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MST3K 601 - Girls Town

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“ "The music that rocked America… gently to sleep." ”
  — Mike


The Movie

Girlstownmovie

Girls Town

Synopsis

It's Southern California in 1959. Chip, a member of the "Jags" gang/car club, plummets to his death while attempting to rape gang floozy Mary Lee Morgan (Elinor Donahue). Fellow member of the Jags Frank (Mel 'The Velvet Fog' Torme), noting from a distance the distinctive head scarf Mary Lee is wearing, mistakenly blames Mary Lee's sister, chronic troublemaker Silver Morgan (Mamie Van Doren) for Chip's death.

The authorities, in the form of Mr. Clyde (Peter Leeds, the Shakespeare teacher from High School Big Shot), agree. Pressured by Chip's wealthy father, Clyde arranges for Silver to be held at Girls Town, a Catholic home for wayward young women.

Girls Town is ruled by Mother Veronica (Maggie Hayes) and her nuns. While confined there, the free-thinking scat-singing-and-slang-crazed Silver must survive amidst the tough fellow inmates and hardened-but-caring nuns. In addition, she must endure the romantic attentions of a 47-year-old bread delivery man (played by bandleader Ray Anthony, Mamie's real-life husband), unaware that he is actually a private detective hired by Chip's father to secure proof of her guilt in his son's death.

Girlstown2

Girls Town

Meanwhile, delusional Girls Town resident Sarafina (Gigi Perreau) is infatuated with pop-star Jimmy (Paul Anka) and so he becomes drawn into Girls Town affairs. Gang member Frank finally guesses that the true identity of the agent of Chip's demise is Mary Lee. He decides to kidnap her and spirit her away to Mexico so that his father won't take away his car.

Meanwhile the sisters and Jimmy are working on Silver's reformation. Silver and Jimmy play a game of "Whose life was more rotten?" and he reduces her to tears by singing.

Silver learns of Mary Lee's disappearance. Silver breaks out of Girls Town and rescues her little sister from Frank.

Contains a gang fight, a drag race, girl-on-girl combat, several musical performances by Paul Anka, and Dick Contino.

Information

  • Gloria Talbott, the tough Romulan-esque Girls Town resident who knows jiujitsu because her dad is a bouncer, also appears in The Leech Woman as the gal whose lawyer fiance is smitten by the titular character.
  • In a high point of the film, The Platters appear in a musical cameo.
  • The producer originally wanted Lucille Ball to play the Mother Superior.
  • Mamie Van Doren introduced the film alongside Adam West during Turkey Day 1994.
  • Mel Torme, playing a "juvenile delinquent", was 34 years old at the time this movie was made. Likewise, Mamie Van Doren was 27.
  • At the time of the film's production, Mamie Van Doren was married to Ray Anthony (who played Dick Caldane, the bread truck driver/private detective). She had filed for divorce in 1958, but it was not granted until 1960.

The Episode

Host Segments

Girlstownhost

The SOL prepare for Dr. F's big announcement

Prologue: The Satellite of Love crew prepares for Dr. F’s big announcement. Mike is wearing his tuxedo jumper, and Crow has gotten The Power Steves, a less-than-enthusiastic polka band. Segment One: Dr. Forrester unveils the Umbilicus with a pompous speech, as TV's Frank tries not to go to sleep. Gypsy is part of the link and she is troubled about it. But the Umbilicus at this stage has some "technical difficulties".
Frankconnectors

TV's Frank has touble with the Umbilicus

Segment Two: Tom "scats" like Mel Tormé until Mike and Crow have had enough. It doesn't take long, and so Mike and Crow begin a long system of containment to end the scatting, which ends before it can be enacted when commercial sign hits.

Segment Three: While Mike explains the honor system to Crow, Tom scarfs down all the honor system candy. He looks rather grotesque when he is finished.
Mikedrawing

Mike & the Bots design the women of the future

Segment Four: The crew discusses how fads alter the idea of the perfect woman’s figure. They decide to design their own perfect woman of the future. Wings, Mexican tiles, huge eyelids, and power take-off are part of what go into their design.

