PodBill Just what I expected

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Beulah Bram A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

JohnHowardReid Obviously shot in haste, but given a bit of class in the earlier eps by the use of vast amounts of stock footage, including snips from the previous serials. Mind you, the stock material is often rather clumsily inserted - not that mismatched cuts and out-of-place establishing shots are anything unusual in this serial. Still some of the old footage is quite impressive. Chapter 3 with its copious action from Universal's own 1930 release White Hell of Pitz Palu is my favorite. This ep concludes with Ming's wonderfully conceived mechanical men, the annihilators, on the rampage, though the actual cliffhanger is weak.Throughout the serial, the editors use optical wipes to maintain interest. One of the best eps for a startling array of wipes is 6. In fact this is a fun chapter all around, with some of the hokiest and most ridiculous dialogue, delivered with perfectly straight faces by players who should have known (but don't) how to gently send it up. The only actor who gives this vein a welcome try is Earl Dwire as a maniacally sadistic scientist, but he is killed off in an early chapter. One of the script's more inspired creations are the Rock Men who make their initial appearance in chapter 7. These eps gain further appeal by lensing on visually exciting natural locations. Alas, after we bid farewell to the Rock Men early in chapter 9 we have only the lessening joys of the burning metal, the flooded tunnel and the plunge off the castle rampart to sustain us until the serial comes to a somewhat disappointing end. There is no final fight between Flash and Ming, the emperor being disposed of by a wayward rocket ship.The writers don't mind repeating some of their action ideas from time to time, and of course we do see those same shots of the miniature space ships in flight, taking off and landing in exactly the same locations endlessly. I don't know whose bright idea it was to dress the hero's allies in Robin Hood outfits. Just another campy incongruity - though it does provide Miss Hughes, an otherwise somewhat colorless heroine, with a pleasing change of costume. Anne Gwynne displays a bit more spirit as the villainess. But acting, as said before, is not this serial's strong point. Even the hero is so bland he could often be invisible for all we in the audience care. And as for Ming, the so-called Merciless, he needs a reasonable alternative to Don Rowan's thick-headed Captain Torch (not even a colonel, mind you) as his chief henchman if he is to have the remotest chance of success. Perhaps Ming the Moron would be a more apt title. Never has a dastardly ruler been surrounded by more turncoats and incompetents.Direction and other credits rarely rise above the capable - and often stabilize at a lesser level - but we love the corny music score.

