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{{Short description|1938 film}}
{{Infobox Film
{{Infobox film
| name = Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars | name = Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars
| image = | image = Flashgordontriptomars.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = | caption = ]
| director = {{ubl|]|]|] (uncredited)}}
| director =
| writer = {{ubl|Ray Trampe|]|]|Herbert Dalmas}}
| producer =
| based_on = {{based on|'']''|]}}
| writer =
| starring = {{ubl|]|]|]||]|]}}
| narrator =
| cinematography = Jerome Ash
| starring =
| studio = Universal Pictures<BR>]
| music =
| cinematography =
| editing =
| distributor = ] | distributor = ]
| released = ] | released = {{Film date|1938|3|21}}
| runtime = 12 chapters (212 min) | runtime = 15 chapters (299 min)
| country = {{USA}} | country = United States
| language = ] | language = English
| budget =
| preceded_by = ]
| followed_by = ]
| website =
| amg_id =
| imdb_id = 0030138
}} }}

'''''Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars''''' is a ] film ] of 15 episodes, based on the comic strip '']''. It is the second of three Flash Gordon serials made between ] and ]. Like the first, it stars ] as Flash Gordon, ] as Dale Arden, ] as Dr. Zarkov and ] as ]. Also in the principal cast are ] as Queen Azura, ] as Happy Hapgood, ] as the Clay King, and ] as Ming's chief henchman.
'''''Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars''''' is a 1938 ] 15–chapter ] ] based on the syndicated newspaper comic strip '']''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kinnard |first1=Roy |title=Science Fiction Serials: A Critical Filmography of the 31 Hard SF Cliffhangers |date=1998 |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=978-0786437450 |page=53}}</ref> It is the second of the three Flash Gordon serials made by Universal between 1936 and 1940. The main cast from the ] reprise their roles: ] as Flash Gordon, ] as ], ] as ], ] as ], and ] as ]. Also in the principal cast are ] as Queen Azura, Donald Kerr as Happy Hapgood, ] as the Clay King, and ] as Ming's chief henchman. The serial was followed by '']'' (1940).


==Plot== ==Plot==
When a mysterious beam of light starts disrupting and destroying the Earth's atmosphere, Flash Gordon (Buster Crabbe), Dr. Zarkov (Frank Shannon), and Dale Arden (Jean Rogers) - accidentally accompanied by wisecracking reporter Happy Hapgood (Donald Kerr) - swing into action in Zarkov's rocketship, believing that it could be coming from the planet Mongo. Once in space, they discover that the ray originates from Mars.
{{spoilers}}
The sequel began as did the original: another crisis is striking the Earth: a fictional ] called ''Nitron'', which is vanishing from the atmosphere, causing hurricanes and other meteorological disasters. (Universal used stock newsreel footage for the scenes.) Flash and Zarkov use an airplane to take measurements only to discover that a ray-beam from Mars is the source of the nitron depletion. A comical newspaper journalist, Happy Hapgood, arrives on the scene to get the scoop, and stows away when they, together with Dale Arden, leave to investigate in Zarkov's rocket ship.


Journeying to the fourth planet, they discover their old enemy from Mongo, Ming the Merciless (Charles B. Middleton), is alive and allied with Azura (Beatrice Roberts), the Witch Queen of Mars. From there, under her protection, he is operating a Nitron ray destroying Earth's atmosphere. Azura can transmute people into living clay, condemned to live and die in darkened caves, and she is hated and feared by most of the population. Conversely, the Clay People, led by their King (Montague Shaw), know how to eliminate Azura's power, but lack the means of escaping the caves to which their ruined bodies restrict them.
They discover that Azura, Queen of Mars, is working with Ming the Merciless, their old nemesis from ], not dead as they had believed, to conquer earth. All Martians who oppose her have been turned into clay humanoids, consigned to live in a world of clay-walled caverns beneath the Martian soil. Flash, Zarkov, Dale and Happy take refuge from the Martians in one of these caverns and are captured by the Clay People, and taken to their Clay King. From him, they learn what is transpiring between Queen Azura and Ming, and anxiously agree to help.


