The Secret Sunday Matinee series

Secret Sunday Matinee Weekly Show Guide

All films are 16mm prints from private collections. More about our 16mm projection.

Our movie serial:

Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (Universal, 1940)

12 chapters – 220 minutes
Originally released March 3, 1940

The third and final serial of the original 1930s Flash Gordon classics. Download from Archive.org.

Program Note: We are showing the version syndicated to TV beginning in the 1950s. Except for being retitled as Flash Gordon and Space Soldiers Conquer the Universe and the voice of a narrator reading the opening chapter recaps, it is the same as the theatrical version.

• Directed by Ford Beebe & Ray Taylor. Produced by Henry MacRae.
• Written by George H. Plympton, Basil Dickey, & Barry Shipman. Based on the contemporaneous Alex Raymond comic strip, Flash Gordon.
• Cinematography by Jerome Ash & William Sickner
• Art Direction by Harold H. MacArthur. Special Effects by Ed Keyes

Starring: Larry ‘Buster’ Crabbe (Flash Gordon), Carol Hughes (Dale Arden), Charles Middleton (Emperor Ming, the Merciless), Frank Shannon (Dr. Zarkov), Roland Drew (Prince Barin), Don Rowan (Capt. Torch), Anne Gwynne (Sonja).

Show Guide

1: August 31, 2008

Serial episode: “The Purple Death” (1940, 29 min.) Cartoon: One Froggy Evening (1955, Warner Bros.) –>Short: A Trio of Cinema Wonders — Three short silent films combined: The Black Imp (1904, Georges Melies, FR) — an imp torments the hapless guest of an inn by making the furniture come to life. The Dancing Pig (Le cochon danseur, 1907, Pathé Frères, FR) — a turn-of-the-century circus or music hall act featuring the most astonishing (and unnerving) pig suit in history. The Acrobatic Fly (1908, Percy Smith, USA) — fascinating extreme-closeup footage of a fly being made to manipulate various objects, including tiny dumbbells. One of the very first “macro” films ever made, and the first of dozens by Percy Smith. Secret Feature: Rocket Ship (1936) — A 72 min. feature-length version of the first Flash Gordon serial, released at the same time as the serial.

2: September 7, 2008

Serial episode: “Freezing Torture” (1940, 21 min.) Cartoon: Betty Boop’s Hallowe’en Party (1933, Paramount) — Directed by Dave Fleischer. With color added in the early ’70s, retraced for TV. Short: The Red Spectre (1907, Pathe Freres, FR) — Early trick film by Ferdinand Zecca, with original stencil- and hand-coloring. A skull-faced demon in a red cape performs amazing magical acts, enhanced with early special effects. Secret Feature: The greatest classic horror film of all time!

3: September 14, 2008

Serial episode: “Walking Bombs” (1940, 21 min.) Cartoon: Koko’s Earth Control (1927, Inkwell Films) — Directed by Dave Fleischer. One of the very best and most inventive, combining drawn animation, cut-out photos, and live action. Silent, shown with music: “Integrales” by Edgard Varese. Short: Charmin Bathroom Tissue TV commercial (1981), with Robbie the Robot as Mr. Whipple’s assistant, “Squeezak.” Short: Star Trek Bloopers (ca. 1966) — The first volume of the famous blooper reels, originally produced for the cast & crew’s private wrap parties at the end of each season. Secret Feature: Flying saucers attack! Will they save DC?!

4: September 21, 2008

Serial episode: “The Destroying Ray” (1940, 17 min.) Cartoon: Duck Amuck (1951, Warner Bros.) — Directed by Chuck Jones. An unseen animator torments Daffy Duck with a series of surreal pranks, transforming him and his world into bizarre and even psychedelic mutations. A direct homage to the silent Out of the Inkwell cartoons by Max and Dave Fleischer, it manages to lovingly trump the inspiration. Animated by Ben Washam, Ken Harris and Lloyd Vaughan, with layouts by Maurice Noble and outstanding backgrounds by Philip DeGuard. One of three Jones cartoons preserved by the Library of Congress in the National Film Registry. Secret Feature: Pirates! The swashbuckler that launched a thousand ships, and a couple screen legends!

5: September 25, 2008

Serial episode: “The Palace of Terror” (1940, 20 min.) Cartoon: Modeling (1921, Out of the Inkwell Films) — Directed by Dave Fleischer. Produced by (and starring) Max Fleischer. Animated by Dave Fleischer and Roland Crandall, who also plays the hook-nosed old man posing for a bust in the film. Koko the clown wreaks havoc in a sculptor’s studio before retreating, as usual, back into his inkwell. In addition to the usual “Koko” mix of drawn animation and live action there is some fine stop-motion footage as well. Secret Feature: Cowboys and dinosaurs! A forgotten classic with top-notch stop-motion effects!

