The Mole People

Plot synopsis:
The film opens with a brief lecture by Frank Baxter. He is a Professor of English at the University of Southern California. He explains that there are just a few areas left on Earth that are unknown and briefly describes a few theories that postulate there may be places deep under the surface of the Earth where man can survive.In Asia an archeological dig has discovered something. Dr. Roger Bentley (John Agar) and Prof. Etienne Lafarge (Nestor Paiva) expose a stone tablet. They take it back to their tent to clean and examine it. We are introduced to Dr. Jud Bellamin (Hugh Beaumont) and Dr. Paul Stuart (Phil Chambers) who ask Bentley to translate the find: it may be related to the story of Gilgamesh and Ishtar. An earthquake rattles the area and the tablet is broken. This puts their work a month behind schedule. A small boy discovers something the earthquake brought down a mountain and brings it to Bentley. He cleans it and it is revealed to be an ancient oil lamp. The inscription is translated as a pre-biblical Noah's Ark story. The party of scientists set off for the mountain where the artifact originated before it was dislodged by the earthquake.They set up base camp and plan their final assault on the mountain the next day. A storm hits the base camp that evening. As they set off the next morning an avalanche brings down an arm from a statue. They continue climbing and discover the ruins of an ancient Sumarian civilization on a small plateau. They estimate the ruins are 5,000 years old. While Dr. Stuart walks around the ruins he falls down through an opening. The rest of the party goes down on ropes to save him. Bentley leads the way, followed by Lafarge, who is much older than the rest. Bellamin is third down the opening followed by Nazar (Rodd Redwing). After dropping down about 200 feet Bentley finds Stuart, but he died in the fall. Nazar notices a loose piton and hammers it secure, but that triggers a rockfall and he is killed and the three archeologists are trapped.They start searching for a way out, but Lafarge is experiencing breathing problems. He is also claustrophobic, They wander through the cave and discover a light source, which reveals a large underground city. They notice a very large tablet that informs them they have discovered the temple of Ishtar. They bed down for the night, but a lizard creature (a mole person?) digs up to the surface to spy on the three. A short time later, the party is attacked, sacks are placed over their heads, and they are pulled underground. They awake in a cave and Lafarge has claw marks on his chest. Two very pale white representative of the human underground civilization suddenly appear and direct they follow them. The scientists are escorted back to the city and presented to the High Priest, Ilinu (Alan Napier) who is performing a ritual. Ilinu immediately suspects the strangers and tells the king that they are evil. The king questions the three archeologists. At the conclusion of the questioning the high priest sentences them to death.The three escape into a cave, with guards in hot pursuit. Bentley shines his flashlight in the face of the First Officer (Robin Hughes) who cringes and retreats. It seems the light hurts their eyes. The three return to the city and shine their flashlight on the King and High Priest and they also retreat. The inhabitants of the city are albino, adapted to a world without sunlight. A lizard creature pulls the body of one of the guards underground. Seeing this, Lafarge panics and runs back into one of the caves. Bentley and Bellamin follow and discover a slave labor camp where the lizard creatures are forced to cultivate the food source--mushrooms. The guards whip their charges, which particularly incenses Bentley. Laforge is attacked and killed by a lizard creature, but is driven off by the flashlight before he can eat Laforge.Bentley and Bellamin return to the city and are met by the high priest along the way who tells them that they are welcome back to the city since they "possess the divine fire of Ishtar". The King is convinced they are holy messengers and are invited to a feast. One of the servers, Adad (Cynthia Patrick) drops her bowl of mushrooms, and is ordered whipped by the king. Bentley stops the punishment and is told not to interfere by the High Priest. Bentley helps her to her feet and notices she is not albino, but normally pigmented. The King presents Adad as a gift to Bentley. The High Priest explains that she is not human (like them) but a "marked one". The King and Priest further explain that when the population gets too large the excess are sacrificed in the fire of Ishtar.Bentley and Adad talk about their respective worlds as the High Priest spies on them. The next day Bentley and Bellamin tour the city. Meanwhile the High Priest meets with his fellow priests and plots to get the flashlight. This will show the king that the strangers are not divine, but mere mortals.Bentley and Bellamin intercede when three lizard creatures are being beaten, but their flashlight batteries begin to fail. They free the lizard creatures. Food production has been reduced because the lizard creatures are rebelling against their mistreatment. The High Priest schedules another sacrifice. After a ritual dance three women are escorted into a brightly lit chamber, enter, and are locked in. When they open the chamber later, the charred remains are carried out on stretchers. The High Priest is shown the dead body of Laforge. The High Priest was told by Bentley that Laforge was called back to Ishtar, reinforcing the story of his divinity. The High Priest shows the body to the king and explains that he is mortal and asks the King for permission to kill Bentley and Bellamin. The King agrees. Bentley and Bellamin are drugged and arrested. Elinu takes possession of the flashlight. Adad escapes and is captured by the lizard creatures. Bentley and Bellamin are taken to the lighted sacrifice chamber and locked in. The lizard creatures attack the city in force and kill the inhabitants, including the King and High Priest.The lizard creatures break open the sacrifice chamber, but the light repels them. Adad isn't afraid of the light and joins Bentley and Bellamin on their ascent back to their world. They reach the top and get into warmer clothes. Another earthquake strikes the area, and Adad is killed when a stone pillar crushes her. The underground city is buried.

