Rocket Ship

"BIG FEATURE SENSATION! Amazing STRANGE WORLD ADVENTURES! From Alex Raymond's Famous Newspaper Strip"

1938 1h 22m EN

😐

6.3

MID

★6.3TMDB · 5

ActionAdventureScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A heavy condensation of the 1936 serial Flash Gordon, with altered musical score. Flash Gordon, Dale Arden and Dr. Hans Zarkov visit the planet Mongo to thwart the evil schemes of Emperor Ming the Merciless, who has set his planet on a collision course with Earth. Released abroad as "Flash Gordon" for countries not interested in booking the serial, and never shown in the USA before 1950, where the title was changed to "Rocket Ship".

“BIG FEATURE SENSATION! Amazing STRANGE WORLD ADVENTURES! From Alex Raymond's Famous Newspaper Strip”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Buster Crabbe
Flash Gordon
Jean Rogers
Dale Arden
Charles Middleton
Emperor Ming
Priscilla Lawson
Princess Aura
Frank Shannon
Dr. Hans Zarkov
Richard Alexander
Prince Barin
Jack 'Tiny' Lipson
King Vultan
Theodore Lorch
High Priest

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Frederick Stephani
Writers: Ray Trampe, Ray Trampe, Norman S. Hall
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

82 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

88 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Saul A. Goodkind shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Buster Crabbe and Jean Rogers and Charles Middleton carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "BIG FEATURE SENSATION! Amazing STRANGE WORLD ADVENTURES! From Alex Raymond's Famous Newspaper Strip".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0027624 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 5 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Frederick Stephani directs. Saul A. Goodkind cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

182 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $0.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
388 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Editor Saul A. Goodkind shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Buster Crabbe and Jean Rogers and Charles Middleton carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "BIG FEATURE SENSATION! Amazing STRANGE WORLD ADVENTURES! From Alex Raymond's Famous Newspaper Strip".
7IMDB entry: tt0027624 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 5 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
9Classified under 9 themes, including "emperor", "space travel", "space war", "end of world".

The technical file

Editing: Saul A. Goodkind
Runtime: 82 min · 1h 22m
Status: Released
Budget: $350,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Rocket Ship (1938)

Also by

Frederick Stephani

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-06-19
★ 6/10
I loved these sci-fi escapades years ago when I was a kid and the serials were shown at dinner-time by the BBC. I haven't seen them since, and to be honest was rather disappointed by the way in which the episodes had been rather clumsily butchered into 75 minutes. Not that there ever was much jeopardy with the plot: "Flash" (Buster Crabbe) has to defeat the devious plots of "Ming" (Charles Middleton) with the aid of his allies Barin (Richard Alexander) and "Vultan" (Tiny Lipson) whilst juggling the attentions of "Dale Arden" (Jean Rogers) and the duplicitous "Princess Aura" (Priscilla Lawson) but surely someone could have shown just a touch of professionalism with the basic editing process? That said, it is still a fun watch with the phut-phut rocket ships, melting rays, winged-men and a hero quite literally straight out of the comic books - decent, but as thick as two short planks. The story doesn't really matter (Ming has plonked his planet "Mongo" on a collision course with the pesky third planet) - it's just a daft adventure story with an evil cloak-wearing baddie and a couple of very pretty dames indulging in a bit of cat-fighting over their handsome beefcake hero. It's nostalgia and can be enjoyed as such....

Production companies