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Sedos, the City of London's premier amateur theatre company, presents Serial Killers, by James Griffin, at the Bridewell Theatre from 30 June-4 July 2015.
Find out more at www.sedos.co.uk/2015/serialkillers.htm
Image by Stacey Gledhill
Sedos, the City of London's premier amateur theatre company, presents Serial Killers, by James Griffin, at the Bridewell Theatre from 30 June-4 July 2015.
Find out more at www.sedos.co.uk/2015/serialkillers.htm
Image by Stacey Gledhill
Sedos, the City of London's premier amateur theatre company, presents Serial Killers, by James Griffin, at the Bridewell Theatre from 30 June-4 July 2015.
Find out more at www.sedos.co.uk/2015/serialkillers.htm
Image by Stacey Gledhill
Sedos, the City of London's premier amateur theatre company, presents Serial Killers, by James Griffin, at the Bridewell Theatre from 30 June-4 July 2015.
Find out more at www.sedos.co.uk/2015/serialkillers.htm
Sedos, the City of London's premier amateur theatre company, presents Serial Killers, by James Griffin, at the Bridewell Theatre from 30 June-4 July 2015.
Find out more at www.sedos.co.uk/2015/serialkillers.htm
Image by Stacey Gledhill
The Flash Gordon serials are remembered for being the science fiction predecessors to everything the fifties and beyond would bring. They are believed to be the influence behind the "Star Wars" series and the "Indiana Jones" trilogy. This chapter, which features Flash with his ever ready raygun, and Ming, the Merciless with his army.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZ2HUfD0QSw&feature=share&...
Universal, 15 Chapters, 1938. Starring Larry “Buster” Crabbe, Jean Rogers, Charles Middleton, Frank Shannon, Beatrice Roberts, Richard Alexander, Donald Kerr, C. Montague Shaw, Wheeler Oakman.
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.
Flash, Dale, and Dr. Zarkov return from their former space adventures only to find that their enemy, Ming the Merciless of planet Mongo, has a new weapon: a deadly ray that crosses space to wreak havoc on earth. Earth's only hope is for our heroes to take off again and stop the ray at its source on Mars, where they (and a stowaway) familiar to sci-fi serial fans as Happy Hapgood the space traveling reporter). Must battle Ming's ally, Queen Azura, who turns her enemies into lumpish clay people.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. Can they survive 15 chapters of deadly perils? Find out next week...
The Deadly Ray From Mars was an edited version of the 1938 Universal serial "Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars" that was released to TV in a syndication package in 1966.
Mars Attacks the World was the feature version of the 1938 serial titled Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars. aka "Space Soldiers' Trip to Mars" - USA (TV title)
Mars Attacks the World is the feature compilation version of the serial Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars, while Rocket Ship is the the feature compilation of the serial Flash Gordon.
Jean Rogers as Dale Arden
Charles Middelton as Emperor Ming
Frank Shannon as Dr. Zarkov
Beatrice Roberts as Queen Azura
Richard Alexander as Prince Barin
Montague Shaw as The Clay King
Donald Kerr as Happy Hapgood the space traveling reporter.
The title of this serial was originally going to be "Flash Gordon and the Witch Queen of Mongo." It was changed so that Universal could save money by shooting the outdoor scenes on the back lot and not have to build costly sets, and by reusing the set for Emperor Ming's palace.
In the stock footage from Flash Gordon, shown in this film, as Flash is telling The Clay People about his previous encounter with Emperor Ming, Ming is bald and Dale Arden has blond hair. In this sequel, Ming has "pasted on" hair and Dale is a brunette. It has been reported that Jean Rogers (Dale Arden) had many other film roles pending at that time (1938) which had called for her to portray a brunette.
King Features Syndicate released the 3 Flash Gordon serials as well as "Buck Rogers," Red Barry", "Ace Drummond" and other comic strip cliffhangers to US TV in 1951. Because the television show Flash Gordon, starring Steve Holland as Flash, was in syndication in late 1953, the three Universal Pictures Flash Gordon theatrical serials were retitled for TV broadcast. Flash Gordon became "Space Soldiers", Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars became "Space Soldiers' Trip to Mars", and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe became "Space Soldiers Conquer the Universe". To this day both the 3 original "Flash Gordon" serial titles and the 3 "Space Soldiers" titles are used.