Tags: violence

Review:
The thing is, if you've seen a decent amount of horror/sci-fi films from the 50s and early 60s and haven't found much that you liked, "The Mole People" is not for you.
You're sent into what looks like an oven and you're burnt away to ashes.The film does a marvelous job in building up the viewers fears of the fires of Ishtar so in the end when the scientists are flung into it, we're scared witless.John Agar, Hugh Beaumont, and Nestor Paiva are some of the scientists and the high priest of Ishtar is Alan Napier.
The story of archaeologists that discover an ancient underground society in Asia is entertaining but unfortunately the rushed conclusion is lame and gives the sensation that the budget ended and the film had to be interrupted.
It has one of my favorite "B" movie stars like John Agar and I thought Cynthia Patrick was pretty and charming.
It takes itself so seriously it even begins with a pseudodocumentary prelude explaining the hollow Earth theory.Part of the fun is seeing future TV faves Hugh Beaumont (Beaver's dad), and Alan Napier (Alfred the butler) teamed with legendary 50's hack actors John Agar and Nestor Paiva.Mystery Science Theater 3000 gave Mole People the full treatment and it was one of the funniest MST3K episodes ever.
it,s a lot better than I thought it was going to be.It stands up pretty good when compared to other 50,s shockers like "Tarantula" ."it came from beneath the sea" etc and has some genuine spooky moments .If you like 50,s monster / sci fi films .I recommend you give this one a chance although to my knowledge Universal have not released it on DVD,you may have to check out e bay for a copy or setttle for a VHS version.Well a lost classic in my opinion ,well worth hunting down!.
The film is quite fun to watch and the Mole People are a little on the wired side but nonetheless they looked good especially for the 50s!If you like the Universal Monsters movies then check this out soon!I think you'll like it!.
Basically, what this balding boffin is trying to say is that we have no idea what fantastic secrets might lie miles beneath our feet.The film starts proper in Asia, with a team of archaeologists, lead by Dr. Roger Bentley and Dr. Jud Bellamin (John Agar and Hugh Beaumont), discovering clues to a lost Sumerian civilisation that survived a terrible flood by building an ark, coming to rest on a mountaintop.
Unfortunately, when the albino guards find Lafarge's body and realise that the visitors are mortal, the good times quickly come to an end.As much fun as all of this sounds, The Mole People descends into mediocrity shortly after the archaeologists descend into the Earth, with albino high priest Elinu (Alan Napier) plotting to seize power from his king making for unremarkable viewing, and the heroes' quest to find a way back to the surface proving rather repetitive.
The mole people themselves are fun looking creatures, with creepy eyes and shovel-like hands equipped with huge (rubbery) claws, but they are given little to do for much of the time except cower and hide from their cruel masters.
Gorgeous blonde Patrick provides some welcome eye-candy, but meets an abrupt ending, her demise apparently demanded by meddling studio execs who weren't comfortable with the film's implied interracial relationship.To summarise, The Mole People is mindlessly entertaining but unremarkable sci-fi/horror schlock.
