1000 Years from Now (aka Captive Women)

Cafe Society
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A couple nights ago, thanks to the miracle that is Sinister Cinema, Mrs. R and I watched the 1952 opus 1000 Years From Now also known as Captive Women. This is one of the first post-apocalyptic movies, showing life in a nuclear-devastated New York. Humanity is divided into Norms (a semi-civilized band living in old subway tunnels under the city and a band of thuggish rabble intent on conquering them) and Mutates, with bodies warped by radiation, a despised underclass, living in the wilderness in primitive villages. The movie has a bunch of to-and-fro-ing, traitors, turncoat Jezebels, and a noble Mutate or two, which makes for a nicely exciting movie, well-written and easy to follow.

The production values are strictly B-movie, although there are a couple nice matte paintings of demolished NYC and a fairly impressive underwater tunnel set. The actors are competent, and all-in-all, Mrs. R and I enjoyed it.

But it’s the theme that makes the movie interesting.

The main theme of the movie is the Mutates’ struggle to correct their defective genetic heritage. Marriages between Mutates invariably result in Mutate children; in fact, Mutates of below Class 2 are forbidden to marry at all, so awful are the results.

So the Mutates’ long-term plan for correcting their gene pool is to kidnap Norm women (the “captive women” of the alternate title) and breed with them. I’m a little dubious about how well this would actually work, and so is the movie–the birth is shown of a Mutate-Norm child, unfortunately born a Mutate, which has been the result of all such couplings so far.

But despite the poor results, the Mutates are obsessively insistent that breeding with Norm women is the only solution to their problem, and continue with their kidnap-and-breed program. Since the movie makes a point of stating that no Norm woman has ever fallen in love with a Mutate, this is rape—although the movie doesn’t come right out and say that. This institutionalized rape is pretty strong stuff for a 1952 B sci-fi movie; and the unspoken suggestion that the Mutates’ plan may not be entirely rational is not something you’d expect, either.

And, you have to wonder, what other choice do the Mutates have? That’d be a good subject for another thread, and I may just start one.

Anyway, an interesting movie, much deeper than you’d expect.

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I’ve been addicted to anything post-apocalyptic since I was a kid. I’ve found this genre to be incredibly forgiving - even a poorly-written novel has me thinking for days. I wonder if this is because an apocalypse is such a tangible thought experiment?

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I’m assuming there were Mutate women. They could have hung around the seedier dives until the guys all got their beer goggles on and started buying them drinks. Better than the kidnap/assault thing. Come to think of it, I think I met a mutant once. Damn beer goggles.

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in 1952, not much. Seems genetic engineering (at the very least, genetic testing of the sperm / eggs and selective implanting) could be used.

Brian

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It would depend on the mutation, wouldn’t it? One eye and purple hair and they might be on to something.

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That’s tough to do in a post-apocalyptic world (the tech level in the movie is bow-and-arrow).

What the Mutates appeared to be doing within their own group was a form of selective breeding: classify the level of mutation and forbid marriages below Level 2. …and reach out for new undamaged genetic material by kidnapping Norm women :dubious:.

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It would make much more sense to kidnap a Norm man, and make him impregnate as many Mutate women as possible. That would infuse a lot more “Norm genes” into the population.

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Is this movie British? I can’t imagine it being made in the USA in 1952; those were the blacklist years. Putting any deep thoughts about society on the big screen, even allegorically, was a good way to get painted Red and torch your career.

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Well, it’s Albert Zugsmith Productions, which I think was USA-based. Zugsmith wasn’t a mainstream producer, though; his other films include High School Confidential, The Beat Generation, and Sex Kittens Go to College. :smiley:

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Reminds me of Devil Girl From Mars! :smiley: I guess the more scientifically advanced Martian civilization had a better idea of how to go about replenishing a gene pool! :slight_smile:

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But then you have to watch out for his dog.

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It would be perfectly period, if the Mutates’ obsession with Norm women is a metaphor for the negro male’s . . . you know . . .