Trivia / Flashman

• Development Hell:
  • A film adaptation, written by George MacDonald Fraser's himself in collaboration with Charles Wood (who had recently co-written The Charge of the Light Brigade), had been discussed even before the novel was published. Richard Lester was attached to direct with John Alderton (of Please Sir! and Upstairs Downstairs fame) in the title role. Days before principal photography, one of the financiers pulled out due to fears of budget overruns, effectively killing the production. Lester tried again a few years later after he and Fraser mounted a successful adaptation of The Three Musketeers, but studios were still cold on the idea due to the large budget, so they adapted the smaller-scale Royal Flash instead.
  • Malcolm McDowell says that he was first approached to play Flashman by producer-actor Stanley Baker (Zulu), who also tried adapting the first book after Lester's initial try fell through. McDowell would have played Flashman with Baker in an unspecified supporting role. Baker failed to raise enough money and backed out, though he recommended McDowell to Lester when Royal Flash finally went into production.
• Dedication:
  • All of the books are dedicated to Fraser's wife, Katherine, who is variously referred to as "Kath", "Ekatrin" (at the Charge), "Mad White Woman of Papar River" (in the Great Game), "K", (Lady), "Ichimanpi-Wihopawin"/"Beautiful-Travels-Woman" (Redskins), and "Ka't-lin" (Dragon).
  • Fraser also dedicated Royal Flash to his cinematic heroes, Ronald Colman, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone, Louis Hayward, and Tyrone Power; he also gave a joint dedication in Mountain of Light to "Shadman Khan and Sardul Singh, wherever they are."
• Died During Production:
  • Fraser's passing likely means it will never be known if he actually planned to write a novel of Flashman's American Civil War adventures, or if it was only a Noodle Incident along the same lines as Sherlock Holmes' "missing cases". It would be interesting to know what the plot was of the novel GMF announced he was researching about six months before his death, but his estate/publishers/relatives aren't telling.
  • Fraser indicated in various interviews (see here) that he found the Civil War a "colossal bore" and researching it tiresome. Considering this, and that several of his later novels featured events never alluded to in earlier books (eg. Flashman on the March), one may conclude Fraser never intended to write the Civil War novel.
  • Around 2007, Celtic Films announced they were developing a miniseries adaptation of Flashman at the Charge, to be written by Fraser himself. This project apparently fell apart after Fraser's death.
• Disowned Adaptation: Fraser's daughter said in 1981 that she was with him when he saw the film version of Malcolm McDowell and he was so embarrassed by it that he had his head in his hands. Subverted, however, since by the time of the DVD release in the 2000s, he had softened up a bit on his view of the film and spoke highly of McDowell in the role.
• Hypothetical Casting: Fraser once talked about casting Daniel Day-Lewis in a proposed Flashman film, though he mentioned his ideal choice was Errol Flynn.
• Inspiration for the Work: Fraser was inspired by two events: going on a recent trip to Borneo and Malaya during the Indonesian Confrontation which re-ignited his interest in Asia and soldiering, and having just completed a stint as acting editor of his paper, which re-enforced his determination to get out of journalism. He told his wife "I'll write us out of this".
• Shown Their Work: In contrast to the first book, which by was written at home after some research at Trinity College, for later novels Fraser did go abroad for research; notably in Samarkand, Sarawak, and Little Big Horn.
• Playing Against Type: The film version of Royal Flash was a rare conventionally comedic role for Malcolm McDowell who is more noted for ironic Black Comedy.
• Referenced by...: The Ciaphas Cain novels by Sandy Mitchell, set in the Warhammer 40,000 setting, are loosely inspired by Flashman, though Ciaphas is considerably less of an asshole.
• Spiritual Successor: By Fraser's own admission, the series is as a whole to the classic Hollywood adventure movies he grew up loving, with a dash of British imperialist history and Boys Own adventuring.

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