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(Sam J. Jones) 'What has life
after "Flash" been like for me?'
4
00:00:16,750 --> 00:00:19,750
About 35 years ago, I put on...
5
00:00:19,875 --> 00:00:23,875
I put on some tights
and a tank top. (Chuckles)
6
00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:25,875
Thirty-five years later...
7
00:00:27,833 --> 00:00:29,708
Thank God. Thank God
I don't have to wear...
8
00:00:29,833 --> 00:00:33,708
Well, actually, I did in "Ted".
I wore the tank top and I wore the tights
9
00:00:33,833 --> 00:00:36,708
in"Ted 1" and "Ted 2".
10
00:00:36,833 --> 00:00:41,375
But I would probably be
very self-conscious...
11
00:00:42,042 --> 00:00:42,708
Hey, how are we doing today?
12
00:00:42,833 --> 00:00:45,125
- (Man) Fine, thank you.
- Good. Where are you in from?
13
00:00:46,667 --> 00:00:49,292
(Man) 'For nearly 50 years,
the comic strip "Flash Gordon"
14
00:00:49,417 --> 00:00:53,583
'has gripped the imagination
of successive generations of children.
15
00:00:53,708 --> 00:00:55,976
"To translate it to the screen
is a challenge that involves
16
00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:59,875
'love, inspiration,
hard work and pure movie magic.'
17
00:01:03,417 --> 00:01:05,917
When I first saw "Flash Gordon",
it changed my life.
18
00:01:06,042 --> 00:01:08,417
Flash! Ah-ah!
19
00:01:08,542 --> 00:01:10,375
I love everything about "Flash Gordon".
20
00:01:10,500 --> 00:01:14,125
It was such an incredible experience
at that time.
21
00:01:14,250 --> 00:01:16,309
We'd take the carpet
in the middle of our living room
22
00:01:16,333 --> 00:01:18,792
and pretend that was
the floor with spikes,
23
00:01:18,917 --> 00:01:21,792
- and we were just acting it out.
- I was blown away.
24
00:01:21,917 --> 00:01:23,667
This reminds me of being a boy again.
25
00:01:23,792 --> 00:01:25,000
Quarterback, New York Jets.
26
00:01:25,125 --> 00:01:27,750
I would've been pretty little
the first time I saw "Flash Gordon".
27
00:01:27,875 --> 00:01:30,625
The first time I saw it I was 11 years old.
I was in the fifth grade.
28
00:01:30,750 --> 00:01:33,500
- I was in college.
- Yeah, "Flash Gordon",
29
00:01:33,625 --> 00:01:34,665
grew up with him as a kid.
30
00:01:34,708 --> 00:01:39,750
I'm a late bloomer.
I always get to things late.
31
00:01:39,875 --> 00:01:43,792
I just saw "Star Wars". It's great.
Are there sequels?
32
00:01:43,917 --> 00:01:46,792
The special effects
were ground breaking.
33
00:01:46,917 --> 00:01:49,583
I think I saw it, like, a dozen times,
but I couldn't be sure.
34
00:01:49,708 --> 00:01:51,542
They gave a different look
to "Flash Gordon".
35
00:01:51,667 --> 00:01:53,708
I just love the colors,
I love the costumes.
36
00:01:53,833 --> 00:01:55,458
I love everything about it.
37
00:01:55,583 --> 00:01:58,393
My wife and I were first dating,
this is the first movie we saw together.
38
00:01:58,417 --> 00:02:00,958
Action adventure, love story.
39
00:02:01,083 --> 00:02:02,723
The way the music hit,
and the colors hit,
40
00:02:02,833 --> 00:02:06,083
like, that was my entire world.
41
00:02:06,208 --> 00:02:07,375
Hail Ming!
42
00:02:07,500 --> 00:02:11,708
Something happened
during the making of that film
43
00:02:11,833 --> 00:02:14,417
between Sam and Dino.
44
00:02:14,542 --> 00:02:19,750
Sam is a man who... struggled.
45
00:02:19,875 --> 00:02:23,208
All the tabloids are coming out, saying
"Where has Flash Gordon been?"
46
00:02:23,333 --> 00:02:28,292
Who wants to hire a bitter, angry actor
who's blaming everybody else?
47
00:02:28,417 --> 00:02:30,667
It's harder for them to go
and explore other characters
48
00:02:30,792 --> 00:02:33,500
because everybody just wants
what they love.
49
00:02:33,625 --> 00:02:35,500
Well, I guess I'll be running along now.
50
00:02:35,625 --> 00:02:38,667
Like, really that day, right?
51
00:02:38,792 --> 00:02:42,417
Like, when Sam got the call
that he wasn't asked back.
52
00:02:42,542 --> 00:02:45,667
He really stewed in his own juice.
53
00:02:45,792 --> 00:02:49,167
He was around. He did stuff.
54
00:02:49,292 --> 00:02:50,851
You know, I'd see him
in a couple of TV series,
55
00:02:50,875 --> 00:02:54,667
you know, in the '80s, and go,
"Oh, that was Flash Gordon."
56
00:02:54,792 --> 00:02:56,667
But it just...
57
00:02:56,792 --> 00:03:00,667
I don't know how much of it was that the film
didn't do as well as everyone thought it might
58
00:03:00,792 --> 00:03:04,667
or how much was whatever went on
behind the scenes with him.
59
00:03:04,792 --> 00:03:07,583
(Rich) "Yeah, I wonder
if he regrets what he did.'
60
00:03:56,583 --> 00:03:58,917
(Woman) Well, who doesn't
remember this, of course?
61
00:03:59,042 --> 00:04:01,583
A football player and his friends
travel to the planet Mongo
62
00:04:01,708 --> 00:04:06,583
and find themselves fighting the tyranny
of Ming the Merciless to save Earth.
63
00:04:06,708 --> 00:04:09,708
Well, guess what,
Flash Gordon Sam Jones is right here
64
00:04:09,833 --> 00:04:11,583
in our studios here this morning,
65
00:04:11,708 --> 00:04:16,417
and he is part of this weekend's
STCE's Comic Con at TAMIU.
66
00:04:17,708 --> 00:04:20,417
(Chuckles)
Good morning.
67
00:04:21,917 --> 00:04:26,708
I carry my own bread
because, uh, it's flourless.
68
00:04:27,708 --> 00:04:30,000
I was getting pretty heavy
there at one point
69
00:04:30,125 --> 00:04:32,583
and I eliminated all flour.
70
00:04:32,708 --> 00:04:35,542
And within 30 days,
I dropped 30 pounds.
71
00:04:35,667 --> 00:04:38,042
A pound a day
just from eliminating...
72
00:04:38,167 --> 00:04:41,333
I knew I couldn't give up
my primary staple of bread,
73
00:04:41,458 --> 00:04:45,542
so I substituted it
for this Ezekiel bread.
74
00:04:45,667 --> 00:04:49,542
We have a lot of print,
a lot of radio, some TV,
75
00:04:49,667 --> 00:04:51,708
lot of interviews back to back.
76
00:04:51,833 --> 00:04:53,333
It's gonna be exciting.
77
00:04:54,667 --> 00:04:57,542
If we leave it there,
maybe we should do this, you know.
78
00:04:57,667 --> 00:04:59,542
That way you're clear, I'm clear.
79
00:04:59,667 --> 00:05:01,542
So, this is good like this?
You're testing?
80
00:05:01,667 --> 00:05:03,667
If he does the same thing?
81
00:05:04,958 --> 00:05:07,583
(♪ Radio station jingle)
82
00:05:16,625 --> 00:05:19,500
- So, "Alien".
- Yes.
83
00:05:19,625 --> 00:05:22,500
Well, I guess you can call me Flash,
you know.
84
00:05:22,625 --> 00:05:25,375
We're gonna get up
and probably pose together, OK?
85
00:05:25,500 --> 00:05:28,708
You know, I'm sorry. Do we have
any high chairs, like bar chairs?
86
00:05:28,833 --> 00:05:30,250
You just do a mark,
87
00:05:30,375 --> 00:05:33,500
maybe just write,
just a "1" or something.
88
00:05:33,625 --> 00:05:37,458
You know, just a mark. And then,
that way I don't have to be bothered.
89
00:05:37,583 --> 00:05:41,500
I don't have a whole lot of those, do I?
90
00:05:41,625 --> 00:05:47,500
So, at the end of the day, doesn't matter
if you have $10 or $20,000 in that till.
91
00:05:47,625 --> 00:05:51,500
It doesn't matter. The marks on my sheet
and the marks on your sheet
92
00:05:51,625 --> 00:05:53,875
is what matters. Is that cool?
93
00:05:56,583 --> 00:05:57,833
Yes.
94
00:05:57,958 --> 00:06:00,458
And they should come
to you first, right? In line?
95
00:06:00,583 --> 00:06:03,917
OK. So that way, Melody and I are here.
Boom, boom, boom.
96
00:06:04,042 --> 00:06:05,042
OK.
97
00:06:10,583 --> 00:06:14,208
There has to be some form
of organization, which it is, you know.
98
00:06:14,333 --> 00:06:17,458
And this is a more intimate venue,
which is good.
99
00:06:17,583 --> 00:06:20,667
Just thank the Lord for a great day,
a blessed day.
100
00:06:20,792 --> 00:06:22,917
That sign should be corrected.
It should be straight.
101
00:06:23,042 --> 00:06:25,458
The Holy Spirit just guides me
in everything,
102
00:06:25,583 --> 00:06:29,458
that I'm patient with people,
that I'm not too...
103
00:06:29,583 --> 00:06:33,458
As my wife says,
I'm abrasively encouraging.
104
00:06:33,583 --> 00:06:35,417
Well, I want to get rid
of that abrasiveness.
105
00:06:35,542 --> 00:06:40,417
I want to get rid of that abrasiveness
today and just be encouraging.
106
00:06:40,542 --> 00:06:44,542
And Your joy upon me.
In Jesus mighty name. Amen.
107
00:06:46,542 --> 00:06:51,417
(Man) 'Join us for the fantastic
adventures of Flash Gordon.
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00:06:51,542 --> 00:06:54,167
'Having been taken prisoner
by an ally of Ming the Merciless,
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00:06:54,292 --> 00:06:58,417
'Flash escapes, only to face
the gauntlet of the swamp.'
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00:06:58,542 --> 00:06:59,750
Leave him!
111
00:07:01,333 --> 00:07:04,292
(Man) 'Is this the end?
Will Flash survive?'
112
00:07:04,417 --> 00:07:07,417
'Find out now
at a theater near you.'
113
00:07:07,542 --> 00:07:09,934
I remember when I first saw "Flash Gordon",
me and my younger brother
114
00:07:09,958 --> 00:07:13,417
we'd been seeing
the trailers for it on TV.
115
00:07:13,542 --> 00:07:16,458
And the TV spots were great.
They were, uh...
116
00:07:16,583 --> 00:07:18,375
I've never seen them anywhere.
117
00:07:18,500 --> 00:07:21,292
I can't even find them on YouTube.
There would be little cliffhangers.
118
00:07:21,417 --> 00:07:23,000
They would show each little adventure.
119
00:07:23,125 --> 00:07:24,809
Like, when he's fighting
the creature in the swamp,
120
00:07:24,833 --> 00:07:27,851
and it would show him going to attack,
and it would say, "Will Flash survive?"
121
00:07:27,875 --> 00:07:32,042
I was a "Flash Gordon" fan before
"Flash Gordon" opened in theaters.
122
00:07:32,167 --> 00:07:34,708
I used to watch the Buster Crabbe
"Flash Gordon" serials.
123
00:07:34,833 --> 00:07:38,792
My problem was
I saw "Flesh Gordon" first.
124
00:07:38,917 --> 00:07:42,875
♪ Flash, ah-ah! ♪
Yeah, um, I dug it.
125
00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:46,375
It had Brian Blessed,
it had Timothy Dalton.
126
00:07:46,500 --> 00:07:48,833
I remember every single bit
about that film.
127
00:07:48,958 --> 00:07:51,018
My favorite bit in the movie,
I think, is the football fight.
128
00:07:51,042 --> 00:07:53,375
I think it probably is everyone's.
As a little boy,
129
00:07:53,500 --> 00:07:55,100
um, that was the scene
we acted out most.
130
00:07:55,208 --> 00:07:56,875
What I really remember
is being a kid.
131
00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:59,042
It was that scene with Timothy Dalton,
132
00:07:59,167 --> 00:08:03,667
being terrified by that thing that
they had to stick their hand in.
133
00:08:03,792 --> 00:08:05,167
That frightened me as a kid.
134
00:08:05,292 --> 00:08:07,309
You can see why George Lucas wanted
to make the "Flash Gordon" movie.
135
00:08:07,333 --> 00:08:09,875
'He wanted to get the rights
to "Flash Gordon", couldn't get it,
136
00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:13,333
'so he wrote his own movie
called "Star Wars".
137
00:08:13,458 --> 00:08:17,500
"But originally he was inspired
to do it because of "Flash Gordon".'
138
00:08:17,625 --> 00:08:19,559
(Millar) You can see "Flash Gordon's"
fingerprints all over "Star Wars",
139
00:08:19,583 --> 00:08:21,667
so it really is the daddy of that genre.
140
00:08:21,792 --> 00:08:26,333
"Flash Gordon" was a really exciting
movie for me, as a kid, to see.
141
00:08:26,458 --> 00:08:29,792
And seeing somebody like
Sam ♪. Jones play Flash Gordon,
142
00:08:29,917 --> 00:08:32,500
it definitely had an impact on me
as an actor.
143
00:08:32,625 --> 00:08:36,333
There is something so absurd
about him in the film,
144
00:08:36,458 --> 00:08:39,917
because he's guileless. He has
this innocent approach to everything.
145
00:08:40,042 --> 00:08:40,667
Are you all right?
146
00:08:40,792 --> 00:08:43,417
He doesn't really evolve or grow
throughout the whole movie,
147
00:08:43,542 --> 00:08:46,125
but that's partly what I love about it.
148
00:08:46,250 --> 00:08:47,450
He shows up, and he's perfect.
149
00:08:47,500 --> 00:08:50,292
- My name is Flash.
- (Gore) 'He's kind of naive.
150
00:08:50,417 --> 00:08:52,583
'We've got to stop Ming
or he'll destroy the Earth.'
151
00:08:52,708 --> 00:08:56,292
Like, it doesn't...
You know, he's just a guy.
152
00:08:56,417 --> 00:08:58,750
Right? Who says that?
153
00:08:58,875 --> 00:09:02,083
He's just one of those guys who
you root for, you know, no matter what.
154
00:09:02,208 --> 00:09:04,393
Well, "Flash Gordon" was created
at a really interesting time,
155
00:09:04,417 --> 00:09:07,333
where it seemed to be characters
who we would identify with
156
00:09:07,458 --> 00:09:09,917
being put in an environment
that was alien to them.
157
00:09:10,042 --> 00:09:11,362
He didn't have, like, superpowers
158
00:09:11,417 --> 00:09:14,292
so he's not, like, a superhero,
but he's just a normal guy
159
00:09:14,417 --> 00:09:16,292
who got put into a
very difficult situation.
160
00:09:16,417 --> 00:09:21,000
Uh, a stressful situation. And he was
able to conquer and save the Earth.
161
00:09:21,125 --> 00:09:23,625
It's an interesting question.
Is Flash Gordon a superhero?
162
00:09:23,750 --> 00:09:26,250
Yeah, he doesn't have any superpowers,
163
00:09:26,375 --> 00:09:28,250
just his natural athletic abilities,
164
00:09:28,375 --> 00:09:30,833
just his natural abilities, in general.
165
00:09:30,958 --> 00:09:36,250
You have to care for the character
because of who he is
166
00:09:36,375 --> 00:09:38,250
and not just for his superpower.
167
00:09:38,375 --> 00:09:42,583
In other words, in private life
if he's interesting
168
00:09:42,708 --> 00:09:44,250
and you want to know more about him,
169
00:09:44,375 --> 00:09:46,250
that, to me, is what makes
a good character.
170
00:09:46,375 --> 00:09:51,250
Then, if he has a superpower
on top of that, so much the better.
171
00:09:51,375 --> 00:09:54,250
But you can't be a superhero
without a superpower.
172
00:09:54,375 --> 00:09:56,958
Sorry, I don't want to step on Stan.
173
00:09:57,083 --> 00:09:59,250
Stan said...
Stan the man said
174
00:09:59,375 --> 00:10:02,250
that if you'd have to have
a superpower to be a superhero?
175
00:10:02,375 --> 00:10:04,542
Cause Batman would not
be a superhero.
176
00:10:04,667 --> 00:10:08,083
A good superhero, I think, is somebody
who against all the odds wins.
177
00:10:08,208 --> 00:10:10,434
I think, ultimately, that's what
every superhero story is.
178
00:10:10,458 --> 00:10:13,042
A guy you don't expect to win,
a guy who is out of his depth
179
00:10:13,167 --> 00:10:15,208
suddenly winning at the end.
180
00:10:15,333 --> 00:10:18,208
Honestly, in terms
of the history of superheroes,
181
00:10:18,333 --> 00:10:21,208
there are no superheroes
without Flash Gordon.
182
00:10:21,333 --> 00:10:24,208
Uh, if that character hadn't come out
when it did in the '30s,
183
00:10:24,333 --> 00:10:27,458
um, you wouldn't have had all the various
characters and costume designs
184
00:10:27,583 --> 00:10:31,458
that came from people ripping off
Alex Raymond and his comic strip.
185
00:10:31,583 --> 00:10:35,625
The fact that Flash Gordon can take on
Ming's entire army, win and save the planet,
186
00:10:35,750 --> 00:10:37,059
to me, that makes him a superhero.
187
00:10:37,083 --> 00:10:41,750
Effectively the father of all superheroes,
in many ways, is Flash Gordon.
188
00:10:41,875 --> 00:10:44,208
The everyman for the best in all of us
189
00:10:44,333 --> 00:10:47,625
who could rise up and take on
virtually everything.
190
00:10:47,750 --> 00:10:52,792
In the context of the film,
that's taken to maybe a slightly more,
191
00:10:52,917 --> 00:10:57,167
uh, humorous degree, attaching him
instead of what he was created to be
192
00:10:57,292 --> 00:10:59,167
in the '30s.
He was a polo player.
193
00:10:59,292 --> 00:11:01,375
Now, he's a football player
in the modern age.
194
00:11:01,500 --> 00:11:05,000
I grew up in athletics, anyway,
as a footballer,
195
00:11:05,125 --> 00:11:07,167
and basketball and baseball
and track and field.
196
00:11:07,292 --> 00:11:10,750
And it's helped me a great...
I mean, it's obviously helped.
197
00:11:10,875 --> 00:11:13,167
(Man) 'Newcomer Sam Jones
plays Flash Gordon.'
198
00:11:13,292 --> 00:11:14,559
It had a lot to do with me
getting the part, I'm sure.
199
00:11:14,583 --> 00:11:16,167
Other than taking my clothes off,
200
00:11:16,292 --> 00:11:18,625
I think that had a lot to do with it,
you know. (Chuckles)
201
00:11:18,750 --> 00:11:21,167
Dino De Laurentiis, you know,
he gave me an opportunity.
202
00:11:21,292 --> 00:11:26,083
He, uh... He cast me
in the part of this iconic,
203
00:11:26,208 --> 00:11:27,542
this legend Flash Gordon.
204
00:11:27,667 --> 00:11:31,125
It was, like, the most coveted part.
Everybody wanted to play that part.
205
00:11:31,250 --> 00:11:34,792
It is, um... You know, it's iconic.
206
00:11:34,917 --> 00:11:39,583
The audition process for Flash Gordon,
yeah, it was complicated.
207
00:11:39,708 --> 00:11:43,125
It wasn't easy, because we look
around for one years,
208
00:11:43,250 --> 00:11:45,542
no star, really, can play Flash Gordon.
209
00:11:45,667 --> 00:11:49,125
I think I met with Dino De Laurentiis
in his Beverly Hills office.
210
00:11:49,250 --> 00:11:51,125
It was all about sizing you up.
211
00:11:51,250 --> 00:11:53,583
He flew me to London.
They dyed my hair blonde.
212
00:11:53,708 --> 00:11:57,125
He wanted to change
my eye color, uh, blue,
213
00:11:57,250 --> 00:11:58,958
so I had these hard contact lenses.
214
00:11:59,083 --> 00:12:03,125
And finally after 30 days
he basically said,
215
00:12:03,250 --> 00:12:06,958
"Hey, you" He didn't say it to me,
he said it to another man in the office.
216
00:12:07,083 --> 00:12:11,917
He said, "Hey, Sam Jones,
he's our new Flash Gordon."
217
00:12:12,042 --> 00:12:15,083
(Man) 'Melody Anderson
as the delectable Dale Arden
218
00:12:15,208 --> 00:12:18,083
'doesn't find her Mongo trip
much of a rest cure either.'
