''Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe'' is a 1940 American

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

12-chapter

movie serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, gene ...

from

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

, produced by

Henry MacRae Henry Alexander MacRae (August 29, 1876 – October 2, 1944) was a Canadian film director, producer, and screenwriter during the silent era, working on many film serials for Universal Studios. One of a number of Canadian pioneers in early ...

and co-directed by

Ford Beebe Ford Beebe (November 26, 1888 – November 26, 1978) was a screenwriter and director. He entered the film business as a writer around 1916 and over the next 60 years wrote and/or directed almost 200 films. He specialized in B-movies – mostly ...

and Ray Taylor. The serial stars

Buster Crabbe Clarence Linden Crabbe II (; February 7, 1908 – April 23, 1983), known professionally as Buster Crabbe, was an American two-time Olympic swimmer and film and television actor. He won the 1932 Olympic gold medal for 400-meter freestyle swimmi ...

, Carol Hughes,

Charles B. Middleton Charles Brown Middleton (October 3, 1874 – April 22, 1949) was an American stage and film actor. During a film career that began at age 46 and lasted almost 30 years, he appeared in nearly 200 films as well as numerous plays. Sometimes credi ...

Frank Shannon Francis Connolly Shannon (27 July 1874 – 1 February 1959) was an Irish actor and writer. Career A stage actor and silent film pioneer, Shannon made his screen debut in 1913's '' The Artist's Joke''. He later appeared in dozens of film ...

, and

Roland Drew Roland Drew (born Walter Goss; August 4, 1900 – March 17, 1988) was an American actor. Biography Born in 1900 in New York City, Drew made his first film in 1926 and continued to work until the 1940s. Noted primarily as Dolores del Río's ...

. It was written by

George H. Plympton George H. Plympton (September 2, 1889 – April 11, 1972) was an American screenwriter. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. A prolific screenwriter, Plympton collaborated in almost 300 films. His earliest known credits date back to 1912 as ...

Basil Dickey Basil Dickey (November 23, 1880 – June 17, 1958) was an American screenwriter. He wrote for more than 140 films between 1916 and 1958. He was born in Illinois and died in Long Beach, California. His brother was playwright and screenwrite ...

, and Barry Shipman and was adapted from

Alex Raymond Alexander Gillespie Raymond Jr. (October 2, 1909 – September 6, 1956) was an American cartoonist who was best known for creating the ''Flash Gordon'' comic strip for King Features Syndicate in 1934. The strip was subsequently adapted into many ...

's syndicated newspaper comic strip of the same name from

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editori ...

. Shown theatrically in 12 separate weekly "chapters", it was the last of the three Universal Flash Gordon serials made between 1936 and 1940. During the 1950s, all three Flash Gordon serials were syndicated to television by Motion Pictures for Television, along with many of Universal's other serial output. To avoid confusion with the imported Flash Gordon TV series airing around the same time, they were retitled ''Space Soldiers'', ''Space Soldiers' Trip to Mars'', and ''Space Soldiers Conquer the Universe''. In 1966 ''Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe'' was edited down by

into two feature-length films for television syndication: '' Purple Death from Outer Space'' and ''Perils from the Planet Mongo''. In the early 1970s, a third feature version was re-edited for the

16 mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, edu ...

home movie market, using story material taken from the entire serial. It bore the title ''Space Soldiers Conquer the Universe'' and later appeared on television during the 1980s. Afterward, all three edited feature-length versions became available through various public-domain video sellers, first on VHS

videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videoca ...

and later on DVD. In the mid-1970s all three complete Universal Flash Gordon serials were shown chapter-by-chapter by PBS stations across the U.S., bringing them to a new generation of science fiction fans, two years before ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

'' and ''

Close Encounters of the Third Kind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut. It tells the story ...

''. From the late 1980s onward, all three serials became available on the home video market under their original theatrical release titles, chapters, and running times.

Plot

A deadly plague is ravaging the Earth, known as the Purple Death because of a purple spot left on victims' foreheads. Flash Gordon learns that

Ming the Merciless Ming the Merciless is a fictional character who first appeared in the ''Flash Gordon'' comic strip in 1934. He has since been the main villain of the strip and its related movie serials, television series and film adaptation. Ming is depicted as ...

is behind the plague when he spots one of Ming's spaceships spreading the "Death Dust" in the Earth's atmosphere. Flash Gordon, along with Dr. Alexis Zarkov and

Dale Arden Dale Arden is a fictional character, the fellow adventurer and love interest of Flash Gordon and a prototypic heroine for later female characters, including Princess Leia and Padme Amidala in '' Star Wars''. Flash, Dale and Dr. Hans Zarkov fi ...

