#BARSOOM AND FLASH GORDON MOVIE#
#BARSOOM AND FLASH GORDON SERIAL#
#BARSOOM AND FLASH GORDON TV#

Taken by submarine to the underwater palace of Kala, King of the Shark Men, Dale once more finds herself in somebodies harem and Flash is again tossed into an arena to fight for his life.

Enter the Shark Men (swimmers in silver bathing caps). Thun is caught up battling some guards whilst Flash and Dale tumble through a trapdoor that drops them into an underground river. Hurrying onwards, Flash hopes to save Dale from a forced marriage to Ming, but instead finds himself up against a dragon that dwells in the tunnels.ĭefeating the dragon and rescuing Dale from Ming's clutches, the heroes escape back down into the caverns beneath the palace.

Making pals with Prince Thun of the Lion Men, Flash is shown a secret way into the palace. These are piloted by the Lion Men of whom Flash promptly shoots down two. Hiding Flash in a rocket ship, Aura heads back to the palace whilst our hero changes into some Mongo attire just in time to witness a fleet of flying saucers attack the city. The chapter ends with Flash and Aura plummeting into blackness as a trapdoor is opened beneath their feet.Ĭaught by a giant net, Flash and Aura are saved from certain doom and make their way through the tunnels beneath Ming's palace. After being thrown into the arena for insolence, Flash fights off several ape-men before Princess Aura (who has developed quite a fancy for Flash) steps in to his aid.

After encountering some giant lizards (iguanas with bits stuck on them) the trio are captured by Ming's guards and taken to the palace where introductions are made. Kidnapping them, Zarkov takes off in a homemade rocket ship headed for Mongo a planet on a collision course with Earth.

#BARSOOM AND FLASH GORDON SERIAL#

The serial is remarkably true to the original newspaper strip, particularly the first chapter in which the plane carrying Flash and Dale is hit by a meteorite and crashlands in Dr. Something about that story just makes me sad because I think she is great here and she should have gone on to do other things instead a few uncredited roles before vanishing circa 1941. I heard that in a later interview, Jean Rogers related that Lawson lost a leg in a car accident during the war and drifted off into obscurity, and was last heard of running a stationary shop. Nobody seems to know what became of poor Ms. This was no different with Flash Gordon which was renamed 'Space Soldiers' for the small screen.Īlso starring in this classic adventure is Charles Middleton as the wicked Emperor Ming the Merciless and the stunning Priscilla Lawson as his daughter Princess Aura.

#BARSOOM AND FLASH GORDON TV#

When the advent of TV arrived, many serials were cut down to 90+ minutes and shown as 'movies'. This was back in the days before TV of course, and so this sort of thing was shown in cinemas, one chapter per week, along with a cartoon, a newsreel and perhaps another short film before the feature presentation.

#BARSOOM AND FLASH GORDON MOVIE#

Starring Larry 'Buster' Crabbe (they don't name 'em like that anymore!) as Flash and Jean Rogers as Dale Arden, this was the first of three Flash Gordon movie serials. This was only three years after Alex Raymond began the weekly newspaper strip so the character was as fresh and as exciting as could be.

This is demonstrated no better than here in Universal's 13-chapter serial from 1936. For me it's always been the epitome of wonderful retro-pulpy goodness total nonsense and thoroughly entertaining. The 1980 movie, the original comic strip, the Defen ders of the Earth cartoon, whatever.

Barsoom and flash gordon