MIKE Hodges, the British director known for gritty crime films such as Get Carter and Croupier, has died. He was 90 years old.
According to reports, Hodges passed away at his home in Dorset, England in the south on Saturday (December 17). The cause of death was unknown at the time of writing.
Hodges was born in Bristol in 1932 and qualified as an accountant before joining the Navy. He later found work as a teleprompter in television, worked on Granada Television’s World in Action investigative news series, and directed two shows for ITV Playhouse.
Exhibiting talent in television, Hodges was given the chance to direct his first narrative feature. Get Carter, the acclaimed 1971 revenge thriller starring Michael Caine, remains his crowning achievement.
He later remarked that the poverty he observed in northern England while serving on a Royal Navy minesweeper in his early life influenced Get Carter.
His career took off after the movie’s release and a year later he shot another revenge thriller with Caine titled Pulp and shortly after that the Michael Crichton adaptation The Terminal Man.
The film earned praise in the US and the admiration of acclaimed directors Stanley Kubrick and Terrence Malick.
Hodges played with genres and moved beyond his comfort zone with the sci-fi cult classic Flash Gordon in 1980. Afterwards, he went on to direct music videos for Queen. After directing a series of features, including Croupier, Hodges retreated from the director’s chair and opted to write crime novels.
At the time of his death, he was working on ‘All at Sea’, a biographical documentary charting his life.
He is survived by his second wife, Carol Laws, sons Ben and Jake, and five grandchildren. – The Vibes, December 27, 2022
