Bugsy Malone
Encyclopedia
Bugsy Malone is a 1976 musical film
, very loosely based on events in New York City in the Prohibition
era, specifically the exploits of gangsters like Al Capone
and Bugs Moran
, as dramatized in cinema. Featuring only child actors (with singing voices provided by adults), director Alan Parker
lightened the subject matter considerably for the children's market; the film received a G rating
.
This film was Parker's feature-length directorial debut, introduced actor Scott Baio
, and featured veteran actress (at age 13) Jodie Foster
.
At Fat Sam's speakeasy
there is much dancing and singing, but Fat Sam himself is worried about his rival Dandy Dan. Blousey Brown, an aspiring singer, has come for an audition, but Sam is too distracted. Bugsy Malone, a boxing promoter with no money, meets Blousey when he trips over her luggage. He is smitten, and flirts with her. Suddenly, Fat Sam's is raided by Dandy Dan's men, who shoot the place up.
Dandy Dan's men continue to attack Fat Sam's empire, eventually taking away rackets and splurging most of Fat Sam's gang. Fat Sam learns about the splurge guns when one is dropped and left at the scene of an attack. Fat Sam sends all his available men to see if they can track down the guns; they are trapped at a laundry and all splurged by Dandy Dan's gang.
Bugsy returns to Fat Sam's to try to arrange a new audition for Blousey. He only finds Fat Sam's girlfriend, Tallulah, who tells him that she likes him. Although Bugsy rejects her flirtation, when Blousey enters, Tallulah plants a big kiss on Bugsy's forehead, making Blousey jealous.
Fat Sam hires Bugsy to come along to a meeting with Dandy Dan. This meeting turns out to be a trap, but Bugsy helps Fat Sam escape. Gratefully, Fat Sam pays him $200.
Bugsy and Blousey reconcile, and have a lunch and a romantic outing on a lake. Back in the city, Bugsy promises to buy tickets for them to leave for Hollywood. However, when he returns Sam's car to the garage, he is attacked, and his money stolen. Bugsy is saved by Leroy, who punches the attackers; seeing this, Bugsy realizes he has found a potentially great boxer and helps him begin training.
Fat Sam once again enlists Bugsy's aid after his assistant Knuckles get accidentally splurged by a splurge gun which Fat Sam invented. Bugsy and Leroy follow Dandy Dan's men to a warehouse, where they discover the guns are being stashed. The two of them can't take the place alone, so Bugsy enlists the aid of a large group of down-and-out workers at a soup kitchen.
They steal the crates of guns and return with them to Fat Sam's just as Dandy Dan's gang arrives. Chaos breaks out and everyone is covered in a melee of custard. A pie hits the piano player Razmataz, who falls forward, striking a single bass note with his head. Silence instantly breaks out, and then the cast, now covered in white cream (with the sole exceptions of Bugsy and Blousey), engages in a final musical number. The characters realise they can all be friends, and Bugsy and Blousey leave for Hollywood.
as Bugsy Malone
Florrie Dugger
as Blousey Brown
John Cassisi
as Fat Sam
Jodie Foster
as Talullah
Martin Lev
as Dandy Dan
Paul Murphy as Leroy Smith
Albin Humpty Jenkins as Fizzy
Sheridan Russell as Knuckels
Davidson Knight as Cagey Joe
Paul Chirelstien as Captain Smolsky
Andrew Paul
as O'Dreary
Jeffrey Stevens as Louis
Michael Kirkby as Angelo
Donald Waugh as Snake Eyes
Peter Holder as Ritzy
Jon Zebrowski as Shoulders
Jorge Valdez as Bronx Charlie
Ron Meleleu as Doodle
John Lee as Benny Lee
Paul Besterman as Yonkers
Kevin Reul as Laughing Boy
Dexter Fletcher
as Baby Face
John Williams as Roxy Robinson
Brian Hardy as Jackson
Michael Jackson as Razamataz
Bonnie Langford
as Lena Marelli
Mark Curry as Oscar DeVelt
Vivienne McKone as Velma
Helen Corran as Bangles
Jonathan Scott-Taylor
as Newsreporter
Credits of Bugsy Malone (Original Cast Recording):
Paul Williams – Arranger, Moog Synthesizer, Producer, Piano (Electric), Vocals
Archie Hahn – Vocals
Julie McWirder – Vocals
Liberty Williams – Vocals
Jim Haas – Vocals (backing vocals)
Ron Hicklin – Vocals (backing vocals)
Lewis Morford – Vocals (backing vocals)
Sukey Smith – Vocals (backing vocals)
Jerry Whitman – Vocals (backing vocals)
Colin Cameron – Bass
David Cameron – Bass
Roger DeLillo – Brass
David Garland – Keyboards, Saxophone
Gary Mallaber – Percussion, Drums
Art Munson – Banjo, Guitar
Michael Natalie – Brass
Vince Trombetta – Brass
David Puttnam – Executive Producer
Alan Parker – Director, Writer, Liner Notes
Jay Mark – Engineer
Gary Ulmer – Engineer
The director chose to cast several unknown actors in the film. To find his Fat Sam, Parker visited a Brooklyn
classroom, asking for "the naughtiest boy in class". They were unanimous in selecting John Cassisi
, and Parker gave him the role. Actress Florrie Dugger
was originally cast in a smaller role; when the actress cast as Blousey suddenly grew taller than Baio, Dugger was promoted. At the time they filmed, all of the cast were under 17 years old.
