Flash Gordon (1936 serial)

[Secret Executioner]

As mentionned in a completely NOT Flash Gordon-related thread, here's my review of the 1936 serial.

 

Artwork of the French DVD release from Bach Films - seems like Dale Arden/Jean Rogers is not happy with Ming's daughter Princess Aura/Priscilla Lawson being so close to Flash/Buster Crabbe.

 

This serial in 13 episodes was the first of three serials based on the popular comic strip created by Alex Raymond in 1934*. It was produced by Universal and starred actor Buster Crabbe as the titular character. It would be followed by Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938, 15 episodes) and Flash Gordon conquers the Universe (1940, 12 episodes). I haven't seen either of these two, though they do exist on DVD.

 

Our story begins when a mysterious planet called Mongo is on a collision course with planet Earth, causing massive panic among Earth's population. A scientist, Dr. Alexis Zarkov (whose name was changed, he was known in the comics as Hans Zarkov - he's played by Irish actor Frank Shannon), has built a spacehsip and takes a young student (Flash Gordon, played by ex-swimmer and winner of a gold medal in the 1932 Olympics Buster Crabbe) and a young woman (Dale Arden, played by a blond-dyed Jean Rogers - interestingly, both the character and the actress are originally brunettes) along with him. Once they land on the mysterious planet, they get captured by the evil Ming the Merciless (played by Charles Middleton) and his daughter Aura (Priscilla Lawson) who put Zarkov at work in a laboratory while Ming wants to make Dale his queen and Aura tries to avoid Flash be executed because she has a secret crush on him. But more adventures await Flash and his friends on Mongo, as they are to encounter a group of Lion Men who are trying to overthrow Ming, Shark Men who live in a underwater city and are supporters of Ming, as well as Hawkmen who live in a city in the sky.

 

There's a lot to say on this one, and it's essentially very positive stuff. It was the first serial I watched in its entirety after seeing trailers for a lot of releases - Bach Films did a great job releasing all these serials, often in their original format.

The first thing I found impressive with this serial was the sets and the effects. I'm rarely impressed by special effects, but this one floored me. The great audio and video quality really allowed to see how great this all looks, and the visuals are stunning - our heroes encounter a giant iguana shortly after landing on Mongo, then we see a lot of great sets for the indoors of Ming's palace (a huge palace with gorgeous rooms filled with traps and secret passages), the sky city of the Hawkmen and its furnaces may be reminiscent of Metropolis, we see air-battles between ships... There's a ton of great stuff to watch.

But all these effects and sets could distract you from the solid and suspensful (there better be suspense, you have to convince people to come back next week for the following episode 12 times** - so each episode ends with a cliffhanger that always leaves you on the edge of your seat) story. And along with a very interesting story, you have some great characters thrown in the mix too. Flash Gordon himself is okay, he's your courageous and fearless hero that always finds a way to get out of trouble (though he receives help from other characters of course), Dale Arden is not that interesting, she serves essentially as a "damsel-in-distress" who often screams or gets kidnapped (both Ming and the king of the Hawkmen try to have her marry them BTW). Zarkov is very underplayed but proves to be important in a lot of occurencies (he comes up with a plan to fly to Mongo and helps befriend the Hawkmen notably). The most interesting characters though come from Mongo. Charles Middleton is a scary and threatening customer as Ming the Merciless, the dictatorial ruler of Mongo. And before you start worrying that someone called Ming is played by a guy named Charles, his performance isn't racially sensitive at all - or at least it didn't strike me as such, but I must admit I didn't pay too much attention as to whether he had duct-taped eyes, if he had some make-up or stuff like that***. He makes for a great and very threatening villain. His daughter (Princess Aura) is an interesting character too, and she provides a lot of great help (more because she has a crush on Flash than out of cheer generosity though). The Shark Men and the Lion Men didn't leave that much of an impact on me, which would be normal for the Shark Men who appear only in a couple of early episodes, but the Lion Men are some of the main help Flash Gordon and his friends receive on Mongo. One character that did have a lot of impact on me however was King Vultan, the king of the Hawkmen. The guy starts out as a foe since he wants to force Dale to marry him and keeps Flash prisoner forcing him to work in the furnaces of the city, before an escaped Zarkov help fix the city that was damaged in a furnace explosion caused by Flash. As a villain, Vultan appears as a brutish OTT foe with not much of manners, which makes him funnier than really threatening (unlike Ming). I kinda wish I hadn't mentionned he becomes a good guy later, cause it caught me by surprise when it happened. He still sticks around to help, but isn't as enjoyable as he was before. His appearance however is interesting in that he and his people look similar to the DC superhero Hawkman (created in 1940), and according to wikipedia, artist Dennis Neville actually based the look of superheroes Hawkman and Hawkgirl (two characters he co-created) on that of the Flash Gordon Hawkmen.