219
00:12:18,208 --> 00:12:20,833
I'm in New York and I get this call.
220
00:12:20,958 --> 00:12:22,601
There's this voice
at the other end of the line,
221
00:12:22,625 --> 00:12:26,375
"Melody, it's Dino."
And I think it's a friend
222
00:12:26,500 --> 00:12:31,083
making, like, a joke. Going,
"Right, Dino De Laurentiis is calling me."
223
00:12:31,208 --> 00:12:33,083
It is Dino De Laurentiis,
and he says to me,
224
00:12:33,208 --> 00:12:37,083
"I want you... (Imitates) I want
you to come to London tonight.
225
00:12:37,208 --> 00:12:38,708
"We want you to do the movie."
226
00:12:38,833 --> 00:12:42,083
The only comic book I saw
was at Dino's house.
227
00:12:42,208 --> 00:12:44,833
It was in Italian so I had no idea.
Buongiorno.
228
00:12:44,958 --> 00:12:47,750
I didn't even have a rest.
They picked me up from the airport,
229
00:12:47,875 --> 00:12:49,708
took me to the studio, dyed my hair.
230
00:12:49,833 --> 00:12:53,042
Shaved the front of it because they
wanted to make it look like a wig,
231
00:12:53,167 --> 00:12:56,042
but, of course, nobody thought
about using a wig.
232
00:12:56,167 --> 00:13:00,042
And, um... And put me on screen
with the wardrobe,
233
00:13:00,167 --> 00:13:02,875
and I started working the next day.
It was that crazy.
234
00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:04,500
Everything was overwhelming.
235
00:13:04,625 --> 00:13:07,083
I was really discombobulated
for the first couple of weeks.
236
00:13:07,208 --> 00:13:11,083
Sort of like I was a deer in the headlights,
going, "Where do you want me now?"
237
00:13:11,208 --> 00:13:13,167
I think I remember being
quite nervous about it
238
00:13:13,292 --> 00:13:16,708
cause it was a big film,
and it was exciting as well.
239
00:13:16,833 --> 00:13:21,042
We had no time to enjoy.
If I'm rehearsing this scene,
240
00:13:21,167 --> 00:13:24,042
a fight scene, OK,
we go to the next set,
241
00:13:24,167 --> 00:13:28,250
we shoot that scene
that we just rehearsed an hour ago,
242
00:13:28,375 --> 00:13:31,875
then, I go off
with the bull whip artist.
243
00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:34,167
He has to teach me
how to use a bull whip,
244
00:13:34,292 --> 00:13:36,542
and it just did not stop.
245
00:13:36,667 --> 00:13:40,000
I'm playing Vultan,
the king of the Hawkmen.
246
00:13:40,125 --> 00:13:43,125
(Man) 'Brian Blessed.'
- And his kingdom is the Sky City.
247
00:13:43,250 --> 00:13:48,000
"Flash Gordon" had more effect
on us as schoolchildren
248
00:13:48,125 --> 00:13:50,000
than anything else in cinema.
249
00:13:50,125 --> 00:13:52,333
Brian Blessed was
a great guy to work with.
250
00:13:52,458 --> 00:13:56,167
Oh! Gordon's alive!
251
00:13:56,292 --> 00:14:00,000
At the end of an episode,
the railway embankment was outside,
252
00:14:00,125 --> 00:14:02,085
we've got these great steam trains
coming through.
253
00:14:02,125 --> 00:14:04,000
And we'd run down the embankment.
254
00:14:04,125 --> 00:14:07,000
Jumping, doing ghastly,
what men dare.
255
00:14:07,125 --> 00:14:09,708
And you pretend to be...
And I was pretending to be Vultan.
256
00:14:09,833 --> 00:14:14,583
And I never dreamt that eventually
I'd actually play Vultan
257
00:14:14,708 --> 00:14:17,167
in the film,
but I enacted him as a child.
258
00:14:17,292 --> 00:14:19,458
(Man) "You'd think
for a long time in the film
259
00:14:19,583 --> 00:14:21,583
'that he's really a big baddie.
260
00:14:21,708 --> 00:14:23,059
"But he's really got a great heart,
261
00:14:23,083 --> 00:14:26,958
'and at the end he comes good
and becomes a great hero.'
262
00:14:27,083 --> 00:14:29,000
I based my part
on the comic strip part.
263
00:14:29,125 --> 00:14:30,875
Zoom, bang, wallop, wham!
264
00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:34,750
What a great voice he has.
What a presence.
265
00:14:34,875 --> 00:14:39,500
Never have I known such artistic
happiness and freedom.
266
00:14:39,625 --> 00:14:42,083
For me, it was a...
267
00:14:42,208 --> 00:14:43,208
picnic.
268
00:14:43,333 --> 00:14:44,958
There was a marvelous sequence
269
00:14:45,083 --> 00:14:46,958
in the opening conversation
when Zarkov says,
270
00:14:47,083 --> 00:14:48,958
"Come on!
You can get together.
271
00:14:49,083 --> 00:14:51,043
"You can all get together
and you can fight Ming."
272
00:14:51,083 --> 00:14:56,833
And I'm going, "What, fight Ming?
Against the Imperial Fleet?"
273
00:14:56,958 --> 00:14:59,917
And as I'm passing Melody,
I goosed her straight up the arse.
274
00:15:00,042 --> 00:15:00,917
- (Exclaims)
- Woo!
275
00:15:01,042 --> 00:15:03,708
And she screamed, "Ahh!",
as I put my hand up her arse.
276
00:15:03,833 --> 00:15:05,667
And she never expected it
on the film.
277
00:15:05,792 --> 00:15:07,559
(Trevor Butterfield)
Before we had to put all the wings on
278
00:15:07,583 --> 00:15:11,292
and all the costumes,
we had to stand there in our underwear...
279
00:15:11,417 --> 00:15:14,333
and have all this makeup
painted all over us.
280
00:15:14,458 --> 00:15:18,917
I couldn't sit in a chair
because you've got these solid wings...
281
00:15:19,042 --> 00:15:20,917
It was difficult
walking down staircases.
282
00:15:21,042 --> 00:15:22,417
And so, they built me a perch.
283
00:15:22,542 --> 00:15:26,250
He was left more or less all day
wearing these damned wings.
284
00:15:26,375 --> 00:15:30,125
They would go, "Pretty polly,
pretty polly." Bugger off!
285
00:15:30,250 --> 00:15:33,917
You walk in the studio
and everybody goes..." (Bird whistles)
286
00:15:34,042 --> 00:15:35,292
Making all the bird noises!
287
00:15:35,417 --> 00:15:37,875
We had about 12 wiremen or riggers,
288
00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:39,875
all pulling up and down.
289
00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:42,125
We had another 12 pulling them
along on pulleys.
290
00:15:42,250 --> 00:15:43,875
It was outrageous.
291
00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:46,292
Getting people up on wires.
And Brian going,
292
00:15:46,417 --> 00:15:49,875
"Get me out of these wires, Michael."
Brian.
293
00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:52,208
And then, you get them on the wires,
294
00:15:52,333 --> 00:15:54,333
and, of course,
you've got to really be ready
295
00:15:54,458 --> 00:15:56,875
because once they're on there
and they're hovering,
296
00:15:57,000 --> 00:15:58,917
you've got to really start
rolling the camera.
297
00:15:59,042 --> 00:16:00,476
(Anderson) 'it was a very physical film.'
298
00:16:00,500 --> 00:16:03,292
A lot of the shooting
was happening in the winter,
299
00:16:03,417 --> 00:16:06,875
and there was no heat,
and so, we had these straps
300
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,917
that held us up...
I remember scenes with Topol,
301
00:16:10,042 --> 00:16:11,875
when we're supposedly
on this machine.
302
00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:14,125
And we'd be hanging
in these stirrups,
303
00:16:14,250 --> 00:16:16,875
like, 40 feet off the ground.
304
00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:19,833
'And they'd have the fan going.
It was already cold.'
305
00:16:19,958 --> 00:16:21,750
They would often just sit there and go,
306
00:16:21,875 --> 00:16:24,417
"OK, it's tea time, everybody,"
and they'd go off.
307
00:16:24,542 --> 00:16:26,667
And we'd, kind of, say,
"Hey, what about us?"
308
00:16:26,792 --> 00:16:29,542
We were hanging, I don't know,
I think, a whole week.
309
00:16:29,667 --> 00:16:31,750
(Man) 'Zarkov is played by Topol.
310
00:16:31,875 --> 00:16:35,750
"As a child in Israel, he only learnt
of "Flash Gordon" by word of mouth.'
311
00:16:35,875 --> 00:16:38,833
Well, the cinema was in the north,
I lived in the south
312
00:16:38,958 --> 00:16:42,333
of Tel Aviv,
and it was too far for me to go.
313
00:16:42,458 --> 00:16:45,125
It was quite a... (Laughs)
314
00:16:45,958 --> 00:16:47,833
A different, uh...
315
00:16:47,958 --> 00:16:50,250
A different sort of acting.
316
00:16:50,375 --> 00:16:51,375
I mean...
317
00:16:53,167 --> 00:16:56,833
We couldn't decide whether
to have Topol or Warren Oates.
318
00:16:56,958 --> 00:17:00,667
I remember we went to the theater
one day before the shooting,
319
00:17:00,792 --> 00:17:04,500
myself, Bernie, and we were talking
about who we should have.
320
00:17:04,625 --> 00:17:07,042
And we all had our own ideas
who would be better.
321
00:17:07,167 --> 00:17:11,792
Mike wanted Topol.
Dino said, "Listen. Who's got a coin?
322
00:17:11,917 --> 00:17:13,792
"I make some of my best decisions
like this."
323
00:17:13,917 --> 00:17:17,792
And someone gave him a coin and he said,
"Heads it's Topol, tails it's Warren Oates."
324
00:17:17,917 --> 00:17:20,458
He slung the coin up
and it came down as Topol.
325
00:17:20,583 --> 00:17:23,125
And that's how Topol got the part.
326
00:17:23,250 --> 00:17:26,583
(Topol) 'He was a professor,
and he was very serious.'
327
00:17:32,833 --> 00:17:34,708
Thirty-five years.
328
00:17:34,833 --> 00:17:36,667
There's this tiny minutiae.
329
00:17:36,792 --> 00:17:40,583
But remember when Zarkov, they're
sucking the memory out of his brain,
330
00:17:40,708 --> 00:17:43,708
it's supposed to be backwards,
but they show them meeting
331
00:17:43,833 --> 00:17:47,208
and then her dying,
when it's supposed to all be backwards.
332
00:17:47,333 --> 00:17:50,750
That would've made a huge difference,
I think, in the film.
333
00:17:50,875 --> 00:17:52,750
In the marketing, in the box office.
334
00:17:52,875 --> 00:17:55,750
- No, no. I know.
- That needed to be said.
335
00:17:55,875 --> 00:17:57,750
We all want to see stuff like that.
336
00:17:57,875 --> 00:18:00,750
Like, you know,
in "Die Hard 2" they use
337
00:18:00,875 --> 00:18:03,458
a Pac Bell phone on the East Coast.
338
00:18:03,583 --> 00:18:04,917
Like, little things like that.
339
00:18:05,042 --> 00:18:06,750
It was a bit hard going, the film.
340
00:18:06,875 --> 00:18:08,635
You know, there was lots
of changes in minds.
341
00:18:08,708 --> 00:18:12,750
"Like Arboria, the forest. For some reason,
they thought it'd be way out,
342
00:18:12,875 --> 00:18:15,333
'and they made it pink,
and the cameraman, Gill Taylor,
343
00:18:15,458 --> 00:18:18,875
'he came on the set,
he said, "I can't film this.
344
00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:22,750
'People will never talk to me again.
How can you have a pink tree?"
345
00:18:22,875 --> 00:18:24,515
'And he made them change
the whole thing.'
346
00:18:24,583 --> 00:18:26,518
Thank goodness he did
because it looked ridiculous.
347
00:18:26,542 --> 00:18:28,782
(Man) 'Neither of their two
London studios was big enough
348
00:18:28,833 --> 00:18:30,083
'for all the extensive sets,
349
00:18:30,208 --> 00:18:33,708
'so they also commandeered
a massive aircraft hangar.
350
00:18:33,833 --> 00:18:35,833
'Six million cubic feet
under one roof.
351
00:18:35,958 --> 00:18:39,708
"Three times the size
of any existing film stage.
352
00:18:39,833 --> 00:18:42,875
"Triple Oscar winner Danilo Donati
was appointed production designer
353
00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:46,458
'to give the movie
its overall visual flavor.'
354
00:18:46,583 --> 00:18:49,708
(Martha De Laurentiis) So,
the challenge of making a spectacle
355
00:18:49,833 --> 00:18:53,125
with "Flash Gordon" was
the genius of Danilo Donati.
356
00:18:53,250 --> 00:18:56,708
(Roy) 'The sets were elaborate, bigger.'
357
00:18:56,833 --> 00:19:00,458
You know, it was one of the biggest
movies at that time.
358
00:19:00,583 --> 00:19:01,875
It was a little overwhelming.
359
00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:04,375
"Also, when I saw the quality
of the work on the sets...
360
00:19:04,500 --> 00:19:08,667
'Danilo Donati who did the production
design worked for Fellini,
361
00:19:08,792 --> 00:19:12,667
'so he continued that
same kind of exotic lyricness
362
00:19:12,792 --> 00:19:14,667
'in the designs that he did.'
363
00:19:14,792 --> 00:19:16,752
(Ross) 'One of the beautiful things
about the film
364
00:19:16,792 --> 00:19:19,309
"and one of the absurd things, too,
is how much it embraced color.
365
00:19:19,333 --> 00:19:23,167
'Nothing was practical about
the fashions and costumes
366
00:19:23,292 --> 00:19:25,167
'made for the "Flash Gordon" movie.'
367
00:19:25,292 --> 00:19:28,667
It was all meant to be just
this splendid literary landscape
368
00:19:28,792 --> 00:19:31,667
of brilliant color and sequins,
369
00:19:31,792 --> 00:19:34,292
and things taken to a degree that
370
00:19:34,417 --> 00:19:36,750
nobody would think
before or since
371
00:19:36,875 --> 00:19:39,500
to do in a science-fiction film.
372
00:19:39,625 --> 00:19:42,333
There was a work room
with these little Italian women
373
00:19:42,458 --> 00:19:45,667
sticking these things, these beads on,
374
00:19:45,792 --> 00:19:47,417
each bead on at a time by hand.
375
00:19:47,542 --> 00:19:51,583
'My wedding dress with the black
bugle beads, weighed 30 pounds.'
376
00:19:51,708 --> 00:19:53,250
How did I feel about it?
377
00:19:53,375 --> 00:19:57,625
'All these fancy schmancy
dresses and eyelashes.'
378
00:19:57,750 --> 00:20:00,042
Another day at the office.
379
00:20:00,167 --> 00:20:03,625
♪ Put back the mask,
Put back the mask
380
00:20:03,750 --> 00:20:05,792
♪ That's all I ask you to do! ♪
381
00:20:05,917 --> 00:20:10,667
- You see, I warned you.
- Peter Wyngarde was Jason King.
382
00:20:10,792 --> 00:20:13,583
'He was around forever in the '60s.
Did loads of stuff.
383
00:20:13,708 --> 00:20:15,667
"But he was Jason King
in "Department S".
384
00:20:15,792 --> 00:20:17,351
'And then, he had
his own show, "Jason King".
385
00:20:17,375 --> 00:20:19,708
And he was a sex symbol.
Women went nuts for this guy.
386
00:20:19,833 --> 00:20:22,458
His life story in general,
about him being an actor
387
00:20:22,583 --> 00:20:25,333
and him being involved
in the gay community,
388
00:20:25,458 --> 00:20:28,583
and him, kind of, like,
not getting blacklisted
389
00:20:28,708 --> 00:20:32,625
but, kind of, getting shoved aside
because of his alleged homosexuality,
390
00:20:32,750 --> 00:20:38,125
um, just made his character in
"Flash Gordon" even more interesting.
391
00:20:38,250 --> 00:20:43,583
My costume was so heavy
that I couldn't stand.
392
00:20:43,708 --> 00:20:46,667
I couldn't walk,
I had to prop myself up
393
00:20:46,792 --> 00:20:49,750
in this ridiculous ironing board.
394
00:20:49,875 --> 00:20:54,750
It used to take my poor dresser
an hour to put the costume on.
395
00:20:54,875 --> 00:20:57,417
Also, a jock strap.
396
00:20:58,708 --> 00:21:03,083
Because the nuns
that made this silk,
397
00:21:03,208 --> 00:21:06,417
this raw silk, so fine,
398
00:21:06,542 --> 00:21:09,417
that things kept popping out,
399
00:21:09,542 --> 00:21:12,542
so we had to put on the jock strap.
400
00:21:12,667 --> 00:21:14,542
So if anybody wants to look closely,
401
00:21:14,667 --> 00:21:17,792
I can tell them it's all well covered.
402
00:21:17,917 --> 00:21:21,542
We're coming up to the point
where Prince Barin and Flash Gordon
403
00:21:21,667 --> 00:21:25,083
kill Klytus, and throw him
on the spikes, and kill him.
404
00:21:25,208 --> 00:21:28,875
And at that particular point
Peter Wyngarde wouldn't die.
405
00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:31,458
'Suddenly he stopped the whole filming.'
406
00:21:31,583 --> 00:21:34,542
"I think that Klytus is
such an important character.
407
00:21:34,667 --> 00:21:36,542
"There's going to be sequels.
408
00:21:36,667 --> 00:21:39,083
"I think it'd be a big mistake
to kill Klytus off.
409
00:21:39,208 --> 00:21:42,542
"I don't think I should die."
At which point I said,
410
00:21:42,667 --> 00:21:44,917
"Well, I'm not gonna bloody die."
411
00:21:45,042 --> 00:21:47,184
'Mike said, "No, no. It's written
in the scripts. You die now.'
412
00:21:47,208 --> 00:21:48,667
"Klytus is part of the whole thing."
413
00:21:48,792 --> 00:21:51,875
"Well, I still..."
"You die! You bloody die!
414
00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:56,500
"You come on, they get hold of you,
and they throw you on the spikes,
415
00:21:56,625 --> 00:21:58,500
"and you die!"
416
00:21:58,625 --> 00:22:00,601
- (Man) 'Director Mike Hodges.'
- It Is a comic strip
417
00:22:00,625 --> 00:22:04,042
and therefore they are
pretty one dimensional.
418
00:22:04,167 --> 00:22:07,417
And by having good actors, I think,
it sort of just adds flesh and blood to it.
419
00:22:07,542 --> 00:22:10,833
You sort of feel that they've all got
a past and they've all got a future.
420
00:22:10,958 --> 00:22:15,000
I thought the best thing was
he should go to another planet.
421
00:22:15,125 --> 00:22:18,500
That was my weak little suggestion
422
00:22:18,625 --> 00:22:23,250
so that I could come back
in some way for another film, of course.
423
00:22:23,375 --> 00:22:27,292
But, no, he wanted me
squashed up in little pieces.
424
00:22:28,625 --> 00:22:31,500
We had a different director.
We had Nicolas Roeg
425
00:22:31,625 --> 00:22:35,458
for a year plus
who did all the developments
426
00:22:35,583 --> 00:22:37,125
and the pre-production.
427
00:22:37,250 --> 00:22:39,458
So, Dino meets Nic Roeg.
428
00:22:39,583 --> 00:22:43,917
And Nic did a lot of research and
also did his own, you know, pitch to Dino,
429
00:22:44,042 --> 00:22:48,458
and also, enough time
with storyboards and illustrations
430
00:22:48,583 --> 00:22:52,458
to, um, have somewhat of an idea
of what the picture would cost,
431
00:22:52,583 --> 00:22:57,458
uh, if it were going to be in his, kind of,
highly stylized intellectual take.
432
00:22:57,583 --> 00:23:01,750
And I guess Dino thought,
"Too expensive. This isn't going to work."
433
00:23:01,875 --> 00:23:04,833
"They tried to make it work,
and Nic actually parted ways with Dino.'
434
00:23:04,958 --> 00:23:07,458
(Man) 'Movie mogul
Dino De Laurentiis.'
435
00:23:07,583 --> 00:23:11,458
I start to read the Flash Gordon
character when I was a kid,
436
00:23:11,583 --> 00:23:12,708
around 13, 14.
437
00:23:12,833 --> 00:23:17,000
The cartoon come up
in the United States in 1931.
438
00:23:17,125 --> 00:23:18,417
1930s was the first time.
439
00:23:18,542 --> 00:23:22,667
After the big economic depression
of the United States.
440
00:23:22,792 --> 00:23:24,512
The American people
were looking for a hero.
