Adam Graham (15:32)

Green.

Flash Gordon (15:38)

With a grinding crash, the giant idol topples over on the onrushing soldiers of ming the merciless, Killing those in front and throwing into confusion the whole company. Flash gordon and prince thune, with dale between them, Dash into the secret passage. Beneath the idol, the way becomes steeper. They slip and fall down, down a hundred feet or more Into a whirling underground river. They're swept along, down a raging current and over a falls into a lake. With the powerful strokes of the champion swimmer, Flash sets out for the shore, Towing dale by the hair. They reach the shore, and as flash reaches down to drag dale to safety, she screams and disappears beneath the calm surface of the lake, Clutched in two powerful, green, scaly arms. With no thought of his own safety, Flash gordon dives to Dale's rescue. Don't struggle, princess, Or I'll free you. Oh, hurry. The leaves are crushing me. I'll cut them with my sword. Oh, be careful. Careful, flash. The plant may catch you. Fix established plant. Oh, Flash, it's caught. You too? Yes. Yes. I didn't think it could. This is a tough break. What shall we do now? I don't know yet. Oh, Flash. What is it, princess? Are you in pain? No. Look. Look down there. A door in the cliff has opened. Yes, so it has. There are soldiers coming out. Strange looking guns. Those your father's men? No, no, I never saw them before. They must have seen us coming to make us captive. Well, at least they'll get us out of the crutches of this terrible plant. Soldiers, shoot your rake out of that plant and kill it. But don't injure its victim. I want them brought to me alive. Don't be afraid, princess. Those men will catch you. Ready to catch our men? Now the other one. Here I come. We're safe on the ground. But what will happen now? Gun's the leader of those soldiers. Soldiers? You did that well. Ah, Princess Aura. Yes. How do you know me? I do not know you. I know your father. Oh. Oh, what's this? Another white stranger? Yes, prince baron. Blindfold him. And prepare our other white prisoner for the ordeal of the poisoned daggers. As you command, prince baron. What are you going to do with me? Guards, take the princess to my quarters. As you command, prince baron. Ah, here comes our other white prisoner. Perhaps you know him, youth. How can I tell? He's got a hood over his head. I can't see his face. He says he is from the earth. I suppose you are from there too. I am. I don't believe you. But no matter. Our hiding place must remain a secret. So both of you must die. Are the white prisoners prepared, guard? They are, prince baron. Their left forearms are tied together. And the poisoned daggers, are they ready? Yes, sir. Good. Now listen, prisoners. I am dipping these two daggers in dragon's blood. The slightest scratch from these blades means certain death. Guard, give these to the prisoners. On the count of three, you will commence fighting. One. Two. Three. As prince Baron utters the word, Flash steps back. Jerking his mysterious antagonist off balance, he flings aside his dagger. Then he causes his opponent to drop his poisoned weapon. Picking up the dagger, Flash severs the cord binding him to his opponent. And as the two whip off their blindfolds and reveal themselves to each other. Flash Gordon. Talk to zako. So you do know each other. I should say we do. I'm mighty glad to see you, doctor. I thought you were dead. After our rocket crashed on this planet. I was badly hurt, Flash. These fellows, they picked me up and brought me here. They made me act as their servant. Well, we saved the Earth. Didn't we, lad? We certainly did, Doctor. Now, Prince Baron, maybe you'll believe that we are from the Earth. This man was the most brilliant scientist in the world. He was con. Stop. My admiration for both of you is boundless. I would be honored to have you shake my hand and call me friend. Your