role of Franchot, John Carradine’s lab assistant and quasi-Torgo (Carradin’s character is Dr. DeMarco, btw.). The Brains did too many (i.e. some) riffs based on Franchot’s bodily functions for my liking. They also took some mean-spirited jabs at Carradine’s age (“voicing” him a senile dodderer), again showcasing the bitter hostility, or hostile bitterness, that is IMHO becoming more prevalent at/in Rifftrax. Such is life.
Oh, and yes, Manhattan-born I-Can’t-Believe-He’s-Not-British-Guy John Carradine plays a character with an Italian name. Please deal.
;-)
Victor Izay, whom I don’t at all recall as Mr. Casey in GIGB (I’m not sure what scene such a minor yet named character would have appeared in), has the more noticeable role of Dr. Petrovitch, one of DeMarco’s former colleagues; it was his operation that Pace infiltrated, but he seems to be a good sport about that.
Rafael Compos, who played enemy agent Luis in Agent for H.A.R.M. (and wasn’t even credited for whatever role he played in GIGB; maybe he was at the party?), plays enemy agent (and scientific genius) Juan, the second main spy (from the same country as Luis? who knows?). He seems to have been a spy in a few other films too (maybe he was at the party to spy on someone). Perhaps he was the same guy every time (except when he died, I guess, although even then…). His fellow spy, Tura Satana, also appeared in Mikels’ Doll Squad, which would take its place in a theoretical 3 DVD set of riffed Mikels films — MST/Girl, Rif/Astro, Cinemat/Doll — if only the riffed version of it had been FILMED but, alas, ’twas not. Because it seems safe to presume that someone’s wondering: Tura Satana’s real name was Tura Luna Pascual Yamaguchi. “Pascual” is a Spanish name, btw, yet there she was, a Japanese-born woman having it in her name.
;-)
And Rod Wilmoth, an unidentified police officer in GIGB, actually lands a title role as one of two Astro-Zombies…neither of whom had dialogue and neither of whose faces we could see. He could still probably parlay that into some SF convention guest appearances if it weren’t for him being dead for forty-nine years this May. So it goes.
ADDENDUM:
Oops, my mistake, Agent Porter’s older partner is Agent Chuck Edwards played by Joseph Hoover. Probably no one would’ve noticed my error if I hadn’t said anything but, darn it, I have standards that I make a sincere effort to live by.
“William Bagdad (Marty…the pseudo-beatnik who worked with Buzz, right?) has the plum role of Franchot, John Carradine’s lab assistant and quasi-Torgo (Carradin’s character is Dr. DeMarco, btw.)”
Nope, William Bagdad played greasy Leo’s greasy henchman (who was greasy).
“Victor Izay, whom I don’t at all recall as Mr. Casey in GIGB (I’m not sure what scene such a minor yet named character would have appeared in), has the more noticeable role of Dr. Petrovitch, one of DeMarco’s former colleagues; it was his operation that Pace infiltrated, but he seems to be a good sport about that.”
Mr Casey was Michelle’s drunken dad who was the short-order cook at Eat.
Eh I just wanted to scoop up the username so you’d have to do something longer or different – petty, but mission accomplished on my end! Besides you’ve got enough dumb troll posts in you to cover the entire MSTie online community.
Okay. Thanks. And thanks. :-)
So, anyone else around here seen Astro-Zombies (riffed or otherwise)?
There’s a community? All these years I’m living in a community, I had no idea…
Anyway, okay, so you’re not THAT Eric, you’re the other one, the one who isn’t him, that’s clearer now. Thanks.
And what have we learned??? Well, thanks to the link by “bartcow” in his/her previous post, THIS disturbing little nugget of knowledge:
“But by far the MOST interesting thing about Mark Herron (club owner “Leo McCabe”) is the fact that at the of the making of Girl in Gold Boots, he was married to super duper movie/music star Judy Garland! He was her fourth husband, and their marriage lasted from November 1965 to January 1969. They broke off the marriage when she discovered that he was gay, and apparently having an affair with her daughter Liza Minnelli’s boyfriend and later husband.
Oh boy.”
Oh boy, INDEED !!
Also, if anybody’s interested in what Leslie McRay (“Michele Casey”) is up to these days, take a look at these:
http://www.inmag.com/film/day-of-miracles.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8I9wbt8PBg (She’s the woman with the red hair, seen holding the microphone in the different interviews, in particular, at the 2:12 mark….)
Delete yo… oh wait. Not you. You’re the good one.
You. Delete your account.
Nah, if he deleted his account, he’d just start a new one, with a name we didn’t recognize. Then it would be at least 45 minutes before we figured it out.
TOTALLY WAY-OFF TOPIC
A new edition of a book I’ve mentioned before (again, please be aware that the author does not like MST3K because he’s a champion of un-riffed b-movies, but he only mentions the show about a half-dozen times in well over 900 pages). Anyone want to pinpoint the MST3K familiar faces (or the equivalent) on the cover? :-)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0786442301/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Is that edition actually “new”? The cover looks identical to a copy I’ve had on my bookshelf for years. I wonder if Warren has updated it further (without the publisher shelling out for new cover art – to be fair, it’s got EXCELLENT cover art).
Warren wrote for Fangoria for years. I like his stuff, and I think Watch the Skies! is pretty much essential reading for anyone who has affection for ’50s sci fi movies.
Well, *I* hadn’t heard about it until recently, anyway. :-| It’s new since the last time I mentioned the book, anyway.
(checks)
Oh, I see, the PAPERBACK version’s relatively new, 2016, and it didn’t occur to me to compare publication dates. Oddly, the paperback is more expensive than the hardcover, when the opposite is more often the case.
ADDENDUM:
Here’s a somewhat better look at the cover art (although without the fleeing couple from the cover’s lower right corner). At least seven MST3K alumni are in the crowd.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4s9iUt8ykOY/VLX2_tpdOOI/AAAAAAAAEGg/yiomE84-6_k/s1600/KeepWatching.jpg
Someone tell Mike that he’s supposed to hit the cue ball, not the ones he was aiming at. Of course, it looked like the cue ball was on the extreme left of the shot, so he would have had to step past Tom in order to reach it.