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Date Posted: 12:59:13 04/26/07 Thu
Author: Prince Barin
Subject: "Just Imagine" and Flash Gordon

"Just Imagine", an early sci-fi film produced by Fox in 1930, has strong links to the serials starring our beloved hero, Flash Gordon. I was fortunate to see "Just Imagine" in a New York City revival house in 1979 and again on TV a few years later but memory fades (especially at my age!) and the unavailability of the film made studying its links to FG difficult. However, toward the end of 2006 "Just Imagine" was finally issued on VHS in a rather poor print.

Years ago when I first heard of the film's title, its links to FG and saw some stills of it I was really excited. It has a lot going for it; music by DeSylva, Brown and Henderson, a major music powerhouse of the twenties and thirties, some spectacular sets of a future New York, and clips that were used in FG. It had to be good!

But the reality is different. The premise of the film revolves around a Rip van Winkle figure (played by comedian El Brendel) who fell asleep in 1930 and is revived in the New York of 1980. What follows is a plot that is confused to say the least.

The initial sequences are truly spectacular. We see a 1930 view of 1980s New York with multi-hundred floor skyscrapers, private helicopters buzzing about, television, people with numbers instead of names, and machines that instantly produce everything from pellet-sized food to babies. FG enthusiasts will instantly recognize the opening sequences as the view from the headquarters of Killer Kane in "Buck Rogers".

From here all is downhill. There is a confused love interest, very talky scenes that don't advance the film's already meager plot and finally a trip to Mars. On Mars FG enthusiasts will find the "Oracle" with the writhing arms and scantily-clad ladies seen in FG'36 as well as a scene of a rocketship taking off for Mars that was used in FG. The rocketship used is very similar to Zarkov's ship in FG'36.

DeSylva, Brown and Henderson had an off day or maybe a couple of weeks when they wrote the tunes for "Just Imagine". None of the tunes is really up to their standards so the movie shortchanges the viewer here as well.

I must say that after having seen the film a few times I can find little, if anything, to recommend it other than its being the source for some footage and concepts for FG. It's unfortunate because the premise of the film is captivating- what will New York be like in 50 years? Many of the sets are embellished with thirties Art Deco motifs and as earlier mentioned the opening sequences are wonderful. But it could have been so much more and I'm forever disappointed that it was not more. It had set design and musical talent going for it but you always are left with the impression that they decided over a cup of coffee or lunch what to do next with the plot, throwing in this or that just to fill up time.

Nevertheless, I DO think that FG fans should see it at least once but they will need a healthy dose of patience to stay with "Just Imagine". Just imagine what it could have been!

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[> Re: "Just Imagine" and Flash Gordon -- Rick, 13:48:38 04/26/07 Thu [1]


Thanks, Barin. Great review! The film was ahead of its time.




Rick


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