Flash Gordon no Planeta Marte

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Ford Beebe and Robert Hill; Produced by Barney Sarecky, for Universal Pictures. Screenplay by Norman Hall, Ray Trampe, Wyndham Gittens and Herbert Dalmas; Photography by Jerry Ash; Edited by Joseph Gluck, Louis Sackin, Saul Goodkind and Alvin Todd. Starring: Buster Crabbe, Jean Rogers, Charles Middleton, Frank Shannon, Beatrice Roberts, Donald Kerr, C. Montague Shaw and RIchard Alexander.

Entertaining sci-fi serial, as crude as its predecessor, but distinguished by the cute flying city and the fine clay-people special effects.

This direct sequel to the now classic "Flash Gordon" is quite good. Polished look helps. Acting is better. But it does drag a bit once you get to Chapter 9. The tracked musical score is great. Charles Middleton made a great Ming the Merciless. All in all, fun film but not as good as the first serial. Many believe this one to be the best.

This is the sequel to the 1936 Flash Gordon serial. Flash and company go from the planet Mongo to the planet Mars. The same cast return with the addition of Frank Shannon as comic relief. Beatrice Roberts plays Queen Azura, "Queen Of Magic". I personally missed seeing Priscilla Lawson as Princess Aura. Charles Middleton is and always will be "Ming The Merciless" This serial is also Jean Rogers last portrayal of Dale Arden. This is a fun serial to watch. 15 thrilling episodes with clay people, forest people, Flash, Dale, Dr. Zarkof and, i do so love her, Beatrice Roberts. Well, girls and boys, buckle up have you're popcorn at the ready and enjoy. John R. Tracy.

This sequel to the first serial is overlong; it's got a twelve chapter story stretched to fifteen, and Mars lacks the cultural diversity of Mongo, so you don't have Lionmen in one chapter, Sharkmen in the next, etc. However, I think Buster Crabbe's hairdo is more appropriate and he also avoids the knickers for a costume more faithful to Alex Raymond's comic strip art. Those clay people are memorable; so is the lightray bridge and the Martian wings used for parachuting from rockets. One wishes that Universal had spent more money and brought in the kind of monsters they had created in the first Flash Gordon. One can go on wishing for other changes as well, but if you liked the first one and like serials, you'll like this one.

The Clay People! Who can forget that sequence in Chapter 2 when they first appear. And all to that great Waxman music. Still a good serial to watch, even in these days. Good photography, OK acting, polished script but somehow the original 1936 serial was superior. And kudos again to that great tracked musical score.