Flash Gordon (serial)

Flash Gordon
Directed by Frederick Stephani
Ray Taylor (uncredited)
Produced by Henry MacRae
Written by Basil Dickey
Ella O'Neill
George H. Plympton
Frederick Stephani
Alex Raymond (based on the comic strip by)
Starring Buster Crabbe
Jean Rogers
Charles B. Middleton
Priscilla Lawson
Frank Shannon
Cinematography Jerome Ash
Richard Fryer
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date(s) 6 April 1936
Running time 245 min (13 episodes)
Country United States
Language English
Budget $350,000[1]

Flash Gordon is a 1936 science fiction film serial. Told in 13 installments, it was the first screen adventure for the comic-strip character Flash Gordon, and tells the story of his first visit to the planet Mongo and his encounter with the evil Emperor Ming the Merciless. Buster Crabbe, Jean Rogers, Charles B. Middleton, Priscilla Lawson and Frank Shannon played the central roles. In 1996, Flash Gordon was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Contents

Synopsis

  1. The Planet of Peril
    The planet Mongo is on a collision course with Earth. Dr. Alexis Zarkov takes off in a rocket ship to Mongo, with Flash Gordon and Dale Arden as his assistants. They find that the planet is ruled by the cruel Emperor Ming, who lusts after Dale and sends Flash to fight in the arena. Ming's daughter, Princess Aura, tries to spare Flash's life.
  2. The Tunnel of Terror
    Aura helps Flash to escape as Zarkov is put to work in Ming's laboratory and Dale is prepared for her wedding to Ming. Flash meets Prince Thun, leader of the Lion Men, and the pair return to the palace to rescue Dale.
  3. Captured by Shark Men
    Flash stops the wedding ceremony, but he and Dale are captured by King Kala, ruler of the Shark Men and a loyal follower of Ming. At Ming's order, Kala forces Flash to fight with a giant octosak in a chamber filling with water.
  4. Battling the Sea Beast
    Aura and Thun rescue Flash from the octosak. Trying to keep Flash away from Dale, Aura destroys the mechanisms that regulate the underwater city.
  5. The Destroying Ray
    Flash, Dale, Aura and Thun escape from the underwater city, but are captured by King Vultan and the Hawkmen. Dr. Zarkov befriends Prince Barin, and they race to the rescue.
  6. Flaming Torture
    Dale pretends to fall in love with King Vultan in order to save Flash, Barin and Thun, who are put to work in the Hawkmen's Atom Furnaces.
  7. Shattering Doom
    Flash, Barin, Thun and Zarkov create an explosion in the atomic furnaces.
  8. Tournament of Death
    Dr. Zarkov saves the Hawkmen's city from falling, earning Flash and his friends King Vultan's gratitude. Ming insists that Flash fight a Tournament of Death against a masked opponent, revealed to be Barin, and then a vicious orangopoid.
  9. Fighting the Fire Dragon
    Flash survives the tournament with Aura's help, after she discovers the weak point of the orangopoid. Still determined to win Flash, Aura has him drugged to make him lose his memory.
  10. The Unseen Peril
    Flash recovers his memory. Ming is determined to have Flash executed.
  11. In the Claws of the Tigron
    Zarkov invents a machine that makes Flash invisible. Flash torments Ming and his guards. Barin hides Dale in the catacombs, but Aura has her tracked by a tigron.
  12. Trapped in the Turret
    Aura realizes the error of her ways, and falls in love with Barin. She tries to help Flash and his friends to return to Earth — but Ming plots to kill them.
  13. Rocketing to Earth
    Ming orders that the Earth people be caught and killed, but Flash and his friends escape from the emperor's clutches, and Ming is apparently killed in a crematorium. Flash, Dale and Zarkov make a triumphant return to Earth.[2]

Cast

Production

According to Harmon and Glut, Flash Gordon had a budget of over a million dollars.[3] Stedman, however, writes that it was "reportedly" $350,000.[5]

A lot of props and other elements were recycled from earlier Universal productions. The watchtower from Frankenstein (1931) appeared as Zarkov's base. The Egyptian idol from The Mummy (1932) became the idol of the Great God Tao. Shots of Earth from space came from The Invisible Ray (1936). The Rocket Ships were reused from Just Imagine (1930). Ming's attack on Earth used footage from old silent newsreels. An entire dance segment from The Midnight Sun (1927) was used.[3] A laboratory comes from Bride of Frankenstein. The music was recycled from several other films.[5]

