6.0
A heavy condensation of the original serial compresses the original thirteen episodes into an efficient 97 minute feature. Disaster seems imminent when scientists discover that the planet Mongo is about to crash into Earth. Luckily, heroic young Flash Gordon is on hand to lead an investigative mission into outer space and onto the speedily approaching planet. There, he and his best girl, Dale, who is along for the ride, learn that Ming, the devious ruler of Mongo, has purposely put the planet on a collision course with Earth, and only Flash can stop him.
Buster Crabbe
Flash Gordon (archive footage)
Jean Rogers
Dale Arden (archive footage)
Frank Shannon
Dr. Hans Zarkov (archive footage)
Charles Middleton
Ming the Merciless (archive footage)
Priscilla Lawson
Princess Aura (archive footage)
Richard Alexander
Prince Barin (archive footage)
Jack 'Tiny' Lipson
King Vultan (archive footage)
James Pierce
Prince Thun (archive footage)
Earl Askam
Officer Torch (archive footage)
Richard Tucker
Prof. Gordon (archive footage)
George Cleveland
Prof. Henson (archive footage)
Lon Poff
The High Priest (archive footage)
Charles McMurphy
Atom Furnace supervisor (archive footage)
Theodore Lorch
Priest #2 (archive footage)
Duke York
(scenes deleted) (archive footage) (as Duke York Jr.)
Lynton Brent
Transcontinental airplane pilot (archive footage) (uncredited)
Al Ferguson
Telescreen monitor (archive footage) (uncredited)
Fred Kohler Jr.
Robot / Ming soldier (archive footage) (uncredited)
Bull Montana
Monkey-Man (archive footage) (uncredited)
Constantine Romanoff
Monkey-Man (archive footage) (uncredited)
Glenn Strange
Robot / Ming soldier / Gocko (archive footage) (uncredited)
Harry Wilson
Captured soldier (archive footage) (uncredited)
Director
Ray Taylor
Director, Writer
Frederick Stephani
Original Story, Story
Alex Raymond
Writer
Ella O'Neill
Writer
George H. Plympton
Writer
Basil Dickey
May 30, 2022
6
If you've seen the superbly hammy "Flash Gordon" remake from 1980, then you will recognise this as the base for most of that film. This version is a rather clunkily bolted together edit of the cracking 1936 serial and features the hunky Buster Crabbe in the title role, trying to keep his gal "Dale" (Jean Rogers) safe from the merciless "Ming" (Charles Middleton) whilst trying to keep himself safe from the preying eyes of Princess "Aura" (Priscilla Lawson). Although I did enjoy this, I much preferred the original serialisation. Each episode had that slight moment of peril at the end which we miss out on here, and the reduction from over 4 hours to just over 90 minutes does mean we lose quite a bit of the fun and drama of the story. Ever since I first saw these 40 years ago, I have wanted one of the rocket ships. They looked like flying irons with sparklers attached; but that was part of the charm. The acting was as wooden as the sets and the story was all about an wholesome derring-do with an inevitability to the ending that probably instilled in me my prevailing wish that the baddies should always win. (What did "Darth Vader" or "Jaws" do do deserve their comeuppance?). It's a great adventure film this, there is plenty of action and bearing in mind it is all but 90 years old, I really did find it flew by.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$350,000.00
Revenue:
$0.00