Gordon and his party seem to hold the answer to their problem, except that the Clay People do not trust them at first, and end up holding Dale Arden hostage. Ultimately, the Earth visitors and the Clay People become allies in the tandem quest to defeat Azura and stop Ming from destroying the Earth. Flash, Dale, Zarkov, and Hapgood do battle against Azura's magic and her Martian space force, Ming's super-scientific weaponry, the treacherous Forest People, and other dangers on the Red Planet. Finally, they win by the classic strategy of divide-and-conquer, showing Azura that Ming has been plotting behind her back to take power from her.
The plot sequence becomes:
# Destroy the Nitron Lamp which is draining the Earth's atmosphere
# Restore the Clay People to their original human form
# Defeat Ming


Azura's alliance with Ming is broken, at the cost of the Queen's own life, but the Clay People are freed from their curse. The evil emperor of Mongo, his Nitron ray destroyed and his escape cut off on all sides by the now hostile Martian forces, is seemingly vanquished by the accidental result of his own machinations and treachery.
==Episode list==
* 1. New Worlds to Conquer
* 2. The Living Dead
* 3. Queen of Magic
* 4. Ancient Enemies
* 5. The Boomerang
* 6. Tree-Men of Mars
* 7. The Prisoner of Mongo
* 8. The Black Sapphire of Kalu
* 9. Symbol of Death
* 10. Incense of Forgetfulness
* 11. Human Bait
* 12. Ming the Merciless
* 13. The Miracle of Magic
* 14. A Beast at Bay
* 15. An Eye for an Eye


==Critique== ==Cast==
* ] as ]
This serial has fewer settings than the other two. Most of the action is the back and forth common in the cheaper serials of the era. Here it's between the Martian city and the land of the banished Clay People; there are also Forest People, mere primitives. The Queen of Mars has used her magic (she also teleports) to turn those subjects with whom she has been dissatisfied into clay in humanoid form, capable of melting into walls of clay and later re-emerging.
* ] as ]
* ] as ]
* ] as ]
* ] as Queen Azura
* Donald Kerr as Happy Hapgood
* ] as ]
* ] as Clay King
* ] as Tarnak
* ] as Airdrome captain
* ] as Zandar


'''Cast notes:'''
The civilization of the planet Mars has technical abilities of varying plausibility.
* Charles Middleton's portrayal of Ming is devilish in this serial, as opposed his ]-like performance in the first serial.<ref name="GMS">{{cite book | last = Harmon | first = Jim | author2=Donald F. Glut | author2-link=Donald F. Glut | author-link = Jim Harmon | title = The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury | publisher = ] | isbn = 978-0-7130-0097-9 | chapter = 2. "We Come from 'Earth', Don't You Understand?" | page = 39 | date = 1973}}</ref>


==Production==
* With their winged helmets and long capes, and under the lower Martian gravity, its inhabitants, and also Flash and Zarkov, are shown able to glide.
This serial, the first sequel to the ''Flash Gordon'' serial, was based on the 1936 "]" adaptation of the strip "Flash Gordon and the Witch Queen of Mongo". According to Harmon and Glut, the location was changed to ] to capitalize on ]' famous '']'' broadcast.<ref name="GMS" /> According to Stedman, this serial preceded that broadcast, which made Universal hastily release a feature version of the serial as ''Mars Attacks the World'' to capitalize on the publicity. The film was a box-office success.<ref name="stedman">{{cite book
* The Martians can make a "bridge of light" to cross a gap in their city walkways, but there is no lock and the guards do not stop anyone from turning the switch on from either end. Also, no one starts to cross the bridge only to have it turned off.
| last = Stedman
* The Clay People have a one-car subway that leads to the heart of the main city, with no explanation (it's not a high-volume commuter rail). This set was later used in the ] serial, though increased in size.
| first = Raymond William
| title = Serials: Suspense and Drama By Installment
| publisher = ]
| isbn = 978-0-8061-0927-5
| chapter = 4. Perilous Saturdays
| page =
| date = 1971
| chapter-url-access = registration
| chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/serialssuspensea00sted/page/105}}</ref>


''Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars'' was less expensive to make than the first Flash Gordon serial.<ref name="stedman" />
The sequel to this serial, '']'', copies many of its plot points. Yet that serial has much more variety and action.

===''Mars Attacks the World''===
] also prepared a feature-length version of this serial, which was already ready for release in October 1938 when Orson Welles astounded the country with his '']'' radio production of ]'s '']''. Universal then quickly had the feature's title changed to ''Mars Attacks the World'', and a week after the Welles broadcast, opened it at a ] theater as a major premiere event.{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}} The original title for this feature had been ''Rocket Ship'', which was subsequently used for reissues of the first Flash Gordon serial's feature version, which had been originally released under its source serial's title in 1936 in the United Kingdom.

