Flash Gordon

Flash Gordon is, undoubtedly, the best of all American serials. In a date so early as 1936,Universal was capable of making such an entertainment story, and twenty years later when I watched it for the first time as a kid it involved me in a great adventure and emotion. Buster Crabbe was the hero we always wanted to be in our childhood, and Jean Rogers the beautiful girl we always dreamt to be in love with. Dragons, octopus, monsters,gorillas were also the attraction. Charles Middleton was a great presence as Ming, the Merciless. A true predecessor of George Lucas´s Starwars.

Vintage science fiction doesn't always age well, but time has been kind to "Flash Gordon." It transcends, becomes its own little genre of almost Victorian space opera and historical epic with its own internal logic, where Roman soldiers can fly around in sputtering rocketships and a mandarin-robed Ming can plot to rule the universe.

One of the things I love about "Flash Gordon" are the actors. Buster Crabbe and Charles Middleton ARE Flash Gordon and Ming the Merciless, the perfect double image of selfless heroism and selfish villainy. We don't need to know about their inner demons or what makes them tick: it's enough to know that Ming exists to be evil and Flash exists to stop him. Crabbe and Middleton believe they are their characters, so we believe them, too.

Watching "Flash Gordon" is like slipping into a dream world, full of danger and adventure, with ruthless enemies and loyal friends. It's a quaint, fun ride, the same sort of magic George Lucas taps with his "Star Wars" movies, and a feeling you can never get enough of.

Universal put out three Flash Gordon chapter plays, in 1936, 1938

and 1940; but despite the larger budgets of the latter two, the first

is the by far the most fun; its successors are pale in comparison,

although the Clay People of Series II are certainly worth while. I

loved the 1936 serial dearly when I was five years old, seeing it on

TV; and I still retain a good deal of affection for it, even now when I

am old enough to be aware of the cardboard sets, ridiculous

dialogue and frequent lapses of taste. Who cares? Flash's

adventures have nothing to do with outer space and are largely

medieval, as this 1930s art deco Siegfried battles shark men,

hawk men, and cheesy rubber dragons. Buster Crabbe is ideal,

and Charles Middleton positively believes he IS Ming the

Merciless. Then there is Princess Aura. I don't know about the rest

of you male types out there, but if I were Flash I would have

dumped Dale for Priscilla Lawson's voluptuous princess by

Episode Two. Besides the perfectly obvious fact that she would be

vastly more fun in bed, consider: When Flash is in horrible danger,

what does Dale do? She faints, or gets hypnotised. Aura,

meanwhile, has swiped a rocket ship, bribed the guards, found a

cache of weapons, and is actively doing her best to rescue the

guy. She saves Flash's butt from certain horrible death about every

other episode, but does the big lunk appreciate it? Oh well. Even

when I was five I was dimly aware that there was some reason I

wanted her to take me home with her... and above all, there's

Frank Shannon's Zarkov. "You are a remarkable man. I can use

you" says Emperor Ming; and what Zarkov doesn't say, but is

clearly thinking, is: "and I can use a blithering mad emperor with

unlimited power and a fantastic laboratory"! My favorite dialogue in

the whole serial comes in Episode One. Zarkov and Flash have

just met, and Zarkov explains that the Earth's only hope of survival

is his home built rocket ship. "Sure this thing will work?" asks

Flash, after they've come aboard. "I've experimented with models"

Zarkov replies. "Ah," responds Flash; "They ever come back?" With

perfect equanimity Zarkov says "They weren't supposed to." Now,

there's a REAL Mad Scientist after my own heart! Zarkov routinely

invents the impossible on five minutes notice, from invisibility rays

to anti-gravitons. The whole thing is so absurd it's magnificent, so

hokey it's colossal. It's for the precocious five-year-old in us all.

Universal created a real fun winner here. Buster Crabbe's popularity soared as he went on to more serials both as Flash and as Buck Rogers. He also made a Tarzan or two and some westerns.

But the character actors in Flash Gordon are tops: Charles Middleton as Ming was brilliant casting; chubby Richard Alexander as the would-be hero Prince Barin looks like he stepped right out of the comics, as do the Sharkmen, Lionmen and Hawkmen.

"Tiny" Lipson as Vultan the Hawkman is hilarious; he is also seen in some Marx Brothers and Three Stooges films. Of course the actors portraying the sexy (for 1936) Dale and Princess Aura are perfect. Even Zarkov is convincing as can be expected in this dark adventure series.

The music is constantly moving things along, much of it now available on CD as the same music used in Universal's "The Bride of Frankenstein".

The challenge is to find a good print. It would be great if Universal could "restore" some their classic serials.

After 66 years "Flash Gordon" still has an appealing scifi/adventure/epic feel that many of today's science fiction adventures strive for and fail to deliver. The only way to fully enjoy this serial is just to sit back and not pick at anything (hokey effects, dialogue, why Flash doesn't go for Princess Aura etc.). And as for you older people who saw "Flash Gordon" back on the serial screen or on T.V. "back in the day", if you want this fine serial to remain appealing to future generations, get your kids/grandkids to watch this when they're young. It worked for me (Male aged 18 or under). 9 out of 10