flash gordon's trip to mars 1938

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars

• 5.1 Audio/visual unsynchronised
• 5.2 Continuity
• 5.3 Factual errors
• 5.4 Revealing mistakes
• 10 External Links

Overview [ ]

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars is a movie serial produced by Universal in 1938 as a sequel to the successful 1936 serial, Flash Gordon . Rumoured to have only half the budget of the earlier serial, it nevertheless achieved a similar degree of success.

No less than five of the principal cast of the first serial signed up to reprise their roles. As well as the Buster Crabbe , Jean Rogers , and Frank Shannon returning as the leading characters of the comic strip, Flash Gordon , Dale Arden , and Dr. Hans Zarkov respectively, Charles Middleton was back in the role of their dreaded enemy Ming the Merciless , and Richard Alexander once more lent able support as Prince Barin .

By 1938, the Flash Gordon comic strip had been running for four years, and in its narrative Flash, Dale and Zarkov were still engaged in a struggle against the Emperor Ming on the planet Mongo . The first film serial, by necessity, had concluded this storyline with an apparent death for Ming and a return home to Earth for Flash and his friends. The new serial therefore had a requirement to find justification for Flash once again becoming involved as an adventurer on a hostile alien world.

A long-standing myth suggests that this serial was originally intended to be set, like the first, on the planet Mongo, but that the idea was changed at the last minute following the extraordinary reaction to Orson Welles' infamous 1938 War of the Worlds radio broadcast, which reportedly terrified some listeners into thinking Earth really was being invaded by creatures from the planet Mars . However, the Welles broadcast did not occur until Halloween night, several months after the release of Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars . It is likely that Mars was chosen simply to highlight the fact that this was a different story to the first adventure, and not some simple re-release of the first serial under a different title.

Although the comic strip version had never visited Mars, it was to be once again used for some source material, primarily for the character of Queen Azura . The character had appeared in the Sunday strip as a Witch Queen of Mongo, who had taken a fancy to Flash and drugged him with Lethium to erase his memory in order to control him. In the new serial, Azura, whilst not actually being called a witch, is a "Queen of Magic" and ruler of the planet Mars.

Azura would undoubtedly have made a credible enough threat to carry a 15-chapter serial on her own; the producers, however, would have been acutely aware of the popularity of Ming the Merciless, both in terms of the character and of the portrayal in the first serial by Middleton. Although Ming had been killed off, he was considered too good a draw to remain dead and so was resurrected to do battle with Flash Gordon once again.

The set-up of the storyline is actually almost a repeat of the first serial in that Earth is suddenly faced with imminent destruction from a nearby planet, which leads to Flash, Dale and Zarkov traveling to the alien world in a rocket ship in order to save mankind. The script this time around is much tighter than that for the original serial. In the first serial, the threat of Earth's destruction has practically been banished by the conclusion of the opening chapter, and the rest of the serial sees Flash virtually being pushed into one perilous situation after another with little sense of direction. In Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars , the threat to Earth remains throughout the serial, giving Flash a clear objective and underpinning the urgency for his struggle against Ming and Azura to be successful. This is later joined by a secondary quest, to free the friendly Clay People from the curse bestowed upon them by Queen Azura. Although there is still a lot of hopping back and forth between the same locations as is the case in just about every cliffhanger serial, "Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars" does have a much stronger sense of progression as its plot plays out than was the case with its predecessor.

The change of setting to a different planet naturally precluded the return of most of Mongo's inhabitants, such as King Vultan , Princess Aura , and Prince Thun . A new character is added to the mix in the form of Happy Hapgood , a probing news reporter who unwittingly finds himself traveling to Mars with Flash and crew. Happy gives a few moments of comic relief, at other times he lends a significant hand in the scraps, but in the main he is left on the sidelines as though the writers don't really know what to do with him. His background as a reporter desperate for an exclusive story is quickly forgotten but at least in the hands of actor Donald Kerr , Happy tends to be a pleasing rather than irritating addition to the line-up.

In the first serial, Mongo was shown to be a world of true alien horrors, with a whole menagerie of different races and creatures. This sequel serial, mindful of its smaller budget, presents an alien planet bereft of dragons, Hawk Men , Monkey Men , Octosaks , Orangopoids and the like. Most of the life forms on Mars resemble normal humans, save for the Clay People and, in brief glimpses, some bulbous-headed creatures who play little part in the proceedings. The serial was, however, inventive in its portrayal of technology with new ideas including a Light bridge , a Vacuum Car , Bat wing suit , and a Paralyzer Gun .