friend? Yes. Why of course. Here's my hand. And mine. Good. Now come to my quarters. My friends. I have invented an electric mold with which I intend to burrow underground into the palace of Ming the Merciless and overthrow his tyrannical government. Are you with me? Certainly. You bet we are. We've got to rescue Dale and Thoon from that fiend. Princess Aura. You heard what I planned to do? Yes. Please take me back to my father's palace with you. You? Why? It's because of you that I am a hunted man with a price on my head. You will remain here as my prisoner. Come, my friends. Come. Oh, I will. Will I start? What is it? What is your name? Rankle, my princess. Rankle. I thought I recognized your fate. You fled into exile from my father's guard when you were caught stealing. Yes. Listen, Runkle Princess, if you will help me warn my father of what those men plan to do, I will make you not only wealthy, but also a duke for once. So lovely, my princess. How could I refuse? Come with me. Unaware of what has happened in the hiding place and racing underground toward the palace of Ming the Merciless in their electric Mole, Prince Baron, Dr. Zharkov and Flash Gordon encounter a fierce graco, or armor plated dragon. Flash climbs out of the mole and gives battle, saving his companions. For this Prince Baron promises that if they succeed in overthrowing Ming, Flash will be made a prince of Mongo and anything he desires will be his. Finally, the Electric Mole breaks through the floor of the central hall of Ming's palace. The door opens and the trio emerge from the metal borrowing machine. Come, my friend. We have arrived. Ah, so we have. What is our next move, Prince Barin? This is the central hall of Ming's palace. We'll go up those stairs, Dr. Zharkov, and surprise the inner guard. Prince Banner. Look. Ming's armored men. We've been betrayed. But how could the news have reached here before us? Let us get our ray gun. That's no use, Doctor. The armor of those soldiers is ray proof. Here comes being the Merciless with his high priest, Dale. Thank heaven she's all right. Welcome back to my palace, Flash Gordon. And welcome to your companions. Soldiers, lash them to that pillar. Over there. Then execute them. Oh, Flash, darling, I love you so much. Dale, my dearest, we did our best to save you, but we've been betrayed. I guess they have us now. Let them shoot. They'll kill me too, and we'll be together forever. Very well, Dale Arden, you can have him in death. Captain. Sire. Proceed with the execution. Shoot, you yellow dogs. We aren't afraid to die. Ready. Hold your fire. Soggy. What does this mean? If you were not the High Priestess, I would have your tongue torn out for your insolence. I asked you. You remember, sire, that according to the sacred writ of Pow, even a traitor has the right to choose between the firing squad and the terrible test. True, Sugi. And on second thought, the test would furnish us with greater amusement. Yes, sire. We must abide by this sacred grit. And then, too, I see no reason why the girl should be killed. Captain, release the prisoners. They shall undergo the terrible test. First, bring them over to this pit. This is the test of the torture pit. Flash. Garden, new and barren, will stand on each end of the narrow platform and with long whips, try to touch, topple each other into the pit, where a surprise will be awaiting you. Take your places. The two mount the platform. Flash ducks as Prince Baron's whip winds over his head. Then Flash's whip hits Baron with such force as to knock him off balance and into the pit. Dropping his whip, Flash leaps after him as he throws the unconscious form of Prince Baron over his shoulder and prepares to climb out. A transparent metal sheet silently slides over the top of the pit, trapping them. At the same time, Flash hears a growl, and looking around, he sees three snarling Tigrans placing Prince Baron on