Chapter Titles:
1. New Worlds To Conquer
2. The Living Dead
3. Queen of Magic
4. Ancient Enemies
5. The Boomerang
6. Treemen of Mars
7. Prisoner of Monga
8. Black Sapphire of Kalu
9. Symbol of Death
10. Incense of Forgetfulness
11. Human Bait
12. Ming the Merciless
13. Miracle of Magic
14. Beasts at Bay
15. An Eyes For An Eye
Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe is a bracing, dazzling movie serial, 12 chapters of nonstop action that are as entertaining today as they were in 1940. The movie's visual appeal is still startling, its action taking place in settings that mix 19th century European opulence with spaceships and other futuristic inventions. The cast -- including Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Frank Shannon, Charles B. Middleton, Anne Gwynne, Roland Drew, Carolyn Hughes, and Don Rowan -- were at the peak of their powers as performers. Yet even beyond these attributes, Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe also offers a unique mix of mythic imagery and 1940 topicality. Each of the three Flash Gordon serials reflected elements of popular culture sensibility and contemporary history that were unique to the particular time in which it was made. The first, Flash Gordon (1936), depicted Emperor Ming as a Fu Manchu-type character, with a distinctly Oriental appearance, both personally and in the design and costuming of his court. The second, Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938), offered such conventions as the wisecracking reporter (Donald Kerr) and the presence of a Martian adventure at a time when the notion of possible life on the fourth planet was starting to be discussed widely (a period culminating with Orson Welles' infamous War of the Worlds radio broadcast).
The third serial, Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, reflected the world of 1939-1940; in place of the Oriental robes that he wore in the first serial, Emperor Ming (Charles B. Middleton) now wears a European-style uniform cut along military lines and he employs stormtrooper-type soldiers in his attempt to conquer Mongo. The various kingdoms of Mongo now seem like an array of Central European-type duchies and principalities, and Flash Gordon (Larry "Buster" Crabbe) is the bold, impetuous Earth man who arrives to help lead them in their struggle for freedom while protecting his home planet. The equating of Ming with Adolf Hitler should have been obvious, but just in case it was missed by anyone, the first chapter includes a pointed mention of Ming's concentration camps and his efforts to control the thoughts of his captive populations. The whole serial is an allegory about World War II, with Crabbe's Flash Gordon representing a kind of American Siegfried, arriving to face the would-be conqueror Ming, who now relies much more on science than the magic and mysticism of the earlier movies.
The serial also reflects a growth in the role of women in chapterplays of this type. Often presented as little more than a reason to put the hero in jeopardy, heroines in 1930s serials walked a tightrope between being necessary characters and plot impediments, especially in the eyes of the usual majority audience for serials: pre-adolescent boys. In the first Flash Gordon serial, Dale Arden (as portrayed by Jean Rogers) didn't have much more to do than scream and faint while looking pretty enough to convince us that Ming the Merciless would go to any lengths to possess her. Four years later, in Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe -- a serial that was aimed at a slightly broader audience than the usual chapterplay (it ran in major downtown theaters and was seen by some adults) -- and Dale (as portrayed by Carolyn Hughes) is shown piloting a spaceship in battle, quite capable of defending herself, and presenting a potential threat to Ming -- even as his prisoner. All of those elements, coupled with lush costuming and decor, in addition to the most glorious music score ever heard in a serial (largely derived from Franz Liszt's "Les Preludes"), resulted in an intensely complex and satisfying aesthetic experience, as well as a very diverting four hours of action.
