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Flash Gordon (1936) Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1936
Running Times: serial, 13 parts, 26 reels (245 mins total)
Format: black and white 35mm
Ratio: 1.37:1
Sound: mono CREDITS PRODUCTION
Production Company: Universal
Producer: Henry MacRae SCRIPT
Script: Frederick Stephani, George H. Plympton, Basil Dickey, Ella O'Neill
Comic Strip: Alex Raymond DIRECTION
Director: Frederick
Stephani, Ray Taylor (uncredited)
PHOTOGRAPHY
Directors of Photography: Jerry Ash, Richard Fryer EDITING AND POST PRODUCTION
Editor: Saul Goodkind, Edward Todd, Alvin Todd, Louis Sackin MUSIC
David Klatzkin (uncredited), Sam Perry (uncredited), Heinz Roemheld (uncredited), Clifford Vaughan (uncredited), Karl Hajos (uncredited - from Werewolf of London (1935)), W. Franke Harling (uncredited - from Destination Unknown (1933)) SPECIAL EFFECTS
Electrical Effects: Norman Dewes DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: Ralph Berger
Special Properties: Elmer A. Johnson LOCATIONS
Locations: Bronson Caverns, Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park, Los Angeles, California, USA
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)
Jack 'Tiny' Lipson (King Vultan)
Theodore Lorch (High Priest)
Richard Tucker (Professor Gordon)
George Cleveland (Professor Hensley)
James Pierce (Prince Thun)
Duke York Jr (King Kala)
Muriel Goodspeed (Zona)
Earl Askam (Officer Torch)
House Peters Jr
John Bagni (Hawkman throne room guard - uncredited)
Lynton Brent (transcontinental pilot - uncredited)
Don Brodie (Earth radio scientist - uncredited)
Lane Chandler (Ming soldier / sharkman - uncredited)
William Desmond (Hawkman lookout captain - uncredited)
Al Ferguson (spaceograph technician - uncredited)
Jerry Frank, Fred O. Sommers, Bunny Waters (sharkmen - uncredited)
Olive Hatch (Aura's handmaiden - uncredited)
Fred Kohler Jr (robot / Ming soldier - uncredited)
George Magrill, Eddie Parker (Ming soldiers - uncredited)
Charles McMurphy (atom furnace slavedriver - uncredited)
Bull Montana, Constantine Romanoff (monkey men - uncredited)
Lon Poff (first High Priest - uncredited)
Sana Rayya (Priestess of the Tigron - uncredited)
Fred Scott (soldier with drugged wine - uncredited)
Glenn Strange (robot / Ming soldier / Gocko - uncredited)
Slim Whitaker (prison guard - uncredited)
Harry Wilson (ugly sentry - uncredited)
EPISODES
1. Planet of Peril
2. The Tunnel of Terror
3. Captured by Shark Men
4. Battling the Sea Beast
5. The Destroying Ray
6. Flaming Torture
7. Shattering Doom
8. Tournament of Death
9. Fighting the Fire Dragon
10. The Unseen Peril
11. In the Claws of the Tigron
12. Trapped in the Turret
13. Rocketing to Earth
SUMMARY The Earth is faced with destruction when a rogue planet is detected on a collision course. The only hope lies in Dr Zarkov, a slightly dotty scientist who invents a spaceship and plans to fly to the planet. He's joined on his mission by Flash Gordon and Dale Arden and together they arrive on the planet Mongo where they meet the despotic Ming the Merciless and are forced to choose sides in the planet's ongoing war. They choose their allies well and prepare to halt Ming's terrible plans for the destruction of the Earth. CAPSULE REVIEW They certainly don't make them like this any more. Cheap but cheerful, Flash Gordon featured the first big screen action hero in the likeable shape of former athlete Larry 'Buster' Crabbe and manages to cram more excitement, invention and laughs into a single 30 chapter than most films can muster in two hours. It all looks terribly innocent and naive now, of course, but therein lies its enduring appeal. AVAILABILITY UK
Theatrical Distributor: Universal Pictures
Television Distributor: BBC USA
Theatrical Distributor: Universal Pictures
Video Distributors: Bridgestone Media; Prism Pictures; VCI Home Video; Video Yesteryear
Laserdisc Distributor: Image Entertainment (ID3545NI)
DVD Distributor: Image Entertainment (ID8961HEDVD) CENSORSHIP HISTORY Germany
Rating: 12 AWARDS 1996
National Film Preservation Board, USA
Added to the National Film Registry TIMELINE
1936
March
18: USA - Chapter 1 copyrighted (no. LP6220)
23: USA - Chapter 2 copyrighted (no. LP6229)
April
9: USA - Chapter 3 copyrighted (no. LP6262)
17: USA - Chapter 4 copyrighted (no. LP6278)
23: USA - Chapter 5 copyrighted (no. LP6298)
30: USA - Chapter 6 copyrighted (no. LP6319) May
6: USA - Chapter 7 copyrighted (no. LP6338)
14: USA - Chapter 8 copyrighted (no. LP6354)
20: USA - Chapter 9 copyrighted (no. LP6369)
27: USA - Chapter 10 copyrighted (no. LP6379) June
3: USA - Chapter 11 copyrighted (no. LP6386)
