Flash Gordon (1936) ch10 – The Unseen Peril

Once again, the chapter title doesn’t come into play until the very end–The Unseen Peril, or at least what seems like it, shows up in the last scene. The chapter skips a more dramatic cliffhanger, going on just a few seconds longer to do a puzzling one.

Most of the chapter involves Priscilla Lawson’s schemes to ensnare Buster Crabbe finally coming to fruition. She manages to brainwash him, which sends his friends in a delayed uproar. Only Jack Lipson freaks out at the time; Lipson’s now one of Crabbe’s allies. He doesn’t have any function in the chapter other than that initial uproar. It’s a narrative delay, nothing more.

There’s some more filler later on with Frank Shannon and Jean Rogers communicating with Earth. Despite Shannon’s ability to revive (though not de-brainwash) Crabbe, he can’t figure out how to make the interplanetary radio work. Once he gives up, it’s time to go back to the A plot. The writers shift focus entirely between the plot lines here; Flash is starting to feel heavy.

It’s a good bridging episode, though Crabbe’s expressions during the sword fights are beyond goofy.

Flash Gordon (1936) ch09 – Fighting the Fire Dragon

This chapter’s title, Fighting the Fire Dragon, makes a big promise. There’s going to be a fire dragon and there’s doing to be a fight against said fire dragon. Only the former proves true. Any fight is, presumably, coming in a subsequent chapter.

Thanks, as usual, to Priscilla Lawson’s scheming, Buster Crabbe, Jean Rogers, and Frank Shannon are all back in Charles Middleton’s palace. All Crabbe and Rogers want to do is make puppy eyes, all Shannon wants to do is get back to Earth, all Lawson wants to do is get Crabbe away from Rogers.

Enter new character high priest Theodore Lorch. After getting a big part in the cliffhanger resolution, Lorch decides to throw in with Lawson against her father, Middleton.

It’s a bridging chapter. Flash Gordon’s getting geared up for whatever’s next–besides the opening, there’s not even a fight scene. The lull gives Rogers and Crabbe a nice scene together, complete with character development. And Lawson and Lorch are great together.

The hint of the fire dragon is pretty cool too.

Flash Gordon (1936) ch08 – Tournament of Death

Tournament of Death is an unexpectedly strong chapter. There’s a lot going on. There’s the cliffhanger resolution, there’s Buster Crabbe facing off with Charles Middleton for the first time since Chapter One, there’s Frank Shannon saving the day, there’s Jack Lipson having character development, there’s Richard Alexander having hilarious character development, and there’s Jean Rogers screaming every once in a while. It’s actually a better part than Priscilla Lawson has this chapter; she just stands and looks reservedly terrified.

Why’s she terrified? Because of the titular Tournament of Death. First, Crabbe has to fight a masked swordsman. The masked swordsman’s identity is pretty obvious, which leads to an amusing scene for Crabbe. Because Tournament is where Crabbe gets to round out the character a little. He’s a bit of a primpy preppy. During the sword fight, Crabbe’s always keeping form. It’s silly. But it proves endearing.

And then the second match of the tournament is Crabbe versus a giant horned ape. The tournament “arena” is a big empty space, ostensibly part of Lipson’s throne room, but it’s just a big empty space. And Crabbe versus giant horned ape in this big empty space–even with the film sped up and the editors overwhelmed–it’s a bitching fight scene. Director Stephani kind of drags this one with the pacing, but it pays off.

Flash Gordon (1936) ch07 – Shattering Doom

It’s another heavy chapter. Despite a valiant escape effort, Buster Crabbe ends up back in chains. He and his fellow, shirtless men in shorts shovel radium into king hawkman Jack Lipson’s furnance.

Lipson’s still testing Jean Rogers’s affections. She’s got a couple rather good moments as she tries to misdirect Lipson. Lipson’s a little better in this chapter than the previous ones. He’s less obnoxious and also less sinister. He’s just a doofus now.

Priscilla Lawson gets her emotional showdown with Crabbe, which is another solid scene. Shattering Doom is a character chapter. There’s a hard cliffhanger involving another escape attempt but also a softer one with Charles Middleton arriving to reclaim Crabbe, Rogers, and all their pals.

It’s good. Even if Crabbe sometimes looks like he’s running into action scenes to avoid doing dialogue.

Flash Gordon (1936) ch06 – Flaming Torture

Flaming Torture is about flaming torture. Buster Crabbe and his allies get captured when they’re trying to rescue Jean Rogers. While Rogers has an arc with Priscilla Lawson–Rogers has to seduce moron king of the hawkmen Jack Lipson (in an atrociously annoying performance)–all Crabbe gets to do is get tortured. With flames.

Crabbe has little to do this chapter save flex when shirtless and greased up, which is most of the chapter. He’s got to be shirtless to be tortured. With flames.

Because the only way Lipson can tell if Rogers loves Crabbe is to make her watch him get tortured. So there’s a big finish with Crabbe getting tortured again. However, not with flames. Electricity.

While the chapter’s constantly downbeat, Rogers at least gets to do some stuff. Lawson gets to scheme. Crabbe gets to set up his team of shirtless male fighters.

Lipson’s real bad though; real bad.

Flash Gordon (1936) ch05 – The Destroying Ray

Despite a lackluster resolution to the cliffhanger–there’s a questionably timed emergency response–and some dawdling, The Destroying Ray eventually comes through. Director Stephani, along with the editors, works up a pace throughout and stops at just the right moment for maximum effect.

Most of the chapter is a bridge between Buster Crabbe and company in the undersea palace to getting them to the Hawkmen’s flying palace. They’re out to rescue poor Jean Rogers, who again gets zilch, even when new bad guy Jack Lipson looses a bear on her for declining his advances. There’s a definite disconnect in the editing this chapter–some of its good, some of its bad. Rogers gets worse editing in her story line.

