By John M. Whalen
Turn on the news these days and it’s hard to avoid the
conclusion the world is in pretty bad shape. Wars and unrest in the Middle East
and Eastern Europe, passenger planes shot out of the sky, deadly viruses with
no cure, the government spying on their own people, terrorist bombings, mass shootings
in schools, tornadoes ripping people’s homes apart, drone attacks. No sooner is
one disaster over than another begins. Times are weird and chaotic. It’s almost
as though the cable news channels aren’t broadcasting the news so much as
they’re showing episodes out of an old movie serial cliffhanger.
Anyone remember those 20 minute chapter plays that ran
week after week before the Saturday matinee double feature at neighborhood
theaters? They showed up later on TV in the fifties. They were usually based on
comic strips that were popular back in the 1930’s, featuring characters like
Buck Rogers, Ace Drummond, Jungle Jim, and Tarzan.
Perhaps the best of the cliffhangers were the three
produced in the 1930s by Henry McCrea for Universal, featuring Alex Raymond’s comic
strip character Flash Gordon. Created by the Hearst Syndicate to compete with
Buck Rogers, Flash wasn’t like today’s superheroes. He didn’t have special
powers. He couldn’t fly, or have bullets bounce off his chest. In fact, before
the word came under attack by Ming the Merciless, he was just a polo player.
But when disaster struck, he was able to rise to the occasion and save the
Earth.
There were three Flash Gordon serials released by
Universal. “Flash Gordon†was first in 1936. In this one Ming, Emperor of the
planet Mongo (Charles Middleton), is steering his planet directly into the
orbital path of the earth. Flash, (Olympic swimming star Buster Crabbe), Dale
Arden, (the beautiful Jean Rogers) a woman he meets on a plane shot out of the
sky, and Dr. Hans Zarkov (Frank Shannon) fly to Mongo in a spaceship that
Zarkov designed. It took 12 episodes and four hours of actual viewing time, but
our heroes finally prevailed. Or at least thought they did.
“Flash Gordon†was followed in 1938 by “Flash Gordon’s
Trip to Mars†in which Flash, Dale and Dr. Z discover that Ming isn’t as dead,
as he appeared at the end of the first serial. They take him on again, this
time on Mars, where Ming is assisted by the mysterious Azura, Queen of Magic.
Finally in 1940, McCrea produced “Flash Gordon Conquers
the Universe.†In this chapter play, the earth’s population is being decimated
by a plague known as The Purple Death. No surprise to learn that Ming once
again survived his supposed death at the end of the last bunch of episodes and
is behind the mysterious disease.
McCrea had a very convincing method of setting up each
of these serials, by opening the story with newsreel footage of wars,
earthquakes, and riots in the streets. Watch the beginning of any of them, and
except for the black and white photography, you’d swear you’re watching the six o’clock news. The chaotic world
of the Flash Gordon serials strongly resembles our world today. So where is
Flash now, when we need him the most?
Fortunately he’s readily at hand, at least on DVD. Last
year Image Madacy Entertainment released a dandy little set of all three
serials titled “The Complete Adventures of Flash Gordonâ€. It comes not in a box
but in a three-way fold-out album that has a cover featuring a collage of the
main characters. There’s a 24-page booklet in the fold-out with some of Alex
Raymond’s original artwork for the Sunday newspaper comic strips. In addition, there’s
text giving some background info on the characters that appear in the comics
and in the serials—not anything new for old time fans, but a nice introduction
for anyone new to this space opera.
As for the serials themselves, some may think they’re
quaint with space ships that look like household appliances with sparklers
attached, magnified gila monsters for dinosaurs, and a guy in a gorilla suit
with a horn glued on his head. But there’s an underlying story in all three
serials that is probably worth watching again during these times. Like our
world, the planet Mongo was a world divided against itself. Lion Men battled
Hawkmen, The Hawkmen fought the Sharkmen, Frigia is attacked by Autobots sent
by Ming. All these tribes and races, in fact, are at war with each other mainly
because Ming manipulates and controls them. It’s Flash who arrives and makes
friend with each of these groups, and then unites them in friendship to defeat
the evil emperor. It’s sort of a triumph of cultural diversity.
The video and sound quality of the DVDs is good, but
not great. There’s been no effort to restore the seventy year old film stock,
so there are lots of scratches and dust, but for the most part the serials are
very watchable. You can buy them on the Internet for around 10 or 11 bucks. I
highly recommend this collection. It’s a great antidote to the six o’clock news.
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