10 Fun Facts About Flash Gordon
This year marks the fortieth anniversary ofFlash Gordon , the colorful , campy adaptation of the classic comical stripcreatedby Alex Raymond in 1934 that star a then - unknown Sam J. Jones as the eponymic hero , a football game instrumentalist from Earth who finds himself on the major planet Mongo and facing off against Ming the Merciless ( Max von Sydow ) . Partnered with travel broker Dale Arden ( Melody Anderson ) and Prince Vultan ( a game Brian Blessed ) , Flash tries to save Earth from Ming ’s machinations ....