Flash Gordon (1936) TV Series + Movie



Flash Gordon (1936) TV Series + Movie








n 1936, Flash Gordon was among the most popular comic strip characters in America when Universal
Pictures first brought his planet-hopping exploits to the big screen in the 13-episode serial Flash
Gordon, one of the most lavishly produced and wildly popular "chapter-plays" of its day. Flash
Gordon's Space Soldiers, the title of the original serial's home video release (the title was
changed in the early 1950s to avoid confusion with a short-lived Flash Gordon TV series), features
all 13 installments in their entirety. The world is in a state of panic when it is discovered that
a planet has fallen out of its normal orbit and is destined to collide with Earth in a matter of
days. Brawny adventurer Flash Gordon (Buster Crabbe), his girlfriend Dale Arden (Jean Rogers), and
renowned scientist Dr. Zarkoff (Frank Shannon) blast off into space in hopes of setting the runaway
planet back on course. However, they discover that it was all a ruse cooked up by the wicked Ming
the Merciless (Charles Middleton), despot of the Planet Mongo, as part of his latest plot for
galactic domination. Flash soon finds himself battling Ming both for the fate of the Earth and the
hand of the lovely Miss Arden, though Ming's daughter, Princess Aura (Priscilla Lawson) appears to
have amorous ideas of her own for Flash. The producers of the serial stretched its budget by
utilizing sets, costumes, and music from several of Universal's better-known horror films of the
period, including The Bride of Frankenstein; the serial was also later edited into a feature film,
entitled Flash Gordon: Rocketship.

Credits
Director: Frederick Stephani
Screenwriter: Frederick Stephani, George Plympton, Basil Dickey

Cast
Flash Gordon Larry "Buster" Crabbe
Dale Arden Jean Rogers
Emperor Ming Chales Middleton
Princess Aura Priscilla Lawson
Dr. Zarkov Frank Shannon
Prince Barin Richard Alexander
King Vultan John Lipson
High Priest Theodore Lorch/Lon Poff
Prof. Gordon Richard Tucker
Prof. Hensley George Cleveland

Number of Chapters: 13 Chapters
Studio: Universal
Color: b/w

Episode List

Planet of Peril
The Tunnel of Terror
Captured by Shark Men
Battling the Sea Beast
The Destroying Ray
Flaming Torture
Shattering Doom
Tournament of Death
Fighting the Fire Dragon
The Unseen Peril
In the Claws of the Tigron
Trapped in the Turret
Rocketing to Earth

Movie - Rocket Ship - Buster Crabbe - (Flash Gordon) (1938)







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