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 have fond if hazy memories of this series, when I finally found one episode in a Woolworth's bargain bin 20 years ago I immediately purchased it. For a 1950's kid for whom TV was something exciting and wonderful-and with no exposure to the Buster Crabbe serials-this program was Flash Gordon come to life. Steve Holland looked the part and was fairly athletic, Joe Nash also made a good Dr. Zarkov, and yes Irene Champlin was an eyeful and holds up well. Having since learned that it was filmed in West Berlin and then France I can see that it does have a different look and feel from contemporary Hollywood productions. The stories were played straight, many of the episodes had a grim feel to them. almost a film noir feel. Yes the special effects are low budget and to our CGI spoiled eyes might seem a little cheesy and what science there is laughably out of date-hey, I recall seeing a "Star Trek" episode where one of the characters is awaiting a computer printout and the sound effects are clearly of a printing press- but part of the fun of watching yesteryear's science fiction is comparing it to what we have and seeing where they got it "wrong". "Star Trek" or "Star Wars" it's not, it's definitely not the Buster Crabbe productions. Think of it as a local theater group's production, sit back and enjoy the show. And go back 50 years.

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.

Despite shoestring budget and primitive special effects this very original series still manages to fascinate viewers even today. It's easy to laugh at the cheesy costumes and makeup but to be perfectly honest the early Star-Trek episodes were little better except for being in color. Watching these today, I think the three lead players are terrific, Steve Holland's Flash is like a young but sandy-haired Rory Calhoun, and Irene Champlin's curvaceous but entirely decorous Dale is remindful of a young Ruth Roman. Dr. Zarkov is still distinguished, even if his science is highly suspect. (After all, these are the days when school children were taught to duck under their desks as shelter in case of a nuclear attack.) These were thrilling shows when I watched them on TV at aged six. They disappeared for years after that, and I've now revisited them with fondness via DVDs, but so far I've only found 8 episodes available. Sci-fi fans who haven't yet seen them are in for a real treat.

I recently inherited a massive television set with a blown color tube and have been availing myself of the opportunity to watch exclusively B&W productions on it, which inevitably led me to watch the classic "Flash Gordon" serials again. Which in turn led me to watch these marvelous old "Flash Gordon" TV shows as well. Sure, they don't come anywheres near the epic art deco masterpieces of the Buster Crabbe era, but by golly there's something going on here that's pretty darn interesting.

The show was apparently a co-production between US, West German and French studios filmed on & around the rubble heaps of a still partially demolished West Berlin in 1953. The series aired in syndication on the old DuMont Television Network, a fascinating chapter of American pop consumerism eating itself. The series doesn't have Ming or Mongo or the Tree Men, but what it does have is an abundance of US issue Cold War era military industrial complex effect going on, crossed with German neo-expressionism and even some good old Sartre inspired French existentialism.

It's easy to laugh at the low budget sets, costumes, space helmets, ray guns and cheap model rocketry spaceship effects, but it's always easy to poke fun at past forms that now seem quaint or silly. Dig up some old pictures of yourself & the crew from the early 1980s and you'll see what I mean. Either you guys deliberately dressed like jerks, or you were enmeshed in the times and unable to see how ridiculous you looked because you & I both didn't know any better. Same thing goes for old science fiction props, production design, costuming, and applied science.

The only genuine criticism I can find for the series is the awful theme music, but once you get beyond that what you're left with is a deceptively creepy little television show that, as others point out, make the Captain Video type American made SF efforts of the era seem completely vapid by comparison. There is a sophistication to the execution of the show that belies it's cheapness, and the action scenes set amongst the rubble strewn streets of an actual bombed out city have a kind of eerie pathos to them that is at odds with the space opera scripts. I hesitate to say it creates a profound juxtaposition of pop culture semantics set against the actual ravages of dystopian angst, but that's exactly what it amounts to.

7/10: Several episodes have turned up on bargain bin public domain DVD sets out at the dollar stores. Buy a couple, they are worth it.