No./7
King of the impossible
[ IN MEMORIAM] The late, great MIKE HODGES remembered by his Flash Gordon stars
Mike Hodges on the Flash Gordon set with Sam J. Jones.
Flash takes on Prince Barin (Timothy Dalton)
The iconic football-match fight scene in Ming The Merciless’ palace.
MELODY ANDERSON (DALE ARDEN)
I was extremely lucky to work with Mike on Flash Gordon, especially as I was not his first choice, but a last-minute replacement made by [producer] Dino de Laurentiis. I was called by Dino in the morning and on the jet to London that evening.
Mike was kind and open to me coming in and taking over the role. He always had his sly smile, to match his droll wit. He was wise and gentle to all the incredible cast and really trusted all of us to come prepared and offer our own ideas to enrich our characters. Mike let me use, “Go, Flash, go,” as a running theme throughout the film. I came up with it when Sam [J. Jones, Flash] thought of turning the first fight scene in Ming’s palace into a football game, as Flash was a quarterback. I decided that if he was to be the all-American boy, I should be the all-American-girl cheerleader and chant the chant! Mike was enthralled, got the joke and let me create more of the character of Dale Arden.