44 Years Later…
Though December 5th is universally acknowledged as the debut of The Saviour Of The Universe on the silver screen – its Royal Charity Premiere in the UK would actually take place five days later.
In the attendance of their Royal Highnesses Prince & Princess Michael Of Kent (did this picture not warrant anybody higher up?) its fascinating to think what their reaction may have been to some of the debauchery on show. Indeed, the various Kingdoms depicted in the movie follow suit with much of the antics recorded throughout history so they must have felt at home.
Of course the British public would have to wait until the following day for general release and again, one would love to go back and relive some of the audience reaction to scenes like the Bore Worms, ‘You Bloody Bastards’ and Dale Arden’s involuntary, ah, response. It would be easy to dismiss it as being from ‘a different time’, but unlike the Carry On films, for example, which have arguably dated themselves out of pop culture altogether, Flash Gordon, for all its tastelessness, endures. I remember little from when my dad took me to see it at the Kings 123 in West Bromwich except that it blew my seven-year old mind – even prompting dad to say ‘that was brilliant’ which he seldom did.
The only souvenir of the UK premiere was to be the programme, only handed out to attendees of the ABC Shaftesbury Avenue and then either disregarded or stored for the following decades. Indeed, I only became aware of its existence on a trip to long-gone London Film Museum where an unattainable copy lay in a glass case. As a rabid fan, one has been coveted since, but like many Flash collectables, only listed infrequently and for extravagant prices. Luckily, 44 years later I managed to land one, and presented above are a few scans of the mostly self-congratulatory full-page ads contained within. They don’t make ’em like this anymore…