Leslie Howard Adams Universal's 46th sound-era film was the third and last of their serials...From the ALEX RAYMOND newspaper feature owned and copyrighted by King Features Syndicate...starring Buster Crabbe as "Flash Gordon." All featured loose adaptations of their Sunday comic page continuities but this one stayed pretty close to the long-running segment devoted to Prince Barin's Kingdom of Arboria and the Ice Kingdom of Frigia ruled by The Ice Queen, both on the planet Mongo.This one takes off when the Earth is visited by a deadly epidemic known as the Plague of the Purple Death, easily diagnosed as it leaves a purple spot on the foreheads of its victims. Flash Gordon (Buster Crabbe), Dale Arden (Carol Hughes) and Dr. Zarkov (Frank Shannon) zoom out in Zarkov's rocket ship and make a straight-space bee-line for Mongo, where the ruthless ruler, Ming the Merciless (Charles Middleton) is spreading death dust in Earth's atmosphere as part of his plan to CONQUER THE UNIVERSE. Actually, he had two kingdoms on his own planet he didn't rule, but Ming had a severe case of the hots for Dale Arden from Day One, and he probably figured he could take care of the rebel kingdoms after he made the lured-back Dale his bride and, thusly inspired, take care of Arboria and Frigia in one fell swoop along with the remainder of the Universe. The man knew how to set priorities.Upon arriving on Mongo, Flash, Dale and Zarkov visit their old friends Prince Barin (played by Roland Drew, and two Roland Drews weren't equal to Dick Alexander's Prince Barin) and his wife Aura (Shirley Dean, formerly of The Jones Family at TC-F), who was also Ming's daughter, who has been reformed by Barin's love and the realization that her father is one stark-mad, raving lunatic...and horny to boot.The family touches and relationships between the primary characters---Flash may have had a little thing going on with Aura back in the early days of the strip when she was the total spoiled-rotten daughter and supporter of her father, and they were still exchanging Sunday glances for years even after she married Barin--- and the creation of a Queen Glenda of Frigia (Clarice Sherry) ruling over an Ice Kingdom (that one strike any chords with a 2005 film) show that Alex Raymond's plot-writing skills were on par with his top-flight illustration abilities. All of his comic strips, including "Jungle Jim" were aimed at adults, and the kids could figure it out later on their own. Some of us never did. Glenda The Ice Queen, on Sundays for certain, also had an eye on General Lupi (William Royle), the commander-in-chief of her army, or he was until he ended up in one of Ming's dungeons, and wasn't doing much in the way of commanding when Flash & Company showed up. In fact, Ming's scientists have perfected the Purple Death Dust to the point where it only kills those with intelligence enough to pose a threat to Ming, while only making slaves out of the less intelligent. This, clearly, posed a threat for all the citizens of Earth with all the population doomed to become slaves, but Ming wasn't a man who liked to take chances, except where Dale Arden was concerned. Well, his stooge scientists tell him that this is what they have done, but Ming wants proof and they are about to experiment on General Lupi. Flash, of course, rescues him and this makes the thawed-out Ice Queen happy, and she grants Flash and Zarkov the right to mine Polarite, the antidote to the Purple Death Dust, in her kingdom. After a few incidents with avalanches and "annihilants" Flash mines enough Polarite to save the Earth, and he makes a quick day-trip back there and deposits the life-saving Polarite on top of Mt. McKinley. (Hey, settle down...it's stock footage McKinley and not a location site.) But, back on Mongo, things aren't going all that smooth and there are still many chapters to go. Somewhere toward the end, Zarkov defies Ming by informing him that his and Flash's mission is to not only save the world (Earth) but the Universe as well. Ming, always the one to indulge in tirades, even when things are going his way, scoffs: "The universe? I AM THE UNIVERSE!" Charles Middleton's eyes probably lit up when he saw that line in the script.(Those of you who don't know how this one ends might want to move on to something else, now)....as they fly back to the safety of Arboria and then back to Earth, Prince Barin tells Flash: "By destroying Ming, you have saved the universe." and Flash replies..."In his mad ambition, Ming declared that HE WAS the universe." And Zarkov says, "Then, since you are the conquerer of Ming, I shall radio your father: Flash Gordon conquers the universe!" And Dale, not knowing an exit line when she hears one adds..."And saves the Earth." We thought he saved the Earth several chapters back when he deposited the Polarite atop of Mt. McKinley. Oh, that's correct...Ming later came up with Solarite.Hey, the dialogue and character's alone overcome any "so-called" 1940's cheesy special effects. Nine out of ten...only because of the covered-up belly buttons in this one.

preppy-3 Flash Gordon (Buster Crabbe), Dale Arden (Carol Hughes) and Dr. Zarkov go to the planet Mongo and fight the evil emperor Ming (Charles Middleton) who is shooting "death rays" at the Earth.I haven't seen the previous two serials so I have nothing to compare it to--but this was pretty good. It moves quickly and there's lots of action: Flash is thrown into a fiery pit; he's trapped in an avalanche; fights silly-looking robots that explode when hit; is zapped by the "Destroying Ray"; has aerial battles with Ming's warships; is caught in a fierce explosion (twice); falls down a huge mountain AND is almost drowned! WHEW! But he (logically) escapes being killed each time. Also he's joined by Prince Barin, the Forest Men and even some Rock Men.I also found this pretty progressive (for its time). Dale isn't just a timid female waiting for Flash to save her--she holds her own in fights and takes over the spaceship a few times when he's wounded. The acting is just OK--but it IS just a serial--they weren't trying to win Academy Awards. Hughes is actually the best out of all of them--Middleton is (easily) the worst. Crabbe looks tired a lot--but he was probably sick of playing Flash again and again. The special effects are primitive but I've always liked those silly little spaceships--they're a guilty favorite! Some of the sets are VERY elaborate (probably used from another movie) and the score is wonderful--until you realize you're hearing the same thing over and over.The best way to see this is one a day or (like I did) three a day. No way can you watch the whole 4 hours in one sitting!

grendelkhan This was by far the weakest of the three Flash Gordon serials. It's too long and the action slows down considerably. With that said, there are many good moments throughout. This time, we get a brunette Dale and some nice scenes in Frigia, the snow kingdom.Each episode features a title crawl, recapping events from the previous episode. The idea was so good it was "borrowed" for a later sci-fi series by some guy named Lucas.The whole Purple Death thing is pretty hokey and the villains don't quite rise to the occasion, but Queen Fria is a nice addition.Personally, I would look for the feature version of this one and skip the serial. Otherwise, get your fast-forward button ready for the slow parts.