Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	1938
Running time	12 chapters (212 min)
Country	United States
Language	English
Preceded by	Flash Gordon
Followed by	Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe
IMDb profile

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars is a 1938 film serial of 15 episodes, based on the comic strip Flash Gordon. It is the second of three Flash Gordon serials made between 1936 and 1940. Universal Pictures is the main motion picture production/distribution arm of Universal Studios, a subsidiary of NBC Universal. ... See also: 1937 in film 1937 1939 in film 1930s in film years in film film // Events January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of Dorothy in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Flash Gordon is a 1936 film serial which tells the story of three people from Earth who travel to the planet Mongo to fight the evil Emperor Ming the Merciless. ... Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe is a 1940 twelve episode serial film about Flash Gordon. ... See also: 1937 in film 1937 1939 in film 1930s in film years in film film // Events January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of Dorothy in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ... Flash Gordon is a science fiction comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond, first published on January 7, 1934. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The main cast from first serial reprise their roles: Buster Crabbe as Flash Gordon, Jean Rogers as Dale Arden, Frank Shannon as Dr. Hans Zarkov and Charles Middleton as Ming the Merciless. Buster Crabbe Buster Crabbe (February 7, 1908 – April 23, 1983) was an American athlete turned actor, who starred in a number of popular serials in the 1930s and 1940s. ... Flash Gordon is a science fiction comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond, first published on January 7, 1934. ... Jean Rogers (born Eleanor Dorothy Lovegren on 25 March 1916 in Belmont, Massachusetts; died 24 February 1991 in Sherman Oaks, California) was an American actress, who is best know for her role as Dale Arden in the Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s and 1940s. ... Dale Arden is a female fictional character, the fellow-adventurer and love-interest of Flash Gordon. ... Frank Shannon and Buster Crabbe in Flash Gordon (1936). ... Dr. Hans Zarkov is a fictional character appearing in the Flash Gordon comic strip. ... Charles Middleton Charles B. Middleton (October 3, 1874 - April 22, 1949) was an American stage and film actor. ... Max von Sydow as Emperor Ming in Flash Gordon (1980) Ming the Merciless is a fictional character appearing in the Flash Gordon comic strip. ...

Also in the principal cast are Beatrice Roberts as Queen Azura, Donald Kerr as Happy Hapgood, C. Montague Shaw as the Clay King, and Wheeler Oakman as Ming's chief henchman. Donald Kerr is the current director of the National Reconnaissance Office. ... Charles Montague Shaw (23 March 1882-6 February 1968) was an Australian actor, often appearing in small supporting parts in more than 150 films. ... Wheeler Oakman (1890 - 1949) was an American film actor. ...

Plot

Another crisis is striking the Earth: a fictional chemical element called nitron 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. The periodic table of the chemical elements A chemical element, or element, is a type of atom that is defined by its atomic number; that is, by the number of protons in its nucleus. ...

They discover that Azura, Queen of Mars, is working with Ming the Merciless, their old nemesis from Mongo, 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. Mongo is the fictional planet where the action of the comic strip (and later movie serials) of Flash Gordon is located. ...

The plot sequence becomes:

1. Destroy the Nitron Lamp which is draining the Earth's atmosphere
2. Restore the Clay People to their original human form
3. Defeat Ming

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

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.

The civilization of the planet Mars has technical abilities of varying plausibility.

• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Buck Rogers serial, though increased in size.

The sequel to this serial, Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, copies many of its plot points. Yet that serial has much more variety and action. Buck Rogers is a fictional pulp character who first appeared in 1928 as Anthony Rogers, the hero of two novellas by Philip Francis Nowlan published in the magazine Amazing Stories. ... Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe is a 1940 twelve episode serial film about Flash Gordon. ...

Mars Attacks the World

In October of 1938 Orson Welles astounded the entire USA with his Mercury Theatre production of H.G. Wells The War of the Worlds (radio). As an exploitation film tie in Universal Pictures film producer Barney Sarecky ordered the serial to be condensed into a B picture of just over an hour to be called Mars Attacks the World. Though the first Flash Gordon serial had been condensed into an entertaining film called Rocket Ship, the short length of the film made the plot incomprehensible. This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... The Mercury Theatre was a theatre company founded in New York City by Orson Welles and John Houseman. ... H. G. Wells at the door of his house at Sandgate Herbert George Wells (September 21, 1866 - August 13, 1946) was an English writer best known for his science fiction novels such as The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine. ... The War of the Worlds was an episode of the American radio drama anthology series Mercury Theatre on the Air. ... Exploitation film is a type of film that eschews the expense of quality productions in favor of making films on-the-cheap, attracting the public by exciting their more prurient interests. ... Universal Pictures is the main motion picture production/distribution arm of Universal Studios, a subsidiary of NBC Universal. ... The King of the Bs, Roger Corman, produced and directed The Raven (1963) for American International Pictures. ... Flash Gordon is a science fiction comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond, first published on January 7, 1934. ...

Television broadcasting

During the 1950s, 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. This does not cite any references or sources. ...

External links

• Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars at the Internet Movie Database
• Dr Hermes Review of Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars
• The Serial Squadron