Editing Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars

{{Short description|1938 film}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars
| image          = Flashgordontriptomars.jpg
 
| caption        = [[Film poster|Theatrical release poster]]
| director       = {{ubl|[[Ford Beebe]]|[[Robert F. Hill]]|[[Frederick Stephani]] (uncredited)}}
| writer         = {{ubl|Ray Trampe|[[Norman S. Hall]]|[[Wyndham Gittens]]|Herbert Dalmas}}
| based_on       = {{based on|''[[Flash Gordon]]''|[[Alex Raymond]]}}
| starring       = {{ubl|[[Buster Crabbe]]|[[Jean Rogers]]|[[Charles B. Middleton]]||[[Frank Shannon]]|[[Beatrice Roberts]]}}
| cinematography = Jerome Ash
| studio         = Universal Pictures<BR>[[King Features Syndicate]]
| distributor    = [[Universal Pictures]]
| released       = {{Film date|1938|3|21}}
| runtime        = 15 chapters (299 min)
| country        = United States
| language       = English
}}

'''''Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars''''' is a 1938 [[Universal Pictures]] 15–chapter [[science fiction film|science-fiction]] [[serial film|movie serial]] based on the syndicated newspaper comic strip ''[[Flash Gordon]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kinnard |first1=Roy |title=Science Fiction Serials: A Critical Filmography of the 31 Hard SF Cliffhangers |date=1998 |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=978-0786437450 |page=53}}</ref> It is the second of the three Flash Gordon serials made by Universal between 1936 and 1940. The main cast from the [[Flash Gordon (serial)|first serial]] reprise their roles: [[Buster Crabbe]] as Flash Gordon, [[Jean Rogers]] as [[Dale Arden]], [[Frank Shannon]] as [[Hans Zarkov|Dr. Alexis Zarkov]], [[Charles B. Middleton]] as [[Ming the Merciless]], and [[Richard Alexander (actor)|Richard Alexander]] as [[Prince Barin]]. Also in the principal cast are [[Beatrice Roberts]] as Queen Azura, Donald Kerr as Happy Hapgood, [[C. Montague Shaw|Montague Shaw]] as the Clay King, and [[Wheeler Oakman]] as Ming's chief henchman.  The serial was followed by ''[[Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe]]'' (1940).

==Plot==
When a mysterious beam of light starts disrupting and destroying the Earth's atmosphere, Flash Gordon (Buster Crabbe), Dr. Zarkov (Frank Shannon), and Dale Arden (Jean Rogers) - accidentally accompanied by wisecracking reporter Happy Hapgood (Donald Kerr) - swing into action in Zarkov's rocketship, believing that it could be coming from the planet Mongo. Once in space, they discover that the ray originates from Mars.

Journeying to the fourth planet, they discover their old enemy from Mongo, Ming the Merciless (Charles B. Middleton), is alive and allied with Azura (Beatrice Roberts), the Witch Queen of Mars. From there, under her protection, he is operating a Nitron ray destroying Earth's atmosphere. Azura can transmute people into living clay, condemned to live and die in darkened caves, and she is hated and feared by most of the population. Conversely, the Clay People, led by their King (Montague Shaw), know how to eliminate Azura's power, but lack the means of escaping the caves to which their ruined bodies restrict them.

Gordon and his party seem to hold the answer to their problem, except that the Clay People do not trust them at first, and end up holding Dale Arden hostage. Ultimately, the Earth visitors and the Clay People become allies in the tandem quest to defeat Azura and stop Ming from destroying the Earth. Flash, Dale, Zarkov, and Hapgood do battle against Azura's magic and her Martian space force, Ming's super-scientific weaponry, the treacherous Forest People, and other dangers on the Red Planet. Finally, they win by the classic strategy of divide-and-conquer, showing Azura that Ming has been plotting behind her back to take power from her.

Azura's alliance with Ming is broken, at the cost of the Queen's own life, but the Clay People are freed from their curse. The evil emperor of Mongo, his Nitron ray destroyed and his escape cut off on all sides by the now hostile Martian forces, is seemingly vanquished by the accidental result of his own machinations and treachery.

==Cast==
* [[Buster Crabbe]] as [[Flash Gordon]]
* [[Jean Rogers]] as [[Dale Arden]]
* [[Charles B. Middleton]] as [[Ming the Merciless]]
* [[Frank Shannon]] as [[Hans Zarkov|Dr. Alexis Zarkov]]
* [[Beatrice Roberts]] as Queen Azura
* Donald Kerr as Happy Hapgood
* [[Richard Alexander (actor)|Richard Alexander]] as [[Prince Barin]]
* [[C. Montague Shaw]] as Clay King
* [[Wheeler Oakman]] as Tarnak
* [[Kenne Duncan]] as Airdrome captain
* [[Warner Richmond]] as Zandar

'''Cast notes:'''
* Charles Middleton's portrayal of Ming is devilish in this serial, as opposed his [[Fu Manchu]]-like performance in the first serial.<ref name="GMS">{{cite book | last = Harmon | first = Jim | author2=Donald F. Glut | author2-link=Donald F. Glut | author-link = Jim Harmon | title = The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury | publisher = [[Routledge]] | isbn = 978-0-7130-0097-9 | chapter = 2. "We Come from 'Earth', Don't You Understand?" | page = 39 | date = 1973}}</ref>