There’s a fight scene with some Hawkmen, who also fly in for the attack. The flying in sequences go on a while, but the special effects are effective. The giant lizards also reappear but without anything to do (Destroying Ray does drag quite often).

While Lipson’s new villain terrible, it’s too soon to tell how new ally Richard Alexander’s acting is going to shake out. He might be an asset… depends on Alexander (and the script).

Flash Gordon (1936) ch04 – Battling the Sea Beast

Battling the Sea Beast opens with Buster Crabbe fighting an octopus. Mostly it’s Crabbe–quite enthusiastically–feigning a struggle against one or two legs of the octopus, which shows no life once they’re battling. Before it was stock footage; with the fight, it’s a passive prop Crabbe has to get going.

And it’s the only fight scene in Sea Beast, with the exception of an off screen one between Crabbe and a guard while Priscilla Lawson stands by and plots her next move.

It’s a suspenseful chapter; Lawson’s duplicity leads to a catastrophic event, one Crabbe can’t fix. But he still tries to save the day, much to Lawson’s chagrin (and confusion).

There’s some plot development involving Frank Shannon trying to get in touch with Earth. Charles Middleton comes in and cuts it short. Middleton’s not really any better than usual, but for whatever reason he’s more tolerable. Maybe he just wears you down.

Jean Rogers gets nothing to do. She stands by while James Pierce and Duke York argue. They’re fine at it.

It’s a good Flash Gordon. Director Stephani does quite well with the tension.

Flash Gordon (1936) ch03 – Captured by Shark Men

There’s some good action in Captured by Shark Men, with Buster Crabbe rescuing Jean Rogers from Charles Middleton and then an undersea sequence with a giant octopus. The cliffhanger resolution is relatively decent, with Crabbe up against a giant lizard monster.

Most of the chapter is either action or leading up to action, but when Crabbe and James Pierce break into the temple to rescue Rogers, there’s also some good crowd panic. Crabbe and Pierce ravage the idol–which is Egyptian–before fighting more of Ming’s henchmen–dressed in Roman garb. It’s a fun mix of contrary set decorations and costumes, with the biggest commonality being all the guys wearing shorts. Lots of men in shorts; including the Shark Men. They’re more men than shark–in swim trunks and swimming caps. They don’t even breathe underwater.

Once Rogers and Crabbe escape–and get into the Shark Men battle–it’s nice for Rogers have something to do, but it turns out not to be much. She, Crabbe, Priscilla Lawson, they’re all still appealing. Ditto Pierce, but a little character development would be nice. Flash Gordon is continuous action; director Stephani uses it to get all the thrills and suspense. But giving the appealing cast more to do wouldn’t hurt anything.

Especially in a chapter like Shark Men, which gets a little tiring after the fourth action sequence.

Flash Gordon (1936) ch02 – The Tunnel of Terror

The Tunnel of Terror opens with Buster Crabbe and Priscilla Lawson quickly escaping from the previous chapter’s cliffhanger. The unfortunate lizard monsters (real lizards standing in for giant monsters) make a brief return, but soon Crabbe and Lawson are just on the run from the guards.

Pretty soon, Crabbe is on his own and piloting a rocket ship to take out a force flying against Charles Middleton’s evil Ming. The sky battle is admirably executed; director Stephani, composer Clifford Vaughan, and the four editors work up some excitement, which makes up for the lacking special effects.

Meanwhile, damsel Jean Rogers is being held captive until she’s brainwashed into marrying Middleton and scientist Frank Shannon is goofing off in the futuristic palace lab.

Everyone’s appealing except Middleton. He’s really not getting any better. His costuming is great, his performance is all sorts of dreadful.

The cliffhanger involves another giant lizard, only this one is an actual practical special effect, not a real lizard ostensibly shot forced perspective. The resulting action scene is far more exciting. Even if Crabbe’s stand-in looks suspiciously like a little kid.

Flash Gordon (1936) ch01 – The Planet of Peril

In just around twenty minutes, The Planet of Peril, the first chapter of Flash Gordon, boldly defines itself. It establishes the ground situation–Earth is about to be destroyed by a collision with another planet and the world’s in panic. It establishes the leads–Buster Crabbe’s a blond, smart guy jock, Jean Rogers is his airplane co-passenger who thinks he’s swell, Charles Middleton is the emperor of whatever planet Crabbe, Rogers, and rocket scientist Frank Shannon have landed on.

There’s a narrative conciseness to Peril’s script, but the production design and visual effects don’t really aid it. The script aids them. Because Gordon is fantastical–there are fighting cave men, interstellar princesses, rocket ships, bad guys in tin suits, one bad guy in a suit of armor, everyone else doing a Roman thing. It’s a lot. Lots of costumes. Lots of special effects, usually miniatures, sometimes not great, sometimes great, always interesting, often cool. And everything seems directed to suport them.

Until the fight scene. Crabbe vs. cave men. It turns out to be this phenomenally edited, long action scene. Director Stephani, the four editors, they know how to shoot and cut action. There’s tension with the rocket take-off, there’s some good editing elsewhere, but the arena fight scene is something else.

And then it comes to a nice cliffhanger. There’s not much peril in the cliffhanger–Crabbe and now soft on him alien princess Priscilla Lawson are falling into something called “the pit,” but it’s just chapter one. There’s just going to be more amazing Flash Gordon.

Really, the only thing wrong with it so far is Middleton. He’s playing the role without a sense of humor. Meanwhile Shannon’s using humor (at least whenever he gets a real line or two), Crabbe is running with it, and Rogers hasn’t got anything to do. Except look scared.

Flash Gordon is awesome.