10: USA - Chapter 12 copyrighted (no. LP6397)
17: USA - Chapter 13 copyrighted (no. LP6420)
1996
October
2: USA - laserdisc release (Image Entertainment (ID3545NI))
2000
January
11: USA - DVD release (Image Entertainment (ID8961HEDVD))
May
20: Germany - DVD release ALTERNATIVE TITLES Rocket Ship - edited version title
Flash Gordon: Rocketship - edited video version title
Spaceship to the Unknown - US TV title
Space Soldiers - alternative US TV title
Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers - US video title
Atomic Rocketship - alternative US TV title
Flash Gordon: Planet des Schreckens - German DVD title (Chapters 1 - 7)
Flash Gordon: Der Herrscher des Mars - German DVD title (Chapters 8 - 13, plus Chapter 1 of Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938)) LINKS SEQUELS
Flash
Gordon's Trip to Mars
(1938)
Flash
Gordon Conquers the Universe
(1940)
REMAKE
Flash
Gordon (1980)
SEE ALSO
Flash Gordon (1954)
Flash Gordon (1980)
Flesh
Gordon (1972)
Mission to Mars (2000)
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996)
The New Animated Adventures of Flash Gordon (1979)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
Action Heroes of the Cliffhanger Serials (1992)
Hugh Hefner: Once Upon a Time (1992)
The Universal Story (1995) REFERENCES MAGAZINES
American Cinematographer vol.64 no.6 (June
1983) pp.56-62, 117-122 (USA)
credits, article (Making the Flash Gordon Serials by George Turner)
Classic Images no.217 (July 1993) pp.c12-c16,
59 (USA)
illustrated Episode 1 credits, synopsis, review (Pentagram Revues by
Blackie Seymour)
Classic Images no.218 (August 1993) pp.c24-c26
(USA)
illustrated Episode 2 credits, synopsis, review (Pentagram Revues by
Blackie Seymour)
Classic Images no.220 (October 1993) pp.c14-c16
(USA)
illustrated Episode 3 credits, synopsis, review (Pentagram Revues by
Blackie Seymour)
Classic Images no.221 (November 1993) pp.46-49
(USA)
illustrated Episode 4 credits, synopsis, review (Pentagram Revues by
Blackie Seymour)
Classic Images no.222 (December 1993) pp.c20,
33-34 (USA)
illustrated Episode 5 credits, synopsis, review (Pentagram Revues by
Blackie Seymour)
Classic Images no.224 (February 1994) pp.32,
c2, 39 (USA)
illustrated Episode 6 credits, synopsis, review (Pentagram Revues by
Blackie Seymour)
Classic Images no.225 (March 1994) pp.c16,
c18 (USA)
illustrated Episode 7 credits, synopsis, review (Pentagram Revues by
Blackie Seymour)
Classic Images no.226 (April 1994) pp.c14-c16,
47 (USA)
illustrated Episode 8 credits, synopsis, review (Pentagram Revues by
Blackie Seymour)
Classic Images no.227 (May 1994) pp.c18,
c20-c21 (USA)
illustrated Episode 9 credits, synopsis, review (Pentagram Revues by
Blackie Seymour)
Classic Images no.228 (June 1994) pp.c12-c14
(USA)
illustrated Episode 10 credits, synopsis, review (Pentagram Revues by
Blackie Seymour)
Classic Images no.229 (July 1994) pp.c5-c6,
c8, c14, 53 (USA)
illustrated Episode 11 credits, synopsis, review (Pentagram Revues by
Blackie Seymour)
Classic Images no.230 (August 1994) pp.34,
36-37 (USA)
illustrated Episode 12 credits, synopsis, review (Pentagram Revues by
Blackie Seymour)
Classic Images no.231 (September 1994)
pp.22, 24, 26 (USA)
illustrated Episode 13 credits, synopsis, review (Pentagram Revues by
Blackie Seymour)
L'Écran Fantastique no.15 (1980)
pp.9-13 (France)
credits, article
Filmfax no.45 (June / July 1994) pp.46-58
(USA)
illustrated article (Flash Back to the Future by Leonard Kohl)
Films in Review vol.39 no.4 (April 1988)
pp.194-203 (USA)
credits, article (The Flash Gordon Serials by Roy Kinnard)
Journal of Popular Film vol.3 no.1 (Winter
1974) pp.15-30 (USA)
article (Ethnic stereotypes in Flash Gordon by Robert Barshay)
Metro no.9 (May / June 1981) pp.101-5 (Germany)
note
Monthly Film Bulletin vol.39 no.463 (August
1972) pp.161-162 (UK)
credits, synopsis, review
Radio Times 7 - 13 April 1990 p.55 (UK)
note
Retro no.9 (May / June 1981) pp.5-9; 10-15
(Germany)
article; filmography
Screen Facts vol.2 no.4 (no.10) (1965)
p.53 (USA)
illustrated article (The saga of Flash Gordon by Rudy Behlmer)
Time XXXI 28 March 1938 p.36 (USA)
illustrated note
Today's Cinema vol.74 no.5944 (1 March
1950) p.12 (UK)
review
TV Times 19 - 25 September 1987 p.73 (UK)
note
Vampir no.23 (1981) p.5033 (Germany)
credits
BOOKS
Hoffman's Guide to SF, Horror and Fantasy Movies 1991 - 1992 p.136
credits, review Illustrated Vampire Movie Guide p.18
credits, review Reference Guide to Fantastic Films p.141
credits OTHER SOURCES screen
credits KEYWORDS
comics into film; space; space travel; space wars; aliens;
ray guns; birdmen; other planets; serials
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