Flash Gordon (1936-1940)

[Dave]

Flash Gordon

Alex Raymond created the hero of the 25th Century in comic strip form, and his chief claims to film fame are three wild and woolly Saturday morning serials made by Universal:

Flash Gordon (1936)
http://uk.imdb.com/Title?0027623
http://uk.imdb.com/Title?0027624
Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938)
http://uk.imdb.com/Title?0030138
Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940)
http://uk.imdb.com/Title?0032475

All starring Buster Crabbe with Charles Middleton as the wily Emperor Ming. The cheap sets and special effects have kept them popular through the years.

 

[ZachWZ]

Buster Crabbe

How come this form is only discussing the 1980 Flash. Buster Crabbe was the best Flash ever:flash: I would like to duscuss his stuff.

ZachWZ

 

[BAYLOR]

The original serials are overacted with very dated special effects. Silly science fiction adventure , but still classic stuff and very entertaining and fun to watch.

He also did the later Buck Rogers serials which are equally entertaining.

Buster Crabb had guest appearance in The tv series Buck Rogers in the 25 century , he played an aging pilot named Gordon who came back into services. It was really cool seeing him do a goes spot there.

 

[Dave]

The original serials are overacted with very dated special effects. Silly science fiction adventure , but still classic stuff and very entertaining and fun to watch.

Rather than poor acting and plotting, I think you can put much of the "silly science fiction adventure" down to these being serials and you need to watch them as a weekly serial (like early Doctor Who and the 1960's Batman) and not all strung together at once. I'm a big fan of the idea of the serial and I think we are missing out on something today (although soap opera is probably a ******* child.) Just as Batman had cliffhanger endings that were completely rewritten from a different angle, and Doctor Who had characters endlessly running up and down exactly the same corridors, so Flash Gordon had the same. However, my father watched this on Saturday mornings at the cinema and was completely compelled to return the following week.

When I was a child in the 1970's they would show these daily on TV during the summer holidays. Flash is the typical boys-own, Captain Kirk-like hero who always gets the girl, and most of the women are just there for eye candy and to be protected. Emperor Ming is the quintessential arch-villain, very Fu Man Chu like, totally evil but with a quite sensual daughter. Yes, these are all stereotypes, but it was serials like this that first created them. Yes, very entertaining and fun to watch.

 

[Foxbat]

As a youngster my memories are very similar to Dave's and I have a soft spot for these serials (which Is probably why I have a rather large collection of them on DVD). Sadly that rather sensual daughter of Ming's played by Priscilla Lawson (miss Miami Beach 1935) died at the relatively young age of 44 due to internal bleeding caused by an ulcer.

Other notables worthy of a look include Crash Corrigan's Undersea Kingdom, The Three Musketeers (starring both Lon Chaney Jnr and John Wayne...Lon Chaney is also in Crash Corrigan), The Fighting Devil Dogs (most notable because many in the know argue that the villain The Lightning is a proto-Darth Vader), The Phantom Creeps and The Return of Chandu (starring Bela Lugosi).

The most bizarre serial is probably Gene Autrey in The Phantom Empire where he not only manages to battle underground aliens but also to play a tune in every episode on his li'l ol' geetar

Happy days.

 

[BAYLOR]

As a youngster my memories are very similar to Dave's and I have a soft spot for these serials (which Is probably why I have a rather large collection of them on DVD). Sadly that rather sensual daughter of Ming's played by Priscilla Lawson (miss Miami Beach 1935) died at the relatively young age of 44 due to internal bleeding caused by an ulcer.

Other notables worthy of a look include Crash Corrigan's Undersea Kingdom, The Three Musketeers (starring both Lon Chaney Jnr and John Wayne...Lon Chaney is also in Crash Corrigan), The Fighting Devil Dogs (most notable because many in the know argue that the villain The Lightning is a proto-Darth Vader), The Phantom Creeps and The Return of Chandu (starring Bela Lugosi).

The most bizarre serial is probably Gene Autrey in The Phantom Empire where he not only manages to battle underground aliens but also to play a tune in every episode on his li'l ol' geetar

Happy days.

Undersea kingdom is a hoot to watch. Ray Crash Corrigan had absolutely no acting talent whatsoever . His last acting job was in the 1958 Science fiction Classic It The Terror From the unknown in which he played the monster. The Creature suit didn't fit him very well because it was too small.

I think Gene Autry played himself in that one. The Phantom Empire was remade as a segment in the 1979 short-lived tv series Clifhangers.

 

[BAYLOR]

The 1941 Captain Marvel serial is consider one of the best ever done . In terms of acting and story telling and production valuses , it's pretty good.

 

[Foxbat]

I have a copy of Captain Marvel and it's definitely one of the better ones. Another decent one is Spy Smasher

 

[BAYLOR]

The 1980 Flash Gordon film does have some of the campiness of the serials.

 

[BAYLOR]

I also recommend the 1979 Flash Gordon animated tv series. season one a pretty good. It has the look of the the 1930's serials but the writing is fantastic. This its easily Filmation's best animated series.

 

[BAYLOR]

Then there's Commando Cody The Rocketeer. This was done by Republic Pictures. in early 1950's The Writing and acting was grade z. But the flying sequences of the Rocketeer were well done and clever even by today's standards. This was near the end of the movie serial era. The cost of producing them combined with the coming of television pretty much spelled the end of the movie serials.

 

[Frost Giant]

Our local public television station showed these serials when I was growing up, we loved watching them. I remember being fascinated by the Clay People as a youngster.

 

[clovis-man]

When I was a child in the 1970's they would show these daily on TV during the summer holidays. Flash is the typical boys-own, Captain Kirk-like hero who always gets the girl, and most of the women are just there for eye candy and to be protected. Emperor Ming is the quintessential arch-villain, very Fu Man Chu like, totally evil but with a quite sensual daughter. Yes, these are all stereotypes, but it was serials like this that first created them. Yes, very entertaining and fun to watch.

Charles Middleton, who played Ming, was a great melodramatic player, who massaged his villainous persona to the maximum. And Priscilla Lawson was one of those "bad girl babes" who couldn't resist putting the moves on our hero, Flash and inspiring lust in pre-teen male movie viewers. Buster Crabbe, who was essentially unpaid to play Flash, brought endless enthusiasm and energy to the role. Corny, sure, but great fun anyway. In an interview years later he said that he thought the first serial was the best and that the other two were pale imitations. However, my young grandson was fascinated by the clay people in the Trip To Mars series.

Some great trivia and info can be found here: Flash Gordon