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Poster Description: The black poster with stylish silver text for the title. Bugsy Malone (Scott Baio) is surrounded by a red circle and wears a trilby and a white shirt. Tallulah (Jodie Foster) has a sleek haircut and fur coat.
There’s that old saying: never work with animals or
children. Well, director and writer Alan Parker took that and threw it to the
wind with Bugsy Malone. It’s a gangster story with an all-child cast,
which happens to be a musical. And you know I love musicals!
It captures you with its classic style, like a film noir
with men (boys) in sharp suits wielding guns—the difference being they
“splurge” victims with thick cream! Similarly, vintage cars are powered by the
peddling driver. It’s simple, charming, and very, very funny.
Our narrator is “Fat” Sam, who owns the Glam Slam
Speak-Easy. Played by John Cassisi, he gets some of the best lines and uses one
of my favourite tropes about reading the subtitles with hilarious resignation.
Paul Williams provides the unbearably catchy musical numbers choreographed by
Gillian Gregory. Notable highlights are “We Could Have Been Anything That We
Wanted to Be” and “Tomorrow.” Sung by janitor Fizzy, his song slows the film’s
pace but offers a sympathetic, soulful voice to a minor character with big
dreams. It’s one of my favourites, though the whole soundtrack is stellar.
Nevertheless, what I love most about Bugsy Malone is
its script. It’s set sometime in the 1920s, cemented by the gorgeous costumes
and hairstyles (courtesy of Monica Howe, Mary Hillman, and Sarah Monzani), but
the dialogue is whip-smart. Watching the prickly back and forth between Bugsy
and Blousy is always fun, and it’s made all the more impressive that – yes,
I’ll repeat it- they are played by children. The film feels timeless until you
recognise a young Jodie Foster and nasally Bonnie Langford giving it her all.
This film is nearly fifty years old!
Before 1976, no one had ever made a film like this; it will
likely never happen again, with film studios so reticent about taking risks. As
sad as that all makes me, it gives Bugsy Malone that brighter shine as a
movie. Expect to sing those fantastic songs for days afterwards!
My Rating: 5 STARS OUT OF 5
My
Sources:
Bugsy
Malone poster – https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/nKPYDiYYxzOTdGrHgXDYSDjyg1E.jpg
Who
directed Bugsy Malone? - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074256/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_3_nm_5_in_0_q_bugsy
Other
credits from the movie: Choreographer, words & music, hairstyling, make-up,
and costume designer
Cast and crew - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074256/fullcredits
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