Parker chose Paul Williams
to score the film in order to get a more "palatable" modern sound, and simply because he liked him. Williams had scored Brian De Palma
's commercial failure Phantom of the Paradise
, but had also written huge pop-radio hits (such as We've Only Just Begun
(lyrics), and (Just An) Old Fashioned Love Song
). In fact, Williams would soon win an Oscar for his song Evergreen
from the 1976 film A Star Is Born
. (He would also go on to become very well known for his work in children's films, such as The Rainbow Connection
from his score for The Muppet Movie
).
Williams felt that "...the challenge for me was to provide songs that reflected the period ... and yet maintained an energy that would hold the young audiences attention." According to Parker, Williams was writing while on tour, recording songs in different cities, and sending the completed tapes to Hollywood. Arriving during pre-shoot rehearsals, the songs had to be accepted and used as they were, with voices by Paul, Archie Hahn and others.
Neither the director nor the songwriter was entirely comfortable with the results. Williams later wrote "I'm really proud of the work and the only thing I've ever doubted is the choice of using adult voices. Perhaps I should have given the kids a chance to sing the songs." Parker also commented: "Watching the film after all these years, this is one aspect that I find the most bizarre. Adult voices coming out of these kids' mouths? I had told Paul that I didn't want squeaky kids voices and he interpreted this in his own way. Anyway, as the tapes arrived, scarcely weeks away from filming, we had no choice but to go along with it!"
The movie was rehearsed and filmed in England, largely on Pinewood Studios
' "H" stage, with locations in Black Park Country Park (Wexham, Buckinghamshire) and Reading, Berkshire.
The "splurge guns" proved to be problematic. After initial experiments with cream-filled wax balls proved painful, Parker decided to abandon the idea of filming the guns directly. Instead, the guns fired ping-pong balls, and a fast cut
to a victim being pelted with "splurge" was used to convey the impression of the rapid-firing guns.
The film garnered 15 award nominations, including "Best Motion Picture (Musical/Comedy)", "Best Original Score" and "Best Original Song" (for the title track) from the Golden Globes, an Oscar
for "Best Original Song Score" (Paul Williams), and the prestigious Golden Palm at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival
. Actress Jodie Foster was the only one to win, receiving two BAFTAs, "Best Supporting Actress" and "Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles", however, both her nominations were for her previous year's work in Taxi Driver in addition to her work on Bugsy Malone.
Bugsy Malone was nominated for AFI's Top 10 Gangster Films list.
In March 1996, Polydor UK released the soundtrack on CD. It has yet to be released in the US on CD but is available through various outlets as an import. It was released as an LP in 1976. Performers include Paul Williams, Archie Hahn, Julie McWirder, and Liberty Williams. The track listing is:
A cast recording of the National Youth Music Theatre
Stage Show version of Bugsy Malone was released in 1998. Like the stage show, this recording featured two songs originally written by Williams, but not used in the film: That's Why They Call Him Dandy, and Show Business. (There is also some additional incidental orchestral score, such as an Overture and Exit Music.)
, Cats
, and The King and I
. Bugsy Malone ranks 353rd on Empire Magazine' s 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.
