IMDb > Flash Gordon (1936/I)
Flash Gordon
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Flash Gordon (1936/I) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
7.7/10   758 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?

Down 1% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Writers:

Alex Raymond (based on the comic strip by) &
Ella O'Neill (screenplay)
more

Contact:

View company contact information for Flash Gordon on IMDbPro.

Release Date:

6 April 1936 (USA) more

Genre:

Sci-Fi more

Tagline:

THRILLING STRANGE WORLD ADVENTURES!!! (original Chapter 1 one-sheet poster) more

Plot:

Three earthlings visit the planet Mongo to thwart the evil schemes of Emperor Ming the Merciless. full summary | add synopsis

Awards:

1 win more

NewsDesk:
(4 articles)

Joe Moe: Horrorwood Babbles On: Frights! Ephemera! Auction!
 (From Dread Central. 30 March 2009, 1:02 AM, PDT)

Buck Rogers to Visit 'Sin City'
 (From Comicmix. 24 October 2008, 9:03 AM, PDT)

User Comments:

Classic serial - hectic pace, silly wandering plots, great fun! more (25 total)


Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Buster Crabbe ... Flash Gordon
Jean Rogers ... Dale Arden
Charles Middleton ... Ming the Merciless
Priscilla Lawson ... Princess Aura
Frank Shannon ... Dr. Alexis Zarkov
Richard Alexander ... Prince Barin [Chs. 5-13]
Jack 'Tiny' Lipson ... King Vultan [Chs. 5-13]
Theodore Lorch ... High Priest #2 [Chs. 8-11, 13]
Richard Tucker ... Prof. Gordon [Chs. 1, 4, 9-13]
George Cleveland ... Prof. Hensley [Chs. 1, 4, 9-13]
James Pierce ... Prince Thun [Chs. 2-9, 12-13]
Duke York ... King Kala [Chs. 2-5] (as Duke York Jr.)
Muriel Goodspeed ... Zona [Ch. 4]
Earl Askam ... Officer Torch
House Peters Jr. ... Shark Man [Chs. 3-4]
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Additional Details

Also Known As:

Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers (USA) (video title)
Space Soldiers (USA) (TV title)
more

Runtime:

245 min (13 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1 more

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor High Fidelity Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved


Fun Stuff

Trivia:

The characters and storyline of this first of 3 Flash Gordon serials are the ones that most adhered to in the theatrical remake of Flash Gordon (1980), starring Sam J. Jones as Flash. more

Goofs:

Continuity: When Flash first enters the shark men's craft he and Dale are soaked from being in the water. However, in the next shot they are completely dry. more

Quotes:

Prince Thun [Chs. 2-9, 12-13]: Ming is merciless and all-powerful. He can only be taken by surprise.
Flash Gordon: He'll be surprised alright.
more

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Flesh Gordon Meets the Cosmic Cheerleaders (1989) more


FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful.
Classic serial - hectic pace, silly wandering plots, great fun!, 23 March 2007
6/10
Author: mstomaso from Vulcan

Buster Crabbe was a big, good-looking guy who could act. The Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s used several big guys (most of whom really weren't actors) to bring to life the characters of a serialized cartoon. This is the first series, and, some of the experts believe it is the best. I am not an expert on Flash Gordon or serials, but I know what I like, and this serial was more entertaining and enjoyable than other classics like Radar Men on the Moon and The Phantom Creeps.

Flash starts out as a young man on a plane who is preoccupied about the planet which is about to slam into the earth, destroying everything, and the very pretty girl sitting next to him (Jean Rogers). The passengers bail out and the plane crashes. Flash saves the girl and lands near a rocket ship designed to solve the interplanetary problem by a seemingly deranged but very brilliant scientist (Frank Shannon). And the adventures have just begun.

As the serial progresses, we meet Ming the Merciless - self-proclaimed Emperor of the Universe; an enormous jovial winged king with the attention span of a chickadee; an honorable and huge prince clad in Roman armor with a sword and a fleet of rocket ships; a conniving princess who wants to possess Flash, a despicable high priest, and a tribe of enslaved space hippies who Flash will eventually inspire to great deeds.

Some of the dialog is predictably corny, but overall, the stories are cleverly plotted, well edited and very well directed. The special effects are good for their time, and the costuming is terrific. There is a lot of action and a lot of dialog. Most of the acting is surprisingly good, but there are a few glaringly bad exceptions. These little problems don't really reduce the entertainment value of the films however.

There are no great philosophical points you can take home from these films, but they do exactly what they were intended to do quite well - they entertain and stimulate the imagination. Good enough for me!

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Flash Gordon (1936/I)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
he fights well, the earth man. shuckle15
Are any still alive? frgreg92
Is this the Great One? Mark-O-Solo
The Flash serials got a lot of science wrong, but... Kevjess74
The Original Comics Forgotten_Hero
Fight Scenes bull-frog
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