An action-packed sci-fi spectacular condensed from Universal’s blockbuster 13 chapter Flash Gordon serial featuring superstar Buster Crabbe! There’s a whirlwind of cliffhanger climaxes, brawling battles, daring stunts and nail-biting set pieces, as our heroes are in perpetual jeopardy while traversing the planet kingdoms of Mongo, with Flash and his faithful sidekicks Dale Arden (Jean Rogers) and Dr. Zarkov (Frank Shannon) facing off in a fight for survival against galactic dictator Ming the Merciless (Charles B. Middleton). You say it’s fast-paced? That may be an understatement! The serial was adapted from Alex Raymond’s newspaper comic strip, and it received the highest serial budget ever from its studio, Universal – some reported $1,000,000, but cooler heads guesstimated $350,000. Still, it was an enormous amount of money in the Depression Era thirties. The studio cut corners where it could, re-using effects shots clips and music cues from many Universal horror pix, including The Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Ray and The Black Cat.