Virgil Vogel directed this science fiction story about a group of archaeologists(played by John Agar, Hugh Beaumont, and Nestor Paiva) who uncover an ancient temple after an earthquake that leads to an underground passage that opens to a lost and isolated culture ruled by high priests(Alan Napier plays the leader) who are very suspicious of the outsiders, until they discover they have the power of projecting light(their flashlight!) which makes them honored guests.
Some of them have some pretty priceless dialogue to recite (you could play a drinking game for every time the name "Ishtar" is uttered).As many genre movies of this period did, this one begins with exposition, as a scientist named Frank Baxter educates us on various theories as to what exists below the surface of the Earth.
They also discover the "mole men" beasts that these people treat as slave labour.Agar is well supported by actors such as beautiful Cynthia Patrick, playing the "marked one" Adad, Hugh Beaumont as Dr. Jud Bellamin, Alan Napier as the evil priest Elinu, and the always engaging Nestor Paiva as Professor Lafarge.
Overall, the movie is pretty original, and very enjoyable.Starring John Agar (Shirley Temple's first husband), Hugh Beaumont (the dad on "Leave It to Beaver"), and Alan Napier (Alfred on the 1960s "Batman").By "Asia" at the beginning of the movie, I'm guessing that they meant either the Middle East or Central Asia..
Charmingly silly and inconsequential monster movie has archaeologists in Asia discovering secluded mountain city run by snarling, villainous humans who have mole people as slaves.
But they press on, inspired by the quiet leadership of Agar.Thus enter the mole people, deformed creatures who look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame with a bad skin problem and beaks.
Frankly, I think that he'd be a messenger from a lower place than Heaven, but that's just my thought.Agar eventually becomes the John Brown of the Mole People, helping them to rebel against the guys in skirts who like to whip them just a LITTLE too much.
Agar, Beaumont, and a truly dumb slave girl named Adele escape the carnage by the attacking Mole people by climbing up a hole that leads to the surface.
Okay..so far the plot is pretty wild but interesting, but what happens when scientists three(John Agar, Hugh Beaumont, and Nestor Paiva) get down to the place starts to crumble what little credibility the film might have had.
Then we get a story of John Agar and three other idiots discovering (in the middle of the Earth), a civilization of albino Sumarians (no, I'm not kidding) who use the title creatures as their slaves (again, not kidding).
Unfortunately, the latter stages  when the surviving members of the group (including likable hero John Agar, a regular of Universal sci-fi outings) come face to face with an underground race of albinos and their mutant 'mole' slaves!
However, we're never told how the mutants evolved or, for that matter, just why a normal and inevitably beautiful girl should turn up among them after all this time (and whom they obviously consider a 'freak of nature'!).The supporting cast includes Nestor Paiva (like Agar and producer William Alland, a BLACK LAGOON alumnus) as the hero's elderly companion, who's panic-stricken in the presence of this alternate universe, and soon ends up a victim of the 'Mole People'  thus exposing the intruders' essential mortality!
Though Alexander Golitzen's set design per se is impressive, the low-budget afforded the film is most evident during the very mild destruction of the underground city at the climax; the downbeat coda  in which the heroine is stupidly killed  was perhaps unwarranted, though.In the end, I wholeheartedly share the generally-held view that this one's "probably the worst of Universal-International's '50s sci-fi movies" (to quote Leonard Maltin)..
A group of scientists find passage into the core of the earth where they discover a society of people who have monstrous mole creatures for servants.Probably the lesser of the 50's monster movies from Universal, but it's enjoyable for those who enjoy these kind of campy era films.
Although this movie boasts a great cast (including Hugh "Ward Cleaver" Beaumont, Alan "Alfred the Butler" Napier, Nestor "Indeterminate Foreign Guy" Paiva, and John Agar, the patron saint of cheesy '50's sci-fi films), it isn't much of a movie.
In the case of "The Mole People," we had more fun lip-synching the actor's lines from the back of the house.This is not a really bad movie, simply a low-budget film representative of the time...and it was fun to see for a teenager.
John Agar went on to do low budget stuff (no, I mean lower than THE MOLE PEOPLE) like THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS which, whether he likes it or not, is the movie he will be most remembered for..