Bugsy Malone has been adapted into a stage show. A TV documentary called Bugsy Malone: After They Were Famous features a reunion and interviews with Jodie Foster, Scott Baio, John Cassisi and Florrie Dugger. The British actors who played Fat Sam's gang are also reunited at Pinewood Studios
. It was aired in December 2004 on ITV
in the UK.
In 2007 during the Super Bowl XLI
, an animated Coca-Cola
commercial was based around the song You Give a Little Love from Bugsy Malone. It was animated to look like the action computer game Grand Theft Auto
. But they replaced the character's normal actions of anger and crime with opposite redeeming actions. The version of the song in the commercial features vocals by Moses Patrou.
The episode "Dissolution" of Spaced
, a British situation comedy written by and starring Simon Pegg
and Jessica Stevenson
, pays a subtle and brief homage to Bugsy Malone. A cake fight occurs during Daisy's birthday dinner. The waiter signals angrily to the pianist to end the fight. The brief piano piece heard at the end of Bugsy Malone's final splurge gun fight and as an incidental throughout the movie is played.
The 13th track on British rapper Dizzee Rascal
's 2007 album, Maths + English
, entitled 'Wanna Be' references the Bugsy Malone track 'So You Wanna be a Boxer'. The song "Ordinary Fool" has been performed on recordings by Karen Carpenter
, Ella Fitzgerald
and Mel Tormé
.
The Swedish EBM
band Spetsnaz
performed a cover of "Down and Out", which was released as an extra track on the "Hardcore Hooligans" single. The Newcastle
based band Moira Stewart (named after the British newsreader) included a cover of "You Give A Little Love" (with a slight change of title to simply "Give A Little Love") on their début album "Sweetness, Yes!".
In the 2009 comedy, In the Loop
, a character played by Gina McKee
remarks, after seeing that most of the top positions in D.C. are staffed by young college graduates, "They're all kids in Washington. It's like Bugsy Malone, but with real guns."
In 2010, UK band Silvery
included a cover of 'You Give A Little Love' on their second album 'Railway Architecture', and Olly Murs
, runner up in the 2009 UK series of The X Factor
, sampled 'So You Wanna Be A Boxer' in his song entitled Hold On that can be found on his debut album
.
Tampa Bay Lightning player Ryan Malone
's locker room nickname is Bugsy, a homage to this film.
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
, very loosely based on events in New York City in the Prohibition
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
era, specifically the exploits of gangsters like Al Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
and Bugs Moran
Bugs Moran
George Clarence Moran , better known by the alias "Bugs" Moran, was a Chicago Prohibition-era gangster born in St. Paul, Minnesota. Moran, of Irish and Polish descent, moved to the north side of Chicago when he was 19, where he became affiliated with several gangs...
, as dramatized in cinema. Featuring only child actors (with singing voices provided by adults), director Alan Parker
Alan Parker
Sir Alan William Parker, CBE is an English film director, producer, writer and actor. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.-Life and career:...
lightened the subject matter considerably for the children's market; the film received a G rating
Motion picture rating system
A motion picture rating system is designated to classify films with regard to suitability for audiences in terms of issues such as sex, violence, substance abuse, profanity, impudence or other types of mature content...
.
This film was Parker's feature-length directorial debut, introduced actor Scott Baio
Scott Baio
Scott Vincent James Baio is an American actor and television director, best known for his roles as Chachi Arcola on the sitcom Happy Days and its spin-off, Joanie Loves Chachi, and as the title character on the sitcom Charles in Charge....
, and featured veteran actress (at age 13) Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster
Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....
.
Plot
The film opens with a brief action sequence in which a mobster is "splurged" by members of Dandy Dan's gang, using rapid-fire custard-shooting "splurge guns". Once splurged, a kid is "all washed up" and his career in crime is over—the splurged gangsters are never shown as dead or even unconscious, merely "finished".At Fat Sam's speakeasy
Speakeasy
A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an establishment that illegally sells alcoholic beverages. Such establishments came into prominence in the United States during the period known as Prohibition...
there is much dancing and singing, but Fat Sam himself is worried about his rival Dandy Dan. Blousey Brown, an aspiring singer, has come for an audition, but Sam is too distracted. Bugsy Malone, a boxing promoter with no money, meets Blousey when he trips over her luggage. He is smitten, and flirts with her. Suddenly, Fat Sam's is raided by Dandy Dan's men, who shoot the place up.
