As Ming the Merciless is suddenly trending I think it's time to look back at a certain favourite movie of mine.
Dum dum dum dum
DUM DUM DUM DUM...
The number of epic stories associated with the 1980 Flash Gordon movie is legion. Today I'll share a few with you, but there are many, many more!
Dino De Laurentiis had already produced Barbarella, Death Wish and Serpico by 1974 when he acquired the rights for Flash Gordon. George Lucas asked De Laurentiis for the rights in 1975 but was rebuffed. So he wrote Star Wars instead.
De Laurentiis actually wanted Federico Fellini to direct Flash Gordon. When Fellini declined he tried Sergio Leone, before finally asking Nicolas Roeg - who was then sacked after a year's pre-production work. Mike Hodge was the eventual director.
Lorenzo Semple Jnr - who had worked on the 1966 Batman TV show - created the initial Flash Gordon script. However it was very badly translated into Italian, so De Laurentiis didn't spot the comedy kitsch nature of Semple's screenplay: he thought he was getting an action movie.
Danilo Donati was lead designer for the Flash Gordon film, though he never read the actual script. One idea he had was to build an actual three lane highway through the forest of Arboria set. But the trees of the Aboria set were so big the cameras couldn't be set up properly.
Both Kurt Russell and Arnold Schwarzenegger were considered for the title role of Flash Gordon. In the end De Laurentiis's mother saw Sam Jones on a TV quiz show and demanded he be hired, as his lack of acting background would add authenticity to Flash's character.
Brian Blessed got the part of Vultan by marching into De Laurentiis's office, jabbing his finger at the character in the comic strip, and bellowing "IT'S BLOODY ME!!"
"No," replied the confused producer, "It's a comic book."
Director Mike Hodges originally wanted Pink Floyd to do the music for Flash Gordon. However Queen were recommended to De Laurentiis instead, leading to the confused producer's famous quote "But who are the queens?"
Script mix-ups dogged the production of Flash Gordon. At one point Melody Anderson spent six hours in make-up being turned into a giant vampire spider, before De Laurentiis pointed out it had nothing to do with the film and ordered her to change.
The Hawkmen actors could not sit down on set because their costume wings would rip into their backs. Instead they spent their rest periods on set lying on their stomachs and struggled to get up again.
De Laurentiis was furious when he discovered the English technicians howling with laughter at the Flash Gordon rushes. His Italian film crew didn't speak enough English to report back that the film was headed in a very different direction from his original epic vision.
Sam Jones fell out with De Laurentis before Flash Gordon was completed and refused to co-operate on post-production. Some (possibly all) of Flash's dialogue had to be re-dubbed using somebody else's voice.
Arthur Byron Cover (author of The Platypus of Doom and Other Nihilists) wrote the novelisation of the Flash Gordon screenplay. I have a pristine copy of this, and I can confirm it is pure unadulterated smut from beginning to end.
There are many wonderful stories about the making of Flash Gordon. But the most important thing is this: nobody should ever, EVER try to re-make it.
Just. Don't.
More pulp stories another time...
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"A dream to some. A nightmare to others!" As it's Christmas let's look back at a film that I think helped redefine an old genre, captivated the imagination and launched many successful acting careers.
Let's look at John Boorman's Excalibur!
For a long time the film industry found the King Arthur story amusing. Camelot (1967) was a musical comedy; Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) was pure comedy.
But director John Boorman had been thinking seriously about the Arthurian legend since 1969, particularly Sir Thomas Malory's 1469 telling of the story 'Le Morte d’Arthur'. The mythic theme greatly appealed to him.
Today in pulp I'm looking back at some Michael Moorcock books, and having a think about the New Wave of science fiction that started in the 1960s...
In Britain the New Wave is often associated with New Worlds magazine, which Moorcock edited from 1964 to 1970. Financial troubles caused the magazine to close in 1970, but it made sporadic comebacks over the subsequent years.
However he started as editor of Tarzan Adventures in 1957, where he introduced Sojan the Swordsman - perhaps his first stab at creating an 'eternal champion' character
Today in pulp I'm looking back at one of the greatest albums of all time.
What are the chances...
By 1976 Jeff Wayne was already a successful composer and musician, as well as a producer for David Essex. His next plan was to compose a concept album.
War Of The Worlds was already a well known story, notorious due to the Orson Wells radio play production. For Wayne it seemed like a great choice for a rock opera.
Today in pulp I'm looking back at a very popular (and collectable) form of art: Micro Leyendas covers!
Micro Leyendas (mini legends) are a Mexican form of fumetto, small graphic novels normally pitting the everyday hero against the weird, the occult and the unfathomable.
The art of Micro Leyendas is bold, macabre and very funny. The books often tell a cautionary tale of revenge or humiliation, much like a modern folk tale.
Today in pulp: what makes a good opening sentence for a pulp novel?
Now this is a tricky one…
The opening sentence has an almost mythical status in writing. Authors agonise for months, even years, about crafting the right one. Often it’s the last thing to be written.
Which is odd, because very few people abandon a book if they don’t like the first sentence. It’s not like the first sip of wine that tells you if the Grand Cru has been corked! Most people at least finish Chapter One.