==Production==
This serial, the first sequel to the ''Flash Gordon'' serial, was based on the 1936 "[[Big Little Book]]" adaptation of the strip "Flash Gordon and the Witch Queen of Mongo". According to Harmon and Glut, the location was changed to [[Mars]] to capitalize on [[Orson Welles]]' famous ''[[The War of the Worlds (radio)|War of the Worlds]]'' broadcast.<ref name="GMS" /> According to Stedman, this serial preceded that broadcast, which made Universal hastily release a feature version of the serial as ''Mars Attacks the World'' to capitalize on the publicity. The film was a box-office success.<ref name="stedman">{{cite book
 | last = Stedman
 | first = Raymond William
 | title = Serials: Suspense and Drama By Installment
 | publisher = [[University of Oklahoma Press]]
 | isbn = 978-0-8061-0927-5
 | chapter = 4. Perilous Saturdays
 | page = [https://archive.org/details/serialssuspensea00sted/page/105 105]
 | date = 1971
 | chapter-url-access = registration
 | chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/serialssuspensea00sted/page/105}}</ref>

''Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars'' was less expensive to make than the first Flash Gordon serial.<ref name="stedman" />

===''Mars Attacks the World''===
[[Universal Pictures]] also prepared a feature-length version of this serial, which was already ready for release in October 1938 when Orson Welles astounded the country with his ''[[The Mercury Theatre on the Air|Mercury Theatre on the Air]]'' radio production of [[H. G. Wells]]'s ''[[The War of the Worlds (radio)|The War of the Worlds]]''. Universal then quickly had the feature's title changed to ''Mars Attacks the World'', and a week after the Welles broadcast, opened it at a [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] theater as a major premiere event.{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}} The original title for this feature had been ''Rocket Ship'', which was subsequently used for reissues of the first Flash Gordon serial's feature version, which had been originally released under its source serial's title in 1936 in the United Kingdom.

==Critical reception==
[[Time (magazine)|''Time'']] in 1938 declared the serial to be "a Grade A [[film adaptation|cinemedition]] of the famed [[King Features]] strip".<ref>{{cite magazine
| author      = Staff
| date        = March 28, 1938 | title       = Also Showing
| magazine    = [[Time (magazine)|Time]]
| url         = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,759387,00.html
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100826094552/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,759387,00.html
| url-status  = dead
| archive-date = August 26, 2010
| access-date  = 2009-03-23}}</ref>

==Television broadcasting==
In the 1950s, the three serials were broadcast on American television. To avoid confusion with a made-for-TV Flash Gordon series airing at the same time, they were retitled, becoming respectively ''Space Soldiers'', ''Space Soldiers' Trip to Mars'', and ''Space Soldiers Conquer the Universe''.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} They were shown by [[PBS]] U.S. stations, and by the [[BBC]] in the United Kingdom &ndash; where they aired as ''Flash Gordon'' serials, under their original titles.

==Chapters==
{{col-begin|width=40%}}{{col-break}}
*01 "New Worlds to Conquer"
*02 "The Living Dead"
*03 "Queen of Magic"
*04 "Ancient Enemies"
*05 "The Boomerang"
*06 "Tree-men of Mars"
*07 "The Prisoner of Mongo"
*08 "The Black Sapphire of Kalu"
{{col-break}}
*09 "Symbol of Death"
*10 "Incense of Forgetfulness"
*11 "Human Bait"
*12 "Ming the Merciless"
*13 "The Miracle of Magic"
*14 "A Beast at Bay"
*15 "An Eye for an Eye"
{{col-end}}

<small>Source:</small><ref>{{cite book
 | last = Cline
 | first = William C.
 | title = In the Nick of Time
 | publisher = [[McFarland & Company, Inc.]]
 | isbn = 0-7864-0471-X
 | chapter = Filmography
 | page = 220
 | date = 1984}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0030138}}
* Roy Kinnard, Tony Crnkovich, and R. J. Vitone. ''The Flash Gordon Serials, 1936–1940: A Heavily Illustrated Guide.'' McFarland & Co., Inc. 2008. ISBN 978-0-7864-3470-1<ref>https://www.worldcat.org/title/173241102?oclcNum=173241102 Retrieved 21 September 2023.</ref>

{{Flash Gordon}}
{{Universal serials}}
{{Space opera serials 1930-1960}}
{{Robert F. Hill}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1938 films]]
[[Category:1930s science fiction action films]]
[[Category:1930s science fiction adventure films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American science fiction action films]]
[[Category:American space adventure films]]
[[Category:American sequel films]]
[[Category:1930s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films about extraterrestrial life]]
[[Category:Films based on comic strips]]
[[Category:Films directed by Ford Beebe]]
[[Category:Films directed by Robert F. Hill]]
[[Category:Flash Gordon films]]
[[Category:Live-action films based on comics]]
[[Category:Mars in film]]
[[Category:Films set in New York City]]
[[Category:Films set in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Universal Pictures film serials]]
[[Category:1930s American films]]
[[Category:Superhero film serials]]
[[Category:English-language science fiction adventure films]]
[[Category:English-language science fiction action films]]