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MST3K 803 - The Mole People

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“ "It's a civilization of elderly great-aunts." ”
- Tom Servo


This article is about Episode 803. For the Mads' Mole People assistants, see Gerry and Sylvia.

The Movie

Synopsis

MST3k- John Agar in The Mole People

The Mole People

A narration by Dr. Frank Baxter, an English professor at the University of Southern California, explains 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 these unorthodox theories.

Archaeologists Dr. Roger Bentley and Dr. Jud Bellamin find 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 mushrooms can grow without sunlight. The Sumerian albinos' ancestors relocated into the subterranean after 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 named Adad who has natural Caucasian skin who is disdained by the others since she has the "mark of darkness." They believe the men are messengers of Ishtar, their goddess.

TheMolePeople1

The Mole People of The Mole People

When one of the archaeologists is killed by a mole person, Elinu 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. Adad goes to the Eye only to realize its true nature and that the men had survived. They then leave for the surface. Unfortunately, Adad dies after reaching the surface, when an earthquake causes a column to fall over and crush her. [1]

Information

  • The original ending had Bentley and Adal blithely strolling away together, headed for wedded bliss. The studio insisted that a new ending be shot two weeks after filming was completed because they were reluctant to imply an interracial relationship (as Adal was a Sumerian).
  • The humps for the mole people were created by stuffing newspapers into the the backs of the actors' costumes.
  • Shot in 17 Days.
  • This movie was the inspiration for The Dickies' song "Attack of the Molemen".
  • The intro by Dr. Frank Baxter was intended to lend some semblance of credibility to the movie, though Baxter was an English professor.
  • This film stars three performers from previous films- John Agar and Nestor Paiva were also seen in Revenge of the Creature. Hugh Beaumont had appeared with Agar and Cesar Romero in Lost Continent.
  • Clips of The Mole People likewise appear in The Wild Wild World of Batwoman, which aired as a prior experiment.

The Episode

Host Segments

Molepeople2

Tom tries to play guitar

Prologue: Crow claims he's a space child because he has replaced his normal inanimate eyes with glowing balls. His "Supreme Leader" orders him to enslave Mike, Tom and Gypsy, but he can't get it together and naturally, they remain un-enslaved.

Funnyimpression-0

Mike's "funny" impression

Segment One: It's Lawgiver Daze! Pearl Forrester forces her simian charges to honor her with a celebration and parade. Professor Bobo, uncomfortable doing any of it, ends up kneeling before her begging to be killed. The S.O.L. is ordered to make baked goods for the event. Servo makes a variety of similar-looking but differently-named folded pastries. Crow makes a mile-high meringue pie that is actually a mile high. He climbs up to slice the pie for Mike, but loses his balance and falls one mile down, landing painfully.

Segment Two: Mike dresses up as the "Gesture Professor", a character from The Mole People. The 'Bots have to talk Mike down to the point where he's trying to give a little levity and then he gets "jumped all over". He then finally apologizes to them about the skit. (Mike: "We'll be right— [into character] —down, down, down...–"
Crow & Servo: [O.S.] "Mike!")

Molepeople3

Special guest star Robert Smith (or "Howard")

Segment Three: Tom tries to play the mandolin and sing a ballad about what he’s been up to for the past five hundred years, but cannot properly tune the instrument. After getting the tune right, Tom then does proceed to his song, only to have one of the mandolin strings snapping and hitting Mike's eye. Tom finally gives up shortly before Movie Sign.

Segment Four: Crow, the archeologist, searches for evidence of a previous Crow and has a breakthrough. As Mike talks it out with Crow's 500-year loneliness, he goes through a short state of realization and suddenly remembers Mike. (Crow: [O.S.] Get me a spot, will you!?)

Segment Five: Crow believes there’s life beneath the floorboards of the SOL, and he’s right. (Mike: "Well, we better call Orkin!") On Earth, the Lawgiver is presented with a hunky gift - a speechless human named Howard.

Stinger: Nestor Paiva reaches his limit

Guest Stars

Trivia

  • The 1st host segment features the first of several instances where Crow falls from a great height.
  • Features a special guest star: Robert Smith, a star running back of the Minnesota Vikings. Celebrity guests were extremely rare during the original run of MST3K (see also Leonard Maltin).

Running Jokes

  • Referring to Lafarge exclusively as "the load."
  • Mike's "Going down, down, down..." and the Bots telling him to stop.
  • "...Pilgrim."
  • How Bentley (John Agar) supposedly never stops talking.
  • Adad appears to be playing a banjo. Servo substitutes hillbilly music accordingly.
  • The albino guys being compared to elves, or Smurfs or other small races.

Quotes & References

  • "It's a jump to the left."

​A reference to the song "The Time Warp", in which one chorus presents the instructions to the dance given by the Criminologist in his office at his desk. (It should be noted as well as the character of The Criminologist in The Rocky Horror Picture Show is itself a reference to heavy-handed narrators in old sci-fi movies like this guy.)

  • "Oh, these are the people who make that nice Mexican sauce!"

​Molé sauce (or simply molé --- "molé sauce" is redundant) is a concoction made from peppers, spices, and unsweetened chocolate. Molé comes in a myriad of varieties.

  • "Mike, I don't love you anymore because the mountains are crumbling [possibly mumbled: 'into the sea'?]"

Could be a reference to the Led Zeppelin song "Thank You" ("If the mountains should crumble to the sea, there would still be you and me.") which in itself is probably a reference to the Ben E. King song "Stand By Me" which also talks of mountains crumbling into the seas.

  • "Oh, Pilate's favorite! What I wouldn't give to be spat upon!"

Paraphrase of "Ohh! What wouldn't I give to be spat at in the face! I sometimes hang awake at night dreaming of being spat at in the face." from Monty Python's Life of Brian.

  • "Earthquake, shut up already, damn!"

A parody of the song "Housequake" from Prince's 1987 album Sign 'O' the Times.

  • "It's baby Jessica! She's digging her own way out!"

A reference to Jessica McClure, a toddler who was trapped in a well in Midland, TX on Oct. 14, 1987.

  • "Thank you, Hannah Arendt."

Hannah Arendt was a political philosopher who books were largely concerned with totalitarianism.  She is chiefly remembered for her coverage of the trial of Adolf Eichmann for war crimes, during which she coined the phrase "the banality of evil".

Memorable Quotes

[The film begins with an introduction from Professor Frank C. Baxter of the University of Southern California.]
Baxter: This is science fiction of course. It's a fiction, it's a fable.
Mike: It's a fabulous funny freak-out.
Baxter: But I think if you study this picture and think about it, when it's over...
Crow: You'll feel dirty.
Baxter: You'll realize that this is something more than just a story told.
Servo: It's a story botched.
Baxter: It's a fable with a meaning and a significance for you and for me in the 20th century. Thank you, and goodbye.
Mike: Peanut nostrils happy clams.
[The opening credits scroll out of a huge crater]
Mike: Mt. Pinatubo erupted yesterday, spewing movie credits all over the Southern Hemisphere.
[Dr. Bentley and his crew find a suitable camping site on the summit of Mt. Kuitara]
Bentley: We'll make camp here!
Crow T. Robot: Then we'll dig our graves over there!
Moleman: My name is Hans. Drinking has ruined my life. I'm 31 years old!
Moleman: No one's gay for Moleman.

Video Release

Molepeopledvd

MST3K DVD Cover

Commercially released on DVD by Shout Factory in November 2003 as part of The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Volume 26, a 4-DVD set with The Magic Sword, Alien from L.A and Danger!! Death Ray.

Uploaded to the official YouTube channel in August 2016.

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