Mike Hodges, a famous British director who made movies like “Get Carter” and “Flash Gordon,” died of heart failure at his home in Dorset, England, sources reported. He was 90.
Mike Kaplan, who worked with the director and was a close friend, shared it Entertainment tonight that Hodges died on December 17. They previously worked together on I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, Hodges’ 2003 crime drama starring Clive Owen, Charlotte Rampling and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
“He was undervalued for part of his career, and he’s not anymore.” Kaplan told the outlet. “Get Carter was a huge success all over the world. He had a great sense of humour. All of his films were anchored with humor and personality.”
EW tried to get in touch with Hodges’ team, but didn’t immediately hear back. Michael Tommy Hodges was born in Bristol, England, in 1932.
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He started out as a chartered accountant until he had to complete his two years of military service on a Royal Navy minesweeper. Hodges later told the Guardian that the experience made him rethink everything about life.
“For two years, my middle-class eyes were forced to witness horrendous poverty and deprivation that I was previously unaware of,” he said. “I went into the Navy a newly qualified chartered accountant and a complacent young Tory, and came out an angry, radical young man.”
The director started out in the entertainment world as a teleprompter operator, but soon found himself behind the camera. He wrote and directed a number of British TV shows, such as The World in Action in 1964, Tempo in 1966 and The Tyrant King in 1968.
18 years ago I had to cancel an interview with Mike Hodges because of a baby who showed up earlier than planned. We had never met. A year later we were both at a screening. He made me ask about my family. From that moment on we were friends. pic.twitter.com/GkWYZPUqUj
— Matthew Sweet (@DrMatthewSweet) December 21, 2022
Get Carter, a dark crime thriller he wrote and directed in 1971, was Hodges’ big break. The film, which has been compared to The Godfather, was based on the novel Jack’s Return Home by Ted Lewis.
Michael Caine played Jack Carter, a brutal London mobster who goes home to find out what happened to his brother. In 2000, Sylvester Stallone starred in a new version of the classic movie.
After Get Carter did well, Hodges went on to edit and direct a string of hit thrillers in the early 1970s. These include Pulp, which also starred Caine, and The Terminal Man, a 1974 sci-fi horror film.
Flash Gordon, a flashy space opera, was directed by Hodges in 1980. The cult classic, with music by Queen, was based on a comic strip by Alex Raymond. The quarterback went to the planet Mongo to defeat the evil Emperor Ming the Merciless.
RIP Mike Hodges, a perfectly talented journeyman who gave the world two endlessly rewatchable gifts in Get Carter and Flash Gordon. pic.twitter.com/5Icd8TknFW
— Holly Jolly William Friedkin Truths (@LazlosGhost) December 20, 2022
The director went on to make more music videos for Queen, including the one for the film’s title track. In the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, Hodges continued to make films that people liked.
These include the thriller Black Rainbow (1989), the comedy Croupier (1998), and the drama I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead. At the time of his death, he was working on his autobiographical documentary All At Sea, which he was writing and directing.
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