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13 reviews in total

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7 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
You gotta give it to him...Ming knew how to move on following defeats., 22 January 2006
Author: Leslie Howard Adams (longhorn1939@suddenlink.net) from Texas

Universal's 46th sound-era film was the third and last of their serials...From the ALEX RAYMOND newspaper feature owned and copyrighted by King Features Syndicate...starring Buster Crabbe as "Flash Gordon." All featured loose adaptations of their Sunday comic page continuities but this one stayed pretty close to the long-running segment devoted to Prince Barin's Kingdom of Arboria and the Ice Kingdom of Frigia ruled by The Ice Queen, both on the planet Mongo.

This one takes off when the Earth is visited by a deadly epidemic known as the Plague of the Purple Death, easily diagnosed as it leaves a purple spot on the foreheads of its victims. Flash Gordon (Buster Crabbe), Dale Arden (Carol Hughes) and Dr. Zarkov (Frank Shannon) zoom out in Zarkov's rocket ship and make a straight-space bee-line for Mongo, where the ruthless ruler, Ming the Merciless (Charles Middleton) is spreading death dust in Earth's atmosphere as part of his plan to CONQUER THE UNIVERSE. Actually, he had two kingdoms on his own planet he didn't rule, but Ming had a severe case of the hots for Dale Arden from Day One, and he probably figured he could take care of the rebel kingdoms after he made the lured-back Dale his bride and, thusly inspired, take care of Arboria and Frigia in one fell swoop along with the remainder of the Universe. The man knew how to set priorities.

Upon arriving on Mongo, Flash, Dale and Zarkov visit their old friends Prince Barin (played by Roland Drew, and two Roland Drews weren't equal to Dick Alexander's Prince Barin) and his wife Aura (Shirley Dean, formerly of The Jones Family at TC-F), who was also Ming's daughter, who has been reformed by Barin's love and the realization that her father is one stark-mad, raving lunatic...and horny to boot.

The family touches and relationships between the primary characters---Flash may have had a little thing going on with Aura back in the early days of the strip when she was the total spoiled-rotten daughter and supporter of her father, and they were still exchanging Sunday glances for years even after she married Barin--- and the creation of a Queen Glenda of Frigia (Clarice Sherry) ruling over an Ice Kingdom (that one strike any chords with a 2005 film) show that Alex Raymond's plot-writing skills were on par with his top-flight illustration abilities. All of his comic strips, including "Jungle Jim" were aimed at adults, and the kids could figure it out later on their own. Some of us never did.

Glenda The Ice Queen, on Sundays for certain, also had an eye on General Lupi (William Royle), the commander-in-chief of her army, or he was until he ended up in one of Ming's dungeons, and wasn't doing much in the way of commanding when Flash & Company showed up. In fact, Ming's scientists have perfected the Purple Death Dust to the point where it only kills those with intelligence enough to pose a threat to Ming, while only making slaves out of the less intelligent. This, clearly, posed a threat for all the citizens of Earth with all the population doomed to become slaves, but Ming wasn't a man who liked to take chances, except where Dale Arden was concerned. Well, his stooge scientists tell him that this is what they have done, but Ming wants proof and they are about to experiment on General Lupi. Flash, of course, rescues him and this makes the thawed-out Ice Queen happy, and she grants Flash and Zarkov the right to mine Polarite, the antidote to the Purple Death Dust, in her kingdom. After a few incidents with avalanches and "annihilants" Flash mines enough Polarite to save the Earth, and he makes a quick day-trip back there and deposits the life-saving Polarite on top of Mt. McKinley. (Hey, settle down...it's stock footage McKinley and not a location site.) But, back on Mongo, things aren't going all that smooth and there are still many chapters to go. Somewhere toward the end, Zarkov defies Ming by informing him that his and Flash's mission is to not only save the world (Earth) but the Universe as well. Ming, always the one to indulge in tirades, even when things are going his way, scoffs: "The universe? I AM THE UNIVERSE!" Charles Middleton's eyes probably lit up when he saw that line in the script.

(Those of you who don't know how this one ends might want to move on to something else, now)....as they fly back to the safety of Arboria and then back to Earth, Prince Barin tells Flash: "By destroying Ming, you have saved the universe." and Flash replies..."In his mad ambition, Ming declared that HE WAS the universe." And Zarkov says, "Then, since you are the conquerer of Ming, I shall radio your father: Flash Gordon conquers the universe!"

And Dale, not knowing an exit line when she hears one adds..."And saves the Earth."