Exterior shots, such as the crew from Earth's first steps on Mongo, were filmed at Bronson Canyon.[3]

Crash Corrigan, who would later be the lead in other serials, wore a modified gorilla suit as the "Orangapoid".[3]

Flash Gordon was intended to regain an adult audience for serials.[5] It was shown in 'A' Theaters in large cities across the United States. Many newspapers, including some not carrying the Flash Gordon comic strip, contained half and three-quarter page feature stories in their entertainment pages with Alex Raymond drawings and stills from the serial.[6]

Flash Gordon was the first outright science fiction serial, although earlier serials had contained science fiction elements such as gadgets. Six of the fourteen science fiction serials were released within five years of Flash Gordon.[7]

The serial film was subsequently released as a 97 minute feature named Rocket Ship. Alternate titles for this film include Spaceship to the Unknown and Atomic Rocketship. The TV version was named Space Soldiers.[8]

Stunts

Critical reception

The end of chapter five, where Vultan corners Dale Arden, is considered to be "one of the most erotic bits of film footage turned out by Hollywood after the reins of censorship were tightened in 1934" according to Stedman.[5]

References

  1. ^ Tracey, Grant. "Images Journal Flash Gordon article". ImagesJournal.com. Images Journal. http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue04/infocus/flashgordon.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
  2. ^ Copied from Wikia – Flash Gordon, 17th July 2007
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harmon, Jim; Donald F. Glut (1973). "2. "We Come from 'Earth', Don't You Understand?"". The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury. Routledge. pp. 29–35, 38. ISBN 9780713000979. 
  4. ^ Essoe, Gabe (1972). Tarzan of the Movies. Citadel Press. pp. 56–7, 77. ISBN 9780806502953. 
  5. ^ a b c d Stedman, Raymond William (1971). "4. Perilous Saturdays". Serials: Suspense and Drama By Installment. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 97–100, 102. ISBN 9780806109275. 
  6. ^ Cline, William C. (1984). "2. In Search of Ammunition". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc.. p. 17. ISBN 078640471X. 
  7. ^ Cline, William C. (1984). "3. The Six Faces of Adventure". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc.. p. 32. ISBN 078640471X. 
  8. ^ Reid, John Howard (2007). Science-fiction & Fantasy Cinema: Classic Films of Horror, Sci-fi & the Supernatural. Lulu.com. pp. 71–72. ISBN 1430301139. 

External links

TV Series
Film
Movie serials
Characters/Actors
Gale Gordon (1935) • Buster Crabbe (1936 - 1940) • Steve Holland (1954) • Robert Ridgely (1979, 1982) • Sam J. Jones (1980) • Lou Richards (1986) • Toby Proctor (1996) • Eric Johnson (2007)
Jean Rogers (1936 - 1938) • Carol Hughes (1940) • Irene Champlin (1954) • Diane Pershing (1979, 1982) • Melody Anderson (1980) • Lexa Doig (1996) • Gina Holden (2007)
Bruno Wick (1935) • Charles Middleton (1936 - 1940) • Alan Oppenheimer (1979) • Max von Sydow (1980) • Vic Perrin (1982) • William Callaway (1986) • John Ralston (2007)
Maurice Franklin (1935) • Frank Shannon (1936 - 1940) • Joseph Nash (1954) • Alan Oppenheimer (1979) • Topol (1980) • Bob Holt (1982) • Paul Shaffer (1996) • Jody Racicot (2007)
Priscilla Lawson (1936 - 1938) • Shirley Deane (1940) • Melendy Britt (1979, 1982) • Ornella Muti (1980) • Anna Van Hooft (2007)
Richard Alexander (1936 - 1938) • Roland Drew (1940) • Robert Ridgely (1979) • Timothy Dalton (1980) • Robert Douglas (1982) • Steve Bacic (2007)
John Lipson (1936 - 1938) • Allan Melvin (1979) • Brian Blessed (1980) • Ted Cassidy (1982) • Ty Olsson (2007)
James Pierce (1936) • Ted Cassidy (1979) • George Harris (1980) • David Opatoshu (1982)
Other media
Related articles
Space opera serials 1930-1960
TV series
Movie serials
Radio serials
Related