441
00:23:24,542 --> 00:23:28,417
And Flash Gordon was
the first great American hero,
442
00:23:28,542 --> 00:23:30,417
who tried to save the world.
443
00:23:30,542 --> 00:23:33,042
So, to describe Dino as a producer,
444
00:23:34,542 --> 00:23:36,417
is also describing Dino as a man,
445
00:23:36,542 --> 00:23:39,542
where he's about a quality of life
446
00:23:40,542 --> 00:23:42,417
and he's also, um...
447
00:23:42,542 --> 00:23:46,417
Was also just full of love
448
00:23:46,542 --> 00:23:51,333
and an immense wave of will
to make something happen.
449
00:23:51,458 --> 00:23:53,417
You always knew
when Dino was there, you know.
450
00:23:53,542 --> 00:23:55,417
Everything, sort of,
seemed to change.
451
00:23:55,542 --> 00:23:57,208
Dino loved to fire people.
452
00:23:57,333 --> 00:23:59,375
A couple of times, I think, I got to tears.
453
00:23:59,500 --> 00:24:03,375
You know, just being frustrated
because he was so specific
454
00:24:03,500 --> 00:24:07,708
and demanding about how
he wanted his film to look like.
455
00:24:07,833 --> 00:24:11,500
Mike, you know, disagreed
with everything Dino wanted.
456
00:24:12,500 --> 00:24:14,375
So, it was almost an argument.
457
00:24:14,500 --> 00:24:16,476
"You know, Mike was going
to bloody leave the film.'
458
00:24:16,500 --> 00:24:18,958
There were problems,
and I remember one day hearing Mike,
459
00:24:19,083 --> 00:24:21,458
um, order Dino off the set,
460
00:24:21,583 --> 00:24:23,208
which I thought was
exceptionally brave,
461
00:24:23,333 --> 00:24:25,375
for anybody to do that
to your producer.
462
00:24:25,500 --> 00:24:28,375
When Dino came on the set,
people got so scared no work got done.
463
00:24:28,500 --> 00:24:30,958
He used to come on
with three or four of his henchmen,
464
00:24:31,083 --> 00:24:33,375
you know, carrying money
in their pockets and things.
465
00:24:33,500 --> 00:24:36,000
Bags. In black outfits.
And Dino would come...
466
00:24:36,125 --> 00:24:37,476
People were terrified
when Dino was around.
467
00:24:37,500 --> 00:24:40,333
He got on like a house on fire,
you know.
468
00:24:40,458 --> 00:24:44,792
And I'm busy doing something. I said,
"Dino, go on. We won't get anything done."
469
00:24:44,917 --> 00:24:46,792
Am I allowed to say F?
470
00:24:47,833 --> 00:24:50,583
So I said, "Dino, you must fuck off!
471
00:24:50,708 --> 00:24:52,917
"Dino, you must fuck off.
We can't get anything...
472
00:24:53,042 --> 00:24:56,333
"Everyone's terrified of you.
We can get bugger all done."
473
00:24:56,458 --> 00:24:58,458
With all these costumes...
(Laughs)
474
00:25:00,458 --> 00:25:03,958
(Mimics)
"No one tells me to fuck off."
475
00:25:04,083 --> 00:25:05,792
There was a lot of conflict on set
476
00:25:05,917 --> 00:25:08,792
because Dino didn't get...
477
00:25:08,917 --> 00:25:10,397
It was supposed to be funny and camp.
478
00:25:10,500 --> 00:25:13,750
That's the way Lorenzo
had written the script.
479
00:25:13,875 --> 00:25:16,333
You've got Dino wanting it
to be an epic film,
480
00:25:16,458 --> 00:25:18,833
and the distributors wanted...
481
00:25:18,958 --> 00:25:22,708
another, sort of,
John Wayne Flash Gordon.
482
00:25:22,833 --> 00:25:26,292
And then, you've got the cast
483
00:25:26,417 --> 00:25:30,958
and... Mike Hodges...
484
00:25:32,417 --> 00:25:34,292
sending it up.
485
00:25:34,417 --> 00:25:36,458
High camp, as it was called.
486
00:25:36,583 --> 00:25:38,083
Why, I can't think.
487
00:25:38,208 --> 00:25:41,292
He was a perfectionist.
He came to me one day, and he went,
488
00:25:41,417 --> 00:25:43,292
"Your face is so round."
489
00:25:43,417 --> 00:25:46,333
I said, "While that's true,
it's not gonna change."
490
00:25:46,458 --> 00:25:50,292
And I was certainly a lot skinnier then
than I am now.
491
00:25:50,417 --> 00:25:52,292
And, um, and...
492
00:25:52,417 --> 00:25:54,083
You're very right
about the perfectionist.
493
00:25:54,208 --> 00:25:56,583
He had an image in his mind
and he would not bend it.
494
00:25:56,708 --> 00:25:58,292
When he died,
I, kind of, read his...
495
00:25:58,417 --> 00:26:00,250
the retrospect on his life.
496
00:26:00,375 --> 00:26:02,917
And he did it several times
with "Flash" and other big films,
497
00:26:03,042 --> 00:26:07,208
where, you know, he put lots of money in
and made something that was iconic.
498
00:26:07,333 --> 00:26:10,667
Dino would talk about, you know,
obviously, working with actors,
499
00:26:10,792 --> 00:26:13,375
working with, um...
500
00:26:14,250 --> 00:26:16,250
You know, not that Sam was a diva,
501
00:26:16,375 --> 00:26:20,250
but in a certain way
he was a young, novice actor.
502
00:26:20,375 --> 00:26:25,625
He was a beautiful All-American boy
that fit the part visually.
503
00:26:25,750 --> 00:26:27,250
'Not a lot of experience.
504
00:26:27,375 --> 00:26:30,250
"But there were some things
that once he showed up in London,
505
00:26:30,375 --> 00:26:35,250
'some behavior patterns
that Dino saw happening.
506
00:26:35,375 --> 00:26:38,268
'And so right before they started shooting,
Dino calls him into his office.'
507
00:26:38,292 --> 00:26:42,250
He's sitting there
and Dino's behind this big desk.
508
00:26:42,375 --> 00:26:48,333
He says, "Sam, you come, you do this...
509
00:26:50,208 --> 00:26:52,333
"This is a big movie. A lot at stake.
510
00:26:53,333 --> 00:26:55,208
"Take care about what happens now.
511
00:26:55,333 --> 00:26:57,208
"What will happen later,
you become a star.
512
00:26:57,333 --> 00:26:59,208
"You are not a star now.
513
00:26:59,333 --> 00:27:02,750
"You must be sincere, and go quietly."
514
00:27:02,875 --> 00:27:04,208
'I guess that fell on deaf ears.
515
00:27:04,333 --> 00:27:08,042
'Because, I think
before they started shooting
516
00:27:08,167 --> 00:27:09,875
'Sam ended up in an altercation,
517
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:11,458
"where he ended up in the hospital
518
00:27:11,583 --> 00:27:14,042
"because he had a big gash
on his forehead.
519
00:27:14,167 --> 00:27:15,684
'It would have been disastrous,
though.'
520
00:27:15,708 --> 00:27:19,208
If Sam were not to do this job
right before shooting,
521
00:27:19,333 --> 00:27:21,125
we'd have to find
another Flash Gordon.
522
00:27:21,250 --> 00:27:24,167
"Yet, Sam didn't listen to that advice
even after that.
523
00:27:24,292 --> 00:27:27,792
'He continued to have altercations.'
524
00:27:27,917 --> 00:27:31,167
He was very emotionally young, Sam,
525
00:27:31,292 --> 00:27:33,667
and, um, a little out.
526
00:27:33,792 --> 00:27:36,958
Felt... I think he felt a little unloved.
527
00:27:37,083 --> 00:27:41,292
He's a prima donna. You know,
making life difficult for everyone.
528
00:27:42,292 --> 00:27:45,708
Give me this, give me that.
I don't want to do this, you know.
529
00:27:45,833 --> 00:27:47,833
Come on the set late. Hey.
530
00:27:47,958 --> 00:27:50,893
We're nearly getting to the end of the
film, only got a couple of weeks to go.
531
00:27:50,917 --> 00:27:53,167
I wasn't getting paid as a weekly actor.
532
00:27:53,292 --> 00:27:57,792
'I'd listen to my representation,
who evidently wanted a piece of Dino.'
533
00:27:57,917 --> 00:27:59,625
They said,
"No, we're gonna just hold up.
534
00:27:59,750 --> 00:28:01,292
"And you're not gonna work anymore."
535
00:28:01,417 --> 00:28:03,500
My advice, I spoke to Sam
a little bit about it,
536
00:28:03,625 --> 00:28:07,042
was not to get involved
in a confrontation with Dino
537
00:28:07,167 --> 00:28:09,125
over, be it money or whatever,
538
00:28:09,250 --> 00:28:14,625
because I'd seen it happen before,
particularly with George Lazenby.
539
00:28:14,750 --> 00:28:17,583
(Jones) 'I didn't work for a
couple of days. It was a big deal.'
540
00:28:17,708 --> 00:28:21,250
And I guess you'd say I held up
production, and then, I got paid.
541
00:28:21,375 --> 00:28:24,125
So, apparently,
at Christmas time, they broke.
542
00:28:24,250 --> 00:28:27,042
Gave a couple of weeks off.
The crew goes home,
543
00:28:27,167 --> 00:28:30,167
Sam goes back to America,
and he doesn't come back.
544
00:28:40,583 --> 00:28:43,125
They sacked Sam. Got rid of him.
545
00:28:43,250 --> 00:28:45,958
(Martha) 'Dino says,
"The pope die, you get a new pope."
546
00:28:46,083 --> 00:28:48,375
'We put the stand-in.
We finished the movie without him.'
547
00:28:48,500 --> 00:28:52,208
I was sad for Sam
cause I liked him a lot.
548
00:28:52,333 --> 00:28:57,083
Whoever his agents or advisors were,
were completely wrong,
549
00:28:57,208 --> 00:28:59,208
but, you know, so often they are.
550
00:28:59,333 --> 00:29:01,292
The stakes were large
for Dino on this.
551
00:29:01,417 --> 00:29:04,083
'Dino's collateral were
his personal assets.
552
00:29:04,208 --> 00:29:06,542
"And when something like this happens,
553
00:29:06,667 --> 00:29:08,917
'you just have to make a decision
and go.'
554
00:29:09,042 --> 00:29:13,083
Dino wasn't vindictive.
He had to always cover his ass.
555
00:29:13,208 --> 00:29:15,333
Because if not, they'd take his ass.
556
00:29:15,458 --> 00:29:17,083
He didn't go back
and loop his dialogue.
557
00:29:17,208 --> 00:29:19,083
He must have really been upset.
558
00:29:19,208 --> 00:29:23,083
That was the bone of contention.
559
00:29:23,208 --> 00:29:27,167
You know, I mean,
my leading man is to be dubbed.
560
00:29:28,208 --> 00:29:29,583
You know, fuck you.
561
00:29:29,708 --> 00:29:33,125
As an actor, uh, you know,
I'm sure there's a frustration with that.
562
00:29:33,250 --> 00:29:35,042
He was disgusted with it.
563
00:29:35,167 --> 00:29:37,917
He wanted it to be his voice,
he wanted it to work out.
564
00:29:38,042 --> 00:29:40,018
He wanted to get paid.
He wanted things the right way.
565
00:29:40,042 --> 00:29:43,042
I know it hurt him
that his voice was, uh...
566
00:29:43,167 --> 00:29:45,042
You know,
cause Sam has a great voice,
567
00:29:45,167 --> 00:29:49,042
and the voice that they used
was, kind of, pedestrian.
568
00:29:49,167 --> 00:29:54,042
I don't know who it was, but that's
definitely a British actor doing American,
569
00:29:54,167 --> 00:29:56,917
- trying to do American.
- I think it's Bill Cosby.
570
00:29:57,042 --> 00:30:00,042
He's a Canadian actor.
571
00:30:00,167 --> 00:30:02,042
I do know his name.
I can't remember it.
572
00:30:02,167 --> 00:30:05,042
Not because for any reason,
573
00:30:05,167 --> 00:30:07,042
but I just simply can't
remember his name.
574
00:30:07,167 --> 00:30:11,000
He did, sort of, things
like "Thunderbird."
575
00:30:11,125 --> 00:30:13,792
One of those
"Thunderbird" characters.
576
00:30:13,917 --> 00:30:17,000
His performance
has not gotten its due.
577
00:30:17,125 --> 00:30:21,000
I think the movie hasn't,
but his performance as well.
578
00:30:21,125 --> 00:30:23,000
- Really?
- He's wonderful in the movie.
579
00:30:23,125 --> 00:30:24,309
I think he's really, really great.
580
00:30:24,333 --> 00:30:27,000
It's hard to pull off
the heroic thing
581
00:30:27,125 --> 00:30:29,500
and not look, you know,
ridiculous doing it.
582
00:30:29,625 --> 00:30:31,000
He does it very, very well.
583
00:30:31,125 --> 00:30:33,000
But in certain instances,
584
00:30:33,125 --> 00:30:38,083
that voice doesn't quite do justice
to what he's doing on screen.
585
00:30:38,208 --> 00:30:43,000
I just think that it was so wrong
that Sam was treated badly,
586
00:30:43,125 --> 00:30:45,000
with the dubbing.
587
00:30:45,125 --> 00:30:49,125
Uh, because it was wrong.
It was very wrong.
588
00:30:51,125 --> 00:30:54,083
We made our protest.
It's all we could do.
589
00:30:58,083 --> 00:31:00,958
Made another time,
he would have cracked it.
590
00:31:01,083 --> 00:31:04,042
- He could have made it.
- Universal was ready to do a sequel.
591
00:31:04,167 --> 00:31:06,083
Like, they were gonna do,
like, a trilogy.
592
00:31:06,208 --> 00:31:07,968
At that time you had a contract
for a sequel.
593
00:31:08,083 --> 00:31:09,763
You know, sequel rights
and blah-blah-blah.
594
00:31:09,875 --> 00:31:13,958
So there was a contract for doing
the film, doing film two and three.
595
00:31:14,083 --> 00:31:17,083
Sam sues for not having done
two and three.
596
00:31:17,667 --> 00:31:19,125
But two and three were never made.
597
00:31:19,250 --> 00:31:20,958
These guys are very powerful
in Hollywood.
598
00:31:21,083 --> 00:31:22,958
I mean, they're not the sort of people
599
00:31:23,083 --> 00:31:26,958
you want to be changing a deal with
or your situation with,
600
00:31:27,083 --> 00:31:29,958
because it'll come back to haunt you.
601
00:31:30,083 --> 00:31:32,833
You've got to be very careful
who you upset.
602
00:31:36,417 --> 00:31:41,042
(Man) 'Join us for the fantastic
adventures of Flash Gordon.
603
00:31:41,167 --> 00:31:44,500
'Will Flash's strategy prove successful?
604
00:31:44,625 --> 00:31:46,917
'Will he survive?
605
00:31:47,042 --> 00:31:49,000
'Find out now
in a theater near you.'
606
00:31:49,125 --> 00:31:51,917
So, at the time that the original
"Flash Gordon" came out,
607
00:31:52,042 --> 00:31:53,917
there was so little merchandise.
608
00:31:54,042 --> 00:31:55,917
There was, really,
nothing to buy as a nerd.
609
00:31:56,042 --> 00:32:00,042
But I bought the "Flash Gordon"
movie novelization,
610
00:32:01,042 --> 00:32:02,917
which I read as a kid.
611
00:32:03,042 --> 00:32:04,917
And let me just tell you,
612
00:32:05,042 --> 00:32:08,917
the stuff that you learn in this
"Flash Gordon" movie novelization
613
00:32:09,042 --> 00:32:11,000
shocked me as a teenager.
614
00:32:11,125 --> 00:32:14,250
'Flash Gordon's mother died
during childbirth.
615
00:32:14,375 --> 00:32:18,708
'Flash Gordon's father
became, kind of, an alcoholic.
616
00:32:20,042 --> 00:32:24,000
(Jones) Childhood was
unpredictable, unbalanced,
617
00:32:25,250 --> 00:32:27,750
dysfunctional, yeah.
618
00:32:27,875 --> 00:32:30,875
"Dad was on the road a lot.
He was former military.
619
00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:35,417
'So a lot of my growing up was,
you know, hard knocks.
620
00:32:35,542 --> 00:32:37,875
'Sam Jones, my grandfather,
who I was named after,
621
00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:41,875
'told my dad,
"Son, it's time for you to go get a job
622
00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:44,875
"and explore the world."
My father left
623
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:48,958
'and went to the Wyoming coal mines.
624
00:32:49,083 --> 00:32:51,875
'He probably arrived
at the ripe old age of 14,
625
00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:54,542
'and, obviously, started drinking,
626
00:32:54,667 --> 00:32:58,333
'which led to 50 years of drinking.'
627
00:32:58,458 --> 00:33:02,375
My dad was a great guy,
but he was a chronic alcoholic.
628
00:33:02,500 --> 00:33:04,833
I know you hear all those,
but he was a good drunk.
629
00:33:04,958 --> 00:33:08,208
'But he was a good drunk.
I mean, he would drink,
630
00:33:08,333 --> 00:33:11,333
'would not break you down,
he'd actually build you up.
631
00:33:11,458 --> 00:33:13,917
'But my mother couldn't
stand him drinking.
632
00:33:14,042 --> 00:33:17,917
'My father would say to Mom,
"Anne, why don't you stop your nagging?"
633
00:33:18,042 --> 00:33:22,917
'And her reply was, "Joe, I'd stop
my nagging if you stop your drinking."
634
00:33:23,042 --> 00:33:25,018
"Well, I'll stop my drinking
if you stop your nagging."
635
00:33:25,042 --> 00:33:26,083
'And just back and forth.
636
00:33:26,208 --> 00:33:28,917
"And they both split,
and at 15-and-a-half,
637
00:33:29,042 --> 00:33:31,002
'I ended up getting my own
apartment with friends.
638
00:33:31,042 --> 00:33:34,083
'I don't know how that happened,
but it happened.'
639
00:33:34,208 --> 00:33:39,292
Nobody humbled themselves.
They had to stick to me, my way.
640
00:33:40,458 --> 00:33:41,458
So, that was my family.
641
00:33:41,583 --> 00:33:45,875
A lot of actors come
from a place of loss.
642
00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:52,042
And Sam experienced loss
as a teenager in a horrific way.
643
00:33:52,167 --> 00:33:55,250
(Jones) 'Well, my older brother,
the only brother I ever had,
644
00:33:55,375 --> 00:33:57,417
"we were 14 months apart.'
645
00:33:57,542 --> 00:34:01,875
Joe Jones.
He was so great as an athlete
646
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:05,458
that they nicknamed him
Jumping Joe Jones.
647
00:34:05,583 --> 00:34:07,583
And he was a local hero.
648
00:34:07,708 --> 00:34:10,125
'We were going
from Florida to Sacramento.
649
00:34:10,250 --> 00:34:11,458
'We thought it was a vacation,
650
00:34:11,583 --> 00:34:14,792
'but little did we know that our dad
was running from bill collectors.'
651
00:34:14,917 --> 00:34:20,208
It was a deceptive move,
it caused a lot of contention and strife
652
00:34:20,333 --> 00:34:22,833
between my brother and my dad.
653
00:34:22,958 --> 00:34:25,083
And, uh, he was never
the same from then.
654
00:34:25,208 --> 00:34:30,917
'He got into a bad car wreck, but he was
physically so strong that he survived.
655
00:34:31,042 --> 00:34:32,833
'And he was 21 at this point.
656
00:34:32,958 --> 00:34:37,833
'Because he was of age,
he told the doctors not to tell the family
657
00:34:37,958 --> 00:34:39,833
'that he only had six months to live
658
00:34:39,958 --> 00:34:43,833
'because his organs
were deteriorating inside.
659
00:34:43,958 --> 00:34:47,542
"And, you know, he acquired a gun
and he got pulled over by a cop,
660
00:34:47,667 --> 00:34:51,875
'and he got shot and killed
by a police officer,
661
00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:54,833
'who was protecting himself, obviously.'
662
00:34:54,958 --> 00:34:58,458
And, uh... I mean,
that in itself is devastating.
663
00:35:01,958 --> 00:35:04,375
- (Woman) Take your time.
- Yeah.
664
00:35:05,917 --> 00:35:09,792
But, uh... Yeah.
665
00:35:09,917 --> 00:35:12,917
As you can see,
I haven't talked about this much.
666
00:35:14,458 --> 00:35:16,083
But, uh...
667
00:35:16,208 --> 00:35:20,792
"It wasn't just so difficult
that he left this world early,
668
00:35:20,917 --> 00:35:27,667
'but the cop that took his life happened
to be good friends with my mother.