We thought he saved the Earth several chapters back when he deposited the Polarite atop of Mt. McKinley. Oh, that's correct...Ming later came up with Solarite.

Hey, the dialogue and character's alone overcome any "so-called" 1940's cheesy special effects. Nine out of ten...only because of the covered-up belly buttons in this one.

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7 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
The Grand Finale, 1 April 2003
Author: Brian Washington (Sargebri@att.net) from Los Angeles, California

This was a pretty good serial. Buster Crabbe was made to play the heroic Flash Gordon and Charles Middleton is the perfect Ming. However, it is the action sequences that carry this film. The special effects for this time period are also pretty good, even for the 1940's. The only flaw I find with this, though, is that Jean Rogers is not playing Dale or that Richard Alexander is not playing Barin. The two actors that replace them are okay, but the originals defined the roles. Also, there is no reference to the second serial. Maybe its because if they were to show any footage from the first two, the audience would definitely see that there are different actors playing Dale, Barin and Aura. However, despite these flaws, it is still a great Saturday afternoon serial

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7 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Entertaining, 8 October 2004

Author: Wayne Malin (wwaayynnee51@hotmail.com) from United States

Flash Gordon (Buster Crabbe), Dale Arden (Carol Hughes) and Dr. Zarkov go to the planet Mongo and fight the evil emperor Ming (Charles Middleton) who is shooting "death rays" at the Earth.

I haven't seen the previous two serials so I have nothing to compare it to--but this was pretty good. It moves quickly and there's lots of action: Flash is thrown into a fiery pit; he's trapped in an avalanche; fights silly-looking robots that explode when hit; is zapped by the "Destroying Ray"; has aerial battles with Ming's warships; is caught in a fierce explosion (twice); falls down a huge mountain AND is almost drowned! WHEW!

But he (logically) escapes being killed each time. Also he's joined by Prince Barin, the Forest Men and even some Rock Men.

I also found this pretty progressive (for its time). Dale isn't just a timid female waiting for Flash to save her--she holds her own in fights and takes over the spaceship a few times when he's wounded. The acting is just OK--but it IS just a serial--they weren't trying to win Academy Awards. Hughes is actually the best out of all of them--Middleton is (easily) the worst. Crabbe looks tired a lot--but he was probably sick of playing Flash again and again. The special effects are primitive but I've always liked those silly little spaceships--they're a guilty favorite! Some of the sets are VERY elaborate (probably used from another movie) and the score is wonderful--until you realize you're hearing the same thing over and over.

The best way to see this is one a day or (like I did) three a day. No way can you watch the whole 4 hours in one sitting!

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
A fun serial, 18 June 2003

Author: (antiwolf) from Minneapolis

It's better than a lot of the dreck produced today. It is best not to watch it all at once, but watch one episode a day. When I consider how low the budget was, and how long ago this was made, it adds to the appreciation of this.

For example, making a cliff face look like a plausible ice wall by opening the iris wide to let in more light. It's full of cliches - sort of. But remember, they weren't cliche at the time.

It is interesting that Ming seems rather reasonable in this - not the over-the-top monster we have come to know and loath - and love!

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5 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Thoroughly trashy but a lot of fun, 3 May 2001
Author: bob-717 (bob@delmark.com) from Chicago, USA

I'm sure that even when this came out a lot of the stuff in this serial seemed pretty silly. But if you watch it, especially if you watch it as it was meant to be watched, one chapter at a time with a break in between, you'll probably find yourself getting into the cliff hangers, and occasionally dazzled by the occasionally sumptuous production values (huge pile of writhing dancing girls, snow mountain photography) and the sometimes ingenious special effects (those mud men always make me jump).

The rest of the time, sit back & laugh.

They must have known that they were stretching the premise when they made this, the third and last Flash Gordon serial, but the plot pretty much hangs together if you choose to pay attention to it (which can be hard, a lot of explanations are pretty rushed), and the performances are mostly good.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
The Universal Soldier, 14 April 2010
Author: flapdoodle64 from Portland, OR, United States

There were many very fine heroes and villains of the serials, but clearly, Buster Crabbe as Flash Gordon, and Charles Middleton as Ming the Merciless were the tops in their respective fields. These fine performers, plus the return of our old friend Frank Shannon as Dr. Zarkhov, help make this an entertaining and appealing serial.

