Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe is a 1940 American black-and-white science fiction serial film from Universal Pictures, produced by Henry MacRae and co-directed by Ford Beebe and Ray Taylor. The serial stars Buster Crabbe, Carol Hughes, Charles B. Middleton, Frank Shannon, and Roland Drew. It was written by George H. Plympton, Basil Dickey, and Barry Shipman and was adapted from Alex Raymond's syndicated newspaper comic strip of the same name from King Features Syndicate. Shown theatrically in 12 separate weekly "chapters", it was the last of the three Universal Flash Gordon serials made between 1936 and 1940.
Plot[]
A deadly plague is ravaging the Earth, known as the Purple Death because of a purple spot left on victims' foreheads. Flash Gordon learns that Ming the Merciless is behind the plague when he spots one of Ming's spaceships spreading the "Death Dust" in the Earth's atmosphere.
Flash Gordon, along with Dr. Alexis Zarkov and Dale Arden, return to the planet Mongo to find a possible cure, first seeking the assistance of their old friend Prince Barin. The trio continue to battle Ming and his allies, led by henchman Captain Torch, who has been charged with stopping the Earthlings by any means.
The three eventually find an antidote, called Polarite, in Mongo's remote northern Kingdom of Frigia. They must now get the cure back to Earth in sufficient quantities to stop the ravaging plague. Ming sends in an army of robot bombs, and he succeeds in capturing Zarkov and Dale. After their capture, Flash must return to Earth to distribute the antidote by rocketship, the very same way the original Death Dust was first spread.
Upon his return to Mongo, Flash is able to free Zarkov and Dale. They continue their struggles against Ming, Captain Torch, and his men through a series of close encounters, deadly escapes, and rescues, all the while continuing to thwart Ming and his allies.
Ming and his minions are eventually locked away by one of his men in the high control tower of his castle. Unknown to them, Flash is piloting a rocketship that is speeding directly toward that tower. He parachutes away just in the nick of time, and in a daring aerial maneuver Flash is successful in boarding Barrin's nearby rocketship, which has Dale and Zarkov aboard. Flash's unmanned spaceship is actually a flying bomb, having been loaded with highly volatile Solarite. Its rapid forward momentum carries it directly into the castle's control tower, where the large explosion that follows ends Ming's tyrannical reign forever. Prince Barin soon takes his rightful place as the peaceful ruler of Mongo.
Ming's last words to Flash were "I am the universe!" Zarkov observes that with Ming's death "Flash Gordon has conquered the universe".
Cast[]
- Buster Crabbe as Flash Gordon
- Carol Hughes as Dale Arden
- Frank Shannon as Dr. Alexis Zarkov
- Charles B. Middleton as Ming the Merciless.
- Roland Drew as Prince Barin
- Shirley Deane as Princess Aura
- Donald Curtis as Captain Ronal (uncredited)
- Lee Powell as Radio Officer Roka
- Don Rowan as Captain Torch
- Victor Zimmerman as Lieutenant Thong
- Anne Gwynne as Lady Sonja
- John Hamilton as Professor Gordon
- Edgar Edwards as Captain Turan
- William Royle as Captain Sudan
- Sigurd Nilssen as Count Korro
- Luli Deste as Queen Fria (uncredited)
- Michael Mark as Professor Karm
- Byron Foulger as Professor Druk
- As-yet unidentified player as Radio Officer Tekla
- Ray Mala as Prince of the Rock People (uncredited)
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
| Flash Gordon |
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| Flash Gordon (1936), Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938), Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940), Flash Gordon (1980) |