669
00:35:27,792 --> 00:35:32,917
'So, my mother's good friend shot
and killed her oldest son.'
670
00:35:33,583 --> 00:35:38,792
The weapon that he acquired,
my dad bought for him.
671
00:35:38,917 --> 00:35:41,792
(Hill) A lot of times actors
find a way in their characters
672
00:35:41,917 --> 00:35:44,083
and their roles to overcome that,
673
00:35:44,208 --> 00:35:48,083
but at the same time channel
that passion, that energy, that caring
674
00:35:48,208 --> 00:35:49,875
into their characters.
675
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:53,875
It's a way of dealing with something
that you just can't otherwise deal with.
676
00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:57,750
But, Sam, through that loss
found a way
677
00:35:57,875 --> 00:36:02,750
to entertain, to connect
with other actors and actresses
678
00:36:02,875 --> 00:36:05,417
and directors on the set
that was rather unique.
679
00:36:05,542 --> 00:36:08,750
"But this was something
that was an undercurrent
680
00:36:08,875 --> 00:36:12,750
'to who Sam was as a young man
and then certainly as an actor.
681
00:36:12,875 --> 00:36:15,417
I think it's probably
what drove him to be an actor.
682
00:36:15,542 --> 00:36:18,750
"It was a way for him to escape
something that he might not
683
00:36:18,875 --> 00:36:20,875
'otherwise have been able to deal with.'
684
00:36:22,875 --> 00:36:28,167
I guess when I went to Hollywood,
I probably got a little bit full of me.
685
00:36:28,833 --> 00:36:30,708
He was very wild, and so was I.
686
00:36:30,833 --> 00:36:33,542
And we drank, we did drugs.
687
00:36:33,667 --> 00:36:35,667
I was born and raised in Hollywood.
688
00:36:35,792 --> 00:36:38,208
You know, a lot of our friends
and family were famous.
689
00:36:38,333 --> 00:36:40,708
It wasn't until I stepped out
of my little bubble
690
00:36:40,833 --> 00:36:43,708
that I realized going to parties
with the LA Lakers
691
00:36:43,833 --> 00:36:46,458
and hanging out with famous
football players wasn't normal.
692
00:36:46,583 --> 00:36:48,917
We made millions of dollars
and spent it all.
693
00:36:49,042 --> 00:36:53,000
'We came to that place
where we were very unhappy inside.
694
00:36:53,125 --> 00:36:56,708
'And I was looking for something,
and so was Sam.'
695
00:36:56,833 --> 00:36:59,625
(Esprit) 'We were young and,
you know, he was married at the time.'
696
00:36:59,750 --> 00:37:01,500
You know, a lot of infidelity.
697
00:37:01,625 --> 00:37:05,208
"And the reputation that
Sam would get because of that.'
698
00:37:05,333 --> 00:37:07,309
Because, I mean, Sam was
an extremely handsome guy.
699
00:37:07,333 --> 00:37:09,768
I mean, he still is. But, I mean,
back then, when he was young,
700
00:37:09,792 --> 00:37:11,708
I mean, you know...
701
00:37:11,833 --> 00:37:13,667
He had women falling
all over him.
702
00:37:13,792 --> 00:37:16,000
And he took advantage of that.
703
00:37:16,125 --> 00:37:18,417
My first marriage to Lynn...
Lynn's a great lady.
704
00:37:18,542 --> 00:37:21,417
We have two great children,
Matthew and Kaylin.
705
00:37:21,542 --> 00:37:24,375
Lynn was a great wife
and a great mother.
706
00:37:24,500 --> 00:37:26,667
And I was just a horrible husband.
707
00:37:26,792 --> 00:37:30,667
I was a habitual adulterer,
you know.
708
00:37:30,792 --> 00:37:33,667
Um, no fault of anybody but myself.
709
00:37:33,792 --> 00:37:38,250
Um, you sit there yelling,
"Oh, blame it on Hollywood. Yeah."
710
00:37:38,375 --> 00:37:40,667
Just blame it on Hollywood, what?
711
00:37:40,792 --> 00:37:45,958
It's just the matter of a man
making wise decisions.
712
00:37:46,083 --> 00:37:49,083
You see all the time in Hollywood,
families being broken apart non-stop.
713
00:37:49,208 --> 00:37:51,625
'And husband cheating on wife,
wife cheating on husband.
714
00:37:51,750 --> 00:37:57,542
'It's a crazy life. Hollywood
is not for the normal person.'
715
00:37:57,667 --> 00:37:58,917
People think they want it.
716
00:37:59,042 --> 00:38:01,101
(Esprit) 'I think it's just something
he had to go through.
717
00:38:01,125 --> 00:38:03,625
'| think it's something that he had
to go through, a divorce.'
718
00:38:03,750 --> 00:38:06,110
He had to go through a relationship
with a woman that he met
719
00:38:06,208 --> 00:38:08,542
when he was doing a film in Mauritius.
720
00:38:08,667 --> 00:38:11,625
"To the degree to where
it brought him to a point
721
00:38:11,750 --> 00:38:14,750
'of wanting to kill himself.'
722
00:38:18,333 --> 00:38:21,625
(Jones) 'In between my two marriages,
I was with a French model.'
723
00:38:21,750 --> 00:38:26,625
I was madly in love with this,
uh... with this lady.
724
00:38:26,750 --> 00:38:30,583
And, uh, I probably treated her
like a god.
725
00:38:30,708 --> 00:38:34,375
I'm sure that was my downfall.
And she left me for another man.
726
00:38:34,500 --> 00:38:35,542
And I was devastated.
727
00:38:35,667 --> 00:38:37,684
'So I'm looking at two things
on how to get her back.'
728
00:38:37,708 --> 00:38:39,583
I'm looking at...
I'm looking at a handgun.
729
00:38:39,708 --> 00:38:42,583
Yeah, you know, a handgun.
Well, that's, you know...
730
00:38:42,708 --> 00:38:46,417
I'm looking at a little bottle
of Sominex.
731
00:38:46,542 --> 00:38:50,167
Little pills you buy across the counter
to make you go to sleep.
732
00:38:50,292 --> 00:38:53,583
He took a bunch of sleeping pills,
and then his wife at the time
733
00:38:53,708 --> 00:38:55,667
who he had married
from over there,
734
00:38:55,792 --> 00:38:58,583
called me on the phone and said,
"You're Sam's good friend.
735
00:38:58,708 --> 00:39:00,668
"I think you should come up here.
He's not right."
736
00:39:00,708 --> 00:39:01,828
'So, I went up to the house,
737
00:39:01,917 --> 00:39:04,583
"and the ambulance came,
and they pumped his stomach.
738
00:39:04,708 --> 00:39:06,684
I went down to the psych ward
that they had in there
739
00:39:06,708 --> 00:39:10,250
because he was probably a little nutty,
and I go in, and "whoosh".
740
00:39:10,375 --> 00:39:12,542
These doors, you know.
And you go in there,
741
00:39:12,667 --> 00:39:15,542
and, um, I see him
and he's like,
742
00:39:15,667 --> 00:39:18,542
"Oh, brother. Brother."
He's, like, half laughing and half crying.
743
00:39:18,667 --> 00:39:21,458
'| just grabbed him by his shirt.'
744
00:39:21,583 --> 00:39:23,583
And I just got up in his face
and I said, "Stop it.
745
00:39:23,667 --> 00:39:26,417
"Stop it! Or you're never
getting out of here."
746
00:39:26,542 --> 00:39:29,542
'It was a sad time. It was
a hard time as a friend
747
00:39:29,667 --> 00:39:33,458
'to watch, whether it's family,
or somebody you really care about
748
00:39:33,583 --> 00:39:36,542
'and even respect to have to go
through something like that.
749
00:39:36,667 --> 00:39:39,042
' Just think sometimes
you just gotta hit the bottom.
750
00:39:39,167 --> 00:39:42,542
"And sometimes the bottom
for some people is a hard hit.'
751
00:39:42,667 --> 00:39:45,792
(♪ Busker plays fiddle)
752
00:39:46,500 --> 00:39:51,083
♪ No, I've not seen him all this long day
The boy don't want to write this way
753
00:39:51,208 --> 00:39:53,458
♪ If he did, I have no doubt... ♪
754
00:39:55,917 --> 00:39:57,500
Well, enjoy Spain.
755
00:39:57,625 --> 00:39:59,500
Are you going to Madrid?
Where are you going?
756
00:40:04,167 --> 00:40:06,167
(& Busker continues singing)
757
00:40:08,625 --> 00:40:11,500
(Jones) "You have to find
something good in everything.
758
00:40:11,625 --> 00:40:13,500
'I mean, you do, you know.'
759
00:40:13,625 --> 00:40:17,500
Sometimes promoters didn't
quite do their due diligence,
760
00:40:17,625 --> 00:40:19,601
and they didn't have the type
of numbers that they wanted,
761
00:40:19,625 --> 00:40:23,042
but you have to find the good
out of everything because...
762
00:40:23,167 --> 00:40:25,500
I mean, if you look hard enough,
you can find...
763
00:40:25,625 --> 00:40:27,625
You could find the negative
out of everything, huh?
764
00:40:29,625 --> 00:40:32,167
- (Jones) 'Very good.'
- (Busker) 'Thank you.'
765
00:40:37,750 --> 00:40:40,792
(Jones) 'It's funny, yeah?
It's a bit much, you know.'
766
00:40:40,917 --> 00:40:43,542
I mean, unless you change
the world, right?
767
00:40:43,667 --> 00:40:46,458
'Like, Winston Churchill
and people like that
768
00:40:46,583 --> 00:40:48,833
'had a huge impact on the world.
769
00:40:48,958 --> 00:40:51,458
'| guess on my tombstone,
770
00:40:51,583 --> 00:40:55,583
'if they said, you know, "He was a good
husband and a good father," you know.
771
00:40:56,583 --> 00:40:58,250
"And made people laugh."
772
00:41:00,583 --> 00:41:02,458
Good morning, good morning.
How is everybody?
773
00:41:02,583 --> 00:41:04,143
Good morning.
How are we doing today? Good?
774
00:41:04,167 --> 00:41:05,292
This should not be there.
775
00:41:05,417 --> 00:41:07,917
My table here, Melody's table here.
776
00:41:08,042 --> 00:41:10,000
All right, the banner goes right there.
777
00:41:10,125 --> 00:41:14,458
Alex Ross has a brand new poster
that he designed.
778
00:41:14,583 --> 00:41:16,458
T2.You got a T2?
779
00:41:16,583 --> 00:41:19,292
- Yeah.
- Yes.
780
00:41:19,417 --> 00:41:22,542
Martin, I need a couple
of volunteers, please. Martin.
781
00:41:25,333 --> 00:41:26,417
Just like that, we can...
782
00:41:26,542 --> 00:41:29,208
This really shows how practical we are.
783
00:41:29,333 --> 00:41:32,375
- That's beautiful, man!
- I did it the wrong way. Take it off.
784
00:41:32,500 --> 00:41:34,542
Ah, set it up.
Pull it down. Nice.
785
00:41:34,667 --> 00:41:39,542
- Yeah.
- (Jones) Where are you, Peter?
786
00:41:39,667 --> 00:41:41,518
If you'd be anywhere,
you'd be in here with this group, right?
787
00:41:41,542 --> 00:41:43,875
You should've been in here, right?
788
00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:46,542
There's space. I think space
around here would be good.
789
00:41:49,167 --> 00:41:51,417
How are you? Hello.
790
00:41:51,542 --> 00:41:54,333
- Come down to Dale Con.
- I think, "No, I'll never get starstruck."
791
00:41:54,458 --> 00:41:56,698
And then, I see him there,
I'm like, "It's Flash Gordon!"
792
00:41:56,792 --> 00:41:59,417
We thanked him
for saving every one of us.
793
00:42:01,208 --> 00:42:03,059
He laughed. I don't think
it's the first time he's heard it.
794
00:42:03,083 --> 00:42:07,875
I was among the men
with Melody. I was Arborian.
795
00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:11,167
You see me just there.
Looking very innocent.
796
00:42:11,292 --> 00:42:14,375
I wasn't actually in the film,
but prior to them actually making it,
797
00:42:14,500 --> 00:42:17,917
they had to do all these experiments
and tests with the Hawkmen,
798
00:42:18,042 --> 00:42:19,375
who figure largely, as you know.
799
00:42:19,500 --> 00:42:22,375
And so, I was down in Shepperton
Studios for quite a few weeks
800
00:42:22,500 --> 00:42:25,708
being, um, fitted up
into the costumes and the wings,
801
00:42:25,833 --> 00:42:29,625
being flown up in the air,
being carved out of polystyrene.
802
00:42:29,750 --> 00:42:32,458
You know, Queen did the music
for the film.
803
00:42:32,583 --> 00:42:36,500
In the ceremony, they actually
played Pink Floyd, "Crazy Diamond".
804
00:42:36,625 --> 00:42:39,375
They played that music,
and it created atmosphere.
805
00:42:39,500 --> 00:42:43,167
So they actually used a musical track
to set the atmosphere.
806
00:42:43,292 --> 00:42:47,333
This is the actual stump monster
from the film 35 years ago.
807
00:42:47,458 --> 00:42:51,833
It's first public appearance
since it killed me in 1979.
808
00:42:51,958 --> 00:42:54,500
And I was asking Quentin
how he got into writing,
809
00:42:54,625 --> 00:42:56,333
because he started as an actor,
810
00:42:56,458 --> 00:43:00,333
he said he would re-write... He would
take scenes from movies that he liked
811
00:43:00,458 --> 00:43:02,583
and do those in acting class,
and add to them.
812
00:43:02,708 --> 00:43:04,667
'He would act the scene
with a partner,
813
00:43:04,792 --> 00:43:07,083
"where you put your hands
in the tree stump.'
814
00:43:07,208 --> 00:43:08,848
And I say in the show, my interview show,
815
00:43:08,958 --> 00:43:11,333
I said, "That's a great scene,
but it's not that long.
816
00:43:11,458 --> 00:43:14,333
"Did you expand it?" He goes,
"Yeah, I would expand the scenes,"
817
00:43:14,458 --> 00:43:16,125
and that's where he learned to write.
818
00:43:16,250 --> 00:43:19,333
It's seriously dilapidated
because it's, um...
819
00:43:19,458 --> 00:43:21,875
All its workings.
Cause it was a mechanical object,
820
00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:23,875
so that tail used to come up.
821
00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:27,500
You'd see in the film, it used to come up
and, kind of, glowed and pulsated.
822
00:43:27,625 --> 00:43:30,375
But that's 35 years of deterioration,
I'm afraid.
823
00:43:30,500 --> 00:43:33,375
I took the leaves from my own
back garden just to give it a bit of...
824
00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:37,792
It's one I made earlier, yeah.
825
00:43:37,917 --> 00:43:39,792
(Bob Lindenmayer)
One day it dawned on me,
826
00:43:39,917 --> 00:43:42,958
if I didn't buy a month's worth
of action figures,
827
00:43:43,083 --> 00:43:48,208
I could take that money and actually
buy something real from the film.
828
00:43:48,333 --> 00:43:51,292
Flash Gordon's tank top.
There's not a lot you can say about that,
829
00:43:51,417 --> 00:43:53,083
other than just... enjoy.
830
00:43:53,208 --> 00:43:54,458
Well, my name is Rolf Skrinde.
831
00:43:54,583 --> 00:43:57,792
I've been collecting
"Flash Gordon" props for 20 years.
832
00:43:57,917 --> 00:44:01,000
This is a tunic worn by
Timothy Dalton as Prince Barin.
833
00:44:01,125 --> 00:44:04,250
It's beautifully made. You can see
it even has little blood stains on it
834
00:44:04,375 --> 00:44:07,250
from the battle on the revolving disc
in Hawkmen City.
835
00:44:07,375 --> 00:44:10,042
And even in the back, it has
some Timothy Dalton sweat stains.
836
00:44:10,167 --> 00:44:14,542
In the '80s, most props and costumes
were, like, pushed outside
837
00:44:14,667 --> 00:44:16,375
into this massive burn pile.
838
00:44:16,500 --> 00:44:18,250
This is a Hawkmen blaster.
839
00:44:18,375 --> 00:44:21,625
So, especially, with the older movies,
it's super challenging.
840
00:44:21,750 --> 00:44:23,833
They would fire,
the light would go off.
841
00:44:23,958 --> 00:44:27,083
The animators, they were making
animated rays for the film,
842
00:44:27,208 --> 00:44:29,458
would know when exactly
they're firing it.
843
00:44:29,583 --> 00:44:32,375
(Imitates gunshots)
844
00:44:32,500 --> 00:44:35,375
I ran down the wing.
(Imitates gunshots)
845
00:44:36,958 --> 00:44:39,250
And they said, "Cut! Cut! Cut!
846
00:44:39,375 --> 00:44:43,917
"Brian, we put in the special effects."”
847
00:44:44,042 --> 00:44:47,208
Original Hawkmen puppet.
There were three sizes of these.
848
00:44:47,333 --> 00:44:49,208
This is the smallest size.
849
00:44:49,333 --> 00:44:53,000
And, essentially, it was just
to pepper out the entire screen.
850
00:44:53,125 --> 00:44:55,208
My first thing I got was
my "Flash Gordon" sword.
851
00:44:55,333 --> 00:44:59,708
When I got it, it was just like,
"Oh, my God. It's so crappy."
852
00:44:59,833 --> 00:45:01,208
Like, now I embrace that.
853
00:45:01,333 --> 00:45:04,208
It has a history to it
that you can actually see.
854
00:45:04,333 --> 00:45:09,292
This is the notorious eyeball gun used
when Flash first crash lands on Mongo.
855
00:45:09,417 --> 00:45:12,559
There's a ray that shoots out of it, and
on the end of the ray is this metal glove
856
00:45:12,583 --> 00:45:15,208
that strangles Flash to the ground.
So you can imagine.
857
00:45:15,333 --> 00:45:17,458
Being throttled
to the ground with this.
858
00:45:17,583 --> 00:45:20,208
Original Hawkman helmet,
which is interesting,
859
00:45:20,333 --> 00:45:23,667
because 90% of them,
the entire top has been snapped off.
860
00:45:23,792 --> 00:45:27,792
This is another Imperial blaster.
And Timothy Dalton uses this.
861
00:45:27,917 --> 00:45:30,917
He flings it over his shoulder
at the end of the film. Kind of awesome.
862
00:45:31,042 --> 00:45:32,500
One of the original Klytus masks.
863
00:45:32,625 --> 00:45:35,458
I couldn't breathe when we first got it.
864
00:45:35,583 --> 00:45:37,458
I couldn't speak any lines.
865
00:45:37,583 --> 00:45:38,684
This is the only one in the world
866
00:45:38,708 --> 00:45:40,583
that has been in the hands
of Peter Wyngarde
867
00:45:40,708 --> 00:45:43,333
in the last 35 years,
which is super exciting.
868
00:45:43,458 --> 00:45:46,833
I had to consider
relinquishing the part.
869
00:45:46,958 --> 00:45:48,750
I suddenly thought of something.
870
00:45:48,875 --> 00:45:51,292
It was a ventriloquist's doll,
871
00:45:51,417 --> 00:45:56,292
with all the instructions
on how to throw your voice out.
872
00:45:56,417 --> 00:46:01,167
And you found a way of making
the voice come from your diaphragm,
873
00:46:01,292 --> 00:46:06,708
and come through, eventually,
through this mask.
874
00:46:06,833 --> 00:46:08,250
And it worked. Eureka!
875
00:46:09,250 --> 00:46:11,083
How can I express my gratitude?
876
00:46:11,208 --> 00:46:13,125
Ming royal guard mask.
877
00:46:13,250 --> 00:46:17,583
This is another good piece,
Prince Vultan's club.
878
00:46:17,708 --> 00:46:21,000
(Blessed) So, I met Dino at Shepperton.
"I want you to be like a Viking,
879
00:46:21,125 --> 00:46:23,583
"and I think you should have a sword."
880
00:46:23,708 --> 00:46:26,125
I said, "What? A sword?"
881
00:46:26,250 --> 00:46:29,167
"I mean, a sword? No, no!"
882
00:46:29,292 --> 00:46:33,625
I said, "This guy is the most powerful man,
physically, in the film.
883
00:46:33,750 --> 00:46:36,542
If you want to carry ray guns,
that makes you weak.
884
00:46:36,667 --> 00:46:39,042
But, if I just move
among monsters and hit them.
885
00:46:39,167 --> 00:46:42,125
"Oof! Bash! Thump!"
886
00:46:42,250 --> 00:46:46,250
Like the comic strip,
he just flattens them without a weapon.
887
00:46:47,250 --> 00:46:49,458
(Imitates) "OK, kid, OK.
888
00:46:49,583 --> 00:46:53,792
"Maybe you have...
