Random Behind-The-Scenes Stories From Set Of '80s 'Flash Gordon' (14 items)

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  (#13) The Hawkmen Couldn't Sit While Wearing Their Costumes

  Prince Vultan and his hawkmen are easily some of the weirdest parts of Flash Gordon. Their attack on Mingo City is a trippy spectacle that demonstrates the film's poor visual effects at the time. These characters' costumes, which appear to be a mix of Roman gladiator armor with giant bird wings, were apparently impossible to wear while sitting.

  Actress Melody Anderson told Starlog Magazine about her co-stars' uncomfortable costumes: 

  They could never sit down, because when they did the wings would dig into their backs. When we had a rest period, you'd see all these guys lying on their stomachs with wings, like they were ready to take off. It was a very funny sight.
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  (#5) The Creators Made The Film Up As They Went Along

  The biggest problem with Flash Gordon's production was that the crew lacked a day-to-day filming schedule. This became such a prominent issue that director Mike Hodges called Flash Gordon, "the only improvised $27-million movie ever made." The filmmakers reportedly conceived the famous football-styled squabble during production. Actress Melody Anderson explained:

  In the beginning scene, all these people are bringing gifts, and one group brings these eggs. Sam Jones was saying, "Flash Gordon was supposed to be a quarterback, so why don't I use one of these as a football?" 

  Then I thought, "Well, I'm the All-American Girl, shouldn't I be a cheerleader?" It was very funny... that's how the whole film went because there was no time to prepare. We would just create and throw things in as we went along.

  Hodges decided to roll with this style of impromptu filmmaking, telling Empire: 

  So I had a producer who spoke mangled English and a production de­signer who spoke none at all. Both, like Ming, seemed to have ar­rived from an­other galaxy. Once I realized the film was in many ways out my control, I relaxed and made it up as I went along. I loved it.
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  (#4) Freddie Mercury Designed The 'Flash Gordon' Logo

  In keeping with the freewheeling production of Flash Gordon, the film's famous logo got designed by none other than Queen frontman, Freddie Mercury. The singer studied graphic design in college and created Queen's logo, so this task was right in his wheelhouse. 

  It would be strange to hear about a composer like Hans Zimmer drawing the logo for The Dark Knight, but with Mercury and Flash Gordon, this pairing makes sense. 
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  (#1) Italian Translators Are To Blame For The Weirder Scenes

  If you've seen Flash Gordon, you know the dialogue is weird at best and borderline incoherent at worst. This is because the screenwriter had initially composed the script in English, then had it translated to Italian for the foreign crew to read. Lastly, a non-native English speaker translated the screenplay back to its original language. 

  According to screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr., known for works like Batman (1966) and King Kong (1976), the entire situation was surreal:

  [Producer Dino De Laurentiis] reads English better than many people realize, but translates all of his scripts into Italian. We were living in Nantucket at the time, and his translator was a woman whose name I forget. She could barely translate the scripts; if it said, "The tall, beautiful woman walked into the room," she'd say, "Oh, what a beautiful cat."

  When Semple told De Laurentiis the translations were off, the producer reportedly didn't care. Semple said, "I told him the translator was horrible, her translations aren't any good; he said, 'I do not want to be fooled by the words; I do not want to be fooled by written words. I want to know the story.'"
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  (#12) George Lucas Wanted To Make 'Flash Gordon'

  Before redefining genre filmmaking forever, George Lucas wanted to make a Flash Gordon movie, as he had grown up watching the 1936 serials. He heard De Laurentiis was making the film, so he approached the producer and asked to helm the picture. De Laurentiis firmly objected and stated that Federico Fellini would be directing. 

  Undeterred, Lucas went off and made Star Wars IV: A New Hope, an overt homage to the Flash Gordon serials. Lucas used the same title crawl and wipes; in addition, Lucas allegedly felt inspired to use the title "Episode IV" because when he was a child, he'd have to watch non-sequential episodes of Flash Gordon.

  Producer Gary Kurtz later told Empire, "We decided we were making a Flash Gordon-type adventure and we're coming in at Episode IV... we're just racing through the story, not explaining any­thing."
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  (#10) Max Von Sydow Loved Playing Ming

  Max Von Sydow has starred in a plethora of incredible movies, often choosing distinct and compelling roles. He's rarely subtle, which works perfectly for Flash Gordon. Sydow has received a series of award nominations for his roles in films like The Exorcist and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; director Mike Hodges said that Sydow threw himself into Flash Gordon.

  Hodges told Empire, "I've never seen an ac­tor have such a good time as Max playing Ming. Cracking his fin­ger joints and doing little jigs, he relished every moment."

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