Flash Gordon
- This is a past program
Presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
Part of the UCLA Film & Television Archive screening series Archive Treasures. Learn more at cinema.ucla.edu.
Before the screening, at 5:30 p.m., Ryan Linkof, Curator of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, will give a 30-minute presentation on the cultural and artistic legacy of Flash Gordon, from comic book superhero to cinematic icon.
5:30 p.m.–6 p.m.: Presentation by Ryan Linkof.
7 p.m.: Screening of Flash Gordon with an introduction by Jillian Borders, Head of Preservation at the UCLA Film & Television Archive, about the Archive’s restoration.
Channeled most famously by George Lucas into the Star Wars franchise, the 13-chapter Flash Gordon serial from 1936 — with its mashup of ancient religion and advanced technology, cliffhanger endings, an artificial planet, and episode titles such as “The Destroying Ray,” is the urtext of the contemporary science fiction blockbuster. For every charmingly (and not so charmingly) dated moment — the menacing iguanas shot in slow-motion, the spaceships with smoking tailpipes, a galaxy pre-colonized by Earth-bound Orientalism — Flash exudes a modern sensibility from Buster Crabbe’s quotable quips to the rip-roaring pace of its 20-minute narrative chunks. The Archive is thrilled to present the world premiere of its new restoration of this classic serial in a one-night binge session that you won’t want to miss!
35mm, b&w, 245 min. Director: Frederick Stephani, Ray Taylor. Screenwriters: Frederick Stephani, Ella O'Neill, George Plympton, Basil Dickey. With: Buster Crabbe, Jean Roger, Charles Middleton.
Restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive from 35mm nitrate original picture negatives, original track negatives and comp dupe negatives. Laboratory services by The PHI Stoa Film Lab, Roundabout Entertainment, Inc., Fotokem, Audio Mechanics and Simon Daniel Sound.
ATTENDING THIS PROGRAM?
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