Flash Gordon wasn’t the first science fiction pulp hero. The 1936 movie serial isn’t considered among the best, but this is the film that would define science fiction in Hollywood for years to come and would serve as the inspiration for Star Wars
Out of such humble beginnings, empires are made. We’re moving ahead again. The ‘30s and ‘40s really belong to the horror genre and to family friendly fantasies like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Science Fiction was sort of the red headed stepchild of the genres. Except for very rare efforts like Things to Come science fiction was consigned to the lowest of the low; the movie serial.
Not that serials a ton of fun as well as being vitally important to the development of the action adventure movie. But they were given budgets even below the B movie and it often showed. Still innovative studios like Republic turned those budgets into gold with series like Daredevils of the Red Circle, Secret Service in Darkest Africa, and the best of them all The Adventures of Captain Marvel. Among serial aficionados Flash Gordon isn’t considered among the top tier of movie sequels but it is still well respected. It has plenty of action and stuntwork. Charles B. Middleton makes Ming the Merciless into a classic screen villain.
The science in Flash Gordon is total fantasy. Mongo is supposed to be on a collision course with Earth somehow but that has no effect on their climate or atmosphere. Science in this serial is basically magic, capable of doing whatever the plot requires.
While you can nitpick Flash Gordon all day there’s still no denying the tremendous impact it had. It set the look for science fiction movies. The sets, costumes, and rocket ships would be reused in a dozen more serials. It would influence later bigger budget science fiction movies. Even in something like Forbidden Planet you can still see the Flash Gordon DNA in the look and design. Captain Video owed a great debt to Flash Gordon.
Flash Gordon also had a huge impact on literary science fiction. The new hard science fiction writers at Astounding were openly dismissive and that drove them to be even more rigorous with their scientific facts. Robert Heinlein wrote an entire short story, “Space Jockey” that dismantled the Flash Gordon school of science fiction.
Despite the objections of the hard science writers, Flash Gordon remained popular with young fans. One of those fans was George Lucas who in the mid ‘70s took his love of the character and combined it with state of the art special effects. In doing so he blasted the science fiction genre out of the low budget ghetto and onto the Hollywood A-List. So Flash Gordon occupies one of the most unique spots on the list. It’s responsible both for elevating the genre but at the same time it’s one of the reasons science fiction needed elevating in the first place.
Next up: Frankenstein
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