Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940) on Netflix
Approved19403h 15mActionAdventureSci-Fi
A purple spot marks the Purple Death, a plague sweeping Earth. Flash Gordon, Dale Arden and Dr. Zarkov trace it to Ming the Merciless and return to planet Mongo for a cure.
- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb6.6/101,655 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes88%
Trailer
Plot summary
Earth is in the grip of the Purple Death, a plague that marks the foreheads of the people it strikes. Dr. Alexis Zarkov takes his spaceship up to investigate and spots a craft from planet Mongo releasing the dust that carries it; Ming the Merciless is behind the attack. Flash Gordon, Dale Arden and Zarkov fly back to Mongo in search of a cure. Their old ally Prince Barin and Queen Fria, ruler of the frozen northern land of Frigia, offer help, since Polarite, the antidote, is found in Frigia. Ming orders his henchman Captain Torch to stop the Earthlings by any means.
Cast
![Anne Gwynne as Sonja [Chs. 2, 6-12]](/img/avatar-f100/a83e97b28874ff9ctmc0bd37.jpg)
![John Hamilton as Professor Gordon [Chs. 1, 4]](/img/avatar-f100/c270fba3402ad919tm9e02d1.jpg)
![Herbert Rawlinson as Dr. Frohmann [Chs. 1, 4]](/img/avatar-f100/8494f8d21f8189d0tma25774.jpg)
![Tom Chatterton as Professor Arden [Chs. 1, 4]](/img/avatar-f100/0d4e92e2739cb66dtmc38e65.jpg)
![Anne Gwynne as Sonja [Chs. 2, 6-12]](/img/avatar-f100/a83e97b28874ff9ctmc0bd37.webp)
![John Hamilton as Professor Gordon [Chs. 1, 4]](/img/avatar-f100/c270fba3402ad919tm9e02d1.webp)
![Herbert Rawlinson as Dr. Frohmann [Chs. 1, 4]](/img/avatar-f100/8494f8d21f8189d0tma25774.webp)
![Tom Chatterton as Professor Arden [Chs. 1, 4]](/img/avatar-f100/0d4e92e2739cb66dtmc38e65.webp)
![Ben Taggart as General Lupi [Chs. 1-2]](/img/avatar-f100/2d8bf1c073d7df9btm833032.webp)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- To save money the makers reused the "chamber of the death dust experiments" set from Universal's Buck Rogers serial, and cut in mountain climbing search and rescue scenes, plus the music score, from the German film White Hell of Pitz Palu (1930).
- Jean Rogers, who had played Dale Arden in the two previous Flash Gordon serials, was under contract to 20th Century Fox by then, and neither she nor Fox wanted her to repeat the role; it went instead to recent Universal starlet Carol Hughes.
