Directors: FREDERICK STEPHANI, RAY TAYLOR. Screenplay: Frederick Stephani, George Plympton, Basil Dickey, Ella O'Neill. Based on the comic strip "Flash Gordon" (or "Speed Gordon" as it was known in Australia) created and drawn by Alex Raymond. Photography: Jerome "Jerry" Ash, Richard Fryer. Film editors: Saul Goodkind, Edward Todd, Alvin Todd, Louis Sackin. Art director: Ralph Berger. Special effects: Norman Dewes. Music adapted from Franz Waxman's score for The Bride of Frankenstein. Producer: Henry MacRae.A Universal serial in 13 chapters of two reels each. U.S. release: 6 April 1936. Copyright by Universal Productions, Inc. Chapter titles and copyright dates: The Plant of Peril, 18 March 1936; The Tunnel of Terror, 23 March 1936; Captured by Shark Men, 9 April 1936; Battling the Sea Beast, 17 April 1936; The Destroying Ray, 23 April 1936; Flaming Torture, 30 April 1936; Shattering Doom, 6 May 1936; Tournament of Death, 14 May 1936; Fighting the Fire Dragon, 20 May 1936; The Unseen Peril, 27 May 1936; In the Claws of the Tigron, 3 June 1936; Trapped in the Turret, 10 June 1936; Rocketing to Earth, 17 June 1936.The serial was cut down to a 97-minute feature version called ROCKET SHIP. I have also seen this listed as Spaceship to the Unknown and Atomic Rocketship. TV title: Space Soldiers.SYNOPSIS: Flash Gordon, Dr Zarkov and Dale Arden blast off to Planet Mongo where they encounter Ming the Merciless, who seeks to conquer the entire universe.NOTES: Sequels are Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938) and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940).COMMENT: This legendary serial is still great fun today. Of course it doesn't have its original impact. Although the sets are still impressive (some refurbished from Bride of Frankenstein), the special effects and props look more than a bit tacky. Instead of breathtaking wonder, they now inspire amusement. Many of the thrills that once brought audiences out in a sweat, now bring chuckles and campy laughter. But there's no denying the pace and sheer energetic gusto of Flash Gordon. This was writer Frederick Stephani's first and last directorial assignment. Ray Taylor had to be called in to help him out, whilst no less than four film editors worked on assembling the footage - which now truly moves with a speed Flash would have been proud of. There are no seams. Stephani's visual flair admirably complements Taylor's vigorous action staging.The players may lack subtlety, even finesse, but Crabbe certainly looks the part, while Jean Rogers makes an attractive heroine. And who could fail to enjoy Charles Middleton's Ming and Priscilla Lawson's Aura?

Flash Gordon was the first of the serials based on Alex Raymond's eponymous hero. This 13 part epic has everything a science fiction fan could ask for: strange new worlds, dinosaurs, spaceships, submarines, underwater cities, floating cities, ray-guns, invisibility machines, monsters, atom furnaces, and hunky guys in short shorts or/and hot girls in skimpy halter-tops. Buster Crabbe is all noble, jut-jawed hero and Jean Rogers makes a gorgeous, if somewhat ineffectual, Dale Arden, who spends most of the serial being threatened with a 'fate worse than death' by first Ming, then by a sharkman, then a hawkman (even the good guy Thun the lionman seems to 'cop a feel' while helping her escape in episode 5). The special effects, costly at the time, will seem quaint to modern viewers but that just adds to the charm as Flash makes his way from cliff-hanger to cliff hanger with the help or hindrance of some memorable secondary characters (although Jack Lipson's Prince Vulcan is a pale foreshadowing of Brian Blessed's booming presence in the 1981 version). 1936 saw the release of this serial and of William Cameron Menzies "Shape of Things to Come", archetypes of low-brow and high-brow science fiction: one's a silly, action packed adventure, the other a pedantic, philosophical bore. Probably not a tough choice to audiences of the time (especial the kids at whom Flash was aimed) and while I appreciate Menzies' vision, Flash is a lot more fun, and in the end, about as realistic. An added bonus is that watching this silly, innocent serial is the perfect segue into watching 1974's equally silly but much less innocent, "Flesh Gordon".

Buster Crabbe as Alex Raymond's comic strip hero is custom-made for the role: with his hair bleached blonde, he looks EXACTLY like the FLASH GORDON of the strip. SPACE SOLDIERS boasts some of the most spectacular Art Deco sets in the history of cinema. It's a non-stop funhouse ride and, while I have to admit that King Vultan's phony belly-laughs wore thin pretty quick, the orangopoid more than made up for it. An orangopoid, for the uninitiated, is a gorilla with a horn on its head (its cousin, the "mugatu," appeared on an episode of the original STAR TREK teleseries, "A PRIVATE LITTLE WAR"). When Flash faces off against the orangopoid, one thing quickly becomes obvious: the orangopoid is a better jiu jitsu player than the Earthling. He tosses Gordon around, applies a series of joint locks, and is well on his way to winning the UFC title (that's the UNIVERSAL Fighting Championships heavyweight title) when Flash Gordon cheats and skewers him with a spear. Where's the ref when you need him...? All in all (the technical foul in the title fight notwithstanding), the first FLASH GORDON serial is more fun than a barrel of orangopoids.

In the 60's Cleveland television audiences could watch a episode of "Flash Gordon" as part of the Ghoulardi Show (11:30PM Friday). This was the best mockfest material any of us in junior high had ever seen. We would have regular "sleepovers" (although we did not call them that) just to get in on the fun of watching this stuff with a group of friends. Then the next week we would quote our favorite cornball lines from the latest episode.Watching it today provokes much the same reaction. But if you can stop laughing at the dialogue, the lame creatures, the silly costumes, and the horrible spaceships long enough, there are some good things I did not appreciate the first time through. The production designers built some excellent sets, both the rooms and the laboratory devices. Charles Middleton's "Ming the Merciless" character was the all-time best screen villain, certainly up to that time, and arguably better than anyone since. Jean Rogers is staggeringly beautiful.Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.