Ironically, Crabbe himself never thought much of Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, mostly because he objected to the producers having "cheated" in chapters two and three, in which they used large sections of stock footage from the 1929 German film The White Hell of Pitz Palu (scenes that, strangely enough, very probably included long shots of Leni Riefenstahl as an actress). Even that material, however, helped to make those chapters memorable and compelling. The special effects were up to standards, with excellent spaceship sequences (the final chapter, featuring a ship-to-ship escape, is genuinely exciting to this day) and some very eerie sequences involving Ming's deadly robot army midway through the serial. There are certainly a few flaws -- including some very hasty dubbing that is embarrassing at times -- but those are isolated moments. Potential purchasers are advised, however, to be wary of unauthorized editions. The copyright on Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe lapsed in 1968, and since then it has come out through various pirate distributors in editions of widely varying quality. The version issued by Image Entertainment on laserdisc and DVD, licensed by the Hearst Corporation (which owns the underlying copyright on the Flash Gordon comic strip), is the best looking edition and the only fully legitimate release of this title. The movie was also re-edited into feature-length films -- including the title Purple Death From Outer Space -- that convey only a fraction of the majesty of the complete serial. The serial's title, by the way, is explained in the final shot when Ming the Merciless declares "I am the universe!" As Zarkov explains, having defeated Ming, Flash Gordon has, thus, conquered the universe.
Larry "Buster" Crabbe - Flash Gordon
Charles B. Middleton -Ming the Merciless
Frank Shannon - Dr. Zarkov
Carolyn Hughes -Dale Arden
Roland Drew - Prince Barin
Shirley Deane - Princess Aura
Anne Gwynne - Lady Sonja
Ben Taggart - Lupi
Don Rowan -Torch
Edgar Edwards - Turan
Harry C. Bradley - Keedish
Lee Powell - Roka
Michael Mark - Karm
Victor Zimmerman - Thong
William Royle - Capt. Suden
Chapter Titles:
Chapter 1 -- "The Purple Death."
Chapter 2 --”Freezing Torture”
Chapter 3 --”Walking Bombs”
Chapter 4 -- The Destroying Ray
Chapter 5 -- The Palace of Peril
Chapter 6 -- Flaming Death
Chapter 7 -- Land of the Dead
Chapter 8 -- The Fiery Abyss
Chapter 9 -- The Pool of Peril
Chapter10 -- The Death Mist
Chapter11 -- Stark Treachery
Chapter12 -- Doom of the Dictator
Amid the political chaos sweeping across the world in 1939, a new terror arises -- the Purple Death -- and people around the world succumb at random by the hundreds, then thousands, with the identifying symptom being a purple spot on the victim. The authorities are baffled as to the cause or the treatment, and panic is spreading. Dr. Alexis Zarkov (Frank Shannon) determines that the Purple Death is linked to extraterrestrial events. Along with Flash Gordon (Larry "Buster" Crabbe) and Dale Arden (Carolyn Hughes), Zarkov finds an alien spaceship, which they recognize as being from the planet Mongo, home of their old enemy, Ming the Merciless, spreading some sort of dust in the Earth's upper atmosphere. Flash, Dale, and Zarkov head for Mongo, where they discover that Emperor Ming (Charles B. Middleton), whom they believed had been killed at the end of their battle with him on Mars (told in Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars), is still alive. He is threatening not only to conquer all of Mongo, but is attacking Earth again, using a "Death Dust" spread by his spaceships that will eventually destroy everyone on Earth.
Flash, Dale, and Zarkov form an alliance with their old friend, Prince Barin (Roland Drew), the rightful ruler of Mongo, who with his wife, Princess Aura (Shirley Deane) -- Ming's own daughter -- rules the peaceful kingdom of Arboria, resisting Ming's military might with their small fleet of ships, the aid of neighboring free kingdoms, and the help of a tiny handful of officers within Ming's own palace who remain loyal to the prince. Their first task is to secure a neutralizing agent for the Death Dust, which exists in the frozen northern kingdom of Frigia, but before they can do that, they have to free the imprisoned Frigian military leader General Lupi (Ben Taggart), who has been captured by Ming. Flash rescues the general, who is about to be used as the subject of a scientific experiment, and secures the aid and gratitude of the Frigians. This barely slows Ming in his plans for conquest, however, and over the next 11 chapters, Flash Gordon and his friends and allies -- including Ronal (Donald Curtis), Roka (Lee Powell), and Captain Suden (William Royle) -- take their battle for the safety of the Earth and the freedom of Mongo to the far reaches of the planet. Battling Ming and his villainous henchmen -- including Captain Torch (Don Rowan) and Lady Sonja (Anne Gwynne) -- from Mongo's frozen northern wastes to its uncharted deserts, Flash and his allies outmaneuver and generally outfight and outwit Ming's larger, better equipped army and spaceship fleet, but they are nearly undone by the spies that Ming has placed in Barin's own household. The bravery of the Earth hero and his friends, and the patriotism and sacrifices of Mongo's people ultimately prove too much for the evil emperor, who finally faces impending destruction from one of his own fiendish inventions.