Virgil Vogel wouldn't be anyone's ideal choice for director, and screenwriter Laszlo Gorog's only other works were "The Land Unknown" and "Earth vs the Spider." Still, this studio produced better looking movies than AIP, Astor, or Allied Artists, and created the most famous monsters of the era, with the Mole People featured here, or the Metaluna Mutant from "This Island Earth." They definitely skimped by reusing the same Hyde design from "Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" for both "Tarantula" and "Monster on the Campus," and apparently wrote this script around available stock footage, seemingly identical to the conception of "The Deadly Mantis." Dr. Frank Baxter spends nearly five minutes attempting to bring gravitas to the film, and it takes another half hour to arrive at the lost underground world of albino Sumerians, ruled by Sharu (Arthur D.
As the First Officer, whose job is to keep the slaves hungry, we have Robin Hughes, soon to be immortalized as the head in search of its body in Universal's 1958 "The Thing That Couldn't Die," and on television, playing the title role in THE TWILIGHT ZONE's "The Howling Man." The studio's 'B' unit finally petered out with "The Leech Woman," but over a span of 28 years were known to be horror's most dependable factory for classic monsters, introduced to TV viewers by such popular hosts as Bill 'Chilly Billy' Cardille, whose Chiller Theater in Pittsburgh aired "The Mole People" a total of 5 times: Nov 24 1973 (followed by second feature "X-15"), Dec 21 1974 (following first feature "The Black Castle"), Aug 2 1975 (following first feature "Black Widow"), Mar 26 1977 (followed by second feature "Curucu, Beast of the Amazon"), and Nov 5 1983 (solo)..
While attempting to discover the origin of an ancient artifact, archaeologists John Agar, Hugh Beaumont, and their team of extras (including that crusty boat captain from CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON!), venture forth into the subterranean unknown, in search of a comrade, lost in a deep crevasse.
The Mole People features John Agar endlessly talking about things that he seems to think he knows about.
I liked how a flashlight became the only thing keeping them alive through most of the movie -- Mole People really hate light!To be avoided by everyone except John Agar fans..
I am not sure if any Nazis actually believed them, but the "hollow earth" idea is not unheard of, nor is the inside out earth.I like the whole concept of the Sumerians going underground, though I am a bit unclear how "mole people" developed.
Trying to discover a long-lost civilization, a team of explorers in a remote mountain valley find a mythical culture of people living underground from a race of deformed humanoid creatures and are forced to help their society return to it's former graces.This here was quite a decent if rather flawed effort.
Well, where to begin with a movie like "The Mole People"I had the pleasure of watching this movie with the aide of the cast of "Mystery Science Threatre 3000," explaining as to why I actually could sit through this picture.
Actually, if you get a chance, I recommend that episode of MST3k in particular, as it was one of my favorite episodes.In "The Mole People" Lazlo Galrog and Virgel Vogel proves his comic genius as he casts John Agar as the pompous archaeologist, who somehow comes off as attractive to the female star.
Bad "B" movie King John Agar leads a group of scientists to the Earth's core where they discover a group of evil albino men and a good group of mole people.
An albino race of people living under the surface of the earth (way down inside a mountain top), still worshiping the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar after the great flood, using the Mole People as slaves and easily destroyed by bright light - like the light of a flashlight!
The idea of an lost ancient civilization sealed away from the modern world by time and catastrophe and buried far underground is a powerful one (dating back to the Greek Hades/River Styx days), and there are elements of interest in the exposition and the plot - a slave race of mutants, a decadent people so accustomed to the dark that a flashlight is a source of overpowering pain, a society that must limit its numbers due to the limited food supply and sacrifices its youngest (and heretics) to the mysterious power found in a mystery chamber.Too bad this heady brew, which could have made for a powerful, disturbing experience in the hands of someone like Neil Gaiman or Alan Moore, was handled with the usual manner of an under-budgeted 50's B flick.
Although The Mole People isn't the best of Universal's 50's sci fi movies, I rather like it.A group of Archaeologists discover a strange world while exploring in a part of India.