Dandy Dan's men continue to attack Fat Sam's empire, eventually taking away rackets and splurging most of Fat Sam's gang. Fat Sam learns about the splurge guns when one is dropped and left at the scene of an attack. Fat Sam sends all his available men to see if they can track down the guns; they are trapped at a laundry and all splurged by Dandy Dan's gang.
Bugsy returns to Fat Sam's to try to arrange a new audition for Blousey. He only finds Fat Sam's girlfriend, Tallulah, who tells him that she likes him. Although Bugsy rejects her flirtation, when Blousey enters, Tallulah plants a big kiss on Bugsy's forehead, making Blousey jealous.
Fat Sam hires Bugsy to come along to a meeting with Dandy Dan. This meeting turns out to be a trap, but Bugsy helps Fat Sam escape. Gratefully, Fat Sam pays him $200.
Bugsy and Blousey reconcile, and have a lunch and a romantic outing on a lake. Back in the city, Bugsy promises to buy tickets for them to leave for Hollywood. However, when he returns Sam's car to the garage, he is attacked, and his money stolen. Bugsy is saved by Leroy, who punches the attackers; seeing this, Bugsy realizes he has found a potentially great boxer and helps him begin training.
Fat Sam once again enlists Bugsy's aid after his assistant Knuckles get accidentally splurged by a splurge gun which Fat Sam invented. Bugsy and Leroy follow Dandy Dan's men to a warehouse, where they discover the guns are being stashed. The two of them can't take the place alone, so Bugsy enlists the aid of a large group of down-and-out workers at a soup kitchen.
They steal the crates of guns and return with them to Fat Sam's just as Dandy Dan's gang arrives. Chaos breaks out and everyone is covered in a melee of custard. A pie hits the piano player Razmataz, who falls forward, striking a single bass note with his head. Silence instantly breaks out, and then the cast, now covered in white cream (with the sole exceptions of Bugsy and Blousey), engages in a final musical number. The characters realise they can all be friends, and Bugsy and Blousey leave for Hollywood.
Cast
Scott BaioScott Baio
Scott Vincent James Baio is an American actor and television director, best known for his roles as Chachi Arcola on the sitcom Happy Days and its spin-off, Joanie Loves Chachi, and as the title character on the sitcom Charles in Charge....
as Bugsy Malone
Florrie Dugger
Florrie Dugger
Florence "Florrie" Dugger is an American former child actress, whose only role was "Blousey Brown" in the all-child cast of Bugsy Malone . When the film was cast, she was living in Europe on a United States Air Force base...
as Blousey Brown
John Cassisi
John Cassisi
John Cassisi is a former American child actor who starred in the television show Fish and in the movie Bugsy Malone as Fat Sam. He is now married with three children and is involved in construction work.-External links:...
as Fat Sam
Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster
Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....
as Talullah
Martin Lev
Martin Lev
Martin Lev , real name Musa, was a child actor from Liverpool.- Career :Martin started acting at the age of 16, playing David Bowen in the NBC made-for-TV movie The Day After Tomorrow and starring as Dandy Dan in the musical film Bugsy Malone...
as Dandy Dan
Paul Murphy as Leroy Smith
Albin Humpty Jenkins as Fizzy
Sheridan Russell as Knuckels
Davidson Knight as Cagey Joe
Paul Chirelstien as Captain Smolsky
Andrew Paul
Andrew Paul
Andrew Paul is a British-Jewish actor best known for playing PC Dave Quinnan in the ITV drama The Bill for 13 years.- Career :...
as O'Dreary
Jeffrey Stevens as Louis
Michael Kirkby as Angelo
Donald Waugh as Snake Eyes
Peter Holder as Ritzy
Jon Zebrowski as Shoulders
Jorge Valdez as Bronx Charlie
Ron Meleleu as Doodle
John Lee as Benny Lee
Paul Besterman as Yonkers
Kevin Reul as Laughing Boy
Dexter Fletcher
Dexter Fletcher
Dexter Fletcher is an English actor. He is best known for his role in Guy Ritchie film, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels as well as television roles in such shows as the dramedy Hotel Babylon, the critically acclaimed HBO series Band of Brothers and earlier in his career, the children's show...
as Baby Face
John Williams as Roxy Robinson
Brian Hardy as Jackson