Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe is a 1940 twelve episode serial film about Flash Gordon. It was the last of three Flash Gordon serials made from 1936 to 1940. The serial was produced and copyrighted by Universal Pictures. 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Serial is a term, originating in literature, for a format by which a story is told in contiguous installments in sequential issues of a single periodical publication. ... Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... Flash Gordon is a science fiction comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond, first published on January 7, 1934. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

During the 1950s, the three serials were shown on 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. The re-edited television version, with the title card reading Flash Gordon - Space Soldiers Conquer the Universe, was used for some video and DVD releases of the serial. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... DVD is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound quality. ...

The film starts on Earth. A deadly plague has been ravaging the planet, known as the Purple Death because it leaves a purple spot on the forehead of its victims. Ming the Merciless is suspected to be behind the plague, and Flash Gordon is sent with Dr. Zarkov and Dale Arden to the planet Mongo to find the cause of the plague, as well as a cure. Caused by Ming's spaceships dropping "Death Dust" into the Earth's atmosphere, they eventually find an antidote for it and Flash and Zarkov distribute it by the same method soon after the start of the series, while Dale Arden remains in the forest kingdom. Earth, also known as the Earth, Terra, and (mostly in the 19th century) Tellus, is the third-closest planet to the Sun. ... An epidemic is a disease that appears as new cases in the population in a period of time at a rate (the number of new cases in the population during a specified period of time is called the incidence rate) that substantially exceeds what is expected, based on recent experence. ... Ming the Merciless Ming the Merciless is a fictional character appearing in the Flash Gordon comic strip. ... Dr. Hans Zarkov is a fictional character appearing in the Flash Gordon comic strip. ... Dale Arden is a female fictional character, the fellow-adventurer and love-interest of Flash Gordon. ... Mongo is the fictional planet where the action of the comic strip (and later movie serials) of Flash Gordon is located. ...

Soon reunited with her, the trio continue to battle Ming, his cohorts, and his underlings. Ming's Captain Torch is the "spearpoint villain" of this serial, a type of character which the previous two did not have. He takes tactical command of the efforts to stop them.

Before they leave, they destroy Ming by locking him in a tower and crashing a rocket ship into it. Prince Barin takes his rightful place as ruler of Mongo. In his rage, Ming said, similar to King Louis XIV of France, "I am the universe!" for nearly his last words. And so, with a simple metaphor, Flash Gordon is said by Zarkov at the end of the series to have conquered the universe. Prince Barin is a fictional character who appears in the Flash Gordon stories. ... Louis XIV (Louis-Dieudonné) (September 5, 1638 – September 1, 1715) reigned as King of France and King of Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death. ...

Plot points taken from the immediately preceding serial, Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars include the Rock People as derived from the Clay People of the former, and the bringing-back-to-life of people assumed by Captain Torch to have died. The chamber of the death dust experiments was previously used in the Buck Rogers serial. One money-saving gimmick used by Universal was to take some exciting mountain climbing catastrophe, search, and rescue scenes from the obscure German film White Hell of Pitz Palu, and its music as well. Flash Gordons Trip to Mars is a 1938 film serial of 15 episodes, based on the comic strip Flash Gordon. ... North American DVD release of the 1979–81 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century TV series. ... Universal has several meanings: For the concept of a universal in metaphysics, see Universal (metaphysics). ...

This serial contains greater story depth than the others, though the plot is quite episodic: Flash goes from battling in ice, to fire, to rock. It is readily seen as derived from the events of its age. Ming is a trope for the fascist dictators of the age. He has spies, secret police, military-technical laboratories, and kidnappers, and his agents fight a resistance movement. His rule of the few disparate regions of Mongo shown here is presented as just like the countries that Hitler captured. It is all exemplified when Ming dresses up just like an Earth dictator, except with a few more feathers in his cap, in the last episode. Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ...

Cast list

• Buster Crabbe as Flash Gordon
• Carol Hughes as Dale Arden
• Frank Shannon as Dr. Zarkov
• Charles Middleton as Ming
• Roland Drew as Prince Barin

For the British Royal Navy frogman nicknamed Buster Crabb, see Lionel Crabb. ... Charles Middleton Charles B. Middleton (October 3, 1874 - April 22, 1949) was an American stage and film actor. ...

See also

• Flash Gordon (serial) (1936)
• Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938)

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. ... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Flash Gordons Trip to Mars is a 1938 film serial of 15 episodes, based on the comic strip Flash Gordon. ... 1938 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

External links

• Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe at the Internet Movie Database
• Download movie at Archive.org