This is the most polished and opulent of the Flash Gordon serials, although it lacks the passion and visceral excitement of the 1st serial. Also, it lacks the performers who originated the roles of Dale Arden, Prince Barrin, and Princess Aura. The actors who replaced Barrin and Aura are at least adequate, although they lack the physical charisma of the originals, and we feel especially the loss of Priscilla Lawson's raw sensuality. However, the gal who replaced the wonderful Jean Rogers as Dale is not sufficient to the role, and in one chapter when she was pleading for Flash to save her, I kind of wished Flash had just left her.

This serial is not as sexy as the 1st Flash Gordon (which somehow seemed to have been sneaked completely past the Hayes Office), but while the actresses all appear to be wearing bras, there are thankfully a few bare midriffs here and there, and we have the welcome addition of a genuine femme fetalle, in the person of the wicked Sonia, played by Anne Gwynne.

While the 1st serials were characterized to a large extent by activities involving the various diverse peoples and monsters of Planet Mongo and Mars, the Lion Men, the Shark Men, the Hawk Men, the Clay People, Azura Queen of Magic, the Forest People, dragons, octosacs, beast men, etc., this serial is more preoccupied with technology and warfare. There are chapters wholly concerned with strategic materials, incendiary bombs, robot bombs, torture of political prisoners, poison gas, and there are more aerial dogfights than in the previous Flash Gordons.

Also, Ming is referred to as Dictator Ming, rather than Emperor Ming. Others have already mentioned this, but I agree with the hypothesis that this serial reflects the fact that by 1940 much of the world was at war and that many in the US had the idea that the US would inevitably be drawn into the conflict. In 1939, the Germans invaded Poland, and by the time this serial drew to a close on its first run, the Nazis had also invaded France. There is perhaps a bit of unconscious insight into the geopolitical future in the fact that Flash, whose initial mission was to stop Ming from becoming Conqueror of the Universe, ends his mission when he is declared to be the Conqueror of the Universe.

This is entertaining to fans of serials, of B-Movies, of old comic strips, and other aficionados of old school and low budget cinema. It is not as powerful as the 1st Flash serial, and suffers from being a little longer than it should be, and having a little too much back and forth. Also, the directors seemed to have no concept of how to insert a few close-ups into a fight scene to juice up the action. Nonetheless, many viewers would, like me, find it pleasurable to waste 20 minutes here and there with these old friends.

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3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
A long time ago in a Hollywood far, far away, a great adventure took place…, 7 February 2008
Author: quatermax-1 from Cyprus

The heroic theme music strikes up, the chapter number and the 'story so far' prologue scroll up the screen and into the distance, and we are thrust into a new adventure where our hero and his companion, now disguised as Imperial Guards, having entered the stronghold of their enemy by spaceship, are about to rescue the beautiful Princess from his evil clutches! Elsewhere in the complex our hero's elderly mentor, dressed in his hooded wizard-like robes, also works to thwart the villain's dastardly plans…

Sound familiar?

Yes. Of course it does, for this is FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE (actually clunkily titled in all the opening credits as FLASH GORDON SPACE SOLDIERS CONQUER THE UNIVERSE) and is, of course, along with FLASH GORDON ('36) and FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS ('38), the inspiration for Mr. Lucas's other famous space opera, the name of which escapes me for the moment. We even have Imperial Spaceships bombarding our heroes on an Ice Planet (imaginatively called 'Frigia') and a battle on a Forest Moon ('Arboria' – Wow! Who dreams up all this stuff?), where friendly Prince Barin and his 'Merry Men' are bow and arrow wielding precursors to the Ewoks of Endor. There are many other elements too that eventually made their way into George's epic saga, but you'll have to watch it to see how many you can spot.

The acting is dreadful, the costumes ridiculous, the 'special effects' laughable and the plot (using the term very loosely) has holes in it big enough to fly an Imperial Battle Cruiser through - but enough about STAR WARS (ah, that was it!). Seriously though, FLASH GORDON may be ropey but I challenge anyone to fault their enthusiasm and the whole is weirdly compelling and great fun.

Shamelessly grabbing any spare backlot sets, props, sound effects and costumes available, a trend the much later STAR TREK original series, and others, continued, we are treated to such sights as Imperial officer's uniforms that appear to have been delivered by mail order direct from Ruritania; Prince Barin's 'treemen' clad in medieval castellated Lincoln Green (we assume) skirts and tights straight out of THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD ('38), and backstreets of Mongo that could have equally been trod, and no doubt were, by both Errol Flynn and Frankenstein's Monster. Even the music is stock, the most noticeable being Franz Waxman's 'Birth of the Bride' from his score to BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN ('35), which is plundered repeatedly. Fin-accessorised bullet shaped spaceships buzz around (again to a FRANKENSTEIN laboratory's electrical hum) with sparks falling downwards and smoke drifting up (an amazing thing the vacuum of space), and, no matter the destination, they always land, spirally, in the same scenic valley.

