FLASH GORDON (1936)
Article #61 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 5-16-2001
Posting date: 9-29-2001

Flash Gordon meets up with Doctor Zarkov and Dale Arden, and they go to the planet Mongo to defeat the evil emperor, Ming the Merciless.

This is probably the best serial I’ve seen to date. The story doesn’t start spinning its wheels after the first two episodes; in fact, the story lasts throughout the full length of the serial. It also avoids the trick used by many serials of editing new scenes before the cliffhanger in the following episode, a trick that I find somewhat dishonest and unsatisfying. The costumes and monsters are a bit silly, but that’s part of the fun. This is one of the serials that is actually as fun as they are supposed to be.