Flash Gordon

A planet called Mongo is hurtling toward Earth, and three humans travel into space to investigate. Flash Gordon, his companion Dale Arden and the scientist Dr. Zarkov reach Mongo and find it ruled by Ming, a ruthless emperor who has deliberately set it on a collision course with Earth. Separated from the others, Flash must survive Ming's hostility, find allies among the planet's strange peoples, and work to stop the coming disaster. The story is based on the science fiction comic strip by Alex Raymond, and the production drew on King Features Syndicate, which owned the character.

This is a 1936 Universal Pictures serial running roughly four hours across many short chapters, and it was directed by Frederick Stephani and Ray Taylor. The facts list it third in the chronological filmography given for the director, arriving between Pirate Treasure (1934) and Mug Town (1942), and it was produced by Robert M. Beche and Henry MacRae from a screenplay credited to Frederick Stephani, Ella O'Neill and Basil Dickey. Buster Crabbe leads as Flash Gordon, with Jean Rogers as Dale Arden, Frank Shannon as Dr. Hans Zarkov, Charles Middleton as Ming the Merciless, Priscilla Lawson as Princess Aura and Richard Alexander as Prince Barin. Its large credited cast of 45 reflects the serial format.

The film holds a 6.9 rating on IMDb from around 2,900 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.4 from a much smaller number of votes.