6: October 5, 2008

Serial episode: “The Flaming Death” (1940, 21 min.) Short: The Ghost of Slumber Mountain (1919) — Directed, written, and special effects by Willis O’Brien. Precursor to O’Brien’s legendary 1925 stop-motion dinosaur epic, The Lost World. Long feared lost, it survives only in a truncated version. Secret Feature: Giant atomic-powered, fire-breathing dragon levels Tokyo!

7: October 12, 2008

Serial episode: “The Land of the Dead” (1940, 20 min.) Cartoon: Superman aka The Mad Scientist (1941, Paramount) — Directed by Dave Fleischer. The Oscar-winning first installment of the legendary series of cartoons. Short: The Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906, Edison Films) — Directed by Wallace McCutcheon. An early and amusing live-action trick film only ostensibly based on the legendary newspaper comic strip by Winsor McCay (who went on to make a poineering cartoon of his later strip, Little Nemo). Secret Feature: Sadistic mad scientist creates then torments man-imals! And they kill him! One of the darkest pre-Code films.

8: October 19, 2008

Serial episode: “The Fiery Abyss” (1940, 18 min.) Cartoon: Bobby Bumps’ Hypnotic Eye (orig: Bobby Bumps and the Magnetic Eye, 1919) — Animated by Earl Hurd. Shown with music by the Raymond Scott Quintet. Secret Feature: Ancient, buried, psychic aliens! Run amuck! In color!

9: October 26, 2008

Serial episode: “The Pools of Peril” (1940, 18 min.) Short: Conquest of the Pole (1912) — One the best Georges Méliès’ special effects epics. With French intertitles, and slightly longer than the usual Blackhawk 16mm version (though still not complete). Silent, shown with a scored remix of the album Eskimo by The Residents. Secret Feature: A spectacular and bizarre 1950s Russian fantasy by director Alexander Ptushko. Rescued from the vaults: a new lab print never shown before!

10: November 2, 2008 — Halloween Horror Show – special time: 4 PM

Serial episode: “The Death Mist” (1940, 18 min.) Short: The Pillar of Fire (La Colonne de feu, 1899) — A very early hand-colored trick film by Georges Méliès, on a beautiful, rare 16mm print. Shown silent. Running time: approx. 1 minute. Cartoons – a spooky Disney early-sound double bill: The Skeleton Dance (Walt Disney Studios/Celebrity Pictures, 1929) — A very rare blue-toned print of this old favorite. Music: “March of the Trolls” by Edvard Grieg. Animated by Ub Iwerks, Roy O. Disney, Walt Disney, Wilfred Jackson. Hell’s Bells (Walt Disney Studios/Celebrity Pictures, 1929) — An obscure B/W oddity directed by Ub Iwerks, with music by Carl Stalling. Secret Feature: Sixties Italian vampires! In space! In delirious color!

11: November 9, 2008

Serial episode: “Stark Treachery” (1940, 21 min.) Short: [The Astronomer's Dream] (ca. 1906-7) — An unknown trick film, probably directed for Pathé by Segundo de Chomon. A rare but very high-contrast color print of a tinted version. No titles of any kind. Silent, shown with “Walking on the Moon” by Sun Ra and his Solar Myth Arkestra. Cartoon: Betty Boop’s Ups and Downs (1932) — Who knew economic collapse could be so surreal? A Depression-era masterpiece directed by Dave Fleischer, and animated by Willard G. Bowsky and Ugo D’Orsi. Secret Feature: A forgotten Japanese giant monster classic from the ’60s!

12: November 16, 2008

Serial episode: “Doom of the Dictator” (1940, 20 min.) — The thrilling conclusion of Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe! Cartoon: Wabbit Twouble (1941) — A favowite Mewwy Mewody cwassic diwected by Wobewt Cwampett. Short: Little Red Riding Hood (1949) — A classic stop-motion animation short by a young Ray Harryhausen, in a rare original 16mm Kodachrome print. Secret Feature: His name is Joe. He’s from Africa. One of the all-time classics! In glorious B&W. One climactic sequence shown with “live tinting” (a red lighting gel placed in front of the projector lens), to recreate the tinting of selected prints during the film’s original release.

13: November 23, 2008 – The “13th Episode” Show

Cartoon: The Bulletteers (1942) — Classic masterpiece from the Superman series by the Fleischer brothers. Short: Third Dimensional Murder (1942) — Rare short film, shown in the original anaglyphic 3D. Short: It Came From Outer Space (1953) — Digest version, shown in converted anaglyphic 3D. Short: Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) — Digest version, shown in converted anaglyphic 3D. Not-So-Secret Feature: Mars Attacks the World (1938), a 72-min. feature-length version of the 15 chapter serial, Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars, released concurrently.