Despite the lower budget, the special effects are at least on a par with the first serial. As before, it is generally the model work which the passing years have not been kind to, and the masks of the Clay People fail to convince. However, some of the effects work holds up remarkably well decades later, despite their simplicity. The light bridge works well on screen and although only achieved by means of a simple cross-fade, the effect of the Clay People melting into the cave walls is still a little unnerving. The sets for the Forest Kingdom remain convincing to this day, still giving the impression of an alien environment that has both great height and depth.

The sexual element, a daring ingredient of both the comic strip and the first serial, was considerably toned down for the sequel. Flash and Dale show a lot less flesh, and the characters in the serial are not motivated by lust as was so often the case in the earlier work. Indeed, Ming seems to have completely forgotten his earlier fixation with Dale (perhaps he was only attracted to her blonde hair, she is brunette in this serial, to match her comic strip counterpart), and Azura's interest in Flash is kept low-key.

The characters of Flash and Dale have undergone slight adjustments, to their benefit. Although an athletic hero in the first serial, Flash was too short on dialogue and came across at times as almost brutish. Here, Flash is a much more eloquent, intelligent, and proactive champion, and Buster Crabbe rises to the challenge admirably with a magnificent performance, proving that he was not just there for the physical work. Dale is no longer prone to screaming or fainting at the slightest sign of danger (with one or two moments of exception), nor does she spend half of the serial moping about her beloved Flash. She is shown to be more intelligent and resourceful this time around, a reflection of the development the comic strip version of Dale was going through.

It is easy to make a sequel to a successful film, or film serial. However, it is very difficult to make that sequel a success like the first one. Perhaps miraculously, "Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars" was a more than worthy successor to the 1936 serial. It left audiences still wanting more, and ensured that it would not be the last time we got to see Buster Crabbe's Flash Gordon doing battle with Charles Middleton's Emperor Ming.

Synopsis [ ]

Flash, Dale, Zarkhov and, stowaway reporter, Happy Hapgood travel to Mars to find the source of a ray that is stealing the nitron from the Earth's atmosphere. They soon find out that it is Emperor Ming, with the help of Queen Azura of Mars who is behind this. With the aid of the Clay People and Prince Barin, Flash and his friends are triumphant in destroying the ray and putting an end to the scheme of Ming the Merciless.

Chapters [ ]

• Chapter 201: New Worlds to Conquer
• Chapter 202: The Living Dead
• Chapter 203: Queen of Magic
• Chapter 204: Ancient Enemies
• Chapter 205: The Boomerang
• Chapter 206: Tree-men of Mars
• Chapter 207: The Prisoner of Mongo
• Chapter 208: The Black Sapphire of Kalu
• Chapter 209: Symbol of Death
• Chapter 210: Incense of Forgetfulness
• Chapter 211: Human Bait
• Chapter 212: Ming the Merciless
• Chapter 213: The Miracle of Magic
• Chapter 214: A Beast at Bay
• Chapter 215: An Eye for an Eye
• The series influenced the “Cliffhangers” television series and the segment “The Secret Empire”.

Audio/visual unsynchronised [ ]

• In a couple of scenes we hear Dale scream, but we do not see her mouth open.

Continuity [ ]

• This movie picks up the action from Flash Gordon as they return to Earth from Mongo (ie: They are still returning from Mongo). At the end of that first movie, they took off for Earth in Zarkov's Space ship but they are now in a Mango Space Ship (with the nose ray gun). The cliffhanger of Chapter 1 has one of the engines shot off the ship and at the start of Chapter 2 (after the cliffhanger resolution) Ming looks at the engine and says "It is from the ship they stole from me".
• Although filmed 2 years later, this story takes up exactly where the original ended. Dale Arden was a blonde when she entered the ship, but somewhere in mid-flight, she changed to a brunette. Even if filmmakers/studio heads were counting on audience short-term memory, a flashback sequence is there to remind us Dale was originally a blonde. Perhaps she got fed up of being regarded as a "dumb blonde", and acquired some hair dye?

Factual errors [ ]

• It's such common knowledge that it hardly bears mentioning, but of course Mars's comparatively thin atmosphere lacks the oxygen necessary to support complex life as we know it, so the entire scenario of humans and Mongonians roaming around on the surface without space suits is purely fantastical, and indicative of the hypothetical nature of the planet's on screen counterpart.

