A heavy condensation of the 1936 serial Flash Gordon, with altered musical score. Flash Gordon, Dale Arden and Dr. Hans Zarkov visit the planet Mongo to thwart the evil schemes of Emperor Ming the Merciless, who has set his planet on a collision course with Earth. Released abroad as "Flash Gordon" for countries not interested in booking the serial, and never shown in the USA before 1950, where the title was changed to "Rocket Ship".
Production
Art deco sets that defined sci-fi visual language for decades.
Costume
Ming's mustache alone deserves its own credit line.
Practical Effects
Hand-animated lightning bolts and papier-mâché rocket ships.
Director
Frederick Stephani
Buster Crabbe
Flash Gordon
Jean Rogers
Dale Arden
Charles Middleton
Emperor Ming
Priscilla Lawson
Princess Aura
Frank Shannon
Dr. Hans Zarkov
Richard Alexander
Prince Barin
Jack 'Tiny' Lipson
King Vultan
Theodore Lorch
High Priest
James Pierce
Prince Thun
Richard Tucker
Professor Gordon
George Cleveland
Professor Henson
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This butchered serial essentially created the space opera visual template that Star Wars would spend millions to homage four decades later.
Never screened domestically until 1950 because Universal feared it would compete with their own Flash Gordon serial reissues—the title change to 'Rocket Ship' was deliberate market confusion.
US