Considered by many to be the most elaborate and elegant of the three serials Universal Studios produced starring Buster Crabbe as space traveler Flash Gordon. Beginning with the release in 1936 of Flash Gordon, based on the comic strip created by Alex Raymond, Universal rose to the top of the serial market with this science fiction/adventure chapter play. They followed up with Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars in 1938 and finally, this chapter play, considered by many to be the best. Flash is now faced with ridding the world of a mysterious malady called the Purple Death which has inflicted Earth courtesy of Ming, the Merciless (Charles Middleton), evil ruler of the planet Mongo.
This serial was based on Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon comic strip continuity involving Prince Barin and his kingdom of Arboria. Much of the serial's action also takes place in the comic strip kingdom of Frigia. The movie serial characters of Queen Fria, Count Korro, Gen. Lupi and Capt. Sudin all originated in the strip.
King Features Syndicate released the 3 Flash Gordon serials as well as "Buck Rogers," "Red Barry", "Ace Drummond" and other comic strip cliffhangers to US TV in 1951. Because the television show Flash Gordon, starring Steve Holland as Flash, was in syndication in late 1953, the three Universal Pictures' Flash Gordon theatrical serials were retitled for TV broadcast. Flash Gordon became "Space Soldiers", Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars became "Space Soldiers' Trip to Mars", and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe became "Space Soldiers Conquer the Universe". To this day both the 3 original "Flash Gordon" serial titles and the 3 "Space Soldiers" titles are used.
In the final chapter before his demise, Ming is looking to escape. In the endings of most serial episodes the hero is is the one trying to escape (then thought to be killed - until the next week). This might suggest another sequel or fourth Flash Gordon serial. However, after 7 December 1941 and the attack on Pearl Harbor, just 3 years after Orson Welles' infamous 'War of the Worlds' radio broadcast simulating an attack from from outer space, the production of "space travel" films were put on hold.
John Hamilton, who plays Flash's father Professor Gordon, is best known to 1950s TV fans as editor Perry White of Adventures of Superman.
Part of an Avro Anson wreck, which has been sitting in the forest since it crashed on October 30, 1942.
Spanish minicard (collector's card). Reclam Films, Mallorca. Scene from the third episode of the French silent crime serial Fantomas, Le Mort qui tue/ The Dead Man Who Killed (Louis Feuillade, Gaumont 1913), card 6 of 6. Fantomas René Navarre) is held at gunpoint by Inspector Juve (Edmund Breon) and Fandor (Georges Melchior), but manages to escape - again - through a hidden door in the wall behind him.
The six episodes of the next sequel, Le mort qui tue (November 1913), make it one of the longest in the series, and in reprising characters and situations from the earlier films, it is even more grisly in its violence. After Juve and Fandor escape the destruction of Lady Beltham's villa (not without injury), it is the journalist who now pursues the archcriminal, but with no more success than Juve had. As before, Fantômas's exploits take him and his pursuer through several different levels of French society. In the first episode, Fantômas chloroforms a painter named Jacques Dollon (André Luguet) in order to set him up for the murder of a wealthy baroness he has killed. In prison, the guard Nibet (Naudier) stabs Dollon to death, and Fantômas takes away the body in order to remove the skin of its right hand—for a human glove. Here, Juve (disguised as a clochard) has to rescue Fandor who has followed Fantômas to a Seine sewer inlet (where Dollon's body is dumped). Princes Danidoff [Jane Faber, whom we saw in the first episode] returns in the third episode, to give a party for her fiancé Thomery (Luitz-Morat), a sugar-plantation owner, and promptly is robbed of her jewels again by Fantômas, disguised as a banker named Nanteuil—but on her neck (she has been rendered unconscious) is a fingerprint that turns out to be Dollon's. Lady Beltham then returns in the next episode, to deliver a ransom note for the jewels to Thomery, who is lured to an empty apartment and garroted by Fantômas' s gang. In the fifth episode, Fantômas searches the Pension Bourrat, where Elizabeth Dollon (Fabienne Fabrèges) is staying, trying to recover an enigmatic list she found earlier in her brother's cell, and Fandor arrives just in time to save her from being asphyxiated—and sends her to a convent for protection. Then, hidden in a packing basket of her belongings which Fantômas has requisitioned, he is transported to the gang's hideout and discovers Thomery's body. Finally, Fandor links up again with Juve, and they confront Nanteuil, thinking that they have Fantômas at last—but he vanishes before their eyes (and guns) through a secret wall panel door.