Revealing mistakes [ ]

• In one scene where Queen Azura vanishes, you can see her run before the flash powder used for the effect ignites.
• Flash Gordon  : Buster Crabbe
• Dale Arden  : Jean Rogers
• Ming the Merciless  : Charles Middleton
• Queen Azura  : Beatrice Roberts
• Dr. Hans Zarkov  : Frank Shannon
• Happy Hapgood  : Donald Kerr
• Prince Barin  : Richard Alexander
• Clay King  : C. Montague Shaw
• Tarnak  : Wheeler Oakman
• Pilot captain : Kane Richmond
• Airdrome captain  : Kenneth Duncan
• Zandar : Warner Richmond
• Bomber captain : Jack Mulhall
• Flight commander : Lane Chandler
• Turan  : Anthony Warde
• Martian pilot : Ben Lewis
• Dr. Metz  : Lou Merrill
• Dr. Dunord : Hooper Atchley
• Prof. Richter : James Blaine
• Captain Rama : Thomas Carr
• High Priest of Kalu : James Eagles
• General Rankin  : Edwin Stanley
• Zarkov's servant : Ray Turner
• Clay Spy : Alan Gregg
• Radio announcer : Reid Kilpatrick
• Stratosled captain : Reed Howes
• Stratosled co-pilot : Jerry Frank
• Temple assistant : Jack Gardner
• Sergeant-at-Arms : Charles Murphy
• Lab worker turned to clay : Stanley Price
• Palace televisor operator : Charles Sherlock
• Martian soldiers : Roy Barcroft, George DeNormand, Earl Douglas, Al Ferguson, Herbert Holcombe, Fred Kohler Jr., Eddie Parker, Tom Steele, Charles "Bud" Wolfe

Credits [ ]

• Associate Producer: Barney Sarecky
• Directors: Ford Beebe, Robert F. Hill.
• Screenplay: Wyndham Gittens, Norman S. Hall, Ray Trampe, Herbert Dalmus.
• Art director: Ralph DeLacy

Sources [ ]

• Roy Kinnard, Tony Crnkovich, R. J. Vitone. The Flash Gordon serials, 1936-1940: A Heavily Illustrated Guide . McFarland, 1998. p. 86

See also [ ]

• Flash Gordon (serial)
• Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe

External Links [ ]

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_Gordon_(film)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_Gordon_(serial)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_Gordon%27s_Trip_to_Mars
• http://filesofjerryblake.com/2013/02/09/flash-gordons-trip-to-mars/
• http://filesofjerryblake.com/2013/02/12/flash-gordon-conquers-the-universe/
• http://flashgordon.fandom.com/wiki/Flash_Gordon_(movie)
• http://flashgordon.fandom.com/wiki/Flash_Gordon_(serial)
• http://flashgordon.fandom.com/wiki/Flash_Gordon%27s_Trip_to_Mars
• http://moria.co.nz/sciencefiction/flash-gordon-remake-1980.htm
• http://moria.co.nz/sciencefiction/flash-gordon-serial-1936.htm
• http://moria.co.nz/sciencefiction/flashgordonstriptomars.htm
• http://evilbabes.wikia.com/wiki/General_Kala_(Flash_Gordon)
• http://evilbabes.wikia.com/wiki/Serving_Girl_(Flash_Gordon)
• http://fandomania.com/the-20-hottest-alien-girls-of-all-time/
• http://www.badmovies.org/movies/flashgordon/
• http://www.coolcinematrash.com/cctmovies/flash-gordon/
• http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-star-wars-broke-hollywood-forever
• http://www.cracked.com/image-pictofact-7562-tell-us-now-19-movies-so-bad-theyre-good
• http://www.cracked.com/image-pictofact-9472-tell-us-now-critically-panned-movies-we-love
• http://www.cracked.com/image-pictofact-10214-15-things-that-were-meant-to-be-the-next-star-wars-but-werent
• http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_2333_19-better-posters-underrated-movies/
• http://www.cracked.com/pictofacts-308-16-happy-endings-that-hoped-you-werent-paying-attention
• http://www.cracked.com/pictofacts-1339-28-played-out-scenes-in-sci-fi-movies-and-tv-shows
• http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/pictured-top-13-sexiest-aliens-3249903
• http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/flash-gordon-1980
• http://www.stomptokyo.com/movies/f/flash-gordon.html
• http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue04/infocus.htm
• http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue04/infocus/introduction3.htm
• http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue04/infocus/introduction4.htm
• http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue04/infocus/introduction5.htm
• http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue09/reviews/flashgordon/
• http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue09/reviews/flashgordon/text2.htm
• http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue09/reviews/flashgordon/text.htm
• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030138/externalreviews
• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032475/externalreviews
• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080745/externalreviews
• http://www.sfdebris.com/videos/films/flashgordon.php
• 2 Ming the Merciless
• 3 Dale Arden

