Editing Flash Gordon (serial)

{{Short description|1936 film serial}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Flash Gordon
| image          = Flash Gordon (serial).jpg
| caption        = Poster for 1936 serial (note tagline),<br>reissued as ''Rocketship'' in 1949
| director       = [[Frederick Stephani]]
| producer       = [[Henry MacRae]]
| screenplay     = [[Frederick Stephani]]<br>[[Ella O'Neill (screenwriter)|Ella O'Neill]]<br>[[George H. Plympton]]<br>(as George Plympton)<br>[[Basil Dickey]]
| based_on       = {{Based on|[[Flash Gordon]]|[[Alex Raymond]]}}
| starring       = [[Buster Crabbe]]<br />[[Jean Rogers]]<br />[[Charles B. Middleton]]<br />[[Priscilla Lawson]]<br />[[Frank Shannon]]
| cinematography = Jerome Ash<br />[[Richard Fryer (cinematographer)|Richard Fryer]]
| editing        = Saul A. Goodkind<br>Louis Sackin<br>[[Alvin Todd]]<br>Edward Todd
| studio         = Universal Pictures<BR>[[King Features Syndicate]]
| distributor    = [[Universal Pictures]]
| released       = {{Film date|1936|04|06}}
| runtime        = 245 minutes<br>(13 episodes)
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $350,000<ref name="Tracey-ImagesJournal" />
}}

'''''Flash Gordon''''' is a 1936 superhero [[serial film]]. Presented in 13 chapters, it is the first screen adventure for [[Flash Gordon]], the comic-strip character created by [[Alex Raymond]] in 1934. It presents the story of Gordon's visit to the planet [[Mongo (planet)|Mongo]] and his encounters with the evil Emperor [[Ming the Merciless]]. [[Buster Crabbe]], [[Jean Rogers]], [[Charles B. Middleton|Charles Middleton]], [[Priscilla Lawson]] and [[Frank Shannon]] portray the film's central characters. In 1996, ''Flash Gordon'' was selected for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |website=Library of Congress|access-date=2020-04-29}}</ref>

==Cast==
{{colbegin}}
* [[Buster Crabbe]] as [[Flash Gordon]]
* [[Charles B. Middleton]] as [[Ming the Merciless]]
* [[Jean Rogers]] as [[Dale Arden]]
* [[Priscilla Lawson]] as [[Princess Aura]]
* [[Frank Shannon]] as [[Hans Zarkov|Dr. Alexis Zarkov]]
* [[Richard Alexander (actor)|Richard Alexander]] as [[Prince Barin]]
* [[Jack Lipson]] as King Vultan
* [[Theodore Lorch]] as Second High Priest
* [[James Pierce]] as [[Prince Thun]]
* [[Duke York]] as King Kala
* Earl Askam as Officer Torch
* [[Lon Poff]] as First High Priest ''(uncredited)''
* [[Richard Tucker (actor)|Richard Tucker]] as Professor Gordon
* [[George Cleveland]] as Professor Hensley
* Muriel Goodspeed as Zona
{{colend}}

'''Cast notes:'''
* [[Eddie Parker (actor)|Eddie Parker]] served as a [[stand-in]] and [[stunt double]] for Buster Crabbe.<ref name="Harmon1973" />
* [[Crash Corrigan]], who would later star in other serials, wore a modified [[gorilla suit]] to portray the "orangopoid" seen in chapters 8 and 9.<ref name="Harmon1973" />
* [[Glenn Strange]] in uncredited roles wore the "Gocko" lobster-clawed dragon costume and also appears as one of Ming's soldiers.<ref>[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0833363/ "Glenn Strange"], filmography, [[Internet Movie Database]] (IMDb). Retrieved April 30, 2019.</ref>
* Richard Alexander helped to design his own costume, which included a leather chest plate painted gold.<ref name="Harmon1973" />
* Early film fan historians claimed that actor [[Lon Poff]], playing the first of Ming's two high priests, died shortly after production began and was replaced by Theodore Lorch.{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}} In fact, however, only Poff's character died, or rather was killed by Ming in an act of fury and replaced by Lorch's High Priest, but the scene was cut from the final print. Poff did not die until 1952.{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}}