You'll have a club."
889
00:46:53,917 --> 00:46:59,083
So this, is an Arborian pipe,
played by the great Richard O'Brien.
890
00:46:59,208 --> 00:47:01,083
It's a pig guard
who we call Creepy Red Guy.
891
00:47:01,208 --> 00:47:04,083
He's the one that got shot in the face,
and the smoke went off,
892
00:47:04,208 --> 00:47:06,083
and, essentially,
like, filled up his helmet,
893
00:47:06,208 --> 00:47:08,333
and made him sick,
and he threw up.
894
00:47:08,458 --> 00:47:10,167
Melody Anderson told me that story.
895
00:47:10,292 --> 00:47:13,917
Without the story,
it might as well be an action figure,
896
00:47:14,042 --> 00:47:15,958
and, I think,
that's probably the difference.
897
00:47:16,083 --> 00:47:18,083
'And mine also has
burn marks in it,
898
00:47:18,208 --> 00:47:21,292
'for the bang flash that was there."
899
00:47:21,417 --> 00:47:25,083
Now, you're living...
You're living in "Flash Gordon".
900
00:47:25,208 --> 00:47:29,083
I think "Flash Gordon" has
the most movie posters ever made.
901
00:47:29,208 --> 00:47:34,042
The amount of original art,
uh, that was generated
902
00:47:34,167 --> 00:47:36,458
before, after, during the film
903
00:47:36,583 --> 00:47:40,167
is unprecedented,
and is super lovely to collect.
904
00:48:04,750 --> 00:48:08,917
It's important in the center, here.
905
00:48:09,042 --> 00:48:11,042
In the center, here.
906
00:48:11,167 --> 00:48:15,708
The line here is perfect.
907
00:48:44,542 --> 00:48:46,833
(Man) 'Today, special effects
have to be more special
908
00:48:46,958 --> 00:48:49,583
'and more effective than ever before,
909
00:48:49,708 --> 00:48:54,333
"and thoroughly tested out,
often at some personal risk.'
910
00:48:54,458 --> 00:48:56,958
I spent a lot of my time
with the special effects people.
911
00:48:57,083 --> 00:48:58,843
They were showing me
how they made the skies,
912
00:48:58,917 --> 00:49:00,583
cause that was very interesting.
913
00:49:00,708 --> 00:49:03,500
Dino De Laurentiis
had a thing about clouds.
914
00:49:03,625 --> 00:49:05,208
He used to love to see clouds.
915
00:49:05,333 --> 00:49:07,958
They had a big tank of water.
Huge tank of water.
916
00:49:08,083 --> 00:49:09,958
And they dropped
those different colors in,
917
00:49:10,083 --> 00:49:13,958
and the different colors had
different weights in the water.
918
00:49:14,083 --> 00:49:16,958
And what they didn't realize
that two days later
919
00:49:17,083 --> 00:49:19,958
the water was still going round.
920
00:49:20,083 --> 00:49:23,958
Very, very slowly,
but it was still moving around.
921
00:49:24,083 --> 00:49:27,708
And as it moved around,
the colors bled into the water.
922
00:49:27,833 --> 00:49:29,708
And there was
this wonderful effect.
923
00:49:29,833 --> 00:49:31,917
It's the first time
you saw colored skies.
924
00:49:32,042 --> 00:49:34,875
So, in that scene where Flash
is going to be executed,
925
00:49:35,000 --> 00:49:37,917
the sky is green
and purple and vermilion.
926
00:49:38,042 --> 00:49:39,167
It's beautiful.
927
00:49:41,042 --> 00:49:43,083
The combat disc was challenging.
928
00:49:43,208 --> 00:49:45,917
"You saw what happened
when Sam went off the edge,
929
00:49:46,042 --> 00:49:49,875
'uh, and that was not
out of an improvised situation.
930
00:49:50,000 --> 00:49:51,920
'If we improvised,
we'd probably kill ourselves.'
931
00:49:52,000 --> 00:49:55,250
We had to think of a good way
to make the spikes look menacing
932
00:49:55,375 --> 00:49:56,750
without being dangerous.
933
00:49:56,875 --> 00:49:58,917
'My colleague came in
one morning on his bike,
934
00:49:59,042 --> 00:50:01,917
"Why don't we make the spikes
like bicycle pumps?
935
00:50:02,042 --> 00:50:03,518
'And then, we can blow it up with air.
936
00:50:03,542 --> 00:50:06,083
'And if somebody falls on it,
it will just go down again.™
937
00:50:06,208 --> 00:50:08,542
- And that's what we did.
- Knives up, please.
938
00:50:08,667 --> 00:50:11,917
- (Man) Knives up.
- (Jones) All knives.
939
00:50:12,042 --> 00:50:14,333
Get all knives in there.
940
00:50:14,458 --> 00:50:16,500
There's no art without craft,
in my opinion.
941
00:50:16,625 --> 00:50:19,583
(Duncan) 'It was probably
the last of the pre, sort of,
942
00:50:19,708 --> 00:50:21,875
'before we got hi-tech
digital stuff coming in.
943
00:50:22,000 --> 00:50:26,000
"And yet, it was still done well
with props.
944
00:50:26,125 --> 00:50:28,542
'And, of course, we'd had "2001",
945
00:50:28,667 --> 00:50:31,917
'so you could still pretend
very well with models and things,
946
00:50:32,042 --> 00:50:33,875
'and make it look good.'
947
00:50:34,000 --> 00:50:37,875
But now, everything is so hi-tech
948
00:50:38,000 --> 00:50:40,083
that we've almost lost that romance.
949
00:50:40,208 --> 00:50:42,875
I really think that how well
"Flash Gordon" turned out
950
00:50:43,000 --> 00:50:46,958
for what it aspired to be, I think,
is a testament to that script.
951
00:50:47,083 --> 00:50:49,833
- It was fun.
- Tell me more about this man Houdini.
952
00:50:49,958 --> 00:50:53,167
We were very good at being so serious.
953
00:50:53,292 --> 00:50:56,000
I love this line:
"Tears, they are a sign of weakness."
954
00:50:57,292 --> 00:50:59,542
It's fucking true, though.
955
00:50:59,667 --> 00:51:01,833
- It is.
- Have you seen us cry in this interview?
956
00:51:01,958 --> 00:51:03,583
No. And we're strong.
957
00:51:03,708 --> 00:51:05,833
The nice thing is,
the comedy becomes enriched
958
00:51:05,958 --> 00:51:09,500
because they are not playing it for comedy,
because they are playing it seriously.
959
00:51:09,625 --> 00:51:14,833
So it was never going to be like
a "Star Wars", it was never going to be...
960
00:51:14,958 --> 00:51:16,375
It was always going to be camp.
961
00:51:16,500 --> 00:51:20,000
I don't see it as camp,
it's comic strip.
962
00:51:20,125 --> 00:51:22,833
When we did it,
we had no idea that it was...
963
00:51:22,958 --> 00:51:24,833
In the sense, it was a bit
tongue in cheek.
964
00:51:24,958 --> 00:51:28,833
I think I seem to remember
it was a serious science-fiction film,
965
00:51:28,958 --> 00:51:31,583
even though everybody
was dressed in, sort of, lycra,
966
00:51:31,708 --> 00:51:34,750
and it all seemed a bit... You know,
a little bit over the top.
967
00:51:35,333 --> 00:51:38,833
Timothy Dalton was very naive.
968
00:51:38,958 --> 00:51:40,833
I mean, very young.
969
00:51:40,958 --> 00:51:43,792
He took it all very seriously.
970
00:51:43,917 --> 00:51:46,792
- Timothy Dalton is giving it everything.
- He's good.
971
00:51:46,917 --> 00:51:48,792
- He's taking it very seriously.
- He loves it.
972
00:51:48,917 --> 00:51:50,500
I think everyone is.
973
00:51:50,625 --> 00:51:53,625
Timothy would say things like
"Well, uh...
974
00:51:53,750 --> 00:51:56,583
"I'm gonna play it like Errol Flynn.
Yeah, yeah. With that panache."”
975
00:51:56,708 --> 00:51:57,708
Prepare a feast!
976
00:51:57,833 --> 00:52:01,375
One interesting thing was that
Ming the Merciless was Max von Sydow.
977
00:52:01,500 --> 00:52:04,792
I'm not sure that I'm Killed.
978
00:52:04,917 --> 00:52:08,833
I think I have, somewhere,
a secret trick
979
00:52:08,958 --> 00:52:11,917
which might give me
a chance to return.
980
00:52:12,042 --> 00:52:13,917
He sat with me, and he said,
981
00:52:14,917 --> 00:52:19,125
(Imitates) "I don't know
how to play this part, Ming."
982
00:52:21,917 --> 00:52:24,708
"Max, you amaze me.
A great actor like you..."
983
00:52:24,833 --> 00:52:26,750
(Imitates)
"I know, I know, I know.
984
00:52:26,875 --> 00:52:31,042
"I've got to make my entrance
in about 20 minutes' time.
985
00:52:31,167 --> 00:52:35,333
"I don't know what to do
with my first entrance."
986
00:52:35,458 --> 00:52:40,708
I said, "Well, Ming's a magician,
and he is very sexy."
987
00:52:40,833 --> 00:52:45,208
I said, "Ming uses his hands."
It freed him.
988
00:52:45,333 --> 00:52:46,750
So, I show up for my close up.
989
00:52:46,875 --> 00:52:50,750
And here's Max von Sydow
coming back to set two hours later.
990
00:52:50,875 --> 00:52:53,917
He's wearing the full costume,
which weighed 60 pounds.
991
00:52:54,042 --> 00:52:56,750
'I said, "Max, what are you doing, man?
You're off camera.
992
00:52:56,875 --> 00:52:59,750
"You don't need to be here.
You don't really need to wear that.™
993
00:52:59,875 --> 00:53:02,750
And he looked at me
and he said, "Sam..."
994
00:53:02,875 --> 00:53:06,708
He said, "I'm going to give you
my off-camera lines
995
00:53:06,833 --> 00:53:12,042
"the way I best see it,
and you had better do the same for me."
996
00:53:12,167 --> 00:53:15,458
I went to his dressing room,
and there's girls in the bath, naked.
997
00:53:15,583 --> 00:53:18,625
"What are you doing, love?"
"I think he's gorgeous!"
998
00:53:18,750 --> 00:53:24,208
"Darling, get out of the bath! Dry off, love.
He's happily married, he's got a terrible ulcer,
999
00:53:24,333 --> 00:53:29,750
"he's not well, and he can't
shag anybody! Out the bath!"
1000
00:53:29,875 --> 00:53:32,708
I think a week
I was on and off set,
1001
00:53:32,833 --> 00:53:35,708
catching occasional glimpses
of Ornella Muti
1002
00:53:35,833 --> 00:53:38,125
across the set floor, really.
1003
00:53:38,250 --> 00:53:41,792
Being a young man then,
I was rather enchanted.
1004
00:53:41,917 --> 00:53:46,417
I was her pet. I said,
"What a nice owner to be a pet with."
1005
00:53:46,542 --> 00:53:49,208
Princess Aura is looking
at Prince Barin,
1006
00:53:49,333 --> 00:53:54,667
and they're whipping some guy,
and she goes, "I love initiations."
1007
00:53:54,792 --> 00:53:56,875
- That's one of my favorites.
- Right.
1008
00:53:57,000 --> 00:54:03,333
A particular thing which I'd hoped
Mike would do something more with...
1009
00:54:03,458 --> 00:54:05,458
Which I regret he didn't.
1010
00:54:05,583 --> 00:54:08,500
"'The execution,
Klytus takes out a handkerchief
1011
00:54:08,625 --> 00:54:10,708
'and puts it under his nose.'
1012
00:54:10,833 --> 00:54:14,792
It was her handkerchief,
Princess Aura's handkerchief.
1013
00:54:16,083 --> 00:54:19,667
That was what I was trying to do.
He wanted to take Ming's place.
1014
00:54:19,792 --> 00:54:23,917
And he thought the best thing
to do is fuck the daughter.
1015
00:54:24,042 --> 00:54:25,667
(Man) 'Klytus, I'm bored.'
1016
00:54:25,792 --> 00:54:28,042
(Ross) Just the very opening
of the film is something
1017
00:54:28,167 --> 00:54:29,268
that would get my heartbeat up.
1018
00:54:29,292 --> 00:54:32,625
The very first frame, I think,
is Ming talking about Earth
1019
00:54:32,750 --> 00:54:34,375
and wanting to destroy it.
1020
00:54:34,500 --> 00:54:37,292
And he does the buttons
for, you know, earthquake.
1021
00:54:37,417 --> 00:54:40,167
Hurricane, tornado and hot hail.
1022
00:54:40,292 --> 00:54:42,625
What the hell is hot hail?
1023
00:54:42,750 --> 00:54:45,333
It's hail that's hot,
and when it lands, it burns.
1024
00:54:45,458 --> 00:54:47,000
But why hot hail?
1025
00:54:47,125 --> 00:54:50,042
- Why not, like, hail?
- What's cold hail going to do?
1026
00:54:50,167 --> 00:54:52,625
And then, the first lines
of "Klytus, I'm bored", and
1027
00:54:52,750 --> 00:54:54,625
"What plaything can you
offer me today?"
1028
00:54:54,750 --> 00:54:58,792
You know, all that stuff
is so invigorating
1029
00:54:58,917 --> 00:55:01,717
because you know there is this drumbeat
that's coming around the corner
1030
00:55:01,750 --> 00:55:06,083
very soon. Putting a rock
soundtrack to a modern sci-fi film
1031
00:55:06,208 --> 00:55:08,625
was something novel that
hadn't really been tried before
1032
00:55:08,750 --> 00:55:10,958
and, really, hasn't been done
much since.
1033
00:55:11,083 --> 00:55:16,042
In terms of music and film,
obviously music plays an incredible part.
1034
00:55:16,167 --> 00:55:19,250
Music is such an emotional
component of filmmaking
1035
00:55:19,375 --> 00:55:21,583
that when you hear
that music in there,
1036
00:55:21,708 --> 00:55:23,018
and you actually listen to it now,
and you go,
1037
00:55:23,042 --> 00:55:25,083
"Oh, wait a minute.
What was Queen in the '80s?
1038
00:55:25,208 --> 00:55:27,458
"Oh, my God.
They were, like, musical gods."
1039
00:55:27,583 --> 00:55:29,292
Just before "Flash Gordon" came out,
1040
00:55:29,417 --> 00:55:32,375
Queen's biggest album
was "The Game" in America.
1041
00:55:32,500 --> 00:55:37,042
And "Another One Bites the Dust" was
this massive, massive single everywhere.
1042
00:55:37,167 --> 00:55:39,833
- Uh, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love."
- "Ha-ha!"
1043
00:55:39,958 --> 00:55:42,458
That's my best part,
when they go, "Ha-ha!"
1044
00:55:42,583 --> 00:55:46,583
"We Will Rock You",
I mean, they had hit after hit after hit.
1045
00:55:46,708 --> 00:55:53,083
So, I think that movie,
that score, that soundtrack,
1046
00:55:53,208 --> 00:55:57,833
yeah, was an important part
more for the movie than for Queen.
1047
00:55:57,958 --> 00:56:01,542
Because anytime that song
comes up, and it's...
1048
00:56:01,667 --> 00:56:04,625
- (Humming)
- (Humming) ♪ Flash
1049
00:56:04,750 --> 00:56:08,917
- ♪ Flash! Ah-ah!
- (All vocalizing)
1050
00:56:09,042 --> 00:56:10,643
Music has always been
very important in my movies.
1051
00:56:10,667 --> 00:56:12,627
I started just doing
my own music because of that.
1052
00:56:12,667 --> 00:56:14,542
I started my own band because of that.
1053
00:56:14,667 --> 00:56:16,542
Having the band score a movie.
1054
00:56:16,667 --> 00:56:19,833
I've been doing it since "Desperado”,
probably because of that.
1055
00:56:19,958 --> 00:56:21,643
When I was a kid, I bought...
I was at a flea market,
1056
00:56:21,667 --> 00:56:24,542
and I bought the soundtrack
to "Flash Gordon".
1057
00:56:24,667 --> 00:56:26,333
It was this bright yellow album
1058
00:56:26,458 --> 00:56:28,333
with the "Flash Gordon" logo on it.
1059
00:56:28,458 --> 00:56:30,542
You had this, kind of, heartbeat
to the movie
1060
00:56:30,667 --> 00:56:33,417
that was built by this
incredible rock star band.
1061
00:56:33,542 --> 00:56:35,833
Still inspires me to this day
with my own music.
1062
00:56:35,958 --> 00:56:37,500
I think, really, for its time,
1063
00:56:37,625 --> 00:56:41,375
it was just the zeitgeist of music
for a film.
1064
00:56:42,625 --> 00:56:45,375
Without them? (Chuckles)
1065
00:56:45,500 --> 00:56:47,292
Queen's music is sensational.
1066
00:56:47,417 --> 00:56:51,208
The romantic music when Flash
and Dale are together in that rocket.
1067
00:56:51,333 --> 00:56:54,500
I thought that that was
the best thing in the film.
1068
00:56:54,625 --> 00:56:58,000
Queen, I think that's essential
to the movie.
1069
00:56:58,125 --> 00:57:01,500
I think the movie would
have been fine on its own.
1070
00:57:01,625 --> 00:57:05,875
You know, it would have been
an amazing thing as it is, but...
1071
00:57:06,000 --> 00:57:09,500
It takes you over the top.
It's like this, and then, it goes...
1072
00:57:09,625 --> 00:57:12,708
- Yeah.
- Here, Queen.
1073
00:57:12,833 --> 00:57:19,458
What happened with the score was that it
produced a very, very unusual... synthesis
1074
00:57:19,583 --> 00:57:25,458
between orchestral music
and pop music or rock music,
1075
00:57:25,583 --> 00:57:29,000
whichever Brian might want to call it.
1076
00:57:39,000 --> 00:57:40,958
♪ He's for every one of us
1077
00:57:41,083 --> 00:57:42,750
♪ Stands for every one of us
1078
00:57:42,875 --> 00:57:46,500
♪ He saves with a mighty hand
every man, every woman every child
1079
00:57:46,625 --> 00:57:48,976
- ♪ It's the mighty Flash
- (Blake)'There was another composer.'
1080
00:57:49,000 --> 00:57:51,268
They thought he was going to write it,
and he didn't write it.
1081
00:57:51,292 --> 00:57:54,125
He wrote enough for one minute.
1082
00:57:54,250 --> 00:57:58,417
And here, Dale, I give a hint
of "The Love Theme",
1083
00:57:58,542 --> 00:58:01,875
that... (Hums)
1084
00:58:02,000 --> 00:58:07,333
I had, effectively, ten days
to write this colossal score.
1085
00:58:07,458 --> 00:58:10,917
When we began, they were already
quite far on with the filming.
1086
00:58:11,042 --> 00:58:12,518
And they were able
to show us the rushes
1087
00:58:12,542 --> 00:58:17,208
of the things
which they wanted music for.
1088
00:58:17,333 --> 00:58:18,934
I went away, and I already had
this thing in my head.
1089
00:58:18,958 --> 00:58:21,542
It was sort of... (Hums)
1090
00:58:21,667 --> 00:58:25,375
And it became the underscore of the film,
something I was really pleased about.
1091
00:58:25,500 --> 00:58:27,167
And I could hear it all in my head.
1092
00:58:27,292 --> 00:58:28,917
I could hear
all the harmonies go, Flash!
1093
00:58:30,167 --> 00:58:31,458
"Ah-ah!"
1094
00:58:31,583 --> 00:58:34,125
It's all about... thunder and lightning.
1095
00:58:34,250 --> 00:58:36,417
You know, "Flash!"
And then the thunder comes.
1096
00:58:36,542 --> 00:58:38,917
So it goes, um...
I wonder if I can still play it.
1097
00:58:39,042 --> 00:58:41,917
(♪ "Flash's Theme")
1098
00:58:44,083 --> 00:58:46,083
(♪ Low, loud note)
1099
00:58:51,500 --> 00:58:52,375
That kind of stuff.
1100
00:58:52,500 --> 00:58:55,917
And what everybody loves is
the... (Low, loud note)
1101
00:58:56,500 --> 00:59:00,000
On a multi-million dollar piano.
1102
00:59:00,125 --> 00:59:02,375
Funnily enough,
you won't see it in the video.
1103
00:59:02,500 --> 00:59:05,375
Mike made the video
incredibly rushed.
1104
00:59:05,500 --> 00:59:08,375
So you see me going, "blam",
but you never see me do this
1105
00:59:08,500 --> 00:59:10,375
because he always cuts
to Roger going "pssh”
1106
00:59:10,500 --> 00:59:12,476
on the cymbal, which happens
at the same time, obviously.