, return to the planet Mongo to find a possible cure, first seeking the assistance of their old friend

Prince Barin Prince Barin is a character in the Flash Gordon stories. He is king of a region of Mongo called Arboria. Barin becomes one of Flash's best friends, and is deeply in love with Princess Aura. In his appearance, Barin resembles the character of R ...

. The trio continue to battle Ming and his allies, led by henchman Captain Torch, who has been charged with stopping the Earthlings by any means. The three eventually find an antidote, called

Polarite Polarite, is an opaque, yellow-white mineral with the chemical formula . Its crystals are orthorhombic pyramidal, but can only be seen through a microscope. It has a metallic luster and leaves a white streak. Polarite is rated 3.5 to 4 on the Mohs ...

, in Mongo's remote northern Kingdom of Frigia. They must now get the cure back to Earth in sufficient quantities to stop the ravaging plague. Ming sends in an army of robot bombs, and he succeeds in capturing Zarkov and Dale. After their capture, Flash must return to Earth to distribute the antidote by rocketship, the very same way the original Death Dust was first spread. Upon his return to Mongo, Flash is able to free Zarkov and Dale. They continue their struggles against Ming, Captain Torch, and his men through a series of close encounters, deadly escapes, and rescues, all the while continuing to thwart Ming and his allies. Ming and his minions are eventually locked away by one of his men in the high control tower of his castle. Unknown to them, Flash is piloting a rocketship that is speeding directly toward that tower. He parachutes away just in the nick of time, and in a daring aerial maneuver Flash is successful in boarding Barrin's nearby rocketship, which has Dale and Zarkov aboard. Flash's unmanned spaceship is actually a flying bomb, having been loaded with highly volatile Solarite. Its rapid forward momentum carries it directly into the castle's control tower, where the large explosion that follows ends Ming's tyrannical reign forever. Prince Barin soon takes his rightful place as the peaceful ruler of Mongo. Ming's last words to Flash were "I am the universe!" Zarkov observes that with Ming's death "Flash Gordon has conquered the universe".

Cast

Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940) 1

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established '' Buck Rogers'' adv ...

* Carol Hughes as

as Dr. Alexis Zarkov *

* Shirley Deane as

Princess Aura Princess Aura is a fictional character in the Flash Gordon comic strips and serials. She has been portrayed by various actresses in the many ''Flash Gordon'' adaptations in film and television. Character overview Aura is the daughter of the ser ...

Donald Curtis Donald Curtis (born Curtis D. Rudolf; February 27, 1915 – May 22, 1997) was an American actor who had roles in dozens of films and television series. Biography Curtis was born in Spokane, Washington, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Carl W. Rudol ...

as Captain Ronal (uncredited) * Lee Powell as Radio Officer Roka * Don Rowan as Captain Torch * Victor Zimmerman as Lieutenant Thong *

Anne Gwynne Anne Gwynne (born Marguerite Gwynne Trice; December 10, 1918 – March 31, 2003) was an American actress who was known as one of the first scream queens because of her numerous appearances in horror films. Gwynne was also one of the most popula ...

as Lady Sonja * John Hamilton as Professor Gordon * Edgar Edwards as Captain Turan * William Royle as Captain Sudan * Sigurd Nilssen as Count Korro * Luli Deste as Queen Fria (uncredited) * Michael Mark as Professor Karm *

Byron Foulger Byron Kay Foulger (August 27, 1898 – April 4, 1970) was an American character actor who over a 50-year career performed in hundreds of stage, film, and television productions. Early years Born in Ogden, Utah, Byron was the second of four ...

as Professor Druk * As-yet unidentified player as Radio Officer Tekla *

Ray Mala Ray Mala (born Ray Agnaqsiaq Wise, also known as Ach-nach-chiak ( Iñupiaq othography: ''Aġnatchiaq''); December 27, 1906 – September 23, 1952) was a prominent Native American Hollywood actor. He was one of Hollywood's Native American m ...

as Prince of the Rock People (uncredited)

Chapter titles

# "The Purple Death" # "Freezing Torture" # "Walking Bombs" # "The Destroying Ray" # "The Palace of Horror" # "Flaming Death" # "The Land of the Dead" # "The Fiery Abyss" # "The Pool of Peril" # "The Death Mist" # "Stark Treachery" # "Doom of the Dictator" _Source:

Production

Plot points were taken from the preceding serial, ''

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars ''Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars'' is a 1938 Universal Pictures 15–chapter science-fiction movie serial based on the syndicated newspaper comic strip ''Flash Gordon''. It is the second of the three Flash Gordon serials made by Universal between 1 ...