the floor. Flash turns on the fierce beast. The first one charges, leaping high in the air. Flash comes down on the Tigran's back with a powerful wrench. Breaks its neck instantly. The other two Tigrans leap at each other to fight for the possession of the body. Furiously, the battle rages. Finally, both animals are down, wounded unto death. Then Prince Baron regains consciousness. Where. Where are we? We're all right, Prince Baron. We're in the pit. But they've trapped us with that transparent metal lid. And you. You saved us from these beasts. Oh, you are superb, Flash. That was easier than figuring how we're going to get out of here. Look up there. And soon. He's just in time. Soon. Roll that metal lid back. He nods that he understands. There. He's done it. We're free. Come along. Meanwhile, in the temple of Tao Ming, and Dale are about to be married by Zogi, the high priest. By now, Dale Arden, my saber toothed tigrants have torn your hero to pieces. Poor Flash. He died trying to save me. Nothing matters now. Here comes Zoggy to perform the ceremony. Oh, mighty Ming, ruler of mango and the universe. Does your supreme intelligence take this earth woman to be your wife and empress of Mongol? I most certainly do. And you, Dale Arden, do you take this just and brilliant man to be your lord and master? I. I don't care what happens now. As you have accepted each other in matrimony before the great God Tao, I pronounce. Wait. Stop the idol. Speak. I thou forbid this marriage. It is a trick, Fool. A stone idol cannot talk. Doggy. Swing back the statue. At once, sire. Last Gorgon. Laugh, darling. She told me you were dead. The hurtman and two companions alive. Go, gods. Shoot them down. The marriage must go on. Wait, sire. The sacred Ritza. You cannot execute the man who has passed the test of the Tigrans. Guards. Drop your weapons or cow. We'll curse you all. What? You dare defy me? I only quote the sacred red, sire. As high priest, it is my duty to interpret and enforce its dictates. Darth. Give me your thought, Loki. I will stop your jabbering mouth forever. How awful. He killed the high priest. Carry the body away. Gods bless, my darling. I thought I had lost you. Never. As long as I have strengthened these two arms and the breath of life in my body. Tao forbids me to slay you, eh? Well, Tao and I will both laugh. While you rebel slave in the prison city of the Hawkman, death would be more desirable. As for you, Dale Arden, you shall be taught to act like my empress. Doomed to a fate worse than death. Among the cruel Hawkmen. What terrifying adventures await our friends. Be sure to listen in again next week and hear the further amazing adventures of Flash Gordon and Dale Arden. Who appear in full color pictures next Sunday in the 32 page comic weekly supplement of your Hearst Sunday newspaper. The world's greatest all picture magazine of fun and adventure. Don't miss the comic weekly. Next Sunday all your friends will be there. Besides Flash Gordon and Dale Arden, you will find King of the Royal Mounted Waiting to thrill you with another chapter in his adventures of the great Northwest. Good old Jigs and Maggie in bringing up Father, your old pal Skippy Tilly, the toiler, Ace Drummond, Johnny round the world, the little King Radio patrol. They'll all be waiting to entertain you. Of course, those irresponsible Kats and yammer kids are on deck with a new prank on their friends. How can they think of all those tricks? And as for Barney Google, well, I'm afraid I'll have to agree with Snuffy Smith that Google seems a bit touched in the haze. Remember, they're all in the comic Weekly next Sunday, 32 pages of colored pictures. Be sure to get your copy of the Hearst Sunday newspaper next Sunday containing this big 32 page comic weekly. And remember, we have a date next week for another chapter in the amazing interplanetary adventures of Flash Gordon and Dale Arden.