==Production==
* According to Harmon and Glut, ''Flash Gordon'' had a budget of over a million dollars.<ref name="Harmon1973" /> Stedman, however, writes that it was "reportedly" US$350,000 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|0.35|1936|r=1}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|US}}).<ref name="Stedman1971" />
* Many props and other elements in the film were recycled from earlier Universal productions. The watchtower sets used in ''[[Frankenstein (1931 film)|Frankenstein]]'' (1931) appear again as several interiors within Ming's palace. One of the large Egyptian statues seen in ''[[The Mummy (1932 film)|The Mummy]]'' (1932) is the idol of the Great God Tao. The laboratory set and a shot of the Moon rushing past Zarkov's returning rocket ship from space are from ''[[The Invisible Ray (1936 film)|The Invisible Ray]]'' (1936). Zarkov's rocket ship and scenes of dancers swarming over a gigantic idol were reused from ''[[Just Imagine (film)|Just Imagine]]'' (1930). Ming's attack on Earth is footage from old silent newsreels, and an entire dance segment is from ''The Midnight Sun'' (1927), while some of the laboratory equipment came from ''[[Bride of Frankenstein]]'' (1935).<ref name="Harmon1973" /> The music was also recycled from several other films, notably ''Bride of Frankenstein'', ''[[Bombay Mail (1934 film)|Bombay Mail]]'', ''[[The Black Cat (1934 film)|The Black Cat]]'' (both 1934), ''[[Werewolf of London]]'' (1935), and ''[[The Invisible Man (1933 film)|The Invisible Man]]'' (1933).<ref name="Stedman1971" /> 
* Crabbe had his hair dyed blond to appear more like the comic-strip Flash Gordon. He was reportedly very self-conscious about this and kept his hat on in public at all times, even with women present. He did not like men whistling at him.<ref name="Harmon1973" /> Jean Rogers also had her hair dyed blonde prior to production, "apparently to capitalize on the popularity of [[Jean Harlow]]". Brunette was actually the natural hair color for both actors.<ref name="Harmon1973" />
* According to the reference ''The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury'' (1973) by [[Jim Harmon]] and [[Donald F. Glut|Donald Glut]], Ming's makeup and costuming were designed to resemble [[Fu Manchu]], a fictional "supervillain" popularized in earlier [[The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu|Hollywood films]] and in a [[The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu|series of novels]] first published in England in 1913.<ref name="Harmon1973" /><ref>Rohmer, Sax. ''The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu''. North Yorkshire, United Kingdom: Methuen Publishing Ltd., 1913.</ref>
* Exterior shots, such as the Earth crew's first steps on Mongo, were filmed at [[Bronson Canyon]].<ref name="Harmon1973" />

==Release and reception==
Universal hoped to regain an adult audience for serials with the release of ''Flash Gordon'' and by presenting it in many of the top or "A-level" theaters in large cities across the United States.<ref name="Stedman1971" /> Multiple newspapers in 1936, including some not even carrying the Flash Gordon comic strip, featured half- and three-quarter-page stories about the film as well as copies of Raymond's drawings and [[Film still|publicity stills]] that highlighted characters and chapter settings.<ref name="Cline1984p17" />

The film was the first outright science-fiction serial,{{citation needed|date=September 2018}} although earlier serials had contained science-fiction elements such as gadgets. Six of the fourteen serials released within five years of ''Flash Gordon'' were science fiction.<ref name="Cline1984p32" />

For syndication to TV in the 1950s, the serial was renamed ''Space Soldiers'', so as not to be confused with the newly made, also syndicated TV series, ''[[Flash Gordon (1954 TV series)|Flash Gordon]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kinnard |first1=Roy |last2=Crnkovich |first2=Tony |last3=Vitone |first3=R.J. |title=The Flash Gordon Serials, 1936-1940: A Heavily Illustrated Guide |date=2015 |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=9780786455003 |pages=21–22}}</ref>

The serial film was also edited into a 72-minute feature version in 1936, which was only exhibited abroad, until being released in the US in 1949 as '''''Rocket Ship''''' by [[Sherman S. Krellberg]]'s Filmcraft Pictures.<ref>p. 40 Kennard, Roy, ''Science Fiction Serials: A Critical Filmography of the 31 Hard SF Cliffhanger'', McFarland & Co Inc, 1 October 1998</ref>

A different feature version of the serial, at 90 minutes, was sold directly to television in 1966 under the title ''Spaceship to the Unknown''.