All 'dynamic' twelve chapters are presented in this boxed set with irresistible titles like 'The Purple Death', 'The Palace of Terror', 'Freezing Torture', 'The Destroying Ray' and 'Walking Bombs' (these particularly are a hoot), complete with the necessary cliff-hanger endings and opening and closing credits for each, but sadly, and a bad oversight, there are no special features. I know that perhaps this is difficult given the age of the material, but some accompanying old movie newsreels, as on the DVD release of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, might have put it into some kind of historical perspective.

In this age of CGI effects where anything is possible, it's nice to look back and see where it all began, and I've no doubt that in 1940 it was equally as enthralling as any SFX blockbuster claims to be today.

Get some beers in, some friends around and have some fun as FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE!

Trivia Note: Although FGCTU was Buster Crabbe's final appearance as Flash in the old Universal serials, he did make one final cameo appearance as the character in season one of the 1979 TV series BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY which starred Gil Gerard as Buck, a character Crabbe had also played 40 years earlier in 1939. In the two-part episode 'Planet of the Slave Girls' (a typical old Gordon/Rogers chapter title in itself) Crabbe appeared as 'Brigadier Gordon', a former space fighter pilot called out of retirement, and there's a pointed piece of dialogue toward the end of the episode where the new Buck (Gerard) is, in fact, talking to the old (Crabbe):

Buck: That's pretty good shooting. Gordon: Son, I've been doing this since before you were born. Buck (the character of course thinking he was born five centuries earlier): You think so? Gordon: Colonel, I know so.

Only four years later Clarence Linden 'Buster' Crabbe had passed away, making this a nice and timely touch in an otherwise unmemorable series.

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5 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Democracy v Nazis in space, 9 May 2006

Author: kastlkara from United Kingdom

This needs reviving. In retrospect you see the point Republic were making. Its full of references which an audience contemporary with the 1940 production would have understood. The title music is Listz's Prelude 2. This was familiar from reports from Nazi Germany and Nuremberg rallies where it had been used repeatedly to glorify German power. Ming where's a white uniform identical to Mussolini of Fascist Italy. Largely gone is Ming's overt evil and sadistic attitudes in favour of a Messianic belief of unifying the universe under one rule will bring peace and prosperity. Despite the method required will be warfare to attain this. Buster Crabb repeatedly makes remarks about liberty and freedom. He also informs races from different planets that they must unite against the evils and dangers of a conqueror. The people of Saturn are represented by Chinese actors and Ming is fanatical in his wish to conquerer Saturn. This is a reference to the millions killed by the Japanese in Manchuria and China. Also a reference to the Axis pact between Germany and Japan demonstrating the necessity of nations to unite to defeat conquerors who are in alliance with each other.

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5 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
The Last Shall Be First, 9 November 2005

Author: xerses13 from United States

We have seen (and have) all three (3) of the Flash Gordon serials and Buck Rodgers and have always felt this one (1) was the best of the lot. This is the one (1) I enjoy the most, aware of its short-comings starting with the special effects. You would think that a studio with the great John Fulton as head of the Special Effects Dept. would have aced that part easily. From that standpoint Universal is never going to compete with the product of Republic Studios with the Lydecker Brothers. Universal is still way ahead of them (and Colombia and the independents) in star power and plot line.

I do not like to read to much into these films. Example KING KONG and its alleged racial overtones. I see it as Merian C. Cooper did "I made it to thrill myself". There are some allusions though to the conflict of WWII in F.G.C.T.U. The 'EMPEROR MING' in now also 'DICTATOR MING' this coming with the rise in the early 20th Century of Dictator's large, Hitler, Stalin, Tojo and small, Franco, Mussolini and various minor ones scattered throughout Asia and Latin America.

Looking at it that way Auboria=England, Earth=U.S.A., Frigia=Russia and MONGO=Nazi Germany and its Allies. The Purple Death fore tells the coming genocide in Western Europe based on racial selection in reverse, keep the stupid and get rid of the smart. More like what the Communists did under STALIN. Other similarities the development of SUPER-WEAPONS. The Flame Projectles and SOLORITE (ThermoNuclear Weapons), Concentration Camps for slave labor (Gulags).

