The Mole People
| The Mole People | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Virgil W. Vogel |
| Written by | László Görög |
| Produced by | William Alland |
| Starring | John Agar Hugh Beaumont Cynthia Patrick |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures Company |
Release dates | USA: 1956 and 1964 (re-release); Finland: 1957 |
| Budget | $200,000 |
The Mole People is a 1956 science fiction film directed by Virgil W. Vogel.
Plot
The film begins with a narration by Dr. Frank Baxter, an English professor at the University of Southern California, explaining the premise of the movie and its basis in reality. He briefly discusses the hollow earth theories of John Symmes and Cyrus Teed among others, and says that the movie is a fictionalized representation of this unorthodox point-of-view.
In this movie, archaeologists John Agar and Hugh Beaumont stumble upon a race of Sumerian albinos living deep under the Earth. They keep mutant humanoid mole men as their slaves to harvest mushrooms, their primary food source, since they can grow without sunlight. The Sumerian albinos' ancestors moved into the subterranean after the cataclysmic floods in ancient Mesopotamia. Whenever their population increases, they sacrifice old people to the Eye of Ishtar, which is really natural light coming from the surface. These people have lived underground for so long that they are weakened by bright light which the archaeologists brought in the form of a flashlight. However, there is one girl who has natural Caucasian skin who is disdained by the others. They believe the men are messengers of Ishtar, their goddess.
When one of the archaeologists is killed by a mole Person, Elinor, the High Priest realizes they are not gods. He orders their capture and takes the flashlight to control the Mole People, not knowing it is depleted. The archaeologists are then sent to the Eye just as the Mole People rebel. The girl goes to the Eye only to realize its true nature and the men had survived. They then leave for the surface. Unfortunately, the girl dies after reaching the surface, when an earthquake causes a column to fall over and crush her.
Characters
Elinor the High Priest, played by Alan Napier, who was also Alfred on the Batman television show, is the leader of the Sumerians in the movie while one of the heroes is played by Hugh Beaumont who went on to play Ward Cleaver.
Trivia
The movie may have been inspired by the 1951 film Superman and the Mole Men.
In Other Media
This film was parodied on the television show Mystery Science Theater 3000.
A clip from this movie was used in the 1960s film The Wild World of Batwoman, as creatures created by one of the movie's villains. This use was itself parodied on Mystery Science Theater 3000, with Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo mocking the classic slogan for Reese's Peanut Butter cups followed by Mike Nelson imitating the film's villain, proclaiming "That's enough of THAT film."
In the Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder episode of the animated television series The Simpsons when Homer bungee-jumps underground one of the races he comes across (along with Morlocks and C.H.U.D.s) is the Mole people, represented as an in-joke by a recurring character named Hans Moleman. Hans exclaims "There is no escape from the fortress of the Moles" upon which Homer immediately escapes as the cord snaps him back. However Hans Moleman and his people are actually dressed up like the Albino enslavers from the film, NOT the actual mole creatures.