From this narrative summary, the six episodes of Le mort qui tue would seem to correspond closely to the film's six reels. According to the National Film Archive's print, however, which covers only the last three episodes and has Czech intertitles [Note: all of the Fantômas films were restored in 1995-96 by Gaumont Studios, with the assistance of the French Government], this film, too, either carried the action across at least some of the reel breaks or else used the reel break to heighten suspense near the end of an episode. One break in the NFA print, for instance, comes just after Fantômas exits from Elizabeth's room at the pension, after having drugged her coffee and turned on the gas; the next opens with Fandor breaking into the room to turn off the gas and open a window. Yet, if Le mort qui tue resembles its predecessors in this use of reel breaks, its mode of representation is slightly different. Most of the scenes, for instance, are shot in studio decors, and frequent intertitles either link or interrupt the AS ["American Shot" (from the knees up)] / LS [Long Shot] or FS [Full Shot] / LS tableaux. Some of the decors, especially the ones with less depth, are quite spare, but this is used to good effect for moments like the garroting—where Thomery steps from a background painted-flat hallway into an empty room, through a central doorway on either side of which two hooded figures stand poised. One of the film's more interesting features, however, is the greater number of cut-in CUs [Close-Ups] and ECUs [Extreme Close-Ups] of objects, which prove more deceptive than revealing.In episode three, for instance, the CU photograph of the fingerprint lifted from the princess's neck baffles her guests, and the ECU of the pearls that Lady Beltham shows Thomery deceives him into believing that the ransom exchange is genuine—in both cases, by contrast, the spectator can conclude that this is Fantômas's handiwork. Curiously, another cut-in close shot briefly positions the spectator as superior to Fantômas—when Elizabeth stuffs the list into the back of a blotter, which he later overlooks in his search of her room. Yet, a cut-in CU of his hand turning the gas lever then threatens to take revenge on her for the sleight of hand, as well as on any spectator tempted to identify with her. These CUs culminate in the last scene as Juve rips the glove of human skin from Fantômas's hand—only to have him disappear through the wall, secreted beneath one more fake exterior.
Sources: Robin Walz at www.fantomas-lives.com/fanto4c.htm; Richard Abel, The Ciné Goes To Town: French Cinema 1896-1914; IMDb.
René Navarre (1877-1968) was a French actor of the silent cinema. He is best remembered for his part of the master criminal Fantomas.
Georges Melchior (1889-1944) was a French film actor, active in French cinema between 1911 and 1937, and known for the Fantômas serials by Louis Feuillade (1913-1914), and L'Atlantide (1921).
Edmund Breon (sometimes credited as Edmond Breon or Edmond Breon) was a Scottish actor, born Iver Edmund de Breon MacLaverty1 on 12 December 1882 in Hamilton, Scotland, who died on 24 June 1953 in Cork, Ireland.
From H.E.V. Book 5 #1 Patent # 1688117 made in U.S.A. Orginally I believe you would use 2 of this design, one for each side of the vanity. I think the one motif I am missing of the set is one just like this one.
