Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940)

Directors:

Ford Beebe
Ray Taylor

Writers:

Alex Raymond (comic strip)
George H. Plympton (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

3 March 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Adventure

Tagline:

From the ALEX RAYMOND newspaper feature owned and copyrighted by King Features Syndicate (all of the original posters and cards)

Plot:

Flash and his friends return to planet Mongo for an antidote to the Purple Death. But Ming the Merciless has other plans for them...

Plot Keywords:

Good Versus Evil | Antidote | Rocket | World Domination | Alien Invasion

Cast

Buster Crabbe	...	Flash Gordon (as Larry 'Buster' Crabbe)
Carol Hughes	...	Dale Arden
Charles Middleton	...	Emperor Ming
Anne Gwynne	...	Sonja [Chs. 2, 6-12]
Frank Shannon	...	Dr. Zarkov
John Hamilton	...	Prof. Gordon [Chs. 1, 4]
Herbert Rawlinson	...	Dr. Frohmann [Chs. 1, 4]
Tom Chatterton	...	Prof. Arden [Chs. 1, 4]
Shirley Deane	...	Princess Aura
Lee Powell	...	Captain Roka
Roland Drew	...	Prince Barin
Don Rowan	...	Captain Torch
Victor Zimmerman	...	Lt. Thong
Edgar Edwards	...	Captain Turan
Ben Taggart	...	General Lupi [Chs. 1-2]

Also Known As:

Space Soldiers Conquer the Universe (USA) (TV title)

Runtime:

(12 episodes) | Brazil:220 min | UK:195 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #5874)

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

This serial was based on a Flash Gordon comic strip continuity involving Prince Barin and his Tree People.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Flesh Gordon Meets the Cosmic Cheerleaders (1989)

Soundtrack:

Les Preludes

Thoroughly trashy but a lot of fun

I'm sure that even when this came out a lot of the stuff in this serial seemed pretty silly. But if you watch it, especially if you watch it as it was meant to be watched, one chapter at a time with a break in between, you'll probably find yourself getting into the cliff hangers, and occasionally dazzled by the occasionally sumptuous production values (huge pile of writhing dancing girls, snow mountain photography) and the sometimes ingenious special effects (those mud men always make me jump).

The rest of the time, sit back & laugh.

They must have known that they were stretching the premise when they made this, the third and last Flash Gordon serial, but the plot pretty much hangs together if you choose to pay attention to it (which can be hard, a lot of explanations are pretty rushed), and the performances are mostly good.