Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940)

Directors:

Ford Beebe
Ray Taylor

Writers:

George H. Plympton (screenplay) &
Basil Dickey (screenplay) ...
(more)

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:

Antidote | Spaceship | Rocket Ship | Rocket | Superhero

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	...	Capt. Roka
Roland Drew	...	Prince Barin
Don Rowan	...	Capt. Torch
Victor Zimmerman	...	Lt. Thong
Edgar Edwards	...	Capt. Turan
Ben Taggart	...	Gen. Lupi [Chs. 1-2]
Michael Mark	...	Prof. Karm [Chs. 5-10]
Earl Dwire	...	Jenda [Ch. 1]
Harry C. Bradley	...	Keedish [Chs. 6-7]
Sigurd Nilssen	...	Count Korro [Chs. 1-2]
Mimi Taylor	...	Woman [Ch. 5]
Byron Foulger	...	Prof. Druk [Chs. 11-12]
William Royle	...	Capt. Suden [Chs. 1-9]
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ernie Adams	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Roy Barcroft	...	Ming Soldier [Ch 6, 10-12 ] Arborian Sentry [Ch 6] (uncredited)
Robert Blair	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Jean Brooks	...	Blonde Ming Henchwoman [Ch. 5] (uncredited)
Allan Cavan	...	Man with thinking brain [Ch. 1] (uncredited)
Wheaton Chambers	...	Scientist [Chs. 1, 4] (uncredited)
Lane Chandler	...	Ming Soldier [Chs. 3-5, 7-8, 12] (uncredited)
Donald Curtis	...	Ronal (uncredited)
Harold Daniels	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Carmen D'Antonio	...	Ming's Dancing Girl [Chs. 1, 3-4] (uncredited)
Luli Deste	...	Queen Fria [Chs. 1-2] (uncredited)
Paul Douglas	...	Bit part (uncredited)
John Elliott	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Jack Gardner	...	Prof. Gordon's Radio Operator [Chs. 1, 4] (uncredited)
Jack George	...	Scientist [Chs. 1, 4] (uncredited)
Pat Gleason	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Saul A. Goodkind	...	Various Characters (voice) (uncredited)
Reed Howes	...	Barin's Ship #5 Commander (uncredited)
Bill Hunter	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Mala	...	Prince of the Rock People [Chs. 7-9] (uncredited)
Vivian Mason	...	Ming's gong girl [Chs. 1-4] (uncredited)
Eddie Parker	...	Arborian Prison Guard [Ch. 10] (uncredited)
Ernie Payson	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Joey Ray	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Paul Reed	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Jack Roper	...	Man of Low Intellect [Ch. 1] (uncredited)
Charles Sherlock	...	Guard Kroad [Ch. 11] (uncredited)
Clarice Sherry	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Tom Steele	...	Ming Pilot [Ch. 11] (uncredited)
Charles Waldron Jr.	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Chief Yowlachie	...	King of the Rock People [Chs. 7-9] (uncredited)

Directed by
Ford Beebe
Ray Taylor

Writing credits
George H. Plympton		(screenplay) &
Basil Dickey		(screenplay) &
Barry Shipman		(screenplay)
Alex Raymond		(newspaper feature "Flash Gordon")

Produced by
Henry MacRae	....	associate producer

Cinematography by
Jerome Ash		(photography)
William A. Sickner		(photography) (as William Sickner)

Film Editing by
Joseph Gluck
Louis Sackin
Alvin Todd

Art Direction by
Harold H. MacArthur		(as Harold MacArthur)

Special Effects by
Ed Keyes	....	special photographic effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Eddie Parker	....	stunt double: Buster Crabbe (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Saul A. Goodkind	....	supervising editor

Music Department
Ralph Freed	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Sam Perry	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Charles Previn	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Charles Previn	....	musical director (uncredited)
Heinz Roemheld	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Frank Skinner	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Frank Skinner	....	conductor (uncredited)

Other crew
Jacques Jaccard	....	dialogue director

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1940) (USA) (theatrical)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Bach Films (2009) (France) (DVD)
• Big Sky Video (2008) (Australia) (DVD)
• C.A.V. Distribution (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Concorde Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Círculo Digital S.L. (2003) (Spain) (DVD)
• Grapevine Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• LS Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Madacy Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Passport International Entertainment (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Questar Home Video (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Questar Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (video)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Roan Group, The (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Startime Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• United American Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• United Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• VCI Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• VCI Home Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Video Classics (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Video Yesteryear (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• King Features Syndicate  newspaper feature "Flash Gordon" owned and copyrighted by

Also Known As:

Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers Conquer the Universe (USA) (TV title)
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:

USA:Approved (PCA #5874) | UK:U | Australia:G | Australia:PG (2008)

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

John Hamilton, who plays Flash's father Professor Gordon, is best known to 1950s TV fans as editor Perry White of "Adventures of Superman" (1952).

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Empire of Dreams: The Story of the 'Star Wars' Trilogy (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Les Preludes

Entertaining

Flash Gordon (Buster Crabbe), Dale Arden (Carol Hughes) and Dr. Zarkov go to the planet Mongo and fight the evil emperor Ming (Charles Middleton) who is shooting "death rays" at the Earth.

I haven't seen the previous two serials so I have nothing to compare it to--but this was pretty good. It moves quickly and there's lots of action: Flash is thrown into a fiery pit; he's trapped in an avalanche; fights silly-looking robots that explode when hit; is zapped by the "Destroying Ray"; has aerial battles with Ming's warships; is caught in a fierce explosion (twice); falls down a huge mountain AND is almost drowned! WHEW!

But he (logically) escapes being killed each time. Also he's joined by Prince Barin, the Forest Men and even some Rock Men.

I also found this pretty progressive (for its time). Dale isn't just a timid female waiting for Flash to save her--she holds her own in fights and takes over the spaceship a few times when he's wounded. The acting is just OK--but it IS just a serial--they weren't trying to win Academy Awards. Hughes is actually the best out of all of them--Middleton is (easily) the worst. Crabbe looks tired a lot--but he was probably sick of playing Flash again and again. The special effects are primitive but I've always liked those silly little spaceships--they're a guilty favorite! Some of the sets are VERY elaborate (probably used from another movie) and the score is wonderful--until you realize you're hearing the same thing over and over.

The best way to see this is one a day or (like I did) three a day. No way can you watch the whole 4 hours in one sitting!