For one reason or another I never managed to see THE MOLE PEOPLE until recently. It’s just about the only sci-fi film from the 1950s that I didn’t see on TV during my childhood. Now that I’ve finally caught up with it, I’m glad I did. It was a lot better than many reviews I had read lead me to believe which just goes to show that despite critical reviews, you should see for yourself and then make up your mind.
The movie was made in 1956 when Universal (then Universal-International) was in the processing of downgrading their sci-fi efforts from A movies like CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON to B efforts like THE LAND UNKNOWN so THE MOLE PEOPLE has elements of both. The creatures are impressive as are the sets for the most part while the performances and the dialogue are better than you would expect.
The story borrows a lot from H. Rider Haggard’s epic fantasy SHE about a fabulous lost civilization. There’s also some of H.G. Wells’ THE TIME MACHINE thrown in for good measure although this film was made 4 years before that big budget classic. 3 explorers stumble on an underground Sumerian city ruled by a race of albinos (from lack of sunlight) who have a race of subjugated mole people who live in the dark and do all the hard labor.
Sci-fi stalwart John Agar heads up the expedition along with Hugh Beaumont (just before becoming the Dad in LEAVE IT TO BEAVER) while Alan Napier is a standout as the high priest who controls the city. The love interest is provided by Cynthia Patrick as a slave girl who is not like the others. Nestor Paiva is memorable as the third explorer who is afraid of just about everything.
Director Virgil W. Vogel, who would go on to a 40 year career in TV, handles his first feature in a brisk and efficient manner. Lots of stock footage from Sir Edmund Hillary’s conquest of Mt Everest three years earlier is liberally used in the first third of the film to establish location and provide excitement. The only weak element is how the movie ends which involves a last minute re-shoot. THE MOLE PEOPLE is not a classic but it is above average.
The Capsule Critic 