''. The "chamber of the death dust experiments" was previously used in Universal's ''

Buck Rogers Buck Rogers is a science fiction adventure hero and feature comic strip created by Philip Francis Nowlan first appearing in daily US newspapers on January 7, 1929, and subsequently appearing in Sunday newspapers, international newspapers, books ...

'' serial. One money-saving device also used was inserting in the serial some exciting mountain climbing search and rescue scenes from the German film '' White Hell of Pitz Palu'' (1930), as well as using its music score. Ming is portrayed as a semi-uniformed military dictator in this serial, rather than as a Fu Manchu or Devil-like character as in the two previous Flash Gordon serials. Co-star billing was given to

, a Universal ingenue, whose role does not develop until the middle of the serial. This last-minute change in billing status resulted in the complete elimination of actor Donald Curtis, as Ronal, from both versions of the screen credits, despite the fact that he, unlike Gwynne, is in every episode playing Flash's primary aide, a major character role.

Jean Rogers Jean Rogers (born Eleanor Dorothy Lovegren, March 25, 1916 – February 24, 1991) was an American actress who starred in serial films in the 1930s and low–budget feature films in the 1940s as a leading lady. She is best remembered for ...

, who had played Dale Arden in the two previous Flash Gordon serials, was under contract to

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

at that point, and neither she nor Fox wanted her to repeat the Dale Arden role; it was given instead to a recent Universal contract starlet Carol Hughes.Fitzgerald, Michael, ''A View from the Cliff: Anne Gwynne Interview'', ''Serial Report''

Critical reception

According to

Jim Harmon James Judson Harmon (21 April 1933 – 16 February 2010), better known as Jim Harmon, was an American short story author and popular culture historian who wrote extensively about the Golden Age of Radio. He sometimes used the pseudonym Judson Grey ...

and

Don Glut Donald F. Glut (; born February 19, 1944) is an American writer, motion picture film director, and screenwriter. He is best known for writing The Empire Strikes Back (novel), the novelization of the second ''Star Wars'' film, ''The Empire Strikes ...

, ''Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe'' "was the most picturesque of the trilogy but surrendered much compelling charm for its cinematic sophistication".

Soundtrack

* ''

Les préludes ' ("Preludes" or "The Beginnings"), S.97, is the third of Franz Liszt's thirteen symphonic poems. The music was composed between 1845–54, and began as an overture to Liszt's choral cycle ' (The Four Elements), then revised as a stand-alone co ...

'' by

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

* Excerpts from '' The Bride of Frankenstein'' soundtrack by

Franz Waxman Franz Waxman (né Wachsmann; December 24, 1906February 24, 1967) was a German-born composer and conductor of Jewish descent, known primarily for his work in the film music genre. His film scores include ''Bride of Frankenstein'', ''Rebecca'', ' ...

Award nomination

The entire ''Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe'' serial was nominated in 2016 for the 1940 Retro Hugo Award, in the category "Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form", sponsored by The

World Science Fiction Society Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, duri ...

. The Retro Hugo Awards that year were presented at

MidAmeriCon II The 74th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as MidAmeriCon II, was held on 17–21 August 2016 at the Bartle Hall Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. The convention's name, by established Worldcon tra ...

, the 74th World Science Fiction Convention held in Kansas City, MO.

References

External links

* * ;Chapters online
Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe on YouTube

Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe at The Internet Archive
* * * * * * * * * * * * {{Universal serials 1940 films 1940s science fiction action films 1940s science fiction adventure films American black-and-white films American science fiction action films American space adventure films American sequel films 1940s English-language films Flash Gordon films Films based on comic strips Films directed by Ford Beebe Films directed by Ray Taylor Films set on fictional planets Universal Pictures film serials Live-action films based on comics Articles containing video clips Films with screenplays by George H. Plympton 1940s American films