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Mars Attacks the World, the 1938 feature version of Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars, the 1938 Ford Beebe & Robert F. Hill science fiction (sci-fi) fantasy sequel ("The Most Sensational Full-Length Feature in Film Thrill History!") starring Buster Crabbe (as Flash Gordon; billed as "Larry Buster Crabbe"), Jean Rogers (as Dale Arden), Charles Middleton (as Ming the Merciless), Frank Shannon (as Dr. Alexis Zarkov), Beatrice Roberts (as Azura, Queen of Mars), and Donald Kerr. Note that Universal originally chose to title this feature version "Rocket Ship", but after some marketing material was created, they changed it to "Mars Attacks the World" to capitalize on the Orson Welles "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast. Also note that there are many inaccuracies about this feature version of this serial! Some sources list "Rocket Ship" as being a feature version of the first Flash Gordon movie from 1936, but Universal legal files show that it was definitely from the second movie in 1938. Also, Filmcraft re-released this movie in 1950 under the "Mars Attacks the World" title, and it has been incorrectly stated by some (including us!) that the movie was also titled "Rocket Ship" in the 1950 re-release from Filmcraft, which it was not. The reason for all this confusion is because in the movie paper for the 1950 re-release of this movie, it shows the correct cast from 1938's "Mars Attacks the World", but it includes images from the 1936 movie "Flash Gordon", even though that wasn't what they were showing. However, the movie paper for the 1950 re-release titled "Rocket Ship" is just the reverse (it shows the cast of the 1936 "Flash Gordon", but shows images from "Mars Attacks the World", and the 1950 "Rocket Ship" was showing the 1936 "Flash Gordon"!). We are happy for this chance to set the record straight on both these matters (but we are not surprised if you find it confusing, because it IS very confusing). Finally, note that we had HEARD of the 1938 feature release as "Mars Attacks the World", but until 2022, when we were first consigned a title card and a scene card from this feature release, we had never auctioned anything from the Universal release with that title in 1938 other than stills!
NOTE: Click on linked names to see a biography.

Important Added Info: Note that this pressbook for the 1950 re-release of "Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars" as "Mars Attacks the World" has double bill ads within it, which prove conclusively that "Mars Attacks the World" and "Rocket Ship" were NOT the same movie being re-released under two different titles, but were actually re-releases of both "Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars" and "Flash Gordon". All the confusing occurred because the people who prepared the posters swapped the images from the two movies (see above).

Note that we have provided an image of the front and back covers of this pressbook (if the back cover is not the poster page, we photographed the interior poster page), and of course, the winner of this auction will receive the entire single pressbook we are auctioning (plus any supplements or heralds described above)! Also note that this pressbook is complete and uncut! Given that theater owners received pressbooks partly in order to create their newspaper advertising, and quite frequently cut them up for that purpose, it is rare to find a pressbook that IS complete and uncut!

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