Moving pictures
take on many forms in
the 21st Century; Theaters
Broadcast TV, Cable/Satellite TV,
Video Tape, DVD and Internet formats.
2 way video, sports, and TV events will soon
be running on tiny cel-phone screens while HDTV
infiltrates home theaters. This ever-increasing need for
programming means anything tried before will be tried again,
and any movie ever made will be shown, if it exists, in hope of
finding an audience, or in order to fill time. Such is the fate of Just Imagine,
a science-fictional musical comedy and commercial flop from 1930. TCM and FMC
networks played this long-forgotten film in 2004, but while watching it, I saw some things
I remembered from elsewhere! Flash Gordon is a multi-media phenomenon on its own. A decent
history of this creation is beyond our scope, but it began in the Hearst newspapers in 1934 as a rival to
the Buck Rogers comic strip, and was adapted to radio, movies, television, and low-res cartoons. Three lavish theatrical Flash Gordon chapter-serials played prior to feature films between 1936 and 1940, then became staples of early black - and - white television, eventually finding their way onto videotapes and DVDs. Hollywood's publicity claimed that a million dollars were invested in the first Flash Gordon serial.* 
I never audited Universal's books, but I never took that urban legend too seriously either. Whatever they spent on Flash Gordon, I'm certain they leased some leftover props and footage from Fox's Just Imagine.
 
Join us in comparing these two examples of early Outre-spacial Cinema.

Just Imagine and Flash Gordon are the property of their copyright holders.
All images are used for scholastic purposes ONLY in the context of this article.
Text and graphic design copyright by Michael R. Evans 2005