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938)

Directed by ford beebe / robert f. hill / frederick stephani.

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Description by Wikipedia

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars is a 1938 Universal Pictures 15 chapter 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.

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Flash gordon's trip to mars.

Directed by Robert F. Hill , Ford Beebe

15 Sensational Sense-Staggering Episodes!

When a deadly Nitron ray strikes Earth, Flash Gordon and his friends travel to Mars to battle Ming the Merciless and his new ally Queen Azura.

Buster Crabbe Jean Rogers Frank Shannon Charles Middleton Beatrice Roberts Donald Kerr Richard Alexander C. Montague Shaw Wheeler Oakman Kane Richmond Warner Richmond Anthony Warde Kenne Duncan Jack Mulhall Lane Chandler Ben Lewis

Directors Directors

Robert F. Hill Ford Beebe

Writers Writers

Wyndham Gittens Herbert Dalmas Ray Trampe Norman S. Hall

Original Writer Original Writer

Alex Raymond

Editors Editors

Louis Sackin Joseph Gluck Saul A. Goodkind Alvin Todd

Cinematography Cinematography

Art direction art direction.

Ralph M. DeLacy

Costume Design Costume Design

M. Berneman

Universal Pictures

Alternative Titles

Space Soldiers' Trip to Mars, Flash Gordon - Der Herrscher des Mars, 飞侠哥顿勇闯火星, Flash Gordon - Alla conquista di Marte

Science Fiction Adventure Action

Releases by Date

21 mar 1938, releases by country.

• Theatrical NR

229 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Blair Russell ★★½

In the future, I really need to watch serials over the span of a few nights rather than all at once. You see, this is 5 hours in length so it’d be best even with the ones “only” around 4 hours to split it up so it could be viewed more like how serials were back in the day. Back 2 ½ years ago I saw the original Flash Gordon serial and while not wacky fun like the ’80 movie, it was still a quaint and charming diversion. This was the law of diminishing returns.

Flash, Dale Arden and Zarkoff return to Earth from the planet Mongol and get a ticker-tape parade in NYC because they saved the world. Soon,…

Review by PUNQ ★★★½

This is a total guilt trip.... as in guilty pleasure trip TO MARS!!! The sequel serial to Flash Gordon (1936) and once more he battle Emperor Ming who has allied himself with the ruler of Mars, Queen Azura! Lots of cool sci-fi effects and scenery of the style you expect and WANT for a old school superhero adventure! 15-episodes and 5 hours was probable stretching it a little, but this is one of the best serials I've seen so far. So polished within it's madness of aliens, spaceships and magical powers. And Buster Crabbe as the hero looks beautiful, if one can describe a man that way. And who can beat Charles Middleton 's look as the evil Ming?! One of the great superhero villains! Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars is a awesome piece of screen camp!

Review by PacificNil ★★★½

"Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars" setzt 2 Jahre nach dem ersten Serial die Geschichte in 15 Episoden (in Deutschland 11!) fort. Diesmal hatten anscheinend die Zensoren etwas mehr mitzureden, denn auf freizügige Kostüme muss der Zuschauer diesmal verzichten; dies fällt besonders bei "Dale Arden" Jean Rogers auf, die zuvor noch blond und sexy auftrat und nun brünett und zugeknöpft eine so völlig andere Ausstrahlung hat, dass ich zuerst an eine Neubesetzung dachte. Die zahlreichen phantastischen Welten, Landschaften und Bewohner Mongos aus dem ersten Teil werden aufgrund des neuen Schauplatzes Mars etwas reduziert, tönerne Menschen und Todesstrahlen gibt es aber trotzdem noch genug. Und in seiner kindlichen Naivität, die die pausenlosen Kämpfe, Gefangennahme- und Fluchtszenarien zelebriert, ohnehin unangreifbar.

Review by MABUSECAST ★★★★

a step down from the first buster crabbe flash gordon serial and has 1 or 2 chapters too many but still a fun time like most serials!

Buster crabbe as flash gordon is always fun to watch as is charles middleton as ming the merciless!

Review by Christian ★

"Take him to the Disintegrating Room."

This is essentially a direct sequel from the original serial two years previously, with the same ridiculous problems and the same few things that worked. I do appreciate that they developed some of the world-building a bit more this time around, but the serial format again holds it back, dragging the most shallow and vapid plot scenarios out and out until they're completely thin and forgettable.

The acting, the props, the dumb villains being out-matched by the same Aryan Chad who runs around putting out fires and blundering into further exploits... Very little was improved upon. It's a formula that doesn't work anymore, and since everything else looks like it's made in a paper…

Review by Henrique Quadros

It still baffles me that before TV people were expected to go to the theaters for 15 weeks straight in order to watch something like this. I know that tickets were cheaper and people had more free time but still, insane idea

This is pretty much a re-hash of the 1936 serial, with some differences here and there. At parts it's more interesting than the first one, at others it feels worse. I like the idea of it being in Mars and not a madeup planet, also there's quite a lot more in this one that clearly influenced Star Wars, to the point where it would probably make a fun drinking game to spot those influences

Even if it's still way too long (like most serials) it at least knows how to vary things up a lot more than the first. It's a slightly better sequel

Review by Hatercles

Flash Gordon was a smashing success for Universal, and even when these things were based on comic strips rather than comic books they knew what they needed to do next. So two sequels followed, the first of which saw fit to upgrade Flash and turned to a name brand planet.

This has two more chapters than the first Flash, but I don’t get the sense the budget was increased. Unlike its predecessor, which moved from locale to locale, this is more of the meandering between the same places the serial is known for. To be fair, though, our main two locals are pretty good. One is the the Martian city, an art deco futurescape which uses beams of light as…

Review by SpaceCadetJuan ★

57 Inferior to the original serial in every way (and that one didn’t blow my socks off in the first place) more tame, less action, more talking, worse acting. It’s longer than the original by a few installments, but reuses a ton of footage from it in the form of flashbacks. Someone must have decided the costuming was too sexy in the original, as all women are covered head to toe and Flash keeps his shirt on. Dale is just as weak, shrieky and useless a damsel in distress, but now she’s not even fun to look at. They add an annoying reporter “comic relief” that helps nothing. The new Big Bad, the sorceress queen of Mars, is so bland and uninteresting they unceremoniously kill her off with several chapters left to go!

Review by Baylard ★★★½

My only question is what will the Clay People call themselves once they are Unclayed? Clay People in spirit.

THE BAT WINGS WERE THE GREATEST IMPROVEMENT FROM THE FIRST SERIAL.

It is also truly a compliment to the human race that literally everyone on Mongo and Mars think Flash + Dale are SO HOT that they can get away with anything and/or get married to anyone based entirely upon their sheer beauty.

Review by Sam Noland ★★½

Gets REALLY tiresome by the end; 15 chapters feels rather excessive considering how much of it comes off as sheer padding, but there's still a decent amount of campy fun to be had here. There's a greater variety of setpieces and neat visual effects (the light bridge especially), and it's also enjoyable to see how much cheaper it somehow manages to be at times. Charles Middleton clearly didn't feel like shaving his head again, and there's a part where Dr. Zarkov leaps out of a ship that might honestly be the least convincing practical stunt I've ever seen. The plot is all but meaningless, and the ending is perfunctory as hell, but I suppose I ultimately didn't mind it too much. It's not terrible, but it's just not really anything either.

Review by Goeticc ★★★★★

Review by jeff collins ★★★★

It's a 1938 corny sci-fi serial made on the cheap , if you keep this in mind then it's great fun and a classic that entertained generations. The effects , acting and dialogue are beyond parody but that's part of the fun. Probably saw this first in the 60's as a teenager and after several viewings since it's still a easy way to spend an afternoon, file along with the Tarzan Weissmuller films as mindless adventure.

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The Files of Jerry Blake

Movie serial reviews and other cliffhanging material, flash gordon’s trip to mars.

Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars  picks up almost exactly where Flash Gordon left off, with our courageous trio of interplanetary adventurers–Flash Gordon (Larry “Buster” Crabbe), Dale Arden (Jean Rogers), and Dr. Zarkov (Frank Shannon)–returning to Earth from the planet Mongo. They are greeted to a royal welcome, since their voyage has saved the Earth from being destroyed by the late Emperor Ming of Mongo. Zarkov, however, attempts to curb the Earthlings’ ebullience by cautioning them that the defeat and death of Ming does not mean that their planet is free from other threats of extraterrestrial invasion. As usual, Zarkov is correct; shortly after his warning speech, the Martian Queen Azura (Beatrice Roberts) begins an operation designed to siphon off the “nitron” (aka nitrogen) in the Earth’s atmosphere. Azura’s primary goal is to create nitron-powered weapons with which to wage a war against her mortal foes, the Clay People of Mars. She’s indifferent to the devastating effect that it will have on the Earth, while her chief adviser and military consultant regards the destruction of Earth as the main attraction of the plan. That adviser is none other than Ming (Charles Middleton), still very much alive and longing for revenge on Flash and Zarkov for toppling him from his throne and driving him into exile on Mars.

As the Earth begins to experience catastrophic floods and storms, due to the effects of Azura’s “Nitron Lamp,” Zarkov, Flash, and Dale launch another interplanetary trip to discover the cause of the catastrophes, which Zarkov has determined are due to a beam that emanates from outer space. They discover an unexpected stowaway aboard after takeoff–reporter “Happy” Hapgood (Donald Kerr), who had set out to track down Zarkov and get his opinion of the world-wide disasters. Not long after arriving on Mars, our quartet of Earth adventurers find themselves embroiled in the war between Azura and the Clay People. The latter are one-time rivals of the Queen, who have been transformed into living clay by Azura’s magical powers and banished to underground caverns from whence they carry on a guerilla war against Azura’s forces. The Clay People’s king enlists the aid of Flash and his party, as both of them want to stop Azura’s nitron-collecting plans, and, with additional aid from Prince Barin (Richard Alexander)–who arrives on Mars to try to convince the Martians to expel Ming–Flash and his party pit themselves against Azura’s magic, Ming’s machinations, Ming’s savage allies the Forest People, and many other hazards, in their quest to save the Earth.

Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars is fully as good as the first Flash Gordon serial, although its strengths are in slightly different areas. While Trip to Mars doesn’t measure up to Flash Gordon when it comes to colorful characters and fantastic monsters, its focused plotline surpasses the episodic story of the earlier serial. In Flash Gordon , the protagonists merely responded to the perpetual perils that were hurled at them by Ming, King Vultan, and King Kala, while Ming’s own plans for destroying the Earth were largely abandoned after the first chapter in favor of his attempts to marry Dale and destroy Flash. In Trip to Mars , Flash, Dale, and Zarkov initiate events instead of just coping with them, and Ming’s new grand design drives the plot  far more strongly than his earlier one, giving the good guys a clear-cut objective (the destruction of the Nitron Lamp) beyond simple escape from Mongo.

While  Trip to Mars  has no characters to rival Flash Gordon’s King Vultan and no bizarre beasts like the Orangopoid or the Fire Dragon, it still has excellent other-worldly atmosphere. The sets are not as varied and intricate as in the first serial, but still surpass the backdrops of almost any other chapterplay. Especially striking are Ming’s “powerhouse,” with its laboratory equipment and its disintegration room, Azura’s massive palace with its unique architectural design (particularly the futuristic pocket doors), the Clay People’s eerie caves, and the wonderfully-designed realm of the Forest People, with its twisted trees, climbing vines, hidden tunnels amid tree roots, and treehouse-like observation platforms.

In addition to the big sets, there are dozens of other major and minor props and special effects that make Trips to Mars memorably atmospheric; there’s the the Martians’ flying capes, the Martian televiewer screens (which are cleverly incorporated into the recap sequences at the beginning of each chapter), the Clay People’s vapor-healing chamber, and the bridge of light that connects Azura’s rocket tower to the rest of her palace and is powered by a simple switch like any Earthling lamp (the scene where Flash and Zarkov are first forced to cross the unsafe-looking thing is quite funny), to name but a few. I also appreciate the fact that Azura’s spaceship squadrons–her “stratosleds”–are designed differently than any of the ships in the first Flash Gordon serial; one would expect the aerial fleets of differing planets to differ in appearance. Another neat touch of internal consistency is the use of three completely different forms of salute by the three principal Martian races–Queen Azura’s subjects, the Clay People, and the Forest People.