 

DC Comics' Hawkman.

 

Footnotes:

* The first Flash Gordon strip was published in January 1934.

** I had planned to watch an episode each week when I first watched it, but with school restarting during the process (got the DVD in August and 13 weeks would have gone all the way upto mid-November) and the work I'd have had to do, I preferred fully enjoying the serial and watched everything in 13 days instead (an episode a day).

*** Charles Middleton's portrayal of Ming is apparently very similar to the depiction of Fu Manchu in serials of the time. On a sidenote, while Middleton would appear in the other two Flash Gordon serials as Ming, he'd also appear in some Republic Pictures (the other big company that produced serials at the time) productions such as Dick Tracy returns and Daredevils of the Red Circle where he'd also play the main villain.

[Karlos]

Great review, man.

Always meaning to re-visit the Buster Crabbe FG stuff - and finally read the original Alex Raymond comic strips, too!

[Secret Executioner]

Great review, man.

Always meaning to re-visit the Buster Crabbe FG stuff - and finally read the original Alex Raymond comic strips, too!

Thanks.  

 

I haven't been able to get the other two Buster Crabbe FG serials (or the Buck Rogers one he made in 1939), but I'd definitely check that out in a heartbeat. 

[Karlos]

 

Thanks.  

 

I haven't been able to get the other two Buster Crabbe FG serials (or the Buck Rogers one he made in 1939), but I'd definitely check that out in a heartbeat. 

Amazon UK is your friend!

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/279-7513149-5664347?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=flash+gordon+crabbe

 

No, never seen his Buck Rogers serial - would love to be able to check that out.

I recently met Brian Blessed and he told me an interesting anecdote about the 1980 FG film - he personally rang up Buster Crabbe and got him to agree to cameo in the film (he would've been the guy who checks the plane at the beginning of the film).

Alas, producer Dino DeLaurentiis put a stop to it, saying he "didn't want anything old" in the film.

Such a shame.

As far as I'm aware Blessed's various autobiographies don't mention this particular anecdote.

Yup, I've shook hands with Prince Vultan!

 

[Secret Executioner]

Stupid move from the producer if you ask me. 

 

For me, Brian Blessed will always be Richard IV in the first Blackadder series. He was awesomely funny and OTT in this, no wonder he was chosen to play Vultan in the Flash Gordon movie (although Blackadder was made a few years later) cause the two characters are in fact pretty similar.

 

 

 

 

[Secret Executioner]

Here's one nice find: a trailer for this serial.  

 

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Nice review.  You have me curious on this one, especially with the comments on the special effects (I love checking out effects on older films.)  Unfortunately for myself I just have not seen any serials and not sure when I will get a chance to watch something like this (I only own a couple.)  The original The Perils of Pauline (1914) is one I would like to get (I do not believe all the footage is existing.)  I'm looking over Buster Crabbe's filmography.  He certainly stayed active.

[Secret Executioner]

Nice review.  You have me curious on this one, especially with the comments on the special effects (I love checking out effects on older films.)  Unfortunately for myself I just have not seen any serials and not sure when I will get a chance to watch something like this (I only own a couple.)  The original The Perils of Pauline (1914) is one I would like to get (I do not believe all the footage is existing.)  I'm looking over Buster Crabbe's filmography.  He certainly stayed active.

That's the only serial I've been able to see, so I understand how you feel - the teasers/trailers I've seen pretty much get me into whatever the serial, no matter if we're talking about superheroes like Adventures of Captain Marvel, science-fiction/space stuff like Flash Gordon, detective stuff like the Dick Tracy series or adventure/fantasy like Return of Chandu. It just always looks great.  

 

Buster Crabbe has a crazy filmography, the guy has made tons of stuff.