1107
00:59:12,500 --> 00:59:14,125
So, nobody's seen that till now.
1108
00:59:14,250 --> 00:59:17,375
♪ Flash! Ah-ah!
1109
00:59:17,500 --> 00:59:20,708
♪ Savior of the Universe ♪
1110
00:59:20,833 --> 00:59:24,167
When we saw these first rushes,
we all picked on a piece.
1111
00:59:24,292 --> 00:59:26,542
I worked on, well, a couple of things.
1112
00:59:26,667 --> 00:59:29,333
I guess the battle sequence
and, um, the title.
1113
00:59:29,458 --> 00:59:31,333
I wanted to make the title theme.
1114
00:59:31,458 --> 00:59:33,333
And Freddie...
1115
00:59:33,458 --> 00:59:35,434
It was hard to keep Freddie in the studio
at that point, I've got to say.
1116
00:59:35,458 --> 00:59:37,418
He was like,
"Yes, darlings, I'll do a little bit,
1117
00:59:37,458 --> 00:59:40,333
"and then I have to go."
But he did, like, this...
1118
00:59:40,458 --> 00:59:44,542
great, kind of, ethereal...
1119
00:59:46,833 --> 00:59:50,833
a little vocal piece for... Princess Aura.
1120
00:59:50,958 --> 00:59:54,917
Freddie Mercury, he said,
"I've written a tune."
1121
00:59:55,042 --> 00:59:57,333
I remember Brian saying sometimes,
1122
00:59:57,458 --> 01:00:01,708
"When Freddie comes in,
he knows exactly what he wants
1123
01:00:01,833 --> 01:00:04,143
"and what he's going to do,
and we don't have to work too hard."
1124
01:00:04,167 --> 01:00:08,292
I said, "How's it go?" He said,
"Well, I'd have to sing it to you."
1125
01:00:08,417 --> 01:00:10,292
I said, "Well, go on. Sing it to me."
1126
01:00:10,417 --> 01:00:13,625
So he went...
(High-pitched vocalizing)
1127
01:00:13,750 --> 01:00:15,792
Freddie was a, kind of,
musical genius,
1128
01:00:15,917 --> 01:00:19,625
because he wasn't the musician
that Brian May is
1129
01:00:19,750 --> 01:00:23,042
or the others,
but up here he was.
1130
01:00:23,167 --> 01:00:25,292
The, sort of, weight of emotion in it
1131
01:00:25,417 --> 01:00:28,542
is all, really, very much
1132
01:00:28,667 --> 01:00:31,292
due to the way the music is written.
1133
01:00:31,417 --> 01:00:34,292
So you also have to be
not only a composer
1134
01:00:34,417 --> 01:00:36,625
but a bit of a psychiatrist.
1135
01:00:41,417 --> 01:00:43,937
(May) 'Once you have your themes
and you've demoed them roughly,
1136
01:00:44,000 --> 01:00:46,917
'you then go in and embroider and
try to make them into finished tracks.'
1137
01:00:47,042 --> 01:00:49,250
And, of course, you know,
Freddie has to do the singing
1138
01:00:49,375 --> 01:00:52,250
so we try and write out all the words
for Freddie to sing
1139
01:00:52,375 --> 01:00:55,250
and, um, show him what we want.
1140
01:00:55,375 --> 01:00:58,042
And Freddie says,
"No, darlings, I'll do it this way."
1141
01:00:58,167 --> 01:01:00,792
And, um, he does his own thing.
1142
01:01:00,917 --> 01:01:04,375
He hated me making him sing
the end titles,
1143
01:01:04,500 --> 01:01:07,250
which were incredibly high,
you know, "The Hero".
1144
01:01:07,375 --> 01:01:09,542
And it was done pretty late on,
and he's like,
1145
01:01:09,667 --> 01:01:12,917
"You always give me
these fucking things
1146
01:01:13,042 --> 01:01:16,125
"that make my beautiful throat bleed!"
1147
01:01:16,250 --> 01:01:19,792
He hated it and loved it
because he loved the challenge.
1148
01:01:19,917 --> 01:01:22,250
Forever!
1149
01:01:22,375 --> 01:01:26,208
♪ Put your feet on the ground
Put your hand on your heart ♪
1150
01:01:26,333 --> 01:01:29,750
The idea of us doing the underscore was,
kind of, revolutionary at the time.
1151
01:01:29,875 --> 01:01:31,917
Nobody had done a rock underscore
at that time.
1152
01:01:32,042 --> 01:01:33,583
Nobody at all, as far as I know.
1153
01:01:33,708 --> 01:01:38,583
I did a little demo,
and Dino sat there very impassive,
1154
01:01:38,708 --> 01:01:42,208
and listened, and listened,
and listened, with a slight frown,
1155
01:01:42,333 --> 01:01:43,625
and said nothing.
1156
01:01:43,750 --> 01:01:47,208
And then, we play "Flash",
the theme which I had come up with,
1157
01:01:47,333 --> 01:01:50,500
which was supposed to be the theme
for the whole movie, I was hoping.
1158
01:01:50,625 --> 01:01:52,958
I played that to him,
and he went...
1159
01:01:53,083 --> 01:01:55,208
His frown, kind of, deepened,
and he went,
1160
01:01:55,333 --> 01:01:58,667
"This is very good,
but this is not the music for my film."
1161
01:01:58,792 --> 01:02:02,208
And it wasn't until the premiere
of the film itself,
1162
01:02:02,333 --> 01:02:04,208
which happened in London,
1163
01:02:04,333 --> 01:02:07,167
when Dino finally said,
"Thank you. It's magnificent."
1164
01:02:07,292 --> 01:02:09,809
Or something like this, you know.
I don't know exactly what he said.
1165
01:02:09,833 --> 01:02:12,167
But he came over especially
to say thank you to us
1166
01:02:12,292 --> 01:02:16,250
for making his film, uh, come alive.
1167
01:02:16,375 --> 01:02:18,500
I thought,
"It's amazing. I've finished it."
1168
01:02:18,625 --> 01:02:21,458
"The next thing I knew,
my wife was shaking me.
1169
01:02:21,583 --> 01:02:23,292
'She said,
"Do you know what day it is?"
1170
01:02:24,292 --> 01:02:25,167
'I said, "It's Thursday.™
1171
01:02:25,292 --> 01:02:29,375
She said, "It's Saturday."
They couldn't wake me up.
1172
01:02:29,500 --> 01:02:34,083
'And they had to shoot me
with Benzedrine to wake me up.'
1173
01:02:34,208 --> 01:02:38,250
Acute bronchitis
and pneumonia in both lungs
1174
01:02:38,375 --> 01:02:40,167
due to absolute, total exhaustion.
1175
01:02:40,292 --> 01:02:43,292
"And he said, "Actually,
you would never have woken up."
1176
01:02:44,958 --> 01:02:47,167
And I remember saying,
"I feel fine."
1177
01:02:51,208 --> 01:02:53,042
You're ready?
1178
01:02:56,250 --> 01:02:58,250
(Humming)
1179
01:03:00,250 --> 01:03:02,000
Look at that, huh?
1180
01:03:02,125 --> 01:03:05,125
(Ramona Jones) I met Sam
in church twenty-three years ago
1181
01:03:05,250 --> 01:03:07,792
in Indonesia,
he was doing a film there.
1182
01:03:07,917 --> 01:03:10,125
He saw Ramona, and he said,
1183
01:03:10,250 --> 01:03:12,375
"OK, that's her. That's my wife."
1184
01:03:12,500 --> 01:03:15,226
Something in me just clicked. You know,
I had butterflies in my stomach.
1185
01:03:15,250 --> 01:03:19,250
And I said, "Oh, my gosh.
This is the man. I'm gonna marry him."
1186
01:03:19,375 --> 01:03:22,125
'It was rough. Sam was
very much an actor back then.'
1187
01:03:22,250 --> 01:03:25,958
He was so caught up
in what he thought he had to be
1188
01:03:26,083 --> 01:03:28,208
and what he thought
the world expected him to be.
1189
01:03:28,333 --> 01:03:30,750
"You think you've got to be
this famous actor.
1190
01:03:30,875 --> 01:03:32,893
'You've got to have, like,
millions of dollars in your account.
1191
01:03:32,917 --> 01:03:37,083
'And that's how the world treats you.
That's how they measure success.'
1192
01:03:37,208 --> 01:03:39,083
(Jones) 'You're raised on a pedestal.'
1193
01:03:39,208 --> 01:03:44,083
Once it's over, you go, "Wait a minute,
guys. Time out. Don't you remember?
1194
01:03:44,208 --> 01:03:46,542
"I just starred in that movie,
and I just did this series."
1195
01:03:46,667 --> 01:03:48,750
At one point, he was at the top,
1196
01:03:48,875 --> 01:03:50,958
and he was making millions
upon millions of dollars.
1197
01:03:51,083 --> 01:03:53,043
And I'm sure my brother
would tell you about this.
1198
01:03:53,083 --> 01:03:56,708
And then, he's been at the lowest
of low points where he had nothing.
1199
01:03:56,833 --> 01:04:01,083
I saw all of his successes
and all of his failures.
1200
01:04:01,208 --> 01:04:05,083
And, I guess, as a kid,
you don't really understand why,
1201
01:04:05,208 --> 01:04:08,083
uh, someone can be
super successful one moment,
1202
01:04:08,208 --> 01:04:12,958
and then, all of a sudden, we're sleeping
on my grandmother's floor.
1203
01:04:13,083 --> 01:04:17,042
If the phone's not ringing
and nobody is calling you to, uh...
1204
01:04:17,167 --> 01:04:20,042
you know, to contract you
to act in a movie,
1205
01:04:20,167 --> 01:04:22,042
(Chuckles) you start...
1206
01:04:22,167 --> 01:04:24,708
you know, then you start
believing that.
1207
01:04:24,833 --> 01:04:27,875
Well, you know, maybe I'm not in demand
anymore, maybe I'm not needed.
1208
01:04:28,000 --> 01:04:31,375
We were just at that place where
I had been teaching for many years,
1209
01:04:31,500 --> 01:04:35,042
and we had little kids, and I said,
"You've got to do something else.”
1210
01:04:35,167 --> 01:04:38,750
After "Flash Gordon", he had a lull
and a dip even before I met him.
1211
01:04:38,875 --> 01:04:41,042
So when I met him,
he was on the upswing again.
1212
01:04:41,167 --> 01:04:44,042
So, he was on a comeback
even at that young of age.
1213
01:04:44,167 --> 01:04:47,042
And then, when it dipped again
in the early '90s,
1214
01:04:47,167 --> 01:04:49,667
I think he just thought he was gonna
bounce again like he did.
1215
01:04:49,792 --> 01:04:51,667
And all of a sudden
he saw he wasn't bouncing.
1216
01:04:53,208 --> 01:04:55,667
I watched a lot of suffering.
1217
01:04:55,792 --> 01:05:00,833
I watched... I watched the wilderness
for Sam and Ramona.
1218
01:05:00,958 --> 01:05:03,750
She suffered, OK? Sam suffered.
1219
01:05:03,875 --> 01:05:09,000
And his kids, especially Matthew
and his daughter suffered, OK?
1220
01:05:09,125 --> 01:05:11,167
So, I'm not gonna make light of that.
1221
01:05:11,292 --> 01:05:14,958
He lost his family,
he lost his place in Hollywood.
1222
01:05:15,083 --> 01:05:19,000
I don't know any other woman
that would've done that decade
1223
01:05:19,125 --> 01:05:22,917
that she had to endure with him.
I wouldn't have.
1224
01:05:23,042 --> 01:05:25,208
Now, he's remarried, he's broken.
1225
01:05:25,333 --> 01:05:27,000
I think that she had gotten
to that point,
1226
01:05:27,125 --> 01:05:29,958
and, basically, had given him
an ultimatum.
1227
01:05:30,083 --> 01:05:33,750
If you're not going to change
the way you do things,
1228
01:05:33,875 --> 01:05:37,875
then maybe I'm not supposed to be
walking this path with you.
1229
01:05:38,000 --> 01:05:41,268
(Esprit) 'She went to Indonesia with the kids
for a couple of weeks, and he sat there.'
1230
01:05:41,292 --> 01:05:45,375
(Ramona) 'What do I have? What's
another thing I can do besides acting?'
1231
01:05:45,500 --> 01:05:50,583
And then he realized,
"Well, I guess my military background,
1232
01:05:50,708 --> 01:05:53,833
"and I have these certain
skill sets that I can use
1233
01:05:53,958 --> 01:05:55,958
"to help bring provision into my home."
1234
01:05:56,083 --> 01:05:59,958
He had gotten himself
in a position to be a bodyguard
1235
01:06:00,083 --> 01:06:02,958
and to work as a high-end
security details.
1236
01:06:03,083 --> 01:06:06,583
He really wanted to keep living
that superhero life in real life.
1237
01:06:06,708 --> 01:06:09,333
He would get a job that
he still has now down in San Diego,
1238
01:06:09,458 --> 01:06:11,500
and they would have to move.
1239
01:06:11,625 --> 01:06:13,958
'If you ever want to talk
about divine intervention
1240
01:06:14,083 --> 01:06:16,875
"or a move that you really need to do
1241
01:06:17,000 --> 01:06:19,292
'and there is a real purpose for it,
that was for them.'
1242
01:06:24,000 --> 01:06:26,792
You got to do things with a spirit
of excellence, otherwise,
1243
01:06:26,917 --> 01:06:32,500
as my dad would say, "If you can't do
the job right, then don't do it at all.”
1244
01:06:32,625 --> 01:06:34,917
I'd always say, "Well, Dad,
I don't want to do it at all."
1245
01:06:35,042 --> 01:06:37,042
And he started laughing
and walked away.
1246
01:06:38,458 --> 01:06:41,000
Average day is,
I get up at 3:30am.
1247
01:06:41,125 --> 01:06:44,917
Cross border security operations 101.
1248
01:06:45,042 --> 01:06:47,500
We'll be under the radar today.
Low profile.
1249
01:06:47,625 --> 01:06:51,042
We're crossing the border
at any designated time
1250
01:06:51,875 --> 01:06:53,917
between 5:00 and whatever it is.
1251
01:06:54,042 --> 01:06:55,667
5:00am on.
1252
01:06:55,792 --> 01:06:59,208
You will not see our weapons.
Our weapons are usually concealed.
1253
01:06:59,333 --> 01:07:00,875
We're not in a combat zone.
1254
01:07:01,000 --> 01:07:03,750
High risk, but not combat zone.
1255
01:07:03,875 --> 01:07:08,417
We would transport our VIP principal
to a secure place.
1256
01:07:08,542 --> 01:07:10,875
Are there any imminent threats
on their life?
1257
01:07:11,000 --> 01:07:13,792
Any... Any, uh, former threats?
1258
01:07:13,917 --> 01:07:16,000
It just compounds it for us.
1259
01:07:16,125 --> 01:07:19,667
During the day, we have
a command post, an office.
1260
01:07:19,792 --> 01:07:23,875
And we're doing our intel reports,
we're doing our admin work.
1261
01:07:24,000 --> 01:07:26,042
We're out running advances.
1262
01:07:26,167 --> 01:07:28,000
When we go into a restaurant to eat,
1263
01:07:28,125 --> 01:07:29,976
we pay immediately,
we don't wait around for the check.
1264
01:07:30,000 --> 01:07:33,042
"They have recognized me as an actor.
1265
01:07:33,167 --> 01:07:36,458
"Wait, wait, wait.
I've got an actor protecting me?"
1266
01:07:36,583 --> 01:07:38,833
"No, no.
This doesn't feel right, OK?"
1267
01:07:38,958 --> 01:07:41,833
But, uh, thank God
they didn't recognize me
1268
01:07:41,958 --> 01:07:44,750
until three or four months afterwards,
1269
01:07:44,875 --> 01:07:48,458
where I had already proven myself
as a security professional.
1270
01:07:48,583 --> 01:07:50,833
- Ooh! Who is this, Pablo?
- (Man) Where?
1271
01:07:50,958 --> 01:07:55,833
Right here on the left.
This is President Abraham Lincoln,
1272
01:07:55,958 --> 01:07:57,208
believe it or not.
1273
01:07:57,333 --> 01:07:59,833
And why is the statue
of Abraham Lincoln
1274
01:07:59,958 --> 01:08:02,792
on the Boulevard of Heroes in Tijuana?
1275
01:08:05,375 --> 01:08:09,625
Yeah, he probably liked tacos,
but he was a he is a hero
1276
01:08:09,750 --> 01:08:12,833
to the country of Mexico.
1277
01:08:12,958 --> 01:08:20,500
The average salary here in Mexico
is approximately $10 to $20 a day.
1278
01:08:20,625 --> 01:08:25,583
Before, the drug cartels started
committing all their crimes,
1279
01:08:25,708 --> 01:08:29,208
and chased away a lot of the tourists.
1280
01:08:29,333 --> 01:08:33,375
It's the lower level criminals
that you have to be concerned about.
1281
01:08:33,500 --> 01:08:36,542
Wherever we drive,
no matter what we do,
1282
01:08:36,667 --> 01:08:39,958
you always want to leave a way out.
1283
01:08:40,083 --> 01:08:43,625
If you don't have a way out,
then you've made a big mistake.
1284
01:08:49,917 --> 01:08:51,792
Video.
1285
01:08:51,917 --> 01:08:53,792
(Hill I think for Sam,
a great family man,
1286
01:08:53,917 --> 01:08:55,792
he's got five kids who he adores,
1287
01:08:55,917 --> 01:08:58,708
he'd have wanted to continue
to take care of his family.
1288
01:08:58,833 --> 01:09:03,292
And he was in the military,
had a strong sense of authority.
1289
01:09:03,417 --> 01:09:07,125
And, uh, the whole security
business appealed to him,
1290
01:09:07,250 --> 01:09:08,750
that this is something I can do.
1291
01:09:08,875 --> 01:09:11,750
And I'll commit to that
the same way I committed to acting
1292
01:09:11,875 --> 01:09:14,375
or anything else, and I just think
1293
01:09:14,500 --> 01:09:18,750
that it was Sam answering the call
as a father.
1294
01:09:18,875 --> 01:09:21,750
And that, you know, there's...
1295
01:09:21,875 --> 01:09:24,875
Being a good father is the most
important thing a man can be.
1296
01:09:25,000 --> 01:09:27,875
Sam had to be a man that stood.
1297
01:09:28,875 --> 01:09:30,875
And stood.
1298
01:09:31,875 --> 01:09:33,750
And sacrificed.
1299
01:09:33,875 --> 01:09:36,542
And then,
going from being Flash Gordon
1300
01:09:36,667 --> 01:09:40,875
to getting a job as a security person
and going to Mexico and...
1301
01:09:42,875 --> 01:09:44,625
Well, I dare anybody to try that.
1302
01:09:44,750 --> 01:09:49,583
I'm a Marine, you know. I was
a former Marine before I was an actor.
1303
01:09:49,708 --> 01:09:51,250
And my family and friends say,
1304
01:09:51,375 --> 01:09:55,708
"No, you're always a Marine.
Once a Marine, you're always a Marine."
1305
01:09:55,833 --> 01:09:59,625
But it's just... It's just...
That's me every day.
1306
01:09:59,750 --> 01:10:01,708
We had a small group
of four, five couples.
1307
01:10:01,833 --> 01:10:04,125
We'd met maybe weekly
for about two months,
1308
01:10:04,250 --> 01:10:06,333
and we're just getting
to know each other.
1309
01:10:06,458 --> 01:10:08,083
Sam and his wife come late one night.
1310
01:10:08,208 --> 01:10:11,208
I remember my wife and I were
arguing one day at the airport,
1311
01:10:11,333 --> 01:10:13,292
and it was all about me, you know.
1312
01:10:13,417 --> 01:10:17,583
- We're talking about opening up our lives.
- And she said there's a great book.
1313
01:10:17,708 --> 01:10:20,708
And finally Sam stands up,
bigger than life, and says,
1314
01:10:20,833 --> 01:10:23,708
"I need to tell the truth here.
My life is a mess.
1315
01:10:23,833 --> 01:10:26,208
"We were arguing in the car
that's why we're late."”
1316
01:10:26,333 --> 01:10:28,417
It's called "Purpose Driven Life".
1317
01:10:28,542 --> 01:10:31,542
I said, "I don't want to read it.
I know my purpose in life.
1318
01:10:31,667 --> 01:10:33,250
"I know my purpose in life, woman."
1319
01:10:33,375 --> 01:10:35,000
"We need help,
and we need this group!”
1320
01:10:35,125 --> 01:10:37,667
She said, "Well, just read
the first paragraph.”
1321
01:10:37,792 --> 01:10:40,667
You know, Rick Warren's
"Purpose Driven Life".