The serial’s screenplay maintains good continuity with the previous Flash outing, despite being the work of a completely different team of writers–Ray Trampe, Norman S. Hall, Wyndham Gittens, and Herbert Dalmas. The new writing team avoids any of the clunky lines that occasionally crept into Flash Gordon’s dialogue exchanges; they also, despite having to resort to a few flashbacks to the first serial for padding purposes, manage to make their plot fit its fifteen-chapter length quite nicely. The major plot thread of the heroes’ attempts to destroy Ming and Azura’s Nitron Lamp is skillfully interwoven with several subplots–the Clay People’s efforts to regain their natural shape, the attempts by both Flash and Ming to get hold of the Black Sapphire of Kalu (a talisman that can neutralize Azura’s magic), and Ming’s plot to undermine Azura and seize the Martian throne.

Trip to Mars’ script wisely   spreads its plot developments over the course of the serial, instead of introducing all its ideas in the first chapter and letting them tread water until the final one: the Clay People aren’t introduced till the second chapter or the Forest People until the sixth, while Prince Barin first arrives in Chapter Seven. The Nitron Lamp is destroyed in Chapter Nine and rebuilt over the course of the following chapters until it must be destroyed again at the climax, and one of the principal villains is killed off in Chapter Thirteen.

The cliffhangers aren’t quite as varied as in the first Flash serial, due to the lack of the various monsters that frequently attacked Flash for chapter-ending purposes in the earlier outing. However, writers still manage to avoid excessive repetition; for instance, while there are three chapter endings involving stratosled crashes, each one is set up differently–the first has Flash crashing a stratosled into another stratosled to stop it from bombing Dale and Happy, the second has a stratosled crashing on top of Flash and Zarkov, and the third has Flash and the pilots of a ’sled grapping for the controls as it soars towards yet another crash. There’s also an excellent cliffhanger in which Flash, Dale, Happy, and Zarkov are surrounded by an ever-narrowing ring of fire in the Forest People’s kingdom, and a memorably unusual one that has a hypnotized Dale stabbing an unsuspecting Flash in the back.

Though Trip to Mars has no swordfights or wrestling matches corresponding to those in Flash Gordon, it still features a nice variety of action scenes–including stratosled dogfights, fights among the vines and treetops of the Forest Kingdom, and chases through Azura’s big palace; the palace sequence in Chapter Five, which has the nimble Flash vaulting through windows to avoid the guards, is a particular standout. Directors Ford Beebe (a Universal serial veteran) and Robert Hill (a talented director who rarely escaped from low-budget independent serials and B-films) do a fine job of orchestrating these action scenes, assisted by stuntmen Eddie Parker (doubling Buster Crabbe), George DeNormand, Tom Steele, Bud Wolfe, and Jerry Frank. All of the aforementioned stuntmen, except Parker, also pop up in minor acting roles.

The performances in Trip to Mars are all first-rate; the returning actors from the first serial are all just as good as they were in Flash Gordon , while the new major players fit in smoothly. Buster Crabbe’s Flash is just as tough, chipper, athletic, and likable as in the first serial–and a good deal more wise and resourceful than before, improvising strategy and coming up with plans in tough situations instead of just trying to batter his way out. Frank Shannon’s Zarkov, as consequence of Flash’s new-found intelligence, has a reduced part, not guiding the good guys’ actions as he did in the first serial; he still functions as the scientific brains of the group, though, and is still as intense, serious, and sincere as before.

Jean Rogers, with her long blonde hair bobbed and dyed brown to better match the comic-strip version of Dale Arden (she’s also dressed in less arresting fashion), isn’t as stunning as in Flash Gordon , but is still a warm, welcome, and lovely presence. Her part here is smaller than in the first serial, though, since Ming is not romantically interested in her this time out (Ming, though no gentleman, evidently prefers blondes). Richard Alexander’s Prince Barin is a lot more self-assured when it comes to delivering dialogue this time around (helped, no doubt, by the absence of any overly high-flown lines), while his convincingly royal bearing and his commanding size are as effective as before.

Charles Middleton’s Ming is even more entertainingly sinister here than he was in Flash Gordon , getting a good deal more screen time and given a more devilish appearance by a notably forked beard. Though still given opportunities to break into tyrannical and bloodthirsty rages (particularly in his insane rant in the final chapter), Middleton spends much of the serial displaying duplicity and sly subtlety instead, since his Ming must pretend to friendship with Azura even while plotting against her. Middleton carries off this slightly more multi-faceted version of Ming masterfully, winning a few laughs with his crafty cynicism while remaining thoroughly sinister and hateful.

