SCIFIHISTORY.NET
  • MAINPAGE
  • About
  • Reviews
  • December
  • November
  • October
  • September
  • August
  • July
  • June
  • May
  • April
  • March
  • February
  • January

Stardate 05.30.2022.B: Dubious Origins - The Day Crash Corrigan Tried To 'Crash' Flash Gordon's Party - A Look At 1936's 'Undersea Kingdom'

5/30/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Though I could be wrong, I think it’s obvious that a character named ‘Crash Corrigan’ was likely meant to appeal to the same audience of its day that was heading into to movie houses for a trip to Mongo with a fellow named ‘Flash Gordon,’ don’t you?  Of course, there’s nothing wrong with a little competition, especially when it benefits fans of genre entertainment who do so appreciate the exploits of our heroes up on the silver screen, so let’s assume that’s exactly what the folks at Republic Pictures intended with their release of Undersea Kingdom on this day in 1936.
 
Here's the plot summary as provided by our friends at IMDB.com:
“Crash Corrigan, a recent graduate of Annapolis, and Diana, a go-getting reporter, join Professor Norton for a search for the source of a string of earthquakes, Atlantis.  They ride Prof. Norton’s rocket submarine searching the sea, and little Billy Norton, the professor’s son, stows away, of course.  When they find Atlantis they are caught in a war between peaceful Atlanteans, note their white capes, and war-mongering Atlanteans, note their black capes.  After many harrowing moments for Crash, Diana, Prof. Norton, and Billy, they barely get away with their lives when they escape a tower of Atlantis raised to the surface for the sole purpose of dominating or destroying the Earth (which one depends on the compliance of the upper world dwellers.)”
 
Ahem …
 
So it’s easy to see the similarities.  Both franchises have a leading trinity of characters – the hero, the heroine, and the scientist – as well as a blazing rocketship that’s going to deliver them to some far off, exotic location wherein evil has its sights set on destroying our Big Blue Marble.  In fact, the film’s Wikipedia.org citation suggests in its opening paragraph that Undersea was Republic’s direct response to Flash’s popularity at the box office, so I think it’s safe for us to conclude the property was always intended to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in film history as similar theatrical fare.
 
As I’ve not seen any box office reportage from the era regarding Undersea’s numbers, I have also read that this was only Republic’s second cinematic serial (it was a twelve-chapter affair delivering a total of 226 minutes).  I also know that there were still producing serials into the 1950’s, so I’m willing to assume that their productions did well enough to fuel these efforts for, at least, two decades, though I do know that serials pretty much disappeared in that era as audiences were transitioning (of sorts) from the silver screen to the small screen.  Even Republic’s Commando Cody: Sky Marshal Of The Universe underperformed in theaters but found new life on the Boob Tube.  (Isn’t it interesting that in today’s market – the days of ten-episode limited streaming series – it would seem that the big budget serial has made a return to form?)
 
Folks wanting to know a bit more about Crash are encouraged to check out the film’s Wikipedia page as that’s the best source of info I’ve been able to find on it to date.  I have seen a couple of low-priced versions available on DVD over on Amazon.com, so it appears as if the property is in public domain.

​-- EZ
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Reviews
    ​Archive
    ​

    Reviews

    birthdays
    Archive
    ​

    January
    February
    March
    April
    May
    June
    July
    August
    September
    October
    November
    December

    mainpage
    ​ posts

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly