Flash Gordon

Even though this live-action, Sci-Fi, TV show from the early 1950s was, pretty much, a bargain-basement special, it still contained enough goofy entertainment value in its half-hour episodes to earn itself a 4-star rating from me.

Set in the year 3203, Flash Gordon and his space-age pals, Dr. Zarkov & Dale Arden, boldly travel across the vast galaxy, battling cosmic villains, here, there, and everywhere.

Always in full command of his gleaming starship, The Sky Flash, you can always count on dashing, young Gordon and his diligent crew to keep the cosmos safe for one, and all.

Filmed in b&w, this German production ran for only one season, 1954-1955.

I was given a DVD of four of these episodes by my husband for Christmas when he couldn't find at the store the movie I had specifically requested. It probably cost a dollar and was in the cheapest possible packaging. I was screaming I was so excited. I have often thought of this series that I watched when I was young. I only remembered the name of Flash, but as soon as I read that he modeled for "Doc Savage," I recognized the resemblance.

The music sounds like Prokofiev's "Rite of Spring" at times and I agree that the German sets verge on the expressionistic. I'm sure I spend more on a week's worth of groceries than they did for the sets AND costumes. In fact, the costumes on "Akim the Terrible" look like they are handmade from a high school production. The German actor in this show who plays Kurt I think is very good and looks familiar; however, no credits are given for any actor except the three leads. One more thing, where did the commissioner get his eyebrows? These shows are great. I played them twice because I only had the four. Have to see if I can get any more. I'm sure it won't break whatever budget I have.

Tala Birell's role is indicated in the credits (not "uncredited" as heretofore indicated). The episode was filmed in Berlin and was the only episode in which Tala appeared. She looked all of her 45 years and would die several years later from cancer. Tala's commanding presence as a vicious queen determined to rule the universe expands the range of camp performances, unfortunately her last role in a 30 years career on stage and in film.

Digiview Productions has just released three of the series' 39 episodes on DVD, including "Deadline at Noon," "Flash Gordon And The Planet of Death" and "Flash Gordon And The Brain Machine." These are the only episodes I have seen, so keep in mind, all comments are based on this limited exposure. By today's standards, 1954's "Flash Gordon" might not make it to a fan-film awards show. The writing is atrocious, the acting could best be described as forced melodrama and the production values are comical ("Deadline at Noon" includes a lengthy discussion between Flash, Dale and the good Doctor commenting on the wonders of stock footage, for example.) Also, the 'science' behind the fantasy is so dated, it's hilarious (1,200 years in the future, the state-of-the-art still includes Geiger counters.) For all that, Flash Gordon has its good points, one of which has to be Flash's space ship, the Sky Flash, which looks pretty darn good for the early days of television. I'm sure that when "Flash Gordon" was watched through the eyes of a child in the mid 1950s, it had everything a "Star Trek" or a "Battlestar Galactica" had for future generations of young TV fans: plenty of action, adventure, ray guns, space ships and far-flung planets waiting to be explored. In short, if you're a Flash Gordon fan and an all-around sci-fi movie geek like I am, this is some of the best entertainment you can find at the bottom of the DVD bargain bin.

The Flash Gordon 1950's TV series is interesting, mostly due to it's being one of the first science fiction series to be shot on film. The fact that it was made in the still recovering post WWII Germany, and the later episodes in France gives it different look and feel than comparable American lensed shows, such as Rocky Jones, Spacer Ranger.

Some of the German episodes are rather dark and grim, with an almost expressionistic look. The budgets are quite low, and while there are a number of model shots of the space craft (such as Gordon & Co.'s Skyflash) many of the effects in the German episodes are largely photo and cel animation. The French episodes feature the Skyflash II, a very shiny rocket model, which seemed to complicate matters for the slightly more ambitious FX in the later episodes.

Male model Steve Holland played Flash, which is intriguing, as Holland was the artist model used by James Bama for the Doc Savage novel reprints that were highly successful in the 60's and early 70's. Holland turned up on the cover of many action hero paperbacks. For someone with no real acting experience, he's not too bad -- but he's certainly no match for Buster Crabbe's portrayal.

Joe Nash is generally quite good as Zarkov. Irene Champlin seemed to have some trouble (as did many of the actors) in getting her lines out and try to make an actual performance gel in the rushed looking -- possibly single take -- scenes.

Producer Ed Gruskin was known for his work in radio (including a Doc Savage series) and writer Bruce Elliot wrote for the pulps, notably a number of Shadow novels under the house name of Maxwell Grant.

Some of the music by Roger Roger (yep, that's his name) in the French produced episodes will be very familiar to viewers of low budget horror and Sci-fi films of the 50s,60s, and 70's. The tracks became part of a music library, and are still licensed for use today.