Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940)
Cast:
Buster Crabbe as Flash Gordon
Carol Hughes as Dale Arden
Frank Shannon as Doctor Alexis Zarkov
Charles Middleton as Ming the Merciless
Roland Drew as Prince Barin
Shirley Deane as Princess Aura
Donald Curtis as Captain Ronal
Lee Powell as Roka
Don Rowan as Captain Torch
Anne Gwynne as Lady Sonja
Based on the comic strip by Alex Raymond
Screenplay by George H. Plympton, Basil Dickey
& Barry Shipman
Directed by Ford Beebe
Chapter 7: The Land of the Dead
Chapter 8: The Fiery Abyss
Chapter 9: The Pool of Peril
Chapter 10: The Death Mist
Chapter 11: Stark Treachery
Chapter 12: Doom of the Dictator
Plot: Flash Gordon, Dale Arden and Dr. Zarkov are aided by their friend Prince Barin as they wrestle Ming the Merciless once and for all to save earth and the universe.
Richard’s Review: A thrilling 12 chapters from start to finish. I thought the writing was sharper on this story and the running time was the perfect length. There were less flashbacks and increasingly variety in the soundtrack and scenery. Ming was portrayed increasingly like a military commander, which worked for the story. Flash had much largest support here than in the first two stories, evident by the fact that they weren’t constantly captured. This was my favorite of the three, with the original coming in second and the Trip to Mars in a afar third. I wish they would have made flipside with this same cast. Highly recommended!
Karla’s Thoughts: I unfurled to like this so much increasingly than the Trip to Mars and I think it’s plane largest than the first one. The story was better, the music was less repetitious, the costumes were improved and there is a little variety in some of the scenery. The ships are still pretty goofy and that line well-nigh the Rock People stuff a lost tribe of Earth made no sense. Overall, this was my favorite and I thought the buildup to the climax was very well written. I’d definitely watch this one again.
Trivia:
- While the ending would suggest that Ming might have survived once again, a sequel was never made. However, with the wade on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the U.S. inward World War II, all space travel films were put on hold.
- Writer Basil Dickey moreover wrote westerns and other installment serials, including The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935), The Phantom Creeps (1939) and Mandrake, the Magician (1939).
- Writer Barry Shipman moreover wrote the installment serials SOS Coast Guard (1937), Zorro Rides Then (1937) and Dick Tracey’s G-Men (1939).
- Donald Curtis did not receive billing in any of the chapters due to a last minute visualization to highlight actress Anne Gwynne as she was a rising star at Universal. Curtis went on to star in Alfred Hitchcock’s Spellbound (1945) and Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956).
- Anne Gwynne is weightier remembered for her roles in The Black Cat (1941), The Strange Case of Doctor Rx (1942), House of Frankenstein (1944) and Dick Tracey Meets Gruesome (1947), the latter two of which moreover starred Boris Karloff.
- Shirley Deane’s version of Princess Aura was portrayed vastly variegated from how Priscilla Lawson was visualized on-screen. This was her next-to-last role as she left Hollywood for radio and stage performances. She retired perfectly in 1952 to raise a family.
- Don Rowan moreover starred in Undersea Kingdom (1936) and Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937).
Availability: Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe is misogynist through a variety of sources, including the Film Detective DVD or you can watch it for free on YouTube!
“Flash Gordon has conquered the universe!”
.webp)