As the movie progresses, most of the team gets killed and one of the survivors falls in love with a woman who happens to be down there as well, but this proves short lived as she is killed in the earthquake at the end in which the world is destroyed.The movie stars 50's sci fi regular John Agar (Tarantula, The Brain From Planet Arous) and Hugh Beaumont, Cynthia Patrick and Alan Napier.This movie is worth checking out.Rating: 3 stars out of 5..
An anthropological expedition in Tibet led by John Agar discovers both an ancient primitive race of pasty, light sensitive, superstitious albinos and the browbeaten, grotesquely unsightly burrowing mutants called the Mole People whom the albinos cruelly exploit as slave labor deep within the bowels of the earth.
Competently directed by Virgil Vogel, with a fanciful and intriguing script by Lazslo Gorog, handsome photography by Ellis Carter, admirably sincere acting from a solid cast (Agar is his usual reliably stalwart self while the lovely Cynthia Patrick makes for a charming heroine and Alan Napier has a grand time as an evil high priest), a steady, if less than stirring pace, nifty and impressive special effects (the matte paintings are beautiful), a properly eerie and claustrophobic atmosphere, funky monster make-up by Bud Westmore (the Mole People are truly gnarly-looking subhuman beasts), a rousing last reel revolt by the Mole People against their mean oppressors, and a surprisingly downbeat ending, this baby sizes up as a hugely enjoyable golden oldie fantasy horror picture..
Well, compared to John Agar, Beaumont is quite a bundle of energy in this film.A group of archaeologists find an underground civilization of albinos in Asia.
The albinos have enslaved the Mole People, who are subhuman brutes who wear dark jackets and pants.Agar and Beaumont are the only survivors of the archaeological expedition, and spend most of the film trying to find a way out of their underground prison.
Incredibly, the two have mystical powers courtesy of their flashlight, which intrigues the albinos to no end, because they can't stand its bright light.The last part of the movie is a blossoming romance between Agar and Adele (Cynthia Patrick), one of the few underground residents who has normal skin coloring, a few gory sacrifices, and a final, deadly revolt by the Mole People.
Yet, it works in a kitsch way, especially when the professor intones about the wonders of modern 'SCIENCE'- that catch-all phrase from the 50s, which could explain any monster, alien, mutation, or horror.Aside from its influence on later sci fi films, Agar gets off a great line that presages the 1960s, when he comments on the Sumerians' habits of eating mushrooms and wonders if they've ever smoked dried mushrooms.
Because they have lived under ground since ancient times and are look much like albinos, as it turns out their civilization was swallowed into the earth along with them.At first, everything seems just peachy, but later these underground people turn out to be major jerks who keep incredibly ugly creatures as slaves.
The Mole People starts in Asia where a team of archaeologists are busy at work doing archaeological stuff, a young boy brings top archaeologist Dr. Roger Bentley (John Agar) an old lamp with an intriguing inscription carved on it talking about the ancient god Ishtar.
Also living down there are the mutant Mole People but who should the archaeologists be more afraid of?Directed by Virgil Vogel this black and white Universal Pictures sci-fi monster film was probably better back when it originally came out in the mid 50's, watching The Mole People today (as I literally just did) I can't say I was that impressed with it although having said that it passes the time I suppose.
Archaeologist John Agar (Tarantula) and his team (Hugh Beaumont (Leave it to Beaver), Nestor Paiva (Creature from the Black Lagoon), and Phil Chambers) discover Sumerian albino civilization who worship Ashtar and are tormented by light.
"The Mole People" is another film in the Sci/Fi series from Universal Studios.
The effects are the same generic stuff you would expect in a movie at the time although the mole people as the film calls them are actually not that bad in terms of looks.
Virgil Vogel directs this Sci-Fi classic concerning two archeologists, Roger Bentley (John Agar) and Jud Bellamin (Hugh Beaumont), who discover an underground civilization of albinos deprived and fearful of sunlight making slaves of a populace of half-human, half-mole creatures.
Very low budget and the mole people are not very scary after a decent introduction.Cynthia Patrick plays Adad, a pretty outcast of the albinos, who is given away to Dr. Bentley, compliments of the High Priest (Alan Napier).
"The Mole People is another of the budget conscious sci-fi/horror films turned out by Universal in the 1950s.