Flash Gordon (1936/I)

Director:

Frederick Stephani

Writers:

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

Release Date:

6 April 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Tagline:

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

Plot:

Three earthlings visit the planet Mongo to thwart the evil schemes of Emperor Ming the Merciless.

Plot Keywords:

Flash Gordon | Rocket | Shark Man | Betrayal | Rocket Ship

Awards:

1 win

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]

Also Known As:

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

Runtime:

245 min (13 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor High Fidelity Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Bronson Caves, Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

King Features Production

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.

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.

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.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Flesh Gordon Meets the Cosmic Cheerleaders (1989)

Classic serial - hectic pace, silly wandering plots, great fun!

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!