1322
01:10:40,792 --> 01:10:44,333
I read the first sentence,
and the first four words,
1323
01:10:44,458 --> 01:10:46,583
"It's not about you."
1324
01:10:46,708 --> 01:10:49,667
And when he did that,
because it was so real,
1325
01:10:49,792 --> 01:10:53,667
it changed the entire chemistry
of that group forever.
1326
01:10:53,792 --> 01:10:55,667
(Esprit) "There's a breaking
that happens,
1327
01:10:55,792 --> 01:10:59,083
'and there's a realization
that you have to face.'
1328
01:10:59,208 --> 01:11:00,667
You've got to be willing to face it.
1329
01:11:00,792 --> 01:11:05,125
If you're not, then your weakness is
never going to be turned into a strength.
1330
01:11:05,250 --> 01:11:08,958
There was a confidence
that was being built in him
1331
01:11:09,083 --> 01:11:11,625
that was different
than being the confidence
1332
01:11:11,750 --> 01:11:15,292
that because I was in a hit movie,
cause I was in a hit TV show, gives you.
1333
01:11:15,417 --> 01:11:17,625
And people love me,
so I feel so confident.
1334
01:11:17,750 --> 01:11:20,000
It's a different confidence
than that.
1335
01:11:20,125 --> 01:11:24,583
And that's what happened with him
in those years of obscurity.
1336
01:11:24,708 --> 01:11:27,625
'It was a suffering,
but there's a joy attached to it,
1337
01:11:27,750 --> 01:11:30,625
'because you know that
you're becoming the person
1338
01:11:30,750 --> 01:11:32,150
'that you were always meant to be.'
1339
01:11:32,250 --> 01:11:35,292
(Ramona) 'He had to find out that
that was not everything in the world,
1340
01:11:35,417 --> 01:11:38,292
'that family was important,
his faith was important.'
1341
01:11:38,417 --> 01:11:43,375
And I think Sam realized that,
and it just set him free.
1342
01:11:44,750 --> 01:11:46,625
Yeah.
1343
01:11:46,750 --> 01:11:49,708
Yeah, I'm really proud of him.
1344
01:11:50,750 --> 01:11:55,375
He was made for Hollywood.
It's his inner being.
1345
01:11:55,500 --> 01:12:00,583
And he's often said,
"I was made for this, Daina.
1346
01:12:00,708 --> 01:12:06,292
"I know in my innermost being
that God made me to be an actor."
1347
01:12:06,417 --> 01:12:08,708
And I get emotional over it,
1348
01:12:08,833 --> 01:12:12,750
because you feel
that you have this talent
1349
01:12:12,875 --> 01:12:17,583
and that God wants you to utilize it,
but you have to rein it in.
1350
01:12:17,708 --> 01:12:19,583
'When Sam was lost for a while,
1351
01:12:19,708 --> 01:12:22,583
'he thought that
who he was as a man
1352
01:12:22,708 --> 01:12:26,042
'was defined by his acting.'
1353
01:12:26,167 --> 01:12:27,667
That's not who he is.
1354
01:12:27,792 --> 01:12:32,042
I just said, "Sam, I don't believe
that God is done with you
1355
01:12:32,167 --> 01:12:36,167
"in this business, I think you need to do this.
You do this for your family and everything."
1356
01:12:36,292 --> 01:12:39,333
And I said, "But I just don't think...
I don't think he's done with you here.
1357
01:12:39,458 --> 01:12:41,750
"I don't know how, when, where,
1358
01:12:41,875 --> 01:12:45,542
"but I believe you're gonna come back
into this business in some kind of...
1359
01:12:45,667 --> 01:12:48,542
"in some kind of way.
I just don't know why I'm saying that.
1360
01:12:48,667 --> 01:12:50,976
"I just feel that." And then,
10 years, eleven years later,
1361
01:12:51,000 --> 01:12:55,542
he'd get the call
from Seth MacFarlane for "Ted".
1362
01:12:56,667 --> 01:12:58,458
'I said, "Hey, Sam, what's going on?"
1363
01:12:58,583 --> 01:13:00,917
He goes, "Brother,
I'm driving up to LA right now.
1364
01:13:01,042 --> 01:13:03,167
"Uh, do you know this guy
Seth MacFarlane?"
1365
01:13:03,292 --> 01:13:05,101
'And he goes,
"Well, this guy is writing a script.'
1366
01:13:05,125 --> 01:13:07,875
"Mark Wahlberg has, you know,
this teddy bear since he was a kid
1367
01:13:08,000 --> 01:13:12,333
"and they have a relationship together."
I immediately went, "What?"
1368
01:13:12,458 --> 01:13:15,792
Seth MacFarlane is, obviously,
a genius on so many levels.
1369
01:13:15,917 --> 01:13:17,601
- (Man) How are you feeling?
- Oh, I feel good.
1370
01:13:17,625 --> 01:13:18,809
How does it feel to be
walking down the red carpet?
1371
01:13:18,833 --> 01:13:20,917
You know, number one,
it's a blessing to work.
1372
01:13:21,042 --> 01:13:25,375
(Wyngarde) 'I loved it. I liked it
because I saw Sam in it, too.'
1373
01:13:25,500 --> 01:13:28,333
But I thought
the little bugger was awful.
1374
01:13:28,458 --> 01:13:30,125
Horrible little thing.
1375
01:13:30,250 --> 01:13:33,458
Ghastly little...
Only America can make a film like that.
1376
01:13:33,583 --> 01:13:37,167
(Ross) 'Seth, obviously, was coming
from the exact same generation as me.'
1377
01:13:37,292 --> 01:13:39,125
This film was in his head
the same way,
1378
01:13:39,250 --> 01:13:43,042
and he had a way to put that
into his own creation.
1379
01:13:43,167 --> 01:13:46,625
My memory of that movie
was with such reverence,
1380
01:13:46,750 --> 01:13:49,125
and I think Sam's character,
kind of, embodies that.
1381
01:13:49,250 --> 01:13:51,917
You know, they have this
incredible reverence for this guy
1382
01:13:52,042 --> 01:13:54,375
who turns out to be
just a party boy like them.
1383
01:13:54,500 --> 01:13:57,458
When Seth first called me
couple of years back, he said,
1384
01:13:57,583 --> 01:14:02,042
"Sam, when I was nine years old,
I saw you in "Flash Gordon".
1385
01:14:02,167 --> 01:14:05,042
"You changed my life." And he said,
"I want to bring you on board,
1386
01:14:05,167 --> 01:14:07,167
"and you're gonna play yourself."
I said, "Myself?"
1387
01:14:07,208 --> 01:14:09,167
"It'll be a little bit
of a parody and a spoof.'
1388
01:14:09,292 --> 01:14:13,208
But this is not...
The way you've written it, this is not me.
1389
01:14:13,333 --> 01:14:15,375
I mean, I did a few things
like that, but...
1390
01:14:15,500 --> 01:14:19,458
Uh, if we're being honest right now,
I thought it was horrible.
1391
01:14:19,583 --> 01:14:20,792
Uh, I didn't like it.
1392
01:14:20,917 --> 01:14:22,559
'I understand that
there's a lot of fans of my dad
1393
01:14:22,583 --> 01:14:25,125
'that want to go see it
because of him.
1394
01:14:25,250 --> 01:14:27,375
"They need to know
it's not what he stands for.'
1395
01:14:27,500 --> 01:14:34,208
He wanted to be as clean as possible
in a role that it's really tough to be,
1396
01:14:34,333 --> 01:14:35,875
because of what was asked of him.
1397
01:14:36,000 --> 01:14:40,750
Sam at my bachelor party
was Sam in the first movie.
1398
01:14:40,875 --> 01:14:42,625
I know that Sam.
1399
01:14:42,750 --> 01:14:48,292
He actually did change a lot of the lines
than what it should have been, so
1400
01:14:48,417 --> 01:14:51,417
Even though it's not the cleanest film
out there. (Laughs)
1401
01:14:51,542 --> 01:14:54,792
It brought "Flash Gordon"
back into the public eye,
1402
01:14:54,917 --> 01:14:57,417
and I think it really did a great job
1403
01:14:57,542 --> 01:15:03,417
of energizing old fans that had...
1404
01:15:03,542 --> 01:15:07,375
very limited options
about how to celebrate "Flash".
1405
01:15:07,500 --> 01:15:10,417
They asked me to come on to the set
for a reshoot they were doing.
1406
01:15:10,542 --> 01:15:12,458
It was right over here
in Coppola's old studios.
1407
01:15:12,583 --> 01:15:14,417
We got there,
and he knew everyone,
1408
01:15:14,542 --> 01:15:18,042
from the security guard
to the guy making the food.
1409
01:15:18,167 --> 01:15:21,292
To the guy that's just,
like, holding cords.
1410
01:15:21,417 --> 01:15:23,698
It was the same with Mark Wahlberg,
and Sam, and the bear,
1411
01:15:23,750 --> 01:15:27,000
but they had a C stand
with a tennis ball for the eye line.
1412
01:15:27,125 --> 01:15:30,375
But Seth was off camera by the monitors,
doing the voice of the bear.
1413
01:15:30,500 --> 01:15:32,208
So I'm sitting behind him.
1414
01:15:32,333 --> 01:15:34,292
And so, Wahlberg says the dialogue,
1415
01:15:34,417 --> 01:15:37,958
Sam says something,
and then Seth does the bear dialogue,
1416
01:15:38,083 --> 01:15:40,875
and it was so funny,
I had to put my hand over my mouth
1417
01:15:41,000 --> 01:15:43,400
to keep from laughing, and when
they got done with the scene,
1418
01:15:43,458 --> 01:15:46,542
Sam came over to me, I said,
"Sam, this movie is gonna be a hit."
1419
01:15:46,667 --> 01:15:49,625
It was cool being on...
getting to walk the red carpet,
1420
01:15:49,750 --> 01:15:54,833
and seeing, like, Mark and Seth,
and, like, Morgan Freeman.
1421
01:15:58,625 --> 01:16:03,333
Sam was one of the great spirits
and characters of the business,
1422
01:16:03,458 --> 01:16:05,750
and it was nice
to be able to honor that.
1423
01:16:05,875 --> 01:16:08,917
Not only the history of "Flash Gordon",
1424
01:16:09,042 --> 01:16:12,333
but, you know, to have fun and poke fun
1425
01:16:12,458 --> 01:16:14,875
at his great success with that
on "Ted".
1426
01:16:15,000 --> 01:16:18,458
I went on the set of "Ted 2".
We went during the Comic Con scene.
1427
01:16:19,792 --> 01:16:22,417
(Lenzi) 'We've been
to Comic Cons together.'
1428
01:16:22,542 --> 01:16:24,333
- Yeah, we went together.
- We went together.
1429
01:16:24,458 --> 01:16:25,333
- In separate cars.
- In separate cars.
1430
01:16:25,458 --> 01:16:27,333
- We had separate rooms.
- But equal cars.
1431
01:16:27,458 --> 01:16:30,333
Just friends. But we've been
to Comic Con together.
1432
01:16:30,458 --> 01:16:32,208
We have not slept together.
1433
01:16:32,333 --> 01:16:34,625
I think science fiction
cultivates fandom
1434
01:16:34,750 --> 01:16:38,333
because when you become passionate
towards this thing,
1435
01:16:38,458 --> 01:16:41,333
when it's become part of your life,
you want to immerse yourself in it.
1436
01:16:41,458 --> 01:16:43,167
- Things have been...
- Like Comic Con.
1437
01:16:43,292 --> 01:16:46,292
- There was a few drinks involved.
- We don't remember it.
1438
01:16:46,417 --> 01:16:50,500
It's not just escapism, it's recognizing
the positive things in life.
1439
01:16:50,625 --> 01:16:54,500
I owe it to the fans
to spend time with them
1440
01:16:54,625 --> 01:16:57,000
at an event,
at a personal appearance.
1441
01:16:57,125 --> 01:16:59,292
"They're paying the money
to come to that event,
1442
01:16:59,417 --> 01:17:02,292
'they're paying the money
at the theater, at the box office.
1443
01:17:02,417 --> 01:17:05,292
'We owe it
as actors and celebrities
1444
01:17:05,417 --> 01:17:06,917
'to give them their due.
1445
01:17:07,042 --> 01:17:09,393
"There's some actors and stuff,
they have a problem with it.'
1446
01:17:09,417 --> 01:17:12,042
Stay home. Stay home.
1447
01:17:12,167 --> 01:17:13,292
(Man) Sam.
1448
01:17:13,417 --> 01:17:16,292
Come on. Fantastic.
Where are you in from?
1449
01:17:16,417 --> 01:17:19,292
- We live right here in San Antonio.
- Good.
1450
01:17:19,417 --> 01:17:21,351
- I'll see you at my table then.
- We'll be there.
1451
01:17:21,375 --> 01:17:24,708
All right, get some pictures,
all right. Come on.
1452
01:17:24,833 --> 01:17:27,625
"The times are scheduled.
Say, Sam Jones is at his table
1453
01:17:27,750 --> 01:17:31,417
10:00am to 12:00.
I know that works for a lot of people,
1454
01:17:31,542 --> 01:17:34,208
"but I actually like to stay
at my table the whole time.
1455
01:17:34,333 --> 01:17:36,351
'Cause I usually ask people
"Where did you come in from?"
1456
01:17:36,375 --> 01:17:38,875
"And they tell me
that they drove 300 miles,
1457
01:17:39,000 --> 01:17:40,393
'and they just happened to walk by,
1458
01:17:40,417 --> 01:17:42,917
'I'm in the green room
smoking on a Cuban cigar,
1459
01:17:43,042 --> 01:17:44,476
"and having a glass of Courvoisier.'
1460
01:17:44,500 --> 01:17:46,042
I don't think it's fair to them.
1461
01:17:46,167 --> 01:17:50,167
'Did I want to step away from
the image of being Flash Gordon?
1462
01:17:50,292 --> 01:17:52,052
A lot of representatives
over the years said,
1463
01:17:52,125 --> 01:17:55,143
"Yeah, you gotta walk away from that.
"We have to show you in a different light."
1464
01:17:55,167 --> 01:17:59,375
They became those characters.
They were iconic to the world.
1465
01:18:03,375 --> 01:18:05,417
It was very hard for...
1466
01:18:05,542 --> 01:18:08,208
In the relationship
I was involved in,
1467
01:18:08,333 --> 01:18:14,208
for Christopher to break away
from being Superman.
1468
01:18:14,333 --> 01:18:18,208
If you create a character
and people, you know, see you
1469
01:18:18,333 --> 01:18:20,253
as the kind of,
the definition of that character,
1470
01:18:20,333 --> 01:18:21,917
it's really hard
to break out of that.
1471
01:18:22,042 --> 01:18:24,268
'So it's a curse and a blessing
at the same time, I think.
1472
01:18:24,292 --> 01:18:28,208
"You know, actors discover the character
that people love them as.
1473
01:18:28,333 --> 01:18:31,875
'And then, it's harder for them
to go and explore other characters
1474
01:18:32,000 --> 01:18:34,833
'because everybody just wants
what they love.'
1475
01:18:34,958 --> 01:18:39,500
And the question really becomes,
you know, how do they grow?
1476
01:18:39,625 --> 01:18:43,208
You know, the negatives towards an actor
being somehow only characterized
1477
01:18:43,333 --> 01:18:46,542
as one thing
seemed to reach their fever pitch
1478
01:18:46,667 --> 01:18:48,875
when people talked
about Adam West in the '70s
1479
01:18:49,000 --> 01:18:51,667
because the idea then
he couldn't get any other work.
1480
01:18:51,792 --> 01:18:54,042
'And that that plagued him
for a long time.'
1481
01:18:54,167 --> 01:18:57,542
So I think that the positives
for somebody like Sam and others
1482
01:18:57,667 --> 01:18:59,958
who were recognized for something
they did years ago,
1483
01:19:00,083 --> 01:19:03,003
you're lucky to have any kind of connection
with people that you can find.
1484
01:19:03,083 --> 01:19:07,250
People ask me all the time, is it a positive
or a negative to be, like, typecast?
1485
01:19:08,292 --> 01:19:11,292
'Dude, positive.'
1486
01:19:11,417 --> 01:19:13,250
Otherwise they've forgotten you.
1487
01:19:13,375 --> 01:19:16,375
It's much better to be typecast
than to be miscast.
1488
01:19:16,500 --> 01:19:18,875
I can do ten "Gone with the Wind",
1489
01:19:19,000 --> 01:19:21,833
but everybody will still say,
"I love you as the Hulk."
1490
01:19:21,958 --> 01:19:25,167
I think in 30 years if I'm still coming
around to a convention
1491
01:19:25,292 --> 01:19:28,625
and people are excited about
"The Walking Dead", I think that's awesome.
1492
01:19:28,750 --> 01:19:31,417
There were a lot of times
over the years, in the past,
1493
01:19:31,542 --> 01:19:34,333
where I was put into a position
to make a difference
1494
01:19:34,458 --> 01:19:38,542
in somebody else's life, even if it was
just eye contact and a handshake.
1495
01:19:38,667 --> 01:19:41,375
The rare quality my dad has is,
1496
01:19:41,500 --> 01:19:44,958
there can be 100 people
wanting his autograph,
1497
01:19:45,083 --> 01:19:50,833
and he will stay
to the end of the show,
1498
01:19:50,958 --> 01:19:54,292
till the end of the dinner, until he's
looked every single person in the eye
1499
01:19:54,417 --> 01:19:56,667
and asked them
about their personal life.
1500
01:19:56,792 --> 01:19:59,125
(Jones) 'It's crazy
how, especially, Americans,
1501
01:19:59,250 --> 01:20:01,833
'how they look at each other
and go, "How you doing?"
1502
01:20:01,958 --> 01:20:04,750
'Most people lie. "I'm doing good."
No, you're not.'
1503
01:20:04,875 --> 01:20:08,208
So I reached a point
in my age, even now,
1504
01:20:08,333 --> 01:20:10,083
if somebody says,
"How you doing?"
1505
01:20:10,208 --> 01:20:11,792
And I'll say,
"I'm not doing so good."
1506
01:20:11,917 --> 01:20:15,792
And it... it changed
the whole mindset
1507
01:20:15,917 --> 01:20:17,333
of even that question with people.
1508
01:20:17,458 --> 01:20:19,083
'When I ask somebody,
"How you doing?"
1509
01:20:19,208 --> 01:20:21,083
'And I look at them,
and they say, "OK.™
1510
01:20:21,208 --> 01:20:24,083
Even now, with the fans.
How you doing?
1511
01:20:24,208 --> 01:20:26,875
I said, "You know what?
What do you need? Talk to me."
1512
01:20:27,000 --> 01:20:29,708
'That's where I feel I am now.'
1513
01:20:30,208 --> 01:20:32,083
This can't be my daughter.
1514
01:20:32,208 --> 01:20:34,184
This is my 14-year-old daughter here?
Are you kidding?
1515
01:20:34,208 --> 01:20:36,792
(Ramona) On the weekends
when he is home,
1516
01:20:36,917 --> 01:20:41,083
he makes it a point that he's always
at our children's baseball games,
1517
01:20:41,208 --> 01:20:43,833
or dance or whatever
they're involved in.
1518
01:20:43,958 --> 01:20:47,083
Sam does this every morning.
He types up a letter to his family.
1519
01:20:47,208 --> 01:20:50,000
It's on his kitchen table
every single morning.
1520
01:20:50,125 --> 01:20:51,875
He does not miss a day.
1521
01:20:52,000 --> 01:20:54,042
"And he has, you know,
when the sun rises.'
1522
01:20:54,167 --> 01:20:57,667
I don't know all the details,
but he has all these specific things.
1523
01:20:57,792 --> 01:21:01,500
He always has a scripture,
and a prayer at the end for his family.
1524
01:21:03,167 --> 01:21:05,125
(Grunting)
1525
01:21:06,417 --> 01:21:08,208
I'll come back to this.
1526
01:21:08,333 --> 01:21:10,333
He originally wanted me
to do taekwondo
1527
01:21:10,458 --> 01:21:12,143
because he wanted me
to be able to protect myself
1528
01:21:12,167 --> 01:21:14,417
cause he's really over protective.
1529
01:21:14,542 --> 01:21:18,000
I want to go to college and play baseball,
and hopefully, make it pro.
1530
01:21:18,125 --> 01:21:22,000
He made me play every sport:
baseball, basketball, soccer.
1531
01:21:22,125 --> 01:21:24,333
"There were times
when he was, like, my coach.
1532
01:21:24,458 --> 01:21:27,042
Just being on his hands and knees
at half court,
1533
01:21:27,167 --> 01:21:29,042
just yelling at the refs
and yelling at us.
1534
01:21:29,167 --> 01:21:31,958
But we're fourth graders,
and my dad's just screaming.
1535
01:21:32,083 --> 01:21:38,000
- Whoa!
