Yesterday Machine: College Twirler Abducted by Civil War Soldiers in 1965 Sci Fi

Yesterday should be left alone because today the world has enough problems just trying to make sure we’ll have a tomorrow.
Police Lt. Partane, Yesterday Machine

College Twirler in movie Yesterday Machine — The opening scene of the psychotronic, low-budget film. It played in Texas drive-ins from around 1965-1974.

The Yesterday Machine is a low-budget science fiction movie written and produced by Russ Marker (1926-2010) in 1965. The regional, psychotronic production featured the kidnapping of a college baton twirler, Margie de Mar (Linda Jenkins) by Confederate soldiers. Yes, Confederate, as in the Civil War because this is sci-fi.

The movie opens with Howie (Jay Ramsey) trying to fix his car, which is broken down on the side of the road. To quote The Shattered Lens, “Margie de Mar…is working on her baton twirling, as one tends to due when stuck out in the middle of nowhere.”

Baton Twirler in Movie — Linda Jenkins plays Margie de Mar in a 1965 science fiction movie.

Margie de Mar…is working on her baton twirling, as one tends to due when stuck out in the middle of nowhere.
The Shattered Lens

Here is a synopsis of the film from IMDb.

When a teenage couple’s car breaks down in a Texas town on the way to a football game, they are confronted by some men in Confederate uniforms and think it’s a joke until one of them shoots a musket wounding one while the other, the sister of a local club singer disappears.When local Police Lt. Partane (Tim Holt) is called in to track down the missing teen he is joined by a news reporter Jim Crandall (James Britton) who is intrigued by the mystery. Crandall tracks down the sister of the missing girl, Sandy De Mar (Ann Pellegrino), and together they investigate the mystery. When Crandall and Sandy are transported into the laboratory of Professor Ernest Von Hauser (Jack Herman), a Nazi scientist from the 40s who has created a time machine designed to transport Adolf Hitler from the moment before he died to present day to start the Fourth Reich. Crandall and Sandy do all they can to save the day and escape but they may become victims of the Yesterday Machine.
IMDb

You can watch the entire film on YouTube.

The 2014 documentary Twirl Girls features a clip of the movie.

Who was the college twirler in Yesterday Machine?

Based on our research, we are fairly certain that Linda Jenkins graduated from Bryan Adams High School in Dallas, Texas in 1961. She was head majorette and on homecoming court her senior year. Below are some grainy pictures from the 1961 Bryan Adams High School yearbook, el Conquistador.

Linda Jenkins (left), 1960 and (right), 1961.

Linda Jenkins is pictured far left, Bryan Adams High School Majorettes, 1960

Bryan Adams High School Majorette Linda Jenkins, far left, 1959

Jenkins made one other film, Loose Ends, in 1975. If she is alive today, she would be 80 years old.

Post Script

Did you know there’s another famous baton twirler named Margie? It’s true! The American Baton Company features an illustration of a blonde girl named Margie on the header of their popular website and in an early coloring book, the Margie Majorette Finger Fun Coloring book. Hallmark also issued cards with a different Margie the Majorette.