Mike Hodges
Encyclopedia
Mike Hodges is an English screenwriter, film director, playwright and novelist. His films as writer/director include Get Carter, Pulp, The Terminal Man
and Black Rainbow
; as director his films include Flash Gordon
, Croupier
and I'll Sleep When I'm Dead. His theatre plays include Soft Shoe Shuffle (1985) and Shooting Stars and Other Heavenly Pursuits (2000) which was also adapted for BBC radio. Other radio plays include King Trash (2004). His first novel, Watching The Wheels Come Off, was published in 2010 by John Blake Publishing.
, World In Action
for Granada Television
and the arts programmes Tempo and New Tempo for Thames Television
. Again for Thames Television he wrote, directed and produced two filmed thrillers, Rumour (1969) and Suspect (1970). These films formed the basis for the creation of Euston Films
; the influential television production company that continued into the 1980s. These two films also led to his being asked to write and direct Get Carter, which has been described as 'one of the great British gangster films of all time', and Flash Gordon which has enjoyed cult status ever since. Interspersed with his cinema work are some interesting and critically successful television films including The Manipulators (1973), Squaring The Circle (1984; scripted by Tom Stoppard), Dandelion Dead (1993; scripted by Michael Chaplin), and The Healer (1994; scripted by GF Newman).
The Terminal Man (film)
The Terminal Man is a 1974 film directed by Mike Hodges and based on the 1972 novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. It stars George Segal.The story centers around the immediate dangers of mind control and the power of computers.- Plot:...
and Black Rainbow
Black Rainbow
Black Rainbow is a 1989 supernatural thriller film directed by Mike Hodges and filmed in Rock Hill, South Carolina. -Plot:...
; as director his films include Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon (film)
Flash Gordon is a 1980 British/American science fiction film, based on the comic strip of the same name created by Alex Raymond. The film was directed by Mike Hodges and produced and presented by Dino De Laurentiis. It stars Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Topol, Max von Sydow, Timothy Dalton, Brian...
, Croupier
Croupier (film)
Croupier is a 1998 film starring Clive Owen as a croupier. Directed by Mike Hodges, the film was released by Image Entertainment on DVD in the USA, and Alliance Atlantis in Canada. Though intended as a feature film, it was shown on television in North America...
and I'll Sleep When I'm Dead. His theatre plays include Soft Shoe Shuffle (1985) and Shooting Stars and Other Heavenly Pursuits (2000) which was also adapted for BBC radio. Other radio plays include King Trash (2004). His first novel, Watching The Wheels Come Off, was published in 2010 by John Blake Publishing.
Life and work
After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant and serving out his two years’ National Service on the lower deck of a Royal Navy minesweeper, Hodges managed to get a job in British television as a Teleprompter operator. This allowed him to observe the workings of the studios and time to start writing scripts. One of these was Some Will Cry Murder for ABC’s Armchair Theatre series. Although never performed it served to get him enough writing commissions to quit his job as a technician. After that he quickly gravitated to producer/director status with series like Sunday Break for ABC TelevisionABC Television
ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....
, World In Action
World in Action
World in Action was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television from 1963 until 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its production teams often took audacious risks and gained a solid reputation for its often...
for Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
and the arts programmes Tempo and New Tempo for Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
. Again for Thames Television he wrote, directed and produced two filmed thrillers, Rumour (1969) and Suspect (1970). These films formed the basis for the creation of Euston Films
Euston Films
Euston Films was a British film and television production company. It was a subsidiary company of Thames Television, and operated from the 1970s to the 1990s, producing various series for Thames, which were screened nationally on the ITV network...
; the influential television production company that continued into the 1980s. These two films also led to his being asked to write and direct Get Carter, which has been described as 'one of the great British gangster films of all time', and Flash Gordon which has enjoyed cult status ever since. Interspersed with his cinema work are some interesting and critically successful television films including The Manipulators (1973), Squaring The Circle (1984; scripted by Tom Stoppard), Dandelion Dead (1993; scripted by Michael Chaplin), and The Healer (1994; scripted by GF Newman).
Feature Films
- Get CarterGet CarterGet Carter is a 1971 British crime film directed by Mike Hodges and starring Michael Caine as Jack Carter, a gangster who sets out to avenge the death of his brother in a series of unrelenting and brutal killings played out against the grim background of derelict urban housing in the city of...
(1971) - Pulp (1972)
- The Terminal ManThe Terminal ManThe Terminal Man is a novel by Michael Crichton about the dangers of mind control. Published in 1972, it was later made into a film of the same name.-Plot summary:...
(1974) - Damien: Omen IIDamien: Omen IIDamien: Omen II, is a 1978 American horror film directed by Don Taylor, starring William Holden, Lee Grant, and Jonathan Scott-Taylor. The film was the second installment in The Omen series, set seven years after the first film, and was followed by a third installment, Omen III: The Final Conflict,...
(1977 - screenplay) - Flash GordonFlash GordonFlash Gordon is the hero of a science fiction adventure comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by and created to compete with the already established Buck Rogers adventure strip. Also inspired by these series were comics such as Dash...
(1980) - And the Ship Sails On (1983 - English version of Fellini's film)
- Morons from Outer SpaceMorons from Outer SpaceMorons from Outer Space is a 1985 comedy/science-fiction film directed by Mike Hodges.-Plot:The story begins on a small spaceship docking with a refueling station. On board are a group of four aliens, Bernard, Sandra, Desmond, and Julian...
(1985) - A Prayer for the DyingA Prayer for the DyingA Prayer for the Dying is a 1987 thriller film about a former IRA member trying to escape his past. The film was directed by Mike Hodges, and stars Mickey Rourke, Liam Neeson, Bob Hoskins, and Alan Bates...
(1987) - Black RainbowBlack RainbowBlack Rainbow is a 1989 supernatural thriller film directed by Mike Hodges and filmed in Rock Hill, South Carolina. -Plot:...
(1989) - CroupierCroupier (film)Croupier is a 1998 film starring Clive Owen as a croupier. Directed by Mike Hodges, the film was released by Image Entertainment on DVD in the USA, and Alliance Atlantis in Canada. Though intended as a feature film, it was shown on television in North America...
(1998) - I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (2003)
Television
- Rumour (1969)
- SuspectSuspectIn the parlance of criminal justice, a suspect is a known person suspected of committing a crime.Police and reporters often incorrectly use the word suspect when referring to the...
(1970) - The Manipulators (1972)
- Missing PiecesMissing PiecesMissing Pieces is an Australian factual television series that screened on the Nine Network in 2009. It was hosted by Peter Overton.Missing Pieces follows the stories of people who embark on a life-changing journey to find someone special who is missing from their lives. It has a similar premise to...
(1982) - Squaring The Circle (1984)
- Florida Straits (1986)
- W.G.O.D. (1985)
- Dandelion DeadDandelion DeadDandelion Dead is the title of a British TV mini-series produced in 1994, telling the true story of Herbert Rowse Armstrong, a practising solicitor in the provincial town of Hay-on-Wye, Wales, who was convicted and hanged in May 1922 for the murder of his wife and the attempted murder of a fellow...
(1993) - The Healer (1994)
- Murder By Numbers (2001 - documentary)