- (Man) Touch it! Touch it!
1536
01:21:38,125 --> 01:21:40,000
Whoa!
1537
01:21:40,125 --> 01:21:44,583
Boo-yah! That's how we roll.
Sixty-one. All right.
1538
01:21:45,833 --> 01:21:49,417
This is Naomi,
my two-year-old granddaughter.
1539
01:21:49,542 --> 01:21:53,708
There's a little Flash doll that she has,
and she calls him Papa.
1540
01:21:53,833 --> 01:21:56,000
She's Miss Soccer right now, or football.
1541
01:21:56,125 --> 01:21:58,000
I know in the UK, it's...
1542
01:21:58,125 --> 01:22:00,542
She's a football player, OK? She is.
1543
01:22:00,667 --> 01:22:03,750
- And she's serious.
- (Matthew) 'Hollywood is such a...
1544
01:22:03,875 --> 01:22:07,000
What have you done for me lately?
Your 15 minutes of fame...
1545
01:22:07,125 --> 01:22:11,000
and all the tabloids are coming out and
saying, "Where has Flash Gordon been?"
1546
01:22:11,125 --> 01:22:13,875
I'm thinking he's just been
a good family man
1547
01:22:14,000 --> 01:22:16,458
providing for everybody,
just because he's not...
1548
01:22:16,583 --> 01:22:18,893
on the movie screen,
he hasn't fallen off the face of the earth.
1549
01:22:18,917 --> 01:22:22,458
I will never forget. I was probably
nine years old at a gymnastics camp.
1550
01:22:22,583 --> 01:22:24,958
And he didn't have a car at the time.
1551
01:22:25,083 --> 01:22:26,958
I mean, I knew,
even being nine years old
1552
01:22:27,083 --> 01:22:29,667
that, financially,
my dad was struggling.
1553
01:22:29,792 --> 01:22:32,833
'And he rode his bike, which took
him about three, four hours,
1554
01:22:32,958 --> 01:22:34,958
'and stopped and got me
a McDonald's sundae.'
1555
01:22:35,083 --> 01:22:39,292
People sometimes don't even drive,
and he biked in 100-degree weather
1556
01:22:39,417 --> 01:22:41,958
with a melted ice cream sundae
1557
01:22:42,083 --> 01:22:46,167
to be at his daughter's
gymnastics camp to support her.
1558
01:22:46,292 --> 01:22:49,167
It's a memory that
you don't ever forget.
1559
01:22:49,292 --> 01:22:51,958
If you look at his kids
and how they're starting to turn out
1560
01:22:52,083 --> 01:22:53,958
as they're becoming adults,
1561
01:22:54,083 --> 01:22:57,917
you'll see a godly man
with a godly influence,
1562
01:22:58,042 --> 01:23:00,542
and his children are like he is.
1563
01:23:00,667 --> 01:23:04,500
And he's a blessed man.
He really is a blessed man.
1564
01:23:04,625 --> 01:23:06,500
My father and Sam
became very close
1565
01:23:06,625 --> 01:23:09,542
in the last three or four years
of my dad's life.
1566
01:23:09,667 --> 01:23:11,917
'My father came down
with congestive heart failure.
1567
01:23:12,042 --> 01:23:15,292
'I was leaving to go do a play
outside of Chicago.
1568
01:23:15,417 --> 01:23:18,875
'My father had had a stroke. I should stay.
He goes, "No, no, no. Go, go."
1569
01:23:19,000 --> 01:23:20,917
And I said my goodbyes to him
because I knew
1570
01:23:21,042 --> 01:23:22,792
that I probably was not
gonna see him again.
1571
01:23:22,917 --> 01:23:25,583
'When my dad had the stroke,
they put him in a convalescent home,
1572
01:23:25,708 --> 01:23:27,101
'but they weren't taking care of him.
1573
01:23:27,125 --> 01:23:29,958
'So, Sam was always over there,
every day.
1574
01:23:30,083 --> 01:23:33,375
'He said to my mom, he said, "Anne,
they're not taking care of him here."
1575
01:23:33,500 --> 01:23:36,542
'And so, my mother said,
"Sam, we got to get him out of there."
1576
01:23:36,667 --> 01:23:39,250
'And Sam said,
"Don't worry, Anne. I'll get him out.™
1577
01:23:39,375 --> 01:23:41,875
And so, he, you know...
1578
01:23:42,000 --> 01:23:44,625
bolstered up my father,
got him dressed,
1579
01:23:44,750 --> 01:23:46,875
and got him, snuck him out
of that place,
1580
01:23:47,000 --> 01:23:49,417
stuck him in the car and drove him
back to my sister's house,
1581
01:23:49,542 --> 01:23:52,875
where my dad, eventually, about
three weeks later, would pass away.
1582
01:23:53,000 --> 01:23:55,875
But Sam was always...
Sam was there.
1583
01:23:56,000 --> 01:23:58,875
It's really funny because
my father had five sons,
1584
01:23:59,000 --> 01:24:02,792
and the one... (Sighs)
1585
01:24:06,542 --> 01:24:08,833
that was with him...
1586
01:24:11,000 --> 01:24:14,375
at the end was Sam, you know?
1587
01:24:16,000 --> 01:24:18,625
And it was right. It was right.
1588
01:24:21,667 --> 01:24:24,042
As the years went on, I called Dino.
1589
01:24:24,167 --> 01:24:25,833
"All that stuff that happened
between us,
1590
01:24:25,958 --> 01:24:28,458
"I just wanted to let you know,
you know, I'm sorry,
1591
01:24:28,583 --> 01:24:31,458
"and I probably should have gone
with my gut instinct,
1592
01:24:31,583 --> 01:24:35,833
"but I was a bit naive,
and I listened to my "representation”.
1593
01:24:35,958 --> 01:24:38,792
And I said, "I just want to ask
for your forgiveness
1594
01:24:38,917 --> 01:24:40,833
"because I want a clean slate."
1595
01:24:40,958 --> 01:24:43,833
And he said, "Oh, no problem, Sam.
No problem.
1596
01:24:43,958 --> 01:24:46,583
"It's good, it's all good."
I said, "Thank you."
1597
01:24:46,708 --> 01:24:49,708
'Let's just say I continued
being high and mighty,
1598
01:24:49,833 --> 01:24:51,553
'well, maybe I wouldn't have
been the father
1599
01:24:51,667 --> 01:24:53,667
'that I should've been to my children.
1600
01:24:53,792 --> 01:24:58,458
"Usually men can say that they are much
better fathers than they are husbands.
1601
01:24:58,583 --> 01:25:01,125
"And I think the relationship
between my wife
1602
01:25:01,250 --> 01:25:03,708
'is a great example
of what a wife should be.'
1603
01:25:03,833 --> 01:25:09,792
In my rebellion, she had every right
to nag, she had every right to leave,
1604
01:25:09,917 --> 01:25:12,750
but she decided to do
something more important.
1605
01:25:12,875 --> 01:25:14,375
She decided to pray for me,
1606
01:25:14,500 --> 01:25:19,792
and instantaneously
things started to happen, yeah.
1607
01:25:19,917 --> 01:25:22,792
Life is really easy:
get over yourself,
1608
01:25:22,917 --> 01:25:24,917
knock off the baby talk,
1609
01:25:26,500 --> 01:25:28,792
stop thinking of yourself first,
1610
01:25:28,917 --> 01:25:31,792
stop pointing your finger
at other people.
1611
01:25:31,917 --> 01:25:33,000
It's not their fault.
1612
01:25:33,125 --> 01:25:35,125
"Yeah, life is tough.
Life is tough for all of us.'
1613
01:25:35,250 --> 01:25:38,750
At the age of 50,
I changed vocations
1614
01:25:38,875 --> 01:25:41,750
because I listened to my wife,
somebody I trusted,
1615
01:25:41,875 --> 01:25:45,750
and God opened up those doors
a short time later.
1616
01:25:45,875 --> 01:25:49,875
Not only am I providing
steady provision, but...
1617
01:25:50,875 --> 01:25:56,750
the phone is ringing again,
I'm in demand again
1618
01:25:56,875 --> 01:25:59,125
for the movie business,
and the entertainment business
1619
01:25:59,250 --> 01:26:03,833
because I got over me
and humbled myself.
1620
01:26:04,458 --> 01:26:05,750
'I've had to be a role model.
1621
01:26:05,875 --> 01:26:08,351
'A lot of people say, "Oh, you've got
to separate your personal life
1622
01:26:08,375 --> 01:26:11,000
"from your movie life.
I don't know how you do that.
1623
01:26:11,125 --> 01:26:13,750
Sam, when he walks into a room,
feels like a superhero.
1624
01:26:13,875 --> 01:26:18,333
Not just his physical stature,
but the energy that he brings into a space.
1625
01:26:18,458 --> 01:26:20,792
It's literally like hanging out
with Flash Gordon.
1626
01:26:20,917 --> 01:26:23,708
Flash Gordon is Sam.
He is a superhero.
1627
01:26:23,833 --> 01:26:27,250
He's a guy who wants to bring justice,
and he wants to help people
1628
01:26:27,375 --> 01:26:30,208
and save the world.
Honestly, I think,
1629
01:26:30,333 --> 01:26:34,542
maybe the movie changed him,
he is the persona of Flash Gordon
1630
01:26:34,667 --> 01:26:37,500
in his everyday life,
and everybody loves him for that.
1631
01:26:37,625 --> 01:26:41,708
Sam is the definitive Flash Gordon.
No one can play it better.
1632
01:26:41,833 --> 01:26:44,708
We should all be so lucky
to get that sort of an iconic role
1633
01:26:44,833 --> 01:26:46,708
in that sort of an iconic film.
1634
01:26:46,833 --> 01:26:50,208
We're all really lucky to be a part
of something that fans love.
1635
01:26:50,333 --> 01:26:51,417
It's really cool.
1636
01:26:51,542 --> 01:26:54,708
I have my favorites,
and I have the films that I grew up on,
1637
01:26:54,833 --> 01:26:58,208
and to be one of those is
a great blessing and honor.
1638
01:26:58,333 --> 01:27:01,250
To have any part of us
left with people
1639
01:27:01,375 --> 01:27:04,750
that they remember us in whatever form,
I think is wonderful.
1640
01:27:04,875 --> 01:27:06,667
It's one of those iconic roles
that won't...
1641
01:27:06,792 --> 01:27:09,292
They stand the test of time.
1642
01:27:13,083 --> 01:27:15,750
Perhaps the fact that it was just
one self-contained movie
1643
01:27:15,875 --> 01:27:19,542
and it wasn't a franchise,
does make it kind of special.
1644
01:27:19,667 --> 01:27:23,750
BBC put it in as one of the top
100 films of the 20th century,
1645
01:27:23,875 --> 01:27:25,667
which is kind of neat.
1646
01:27:25,792 --> 01:27:27,667
We must never do it again.
1647
01:27:27,792 --> 01:27:31,083
We got it.
You get some things right.
1648
01:27:31,208 --> 01:27:36,083
Branagh's "Henry V" is right,
"Gone with the Wind" is right.
1649
01:27:36,208 --> 01:27:38,125
"Flash Gordon" is right.
1650
01:27:38,250 --> 01:27:40,250
We owe everything to Flash.
1651
01:27:40,375 --> 01:27:42,417
(All) Hail Flash!
1652
01:27:42,542 --> 01:27:44,667
When it came to the last scene,
Ming is dead,
1653
01:27:44,792 --> 01:27:47,792
and that weird sphere comes forward.
1654
01:27:47,917 --> 01:27:49,625
'Mike didn't know
what to do to end it.
1655
01:27:49,750 --> 01:27:53,625
'And so, Sam said,
"I know. Run the camera.™
1656
01:27:53,750 --> 01:27:57,000
Look out, Flash!
And it's coming towards him.
1657
01:27:57,125 --> 01:28:01,000
Hail Flash Gordon.
You have saved your Earth.
1658
01:28:01,125 --> 01:28:05,500
And Sam just jumped up
into the camera and went, "Yeah!"
1659
01:28:05,625 --> 01:28:06,833
There was something so simple.
1660
01:28:06,958 --> 01:28:09,625
There was the id that was released
watching that scene
1661
01:28:09,750 --> 01:28:12,625
and him yelling that, and there's
something about the reverb,
1662
01:28:12,750 --> 01:28:16,542
and, of course, immediately,
the Queen chorus comes right in after that.
1663
01:28:16,667 --> 01:28:18,625
You know, he'll save
every one of us, all that.
1664
01:28:18,750 --> 01:28:21,833
It was such a perfect
connection of elements.
1665
01:28:21,958 --> 01:28:23,917
'Euphoria is what it gave me as a kid.'
1666
01:28:24,042 --> 01:28:27,292
- (Jones) 'What is life after "Flash"...
- (Man) 'Long live Flash.'
1667
01:28:27,417 --> 01:28:29,351
- '...been like for me?'
- (Man) 'You've saved your Earth.'
1668
01:28:29,375 --> 01:28:31,833
(Jones) 'At my age right now,
it's incredible.'
1669
01:28:31,958 --> 01:28:32,958
Yeah!
1670
01:28:34,542 --> 01:28:38,583
I did three movies last year
in between comic conventions.
1671
01:28:38,708 --> 01:28:40,208
Personal appearances, I love it.
1672
01:28:40,333 --> 01:28:42,542
Speaking of the movie "Axcellerator”...
1673
01:28:42,667 --> 01:28:45,208
"I was brought into this incredible part.
1674
01:28:45,333 --> 01:28:48,667
"Brink, who's the nemesis,
the villain, the hitman.'
1675
01:28:52,667 --> 01:28:54,083
This is one I did in Spain.
1676
01:28:54,208 --> 01:28:57,583
When I was still doing pretty well,
I decided to leave the business.
1677
01:28:57,708 --> 01:29:00,917
I had a Bachelor's
in journalism and psychology.
1678
01:29:01,042 --> 01:29:05,583
This, of course, is the headless,
armless and legless Venus.
1679
01:29:05,708 --> 01:29:09,500
I specialize in working
with families affected by addiction,
1680
01:29:09,625 --> 01:29:13,417
trauma, loss, relational difficulties.
1681
01:29:17,125 --> 01:29:20,667
Well, my life after "Flash Gordon"
has just grown and grown and grown
1682
01:29:20,792 --> 01:29:25,000
because I'm 50% actor
and 50% explorer.
1683
01:29:25,125 --> 01:29:26,583
I've done a bit of Shakespeare.
1684
01:29:26,708 --> 01:29:29,292
And I certainly am very proud
of all my travel documentaries.
1685
01:29:29,417 --> 01:29:30,708
I want to rap.
1686
01:29:34,167 --> 01:29:35,958
I'm a fully trained cosmonaut.
1687
01:29:36,083 --> 01:29:40,500
I do remember meeting Timothy Dalton
in a lighting shop in the King's Road once.
1688
01:29:40,625 --> 01:29:42,833
I did go up to him and said,
"Hello, Timothy.
1689
01:29:42,958 --> 01:29:46,958
"You killed me in "Flash Gordon"." He gave
me a withering look and wandered off.
1690
01:29:48,667 --> 01:29:49,708
Next.
1691
01:29:53,583 --> 01:29:58,000
You know, at the end of the film,
the hand is Klytus's hand.
1692
01:29:58,125 --> 01:30:00,542
Lorenzo had already written a sequel
1693
01:30:00,667 --> 01:30:03,333
in which Klytus had founded
1694
01:30:03,458 --> 01:30:07,833
a new famous Atlantic
under the sea kingdom.
1695
01:30:07,958 --> 01:30:10,125
And I never heard
another word about it
1696
01:30:10,250 --> 01:30:13,833
because... Dino died.
1697
01:30:18,083 --> 01:30:20,208
I quit doing big Hollywood films.
1698
01:30:20,333 --> 01:30:22,500
That was for
"Who Framed Roger Rabbit".
1699
01:30:22,625 --> 01:30:25,417
This one is for "Indiana Jones
and the Temple of Doom".
1700
01:30:25,542 --> 01:30:29,542
When they said, "We've this little thing,
"The Showman"."
1701
01:30:29,667 --> 01:30:31,917
I was at Buckingham Palace
for a Christmas show.
1702
01:30:32,042 --> 01:30:34,750
And the Queen came forward,
and I'm narrating the show.
1703
01:30:34,875 --> 01:30:38,250
"Good day, Mr. Blessed.
We watch "Flash Gordon" all the time,
1704
01:30:38,375 --> 01:30:40,458
"me and the children,
it's our favorite movie.
1705
01:30:40,583 --> 01:30:42,458
"Would you mind saying
'Gordon's alive"?"
1706
01:30:42,583 --> 01:30:45,042
So I said, "Gordon's alive!"
"Thank you so much."
1707
01:30:48,792 --> 01:30:51,042
(Topol)
'Six years ago, we opened it.'
1708
01:30:51,167 --> 01:30:54,875
'It's not just a summer camp.
I mean, we work all year around.
1709
01:30:55,000 --> 01:31:00,625
"This is something that makes
the children forget about their illnesses.'
1710
01:31:00,750 --> 01:31:04,667
They can be Arab, Muslims, Jewish,
1711
01:31:04,792 --> 01:31:09,125
and not one penny
is asked from them.
1712
01:31:09,250 --> 01:31:14,875
'For my heart, it's the most
important thing that I did in my life.'
1713
01:31:18,667 --> 01:31:21,292
Flash. A-ha! Have you seen
the pinball machine?
1714
01:31:25,208 --> 01:31:29,333
People dying on their deathbeds,
"Please say 'Gordon's alive'."
1715
01:31:29,458 --> 01:31:31,083
Gordon's alive!
1716
01:31:31,208 --> 01:31:33,500
Gordon's alive!
1717
01:31:38,208 --> 01:31:41,583
- Melody Anderson, everybody.
- (Audience cheering)
1718
01:31:44,750 --> 01:31:48,875
- And Sam Jones.
- (Audience cheering)
1719
01:32:00,208 --> 01:32:06,042
Oh, God, you're here!
I can't believe you came.
1720
01:32:06,167 --> 01:32:09,667
We need to get you a ♪-shirt
that says, "I survived "Flash Gordon"."
1721
01:32:09,792 --> 01:32:12,042
I'd met Dino,
and for some inexplicable reason
1722
01:32:12,167 --> 01:32:14,917
he was determined to get me to do it,
1723
01:32:15,042 --> 01:32:17,375
so eventually I agreed,
but incredibly reluctantly,
1724
01:32:17,500 --> 01:32:22,042
because I was a totally inappropriate
director for the film, I really was.
1725
01:32:22,167 --> 01:32:25,375
So, in the middle of the shooting,
we're now comfortably on our way,
1726
01:32:25,500 --> 01:32:29,250
and I turned to Dino and said,
"Dino, why did you choose me?"
1727
01:32:29,375 --> 01:32:32,375
He just said, "Mike, I like your face."
1728
01:32:32,500 --> 01:32:34,625
(Laughter)
1729
01:32:35,292 --> 01:32:37,732
- (Anderson) That is so Dino.
- Well, the film was improvised.
1730
01:32:37,792 --> 01:32:40,333
- The football scene.
- (Jones) Amazing.
1731
01:32:40,458 --> 01:32:43,333
Well, it was. We just made it up
as we went along.
1732
01:32:44,250 --> 01:32:47,083
And I went straight into Gabby Hayes
on one of the takes.
1733
01:32:47,208 --> 01:32:50,333
- "That must be one hell of a planet..."
- (All laugh)
1734
01:32:50,458 --> 01:32:52,292
Gone off his fucking head.
1735
01:32:52,417 --> 01:32:56,625
"We caught this director. He has
continuity errors all the way through it.
1736
01:32:56,750 --> 01:32:58,667
"There's red blood
and there's green blood!"
1737
01:32:58,792 --> 01:33:00,542
They really thought
we'd fucked up there.
1738
01:33:00,667 --> 01:33:03,667
I wouldn't know what you'd be giving me,
or what you would not be giving me.
1739
01:33:03,750 --> 01:33:07,500
It would be stupid of me to do it,
so he said, "You're calling me stupid?"
1740
01:33:07,625 --> 01:33:10,458
"If you don't give me this part,
I'll break your neck up, your back up!
1741
01:33:10,583 --> 01:33:13,833
- "I'll tear your cock off, everything!"
- (Laughter)
1742
01:33:13,958 --> 01:33:18,042
He really believed it.
"Flash Gordon! He save the world!"
1743
01:33:18,167 --> 01:33:21,208
And he believed it.
He was like a child, I'm the cynic.
1744
01:33:21,333 --> 01:33:22,833
I want to thank Mike.
1745
01:33:22,958 --> 01:33:26,292
And the wonderful guys,
and everybody in this cast we had.
1746
01:33:26,417 --> 01:33:28,458
'We were very blessed.'
152999
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