Conjecture, yes, but it makes this serial more interesting to watch then the first two (2) which were basically like the comic strips, Dr. Fu Manchu in space. The "YELLOW PERIL"! That's what makes it more viewable. We love them all of course. Was their a better serial star hero then Buster Crabbe or a more convincing villain the Charles Middleton's MING. The most telling sign of this was in Chapter One 'The Purple Death'. With his own men battling Flash in his laboratory his 'Death Dust' chamber is broken. MING's solution. "They have broken the glass chamber, I'll release the death dust and kill them all". Now thats 20th Century ruthlessness!

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3 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
FLASH GORDON # 3, Is It Three Strikes You're OUT, or Third Time's a Charm?, 5 November 2006

Author: John T. Ryan (redryan64@hotmail.com) from Chicago, Illinois, United States

The success of the 2 prior Flash Gordon serials and the continued and ever expanding popularity of the Newspaper Comic Strip no doubt were the prime movers behind the filming of the third installment. Universal Pictures had done well with the production of many other titles belonging to Hearst's King Features, so they were given the go ahead for the new project.

Buster Crabbe was brought back for his powerful, faithful characterization. This was after he had time out to portray rival Spaceman* in the title role of BUCK ROGERS (Universal 1939).Also returning were Charles B. Middleton (Emperor Ming) and Frank Shannon (the good Dr. Zarkov).

Replacement for Miss Jean Rogers was Carol Hughes, a dark haired beauty of a starlet, who had a lot of success in the '30's and '40 in many supporting roles and Female leads, mostly in 'B' Films.

Prince Barin(Roland Drew) and Princess Aura(Shirley Deane)** were also played by newcomers to the roles. But it wasn't just a difference of actors, for their appearance as well as the overall look of the Planet Mongo, was now radically different.We'll try to explain, at least offering some theory.

The surface of Mongo now looked more like medieval western and northern Europe. Barin's domain, the Kingdom of Arboria was like one, giant Sherwood Forest. Baron, himself, and his soldiers often sported the green costuming of a Robin Hood and his Mery Men.They were armed with long bows and swords in addition to their ray guns.The frozen land to the north was called Frigia and was the Domain of one Queen Fria. The Queen looked very much like popular Sweedish Ice Skating Champion turned Movie Star, Sonja Hejne. The Queen also had a very Scandanavian sounding accent.

All of these changes would seem extremely puzzling to any modern day viewer, 'for back in the day', everybody read the comic page and knew the story lines. It was the comic strip,in the news print,that caused all the changes. Creator, Alex Raymond, had made gradual changes in the design and artwork. This equaled a sort of evolution from a setting that looked like a of combination Romanesque,Chinese, Egyptian and Art Decco to a very modern, western-styled decor*** and costuming. Now Ming had secret police, slave labor camps and spies. We also hear Ming referred to as 'Dictator' Ming. In short, the comic page and serial now mirrored developments in Western Europe and the rest of the World in that period of time between World Wars.

The story line in this FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE is most action filled and loaded with a load of new developments. Robot attackers, invisibility screened rockets, a new race of 'Rock Men' and incendiary projectiles were all featured prominently in the see-saw action. There is a sort of back and forth series of battles in which combatants from either side are captured and subsequently rescued or ransomed.

Maybe I'm being a little too critical here, as we must remember that these Serials were meant to be seen a chapter a week, not all at once in one or two sittings.

There is one point thus far overlooked in this review, and that is the general look of the production. The Robin Hood type sets were as good as there were around. The cinematography is as beautiful as any in a serial, ever.

As a kid growing up in Chicago one could identify with this last of the FLASH GORDON Trilogy. Afterall, our area is annually transformed into a veritable Frigia for at least 6 to 8 weeks every December, January and February.

NOTE: * Flash and Buck were not and could not be rivals as Buck Rogers's adventures are set 1n the 25th Century. They were real competitors in the market place,for "Box Office"(more newspaper subscribers),if you will.

NOTE: ** The evolution of this Royal Couple also was effected by the 1938 Waener Brothres' Film, THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, as Barin's appearance morphed from looking like a Power Lifter in Roman garb to a sort of 'Road Show' Errol Flynn. Aura changed from a scantily clothed nymphomaniac to a perfect picture of nobility.

NOTE*** 'Western'as in Western Civilization, not Country & Western.

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