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Flash Gordon Conquers the
Universe 
alternately titled
"Perils From the Planet Mongo" and
"Purple Death
From Outer Space"
and
"Space
Soldiers Conquer the Universe"
(1955 Television title)
Universal Pictures Serial
Screenplay by George
H. Plympton, Basil Dickey and Barry
Shipman
Based on the Alex Raymond comic strip
Directed by Ford Beebe and Ray
Taylor
Released in 1940
In this
fabulous episodic serial, Flash Gordon and crew start a new adventure
when Ming the Merciless, an extraterrestrial terrorist from the planet Mongo,
sets the Purple Plague upon the people of planet Earth.
The
plague kills people
horribly, leaving behind a purple scar on their forehead as the only evidence of
what happened to them. Anne Gwynne plays Sonja, a confidant
to and ally of Ming the Merciless.
With
Buster Crabbe as the flaxen-haired space
 warrior Flash with a penchant for
disguising himself as the enemy to gain access to their inner chambers, this
series from 1940 begins with the evil Ming detaining thousands of people in his
'concentration camps' along with a mad scientist planning to experiment on them with
his 'death dust.'
With the assistance of allies from various regions of
Mongo, Flash uses his wits, his charm, and a ray gun to best Ming and bring
peace back to the universe. Whew!
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