==Critical reception==
] in 1938 declared the serial to be "a Grade A ] of the famed ] strip".<ref>{{cite magazine
| author = Staff
| date = March 28, 1938 | title = Also Showing
| magazine = ]
| url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,759387,00.html
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100826094552/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,759387,00.html
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = August 26, 2010
| access-date = 2009-03-23}}</ref>


==Television broadcasting== ==Television broadcasting==
During the ], the three serials were shown on American television. To avoid confusion with a made-for-TV Flash Gordon series airing around the same time, they were retitled, becoming respectively ''Space Soldiers'', ''Space Soldiers' Trip to Mars'', and ''Space Soldiers Conquer the Universe''. In the mid-1970s, all three serials were shown by PBS stations across the US, bringing Flash Gordon to a new generation, a full two years before ''Star Wars'' and ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' re-ignited interest in the science fiction genre.They have also been broadcast in other countries at various times. In the 1950s, the three serials were broadcast on American television. To avoid confusion with a made-for-TV Flash Gordon series airing at the same time, they were retitled, becoming respectively ''Space Soldiers'', ''Space Soldiers' Trip to Mars'', and ''Space Soldiers Conquer the Universe''.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} They were shown by ] U.S. stations, and by the ] in the United Kingdom &ndash; where they aired as ''Flash Gordon'' serials, under their original titles.

==Chapters==
{{col-begin|width=40%}}{{col-break}}
*01 "New Worlds to Conquer"
*02 "The Living Dead"
*03 "Queen of Magic"
*04 "Ancient Enemies"
*05 "The Boomerang"
*06 "Tree-men of Mars"
*07 "The Prisoner of Mongo"
*08 "The Black Sapphire of Kalu"
{{col-break}}
*09 "Symbol of Death"
*10 "Incense of Forgetfulness"
*11 "Human Bait"
*12 "Ming the Merciless"
*13 "The Miracle of Magic"
*14 "A Beast at Bay"
*15 "An Eye for an Eye"
{{col-end}}

<small>Source:</small><ref>{{cite book
| last = Cline
| first = William C.
| title = In the Nick of Time
| publisher = ]
| isbn = 0-7864-0471-X
| chapter = Filmography
| page = 220
| date = 1984}}</ref>


==References== ==References==
{{reflist}} {{Reflist}}
*{{imdb title|id=0030138|title=Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars}}


==External links== ==External links==
* {{imdb title|id=0030138|title=Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars}} * {{IMDb title|0030138}}
* Roy Kinnard, Tony Crnkovich, and R. J. Vitone. ''The Flash Gordon Serials, 1936–1940: A Heavily Illustrated Guide.'' McFarland & Co., Inc. 2008. ISBN 978-0-7864-3470-1<ref>https://www.worldcat.org/title/173241102?oclcNum=173241102 Retrieved 21 September 2023.</ref>
*
*


{{start box}} {{Flash Gordon}}
{{Universal serials}}
{{succession box
{{Space opera serials 1930-1960}}
| title=] ]
{{Robert F. Hill}}
| before=] (])
{{Authority control}}
| years=Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars(])
| after=] (])}}
{{end}}
{{Space opera serials 1910-1960}}


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Latest revision as of 21:36, 21 December 2024

1938 film
Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Written by
Based onFlash Gordon
by Alex Raymond
Starring
CinematographyJerome Ash
Production
company		Universal Pictures
King Features Syndicate
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • March 21, 1938 (1938-03-21)
Running time15 chapters (299 min)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars is a 1938 Universal Pictures 15–chapter science-fiction movie serial based on the syndicated newspaper comic strip Flash Gordon. It is the second of the three Flash Gordon serials made by Universal between 1936 and 1940. The main cast from the first serial reprise their roles: Buster Crabbe as Flash Gordon, Jean Rogers as Dale Arden, Frank Shannon as Dr. Alexis Zarkov, Charles B. Middleton as Ming the Merciless, and Richard Alexander as Prince Barin. Also in the principal cast are Beatrice Roberts as Queen Azura, Donald Kerr as Happy Hapgood, Montague Shaw as the Clay King, and Wheeler Oakman as Ming's chief henchman. The serial was followed by Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940).

Plot

When a mysterious beam of light starts disrupting and destroying the Earth's atmosphere, Flash Gordon (Buster Crabbe), Dr. Zarkov (Frank Shannon), and Dale Arden (Jean Rogers) - accidentally accompanied by wisecracking reporter Happy Hapgood (Donald Kerr) - swing into action in Zarkov's rocketship, believing that it could be coming from the planet Mongo. Once in space, they discover that the ray originates from Mars.

Journeying to the fourth planet, they discover their old enemy from Mongo, Ming the Merciless (Charles B. Middleton), is alive and allied with Azura (Beatrice Roberts), the Witch Queen of Mars. From there, under her protection, he is operating a Nitron ray destroying Earth's atmosphere. Azura can transmute people into living clay, condemned to live and die in darkened caves, and she is hated and feared by most of the population. Conversely, the Clay People, led by their King (Montague Shaw), know how to eliminate Azura's power, but lack the means of escaping the caves to which their ruined bodies restrict them.

Gordon and his party seem to hold the answer to their problem, except that the Clay People do not trust them at first, and end up holding Dale Arden hostage. Ultimately, the Earth visitors and the Clay People become allies in the tandem quest to defeat Azura and stop Ming from destroying the Earth. Flash, Dale, Zarkov, and Hapgood do battle against Azura's magic and her Martian space force, Ming's super-scientific weaponry, the treacherous Forest People, and other dangers on the Red Planet. Finally, they win by the classic strategy of divide-and-conquer, showing Azura that Ming has been plotting behind her back to take power from her.

Azura's alliance with Ming is broken, at the cost of the Queen's own life, but the Clay People are freed from their curse. The evil emperor of Mongo, his Nitron ray destroyed and his escape cut off on all sides by the now hostile Martian forces, is seemingly vanquished by the accidental result of his own machinations and treachery.

Cast

Cast notes:

  • Charles Middleton's portrayal of Ming is devilish in this serial, as opposed his Fu Manchu-like performance in the first serial.

Production

This serial, the first sequel to the Flash Gordon serial, was based on the 1936 "Big Little Book" adaptation of the strip "Flash Gordon and the Witch Queen of Mongo". According to Harmon and Glut, the location was changed to Mars to capitalize on Orson Welles' famous War of the Worlds broadcast. According to Stedman, this serial preceded that broadcast, which made Universal hastily release a feature version of the serial as Mars Attacks the World to capitalize on the publicity. The film was a box-office success.

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars was less expensive to make than the first Flash Gordon serial.

Mars Attacks the World

Universal Pictures also prepared a feature-length version of this serial, which was already ready for release in October 1938 when Orson Welles astounded the country with his Mercury Theatre on the Air radio production of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. Universal then quickly had the feature's title changed to Mars Attacks the World, and a week after the Welles broadcast, opened it at a Broadway theater as a major premiere event. The original title for this feature had been Rocket Ship, which was subsequently used for reissues of the first Flash Gordon serial's feature version, which had been originally released under its source serial's title in 1936 in the United Kingdom.

Critical reception

Time in 1938 declared the serial to be "a Grade A cinemedition of the famed King Features strip".

Television broadcasting

In the 1950s, the three serials were broadcast on American television. To avoid confusion with a made-for-TV Flash Gordon series airing at the same time, they were retitled, becoming respectively Space Soldiers, Space Soldiers' Trip to Mars, and Space Soldiers Conquer the Universe. They were shown by PBS U.S. stations, and by the BBC in the United Kingdom – where they aired as Flash Gordon serials, under their original titles.

Chapters

  • 01 "New Worlds to Conquer"
  • 02 "The Living Dead"
  • 03 "Queen of Magic"
  • 04 "Ancient Enemies"
  • 05 "The Boomerang"
  • 06 "Tree-men of Mars"
  • 07 "The Prisoner of Mongo"
  • 08 "The Black Sapphire of Kalu"
  • 09 "Symbol of Death"
  • 10 "Incense of Forgetfulness"
  • 11 "Human Bait"
  • 12 "Ming the Merciless"
  • 13 "The Miracle of Magic"
  • 14 "A Beast at Bay"
  • 15 "An Eye for an Eye"

Source:

References

  1. Kinnard, Roy (1998). Science Fiction Serials: A Critical Filmography of the 31 Hard SF Cliffhangers. McFarland & Co. p. 53. ISBN 978-0786437450.
  2. ^ Harmon, Jim; Donald F. Glut (1973). "2. "We Come from 'Earth', Don't You Understand?"". The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury. Routledge. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-7130-0097-9.
  3. ^ Stedman, Raymond William (1971). "4. Perilous Saturdays". Serials: Suspense and Drama By Installment. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-8061-0927-5.
  4. Staff (March 28, 1938). "Also Showing". Time. Archived from the original on August 26, 2010. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
  5. Cline, William C. (1984). "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 220. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.

External links

  • Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars at IMDb
  • Roy Kinnard, Tony Crnkovich, and R. J. Vitone. The Flash Gordon Serials, 1936–1940: A Heavily Illustrated Guide. McFarland & Co., Inc. 2008. ISBN 978-0-7864-3470-1
Flash Gordon
Created by Alex Raymond
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See also
Space opera serials (1930–1960)
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Films directed by Robert F. Hill
  1. https://www.worldcat.org/title/173241102?oclcNum=173241102 Retrieved 21 September 2023.
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