Segment Five: Mike and the Bots joyfully send a cream pie down Gypsy's mouth so it can surprise Dr. F when the Umbilicus finally works the way its supposed to.

Stinger: "You tell that boy to go home right now, or I’ll call the police!"

Guest Stars

Notes

  • Gypsy's Umbilicus cord via Deep 13 has a male connector, which has prompted some fans to assume that this may mean she is transgender, as in the KTMA season. Of course, robots don't reproduce sexually so gender (and the societal constructs around it) is essentially moot.
  • This episode aired twelfth during Turkey Day '94.

Callbacks

Obscure References

  • "Let's get you to Letterman's house."

A reference to Margaret Mary Ray, David Letterman's stalker.

  • "Tonight, on Viper!"

A reference to the TV series Viper, whose hero drove a Dodge Viper with high-tech weapons capabilities.

  • "Gigaaa-aaantor!"

Mike is singing the theme song from Gigantor, one of the earliest anime series to be broadcast in the United States.

  • "I don't believe in Santa Claus anymore." "No, Lupita!"

A reference to the little girl from Santa Claus.

  • "Oh, and Benny Hill comes over and chases us around every now and then."

British comedian Benny Hill's show often consisted of him chasing, or being chased by, scantily-clad women.

  • "Uh oh, Romulans!"

The hairstyle of the two girls who enter the room resembles that of the Romulans from Star Trek.

  • "Oh, hello, daaaahling."

Servo is doing an impression of Zsa Zsa Gabor.

  • "This is longer than In-A-Gadda-Da Vita."

In its unedited form, the Iron Butterfly song "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vita" is just over 17 minutes long.

  • "Well, you're a cookie full of arsenic and I'd like to take a bite out of you, too!"

A reference to a famous line from Sweet Smell of Success.

  • "Aikman slips out of the pocket and he's a cupcake!"

A reference to former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman.

  • "It's John Waters!"

John Waters is a thinly-mustached filmmaker who first made a name for himself with intentionally offensive movies such as Pink Flamingos.

  • "I know who you are, I saw what you did..."

A reference to the 1965 movie I Saw What You Did.

  • "Well, then is *Geddy* Lee there?"

Geddy Lee is the lead singer, bassist and keyboardist of the Canadian progressive rock band Rush.

  • "Dick Contino looks like Dick Francis!"

Dick Francis is a British mystery writer and former jockey.

  • "Joe Jackson!"

Joe Jackson is a British pop musician best known for his 1982 hit "Steppin' Out".

  • "Kind of a Dirty Larry and Crazy Murray here!"

A reference to the 1974 movie Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry.

  • "Must... do... Christina's World!"

An allusion to the Andrew Wyeth painting Christina's World.

  • "Meanwhile, at the Hotel New Hampshire..."

A reference to the novel and movie The Hotel New Hampshire.

  • "My mother! *slap* My sister!"

A reference to the climactic scene from the movie Chinatown in which Faye Dunaway's character gives conflicting information about her relationship to another character while being slapped.

  • "The Rock in Betty Lou's Pantyhose!"

A play on the movie The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag.

  • "That move is pure Emma Peel!"

Emma Peel was the name of Diana Rigg's character on the 1960s British TV series The Avengers. She was skilled at unarmed combat.

  • "Cantinflas!"

Cantinflas was a Mexican comedian.

  • "Hey, Sister C, this is Father Dowling. Say, is David Doyle..."

Father Dowling is the protagonist of Father Dowling Mysteries.

  • "And down goes Blaze!"
American Gladiators was a show with improbably named "gladiators" (Blaze, Laser, Turbo, etc.) competing against contestants in feats of physical prowess.  One of these was the Joust, which involved trying to knock each other off a bridge with pugil sticks.
MST3K 601 Promo

MST3K 601 Promo

Video releases

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