Adam Graham (29:40)

Welcome back. This was radio drama before padding was invented, okay? Truth be told, padding existed, but they just didn't use it here. I read a lot of the original Flash Gordon stories by Alex Raymond a few years back and this serial follows a lot of those stories. Plot point, plot, pretty close, beat per beat. And so you've got this feeling that you're reading a big collection of comics and turning the page and hearing the William Tell Overture every time you turn the page, which when reading something like this, just amps up the excitement level. What happened here? You know, just to give you an idea about how Pacey this is, one would probably be at least 10 episodes in the post war Kellogg's Pep era of the Adventures of Superman. What can you say so far? But Flash Gordon has had quite a time. You think that on a day when you had to parachute out of a crashing plane, that's gonna be the worst part of your day. But then now you have a crazy guy accuse you of being a spy and put you into a rocket that's crashing into another planet. And I'm not going to get into the signs of this because you just have to accept that firing a manned rocket at a planet colliding with Earth would save the planet. So we can get on with the fun stuff. Because most science fiction stories that you tend to, you like have the blockbuster Saving the Earth is really the big deal. It's like, that's just something we gotta check. Tick the box, get out of the way and so we can get on with the real adventure. I appreciate Alex Raymond's creativity. While Flash Gordon was inspired by Buck Rogers. When you read a lot of the early Buck Rogers strips, they were a lot of very Earth based sci fi. What Raymond does here is create this world populated with alien creatures who are very unusual. Now, of course, a lot of them have Earth inspired designs, but the execution on the drawn page is a thing of beauty and it's just a wonderful bit of science fantasy. And they do the best they can to communicate the scale of that over the radio. And what you have to love about Flash is the way that he proves himself, makes friends, and wins people over by being the ultimate action hero. This really does show a really different side of our lead Gale Gordon. He had some range. Now he'd go on to build his career on being a stuffy authority figure like Osgood Conklin on The radio, the second Mr. Wilson on television, and so many characters opposite Lucille Ball. But here he is the ultimate action hero and carries it well. I will disillusion anyone hoping for a New Heart esque ending where this all turns out to be Osgood Conklin's dream, because that's not how time works in so many ways, but it's an ending I actually imagined. I will critique one aspect of the plot, and that was when Prince Baron seems to switch from having Flash and Zarkoff fight each other to the death to align with them for very little reason. Even the Pacey confines of the story, that seemed to happen way too fast. But the story's like we just don't have time to get into what character motivation might be. I also did love the commercial at the end for the upcoming comics, though the narrator should never do a Snuffy Smith impersonation ever again. All right, well, now we're going to talk about the podcast and how this is going to work. So we will be featuring two separate adventure programs each week and they're going to cross a lot of different subgenres. For example, we're going to be doing Tarzan next year and eventually we'll also be featuring the adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel. So we're keeping adventure fairly broadly defined. We're not going to do westerns. That's Andrew's thing over@otrwesterns.com but that leaves a whole wide variety of series to tell. Now, as a general rule, and I don't think this is going to be hard and fast throughout our run, we are dividing the these two days into two separate categories. And those are adventure programs that were targeted more towards children and those that were targeted more towards an adult audience. Truth be told, many adults even at the time enjoyed listening to these programs that may have been written with kids in mind and certainly many adults since have. And we all keep our eye out for higher quality programs in terms of what we select. Now, one reason for the two day a week programming format isn't just because trying to do two six day a week podcasts at much or five day a week podcasts at the same time is just too much. It's also due to the fact that there's just less of the adventure programs out there than Great Detectives. Some of that is due to serialization. If I had every episode of Buck Rogers, I would have enough programming to keep children's side of the podcast going for six to eight years. But we have enough for about four weeks. And that's just the reality when you're dealing with serialized programs. It's one of the strengths of the self contained programs that if you're missing one episode, it's generally it's too bad you're missing that episode, but you can go ahead and go from one week to a next. If you're missing all but one episode of a serial, as is often the case with with the Buck Rogers stories, there's not a whole lot you can do. We'd even be doing Tarzan a lot longer than we are going to do if it weren't for the fact that the Tarzan Lord of the Jungle serial is missing so many episodes, particularly at its end. Now, I don't know for sure how long that we will continue with this series. Some of it may depend on new programs emerging and other things that are beyond our control. But I'm looking forward to bringing you just some fantastic adventure programming over the next few years, including some from anthology programs which we will work in as we go through the series. Now, we will typically release episodes on Tuesday and Saturday. We'll release this first episode of Flash Gordon on Sunday to make it easy to post over on the Great Detectives feed. As I said at this top of the episode, if you want to continue to hear Flash Gordon, be sure to check out our new website at the Great Adventurers of Old time radio@greatadventure.info join us back here on Saturday either on Great Adventurers or on the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio feed where we will kick off with our first adult targeted program, Cloak and Dagger. In the meantime, do send your comments to fox13@greatdetectives.net from Boise, Idaho, this is your host, Adam Graham, signing off.

Flash Gordon (38:03)

SA.