Flash Gordon The Deadly Ray From Mars
Science Fiction
Image  (1938) 299 mins Approved

7.7 (370 votes)
Complete & Uncut 15 Episodes
Starring "Buster" Crabbe

Life on Earth is about to be destroyed! A mysterious beam of light -- emanating from Mars -- is sucking the nitrogen from the planet's atmosphere, and only Flash Gordon ("Buster" Crabbe) can stop it. Blasting off with Dale Arden (Jean Rogers) and Dr. Hans Zarkov (Frank Shannon), Flash and his intrepid band of adventurers quickly learn that Queen Azura (Beatrice Roberts), ruler of Mars, is stealing Earth's nitrogen to aid in her ongoing war with the Clay People. They are martians whom Azura magically turned into living mud. A bigger surprise, however, is yet to come...working closely with the Queen is Flash's mortal enemy, Ming the Merciless (Charles Middleton), who -- while posing as Azura's ally -- is secretly plotting to overthrow the Queen and seize Mars for himself!

Can Flash save the Earth, resc...

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Cast and Crew
Buster Crabbe  ......  Flash Gordon
Jean Rogers  ......  Dale Arden
Charles Middleton  ......  Emperor Ming
Frank Shannon  ......  Dr. Zarkov
Beatrice Roberts  ......  Queen Azura
Donald Kerr  ......  Happy Hapgood
Director  .....  Ford Beebe; Frederick Stephani; Robert F. Hill
Producer  .....  Barney A. Sarecky
Writer  .....  Norman S. Hall; Herbert Dalmas; Ray Trampe
Notes
Goofs:
Continuity: In Chapter One, after Queen Azura vanishes from the throne, she gets hailed by her subjects in the workroom before reappearing in their midst. While she was still out of sight, the subjects greeted and bowed to her. They had no way of knowing the Queen was about to arrive. (more)

Trivia:
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. (more)