Beatrice Roberts does a fine job as Queen Azura, eschewing the sneering, aggressive demeanor of other serial villainesses for a regal, dignified manner (with a wryly humorous undercurrent) that contrasts interestingly with her often cruel behavior. Her Azura comes off as selfish and ruthless, but not an abusive tyrant like Ming. Donald Kerr as reporter Happy Hapgood, the other principal new character, is as controversial among fans as most other serial comedy-relief characters are. Speaking for myself, though, I found him quite likable and entertaining; he provides an amusingly commonplace point-of-view towards the fantastic world of Mars and is never obtrusive, gratingly stupid, or obnoxious. Additionally, his character is allowed to be quite heroic and helpful when the chips are down, a far cry from one-dimensional cowardly “comic” pests like Sonny Ray in Perils of Pauline or Lee Ford in SOS Coast Guard .

Wheeler Oakman is very good as Tarnak, Ming’s wily lab assistant and co-conspirator against Azura. C. Montague Shaw, concealed under heavy makeup for most of the serial, conveys an impressive air of ruined dignity as the King of the Clay People and manages to seem both sinister and sympathetic at different times. Usual hero Kane Richmond brings appropriate depth of characterization to his key role as a Martian pilot, who proves instrumental in helping Flash overthrow Ming in the later chapters. Anthony Warde has a small part as Toran, king of the Forest People, but extracts as much snarling nastiness as possible from the role. Future director Thomas Carr is his second-in-command, Kenne Duncan is the officer in charge of Azura’s airdrome, Lane Chandler and Jack Mulhall both appear as pilots of her Death Squadron, and Warner Richmond has a small role as one of Ming’s palace cohorts.

Hooper Atchley and James Blaine pop up as self-important Earth scientists, propounding ingenious and inaccurate theories as to the causes of the damage brought about by the Nitron Lamp, while Edwin Stanley is the general presiding over a council comprised of these two and additional savants. Louis Merrill (a radio actor who played character roles in several feature films) has a brief but memorable turn as the blunt and slightly uncouth Dr. Metz, who alone among the scientists has the humility to admit that Zarkov is the only one capable of unravelling the riddle of the disasters. Merrill’s characterization is so vivid that one wishes the actor had taken a larger part in this chapterplay or in other serials.

Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars is a nearly ideal sequel, in that it manages to preserve the basic strengths of its predecessor while deviating from it in some areas and improving on it in others. It’s also a nearly ideal serial, independent of its relation to the earlier Flash Gordon ; it balances good acting, atmosphere, action, and plotting in such fine style that it would still be a notable achievement if it were the sole entry in the Flash Gordon series.

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4 thoughts on “ flash gordon’s trip to mars ”.

Absolutely spot on. The trip To Mars is my favorite of the 3 serials, for all of the reasons stated herein.

I have fond memories of being and 8 year old in the 1950’s living in Philly to wake up on Saturday morning run down stairs and sit glued to our 16 inch black &white tv and watch Flash Gordon, Space Patrol, SkyKing, Captain Midnight, Superman, Ramar of the Jungle, it was a great time to be a kid in the early days of tv.great memories

Happy is one of the most annoying sidekicks ever and thats saying a lot. Looks like he stepped out of a junion gangster movie As always Crabbe is energetic as Flash and even as a brunette Jean Rogers is lovely In my opinion Mars is as good or better than the virst one

My favorite of the three “Flash Gordon” serials. The leads excel once again and the supporting players all give varied and interesting performances. I especially liked Beatrice Roberts as Queen Azura. She was very believable when displaying casual ruthlessness and or plotting with Ming throughout most of the story, yet also managed to make the “change of heart” in her last scenes equally convincing. Personally, I could have done without “Happy”, but as you rightly point out, he isn’t nearly as obnoxious or unhelpful as many of these sidekicks often are. I think the plotline evolves more naturally and without any improbable switches in the alliances between the main characters and without an overabundance of unlikely “creatures” to imperil Flash. All in all, it’s that rare bird – a sequel that doesn’t pale in comparison to its predecessor.

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Flash Gordon's Trip To Mars (compilation from Look magazine, 1938-03-15 to 1938-04-12)

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