''Flash Gordon'' was Universal's second-highest-grossing film of 1936, after ''[[Three Smart Girls]]'', a musical starring [[Deanna Durbin]].<ref>Daniel Eagan, ''America's film legacy: the authoritative guide to the landmark movies in the National Film Registry''. New York: Continuum, 2010 (p. 242). {{ISBN|9781441116475}}</ref> The [[Motion Picture Production Code|Hays Office]], however, objected to the revealing costumes worn by Dale, Aura and the other female characters.<ref>[[Al Williamson]] and Peter Poplaski, "Introduction" to Alex Raymond, ''Flash Gordon: Mongo, the Planet of Doom''. Princeton, Wis. : Kitchen Sink Press. 1990. {{ISBN|0878161147}} (p. 5).</ref> In response to those objections, Universal designed more modest outfits for the female performers in the film's two sequels.

In his review of the film in the 2015 reference ''Radio Times Guide to Films'', Alan Jones describes ''Flash Gordon'' as "non-stop thrill-a-minute stuff as Flash battles one adversary after another", and he states that it is "the best of the Crabbe trilogy of ''Flash Gordon'' films".<ref>''Radio Times Guide to Films 2015''. London, [[BBC Worldwide]], 2014. {{ISBN|9780992936402}} (p.442)</ref>

==Chapter list==
#"The 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"

==Sequels==
Two sequels to ''Flash Gordon'', also in serial form and starring Buster Crabbe, followed the popular 1936 production: ''[[Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars]]'' (15 chapters) in 1938 and ''[[Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe]]'' (12 chapters) in 1940. Between the releases of those two later productions, Crabbe starred in an entirely separate but similarly structured [[Buck Rogers (serial)|Universal science-fiction serial]] portraying [[Buck Rogers]], another popular character also featured in magazines, comic strips, and on radio in the late 1920s and 1930s.<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=69}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[1936 in science fiction]]

==References==
{{Reflist
| refs =
<ref name="Tracey-ImagesJournal">
{{cite journal
| last = Tracey
| first = Grant
| title = Images Journal Flash Gordon article
| website = ImagesJournal.com
| publisher = Images Journal
| issue = 4
| url = http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue04/infocus/flashgordon.htm
| access-date = 2010-08-02}}
</ref>
<ref name="Harmon1973">
{{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
| pages = 29–35, 38
| chapter = 2. "We Come from 'Earth', Don't You Understand?"
| year = 1973}}
</ref>
<ref name="Stedman1971">
{{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
| pages = [https://archive.org/details/serialssuspensea00sted/page/97 97–100, 102]
| chapter = 4. Perilous Saturdays
| year = 1971
| chapter-url-access = registration
| chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/serialssuspensea00sted/page/97}}
</ref>
<ref name="Cline1984p17">
{{cite book
| last = Cline
| first = William C.
| title = In the Nick of Time
| publisher = McFarland & Company, Inc.
| isbn = 0-7864-0471-X
| page = 17
| chapter = 2. In Search of Ammunition
| year = 1984}}
</ref>
<ref name="Cline1984p32">
{{cite book
| last = Cline
| first = William C.
| title = In the Nick of Time
| publisher = McFarland & Company, Inc.
| isbn = 0-7864-0471-X
| page = 32
| chapter = 3. The Six Faces of Adventure
| year = 1984}}
</ref>}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Flash Gordon (1936 serial)|Flash Gordon (serial)}}
* ''Flash Gordon'' essay by Roy Kinnard at [[National Film Registry]] [https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/flash_gordon.pdf]
* ''Flash Gordon'' essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010, {{ISBN|0826429777}}, pages 240-242 [https://books.google.com/books?id=deq3xI8OmCkC&source=gbs_similarbooks]
* {{IMDb title|0027623|Flash Gordon}}

{{Flash Gordon}}
{{Universal serials}}
{{Space opera serials 1930-1960}}
{{Ray Taylor (director)}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flash Gordon (serial)}}
[[Category:1936 films]]
[[Category:1930s science fiction action films]]
[[Category:1930s science fiction adventure films]]
[[Category:1930s superhero films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American science fiction action films]]
[[Category:American space adventure films]]
[[Category:American superhero films]]
[[Category:1930s English-language films]]
[[Category:Flash Gordon films]]
[[Category:Films based on comic strips]]
[[Category:Films directed by Ray Taylor]] <!-- uncredited -->
[[Category:Films set on fictional planets]]
[[Category:Films set in New York City]]
[[Category:Live-action films based on comics]]
[[Category:United States National Film Registry films]]
[[Category:Universal Pictures film serials]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by George H. Plympton]]
[[Category:1930s American films]]
[[Category:Superhero film serials]]
[[Category:English-language science fiction adventure films]]
[[Category:English-language science fiction action films]]