This is a photo of my new Marconi Type PB213LTSLC Telegraph Key Serial No: 65 hand made in England by Phil Boyle G0NVT, Based upon the famous Marconi PS-213 which was used at GPO coastal radio stations
This is a superb quality made instrument, With spring loaded silver tipped contacts, Loading of the contact can be varied by adjustment of a crown nut, All metal parts are nickel plated brass
The gap adjustment does not use a lock nut, But a wave spring is used and maintains the gap setting and allows for instant adjustment, The main lever is mounted on two quality
miniature ball race bearings
The key has a solid metal base plate with four rubber feet and ensures it wont move about
The key is a delight to use
73, de Dave 2W0DAA / GW4JKR
Production still.
This serial is mostly a fun ride with a lot of positive factors going for it (but also two or three big drawbacks). We start with a quick rundown of Superman's origin on doomed Krypton, his upbringing by the upright Kents and his arrival as a goofy Clark Kent at the Daily Planet, then most of the story shows him going after the nefarious Spider Lady.
Superman's considerable physical advantages are offset by the villains' clever tricks, the threatening of Lois and Jimmy to distract the Man of Steel and the fortuitous arrival of a Kryptonite meteor right near Metropolis (lucky for the bad guys that it didn't crash unnoticed somewhere in the Outback, eh?). So it's not a five minute serial showing Superman smashing through a few walls and rounding up the crooks.
Kirk Alyn gives an energetic performance as both Superman and Clark Kent (who he plays as distinct personalities). Alyn isn't imposing in the muscular way Tom Tyler was as Captain Marvel, who looked like he could actually slam you across the room. Alyn's Superman is agile as a dancer, light on his feet and grinning delightedly as bullets ricochet of his chest. Noel Neill as Lois Lane has the same likeable qualities she showed on the TV show, although here she looks like she got the Dailey Planet job right after high school; Tommy Bond is a funny looking kid, and his Jimmy is more like a Lower East Side ruffian than the gee whiz youngster we usually find. It's very cool to see Perry White as a hardnosed old-school editor who has no hesitation trading punches with a thug (hard to imagine John Hamilton throwing a few hooks) and who, after being hurled out his office window and barely hanging on, immediately barks that they still have a paper to get out. That's a newspaperman of the classic type.
The Spider Lady herself is a disappointment. For a supposed criminal mastermind, she never seems shrewd or intimidating enough to even be in a gang, much less lead one. Despite the fact she's an impressive blonde in a black gown, she's not using sex appeal as a tool either. Carol Forman seems to be trying to sound tough, but it falls flat. Either she should have gone for the seductive female spy angle, or they should have picked an older actress who could have put some cold menace in her performance. (Her best moments come when posing dramatically in front of the big metal spiderweb she uses to electrocute folks.)
And then there are the flying scenes. Come on, Sam Katzman, spring for a few bucks. Since THE WIZARD OF OZ a decade earlier and the Republic serials with their life-size papier-mache figures, it was shown a convincing flying man could be done. Instead, cheap cartoon animation was used here. Whenever Superman takes off, he's replaced in midframe by a flat unshaded cartoon figure. Once or twice, this seems effective but most of the time, it just slaps the viewer in the face and dares us to believe it. Even worse, as long as they were using this technique, they might as well have shown our hero hurtling through the sky with real momentum and forcefulness; instead, he wavers and sways from side to side as he were about to drop back down.
Too bad. Aside from the dismal flying scenes and a lame mastermind, SUPERMAN is brisk and inventive. The Reducer Ray (which is a long range disintegrator, not something that shrinks objects as you might expect) gives the Spider Lady a little extra leverage. Superman roughing up the thugs is staged with some enthusiasm. They don't even try to break their fists on him, usually making a run for it after bouncing a few bullets at that S symbol, and he flings them all over the place, picking up two at a time and clunking their heads together in a way George Reeves would later emulate.
Just found a cool new site for Serials, if your as hooked on the cliffhangers as much as I am. This site may be worth looking at. It’s called Creepy Classics, here’s a link to the serial. They have lots more things to look at on the home page. Enjoy !
The Green Hornet 1940
www.creepyclassics.com/product.sc?productId=4275&cate...
The Green Hornet Strikes Again 1941
www.creepyclassics.com/product.sc?productId=4274&cate...
THE GREEN HORNET STRIKES AGAIN. Directed by Ford Beebe and John Rawlins. Warren Hull is handsome and stalwart as The Green Hornet (newspaper owner Britt Reid) in this second chapter-play based on the exploits of the radio crime fighter [who later had his own comic book adventures as well as a TV series]. As in the first serial, The Hornet and his partner Kato (Keye Luke) are busy quashing the anti-social activities of a ruthless syndicate, such as a phony lottery that exploits the poor. Other characters include the lovably gruff Irish reporter Michael Axford (Wade Botelier) and his teasing associate Lowry (Eddie Acuff), Reid's pretty and admiring secretary Lenore (Anne Nagel), and Grogan (Pierre Watkins), who is the low-key but slithery leader of the racketeers. At one point the gangsters hit upon the idea of forcing a wealthy woman to sign checks over to them while a female crony awaits a call from the bank. There's an interesting segment in which ownership of some oil wells depends upon the date of a contract which has been doctored. The Hornet still drives his souped-up sedan and uses his gas gun to put adversaries to sleep. One sequence shows a helpless worker in a plant with terrible safety conditions falling to his death in a smelter; Hull doesn't have much of an emotional reaction to this but one could say that the Hornet was inured to violent death, even of innocents. One of the best cliffhangers shows a car with the struggling Hornet inside rushing onto a bridge that is rapidly rising high up into the air. Using Flight of the Bumblebee as the theme music is one thing, but the serial is also full of snatches of semi-classical music that are inappropriate and only distract from the action. Foranti, the head of a crooked association, is essayed by Jay Michael, an actor who has a colorful and unusual style of playing. Not top-notch, perhaps, but all in all a credible and entertaining serial.
Working to capitalize on their huge success with the Green Hornet serial of 1940, Universal Studios put into production this follow-up serial continuing the masked crusade of wealthy newspaper publisher, crime vigilante Britt Reid/The Green Hornet and his Filipino valet, Kato. Warren Hull took the reigns as the Hornet in this 15 episode chapter play and Keye Luke returns as Kato. The story of the Green Hornet debuted on radio in 1936 and continued until 1952. Other than radio and the two serials released in 1940 and 1941, there were comic books and a television series in the 1960s as well as a feature film version made just last year based on the character!
Created by Fran Striker, who also brought the Lone Ranger to life, the Green Hornet was first heard over Detroit's WXYZ radio station on January 31, 1936, and became an instant sensation. By day Britt Reid, crusading publisher of the Daily Sentinel and great-nephew of the Lone Ranger himself; by night the Green Hornet and his aide Kato fought gangsters and racketeers, all the while pursued by the police who mistakenly thought the Hornet to be as great a menace as the criminals he battled. The Hornet first appeared on movie screens in 1940, with this follow-up produced quickly thereafter. Starring Warren Hull as the Verdant Avenger and Keye Luke as his black-clad assistant, this serial is a fast-paced gem, as the Hornet and Kato battle racket after racket, leading up to a climactic encounter with archcrook Crogan (Pierre Watkins).
Warren Hull’s only non-Columbia serial was The Green Hornet Strikes Again (Universal, 1940). Gordon Jones had starred in the first Green Hornet serial the preceding year, but Hull’s popularity as the dual-identity hero of The Spider’s Web apparently made Universal anxious to enlist him for the similar Green Hornet role. Like the Spider, the Green Hornet was a lone-wolf crimefighter hunted by the police, and, again like the Spider, was secretly a well-respected member of society–Britt Reid, editor of the Daily Sentinel. In the serial, Hull as Reid tackled a city-wide crime syndicate in print (as Sentinel editor) and in person (as the Green Hornet) with the help of his Oriental valet Kato (Keye Luke). The Green Hornet Strikes Again was a good sequel to a good original, and Hull stepped into the Green Hornet part with ease, talking in two differing voices to distinguish between Reid and the Hornet. His slickness was well-suited to sequences that featured Reid quizzing evasive syndicate front men, and he became believably tough and menacing when intimidating gangster in his Green Hornet guise.