The influences behind Flash Gordon

1980

Flash Gordon

Film by Mike Hodges

New Hollywood blockbuster era. United Kingdom / United States. In English.

Mike Hodges' Flash Gordon (1980), produced by Dino De Laurentiis and written by Lorenzo Semple Jr., is a camp, brightly coloured space opera adapted from Alex Raymond's 1934 comic strip. In it, football player Flash Gordon and his companions defy Ming the Merciless, tyrant of the planet Mongo. Its lineage runs through the 1930s Universal serials, Star Wars and 1960s camp cinema back to the earliest literary voyages to other worlds.

Where it came from

Where to watch

Rent Amazon $3.99, Google Play $2.99
Buy Amazon $14.99, Google Play $9.99, Apple TV $14.99, Fandango at Home $14.99

In the US, as of October 12. Prices and services change.

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1977

Star Wars

Film by George Lucas

New Hollywood. United States. In English.

A space fantasy in which a farm boy joins rebels, a princess and a smuggler against a galactic Empire. Its box-office success revived the space-opera genre.

What it handed down

To Flash Gordon (1980)

Thematic kinship, well documented.

George Lucas had tried to buy the Flash Gordon rights before writing Star Wars, but De Laurentiis held them. Star Wars' 1977 success persuaded De Laurentiis to fund a lavish version of his long-planned project. Hodges and Semple deliberately went for pantomime colour and camp rather than Lucas's earnest tone.

Where it came from

Where to watch

Stream Disney+
Rent Amazon $3.99, Google Play $2.99, Fandango at Home $3.99
Buy Amazon $9.99, Google Play $9.99, Apple TV $19.98, Fandango at Home $19.98

In the US, as of October 30. Prices and services change.

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1958

The Hidden Fortress

Film by Akira Kurosawa

Golden age of Japanese cinema. Japan. In Japanese.

Two bickering peasants are drawn into escorting a general and a disguised princess with her clan's gold through enemy territory.

What it handed down

To Star Wars (1977)

Structural model, well documented.

Lucas has acknowledged that Kurosawa's film shaped his story. Two squabbling peasants become the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, through whose eyes much of the tale is told, and Kurosawa's spirited princess escorted through enemy lines by a veteran general shaped Leia and Obi-Wan's roles.

Where it came from

Stagecoach, film by John Ford 1939

Where to watch

Stream HBO Max, The Criterion Channel
Free Tubi, Pluto TV, YouTube, Plex
Rent Amazon $3.99, Apple TV $3.99, Fandango at Home $5.99
Buy Amazon $14.99, Apple TV $14.99, Fandango at Home $14.99

In the US, as of October 21. Prices and services change.

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1939

Stagecoach

Film by John Ford

Classical Hollywood. United States. In English.

A mixed company of outcasts and respectable passengers crosses Apache territory by stagecoach.

What it handed down

To The Hidden Fortress (1958)

Thematic kinship, conjectural.

Kurosawa repeatedly spoke of his admiration for John Ford. The Hidden Fortress shares Stagecoach's structure of an ill-assorted group crossing hostile territory, though no statement by Kurosawa links this film specifically to Stagecoach.

Where it came from

Boule de Suif, Guy de Maupassant 1880

Where to watch

Stream Prime Video, HBO Max, The Criterion Channel, Cineverse Subscription
Free Tubi, Pluto TV, YouTube, The Roku Channel
Rent Amazon $1.99, Fandango at Home $2.99, Apple TV $3.99
Buy Amazon $7.99, Apple TV $14.99, Fandango at Home $14.99

In the US, as of October 27. Prices and services change.

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1880

Boule de Suif

Guy de Maupassant

French Naturalism. France. Written in French.

A long story about a coachload of respectable travellers fleeing the Prussian occupation, who exploit and then shun the prostitute among them.

What it handed down

To Stagecoach (1939)

Direct source, probable.

Ernest Haycox's story 'Stage to Lordsburg', the film's credited source, reworks Maupassant's coachload of hypocritical travellers and their scorned prostitute. Ford acknowledged Boule de Suif as the model for Dallas, the outcast whom the respectable passengers snub.

Where it came from

The line stops here: minor branch, not followed further.

Find “Boule de Suif” on Amazon

Where it came from

What it handed down

To Flash Gordon (1980)

Where it came from

What it handed down

To Star Wars (1977)

Where it came from

What it handed down

To The Hidden Fortress (1958)

Where it came from

What it handed down

To Stagecoach (1939)

Where it came from

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