Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Directors:

Ford Beebe
Robert F. Hill

Writers:

Ray Trampe (original story and screenplay) &
Norman S. Hall (original story and screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 March 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

15 STARTLING CHAPTERS OF FURTHER ADVENTURES ON A NEW PLANET! (original-release posters)

Plot:

When a deadly ray strikes Earth, Flash and his friends return to space to battle Ming the Merciless and his ally the queen of Mars.

Plot Keywords:

Queen | Good Versus Evil | Curse | Atonement | Punctuation In Title

Cast

Buster Crabbe	...	Flash Gordon
Jean Rogers	...	Dale Arden
Charles Middleton	...	Emperor Ming
Frank Shannon	...	Dr. Zarkov
Beatrice Roberts	...	Queen Azura
Donald Kerr	...	Happy Hapgood
Richard Alexander	...	Prince Barin [Chs. 6-15]
C. Montague Shaw	...	Clay King (as Montague Shaw)
Wheeler Oakman	...	Tarnak
Kenne Duncan	...	Airdrome captain (as Kenneth Duncan)
Warner Richmond	...	Zandar
Jack Mulhall	...	Bomber captain [Chs. 4-5, 13]
Lane Chandler	...	Flight commander [Chs. 2-3]
Anthony Warde	...	King Turan of the Forest People [Chs. 7, 11, 13]
Ben Lewis	...	Professor [Ch. 1]

Also Known As:

Space Soldiers' Trip to Mars (USA) (TV title)

Runtime:

(15 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved

Company:

King Features Production

Trivia:

This was the final appearance of Jean Rogers as Dale Arden.

Goofs:

Continuity: In Chapter One, after Queen Azura vanishes from the throne, she gets hailed by her subjects in the workroom before reappearing in their midst. While she was still out of sight, the subjects greeted and bowed to her. They had no way of knowing the Queen was about to arrive.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Empire of Dreams: The Story of the 'Star Wars' Trilogy (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Romeo and Juliet Overture

Beyond Criticism

The degree to which these episodes require of the viewer a super-human suspension of belief makes them, I believe, beyond all criticism and places them in a category that defies definition--"kitsch" and "camp" do not begin to do this cinematic production justice. I do have one criticism, however, of King Entertainment's editing of the DVD. They should have left in the original breaks in the story line which corresponded to the actual viewing experience of the original audiences in the movie houses of the 30s & 40s and TV of the 60s & 70s: namely those dramatic moments at the end of a chapter when Flash & company appeared to be finished for certain. The beginning of the next sequel revealed how they managed their astonishing, breath-taking escape from the gaping jaws of death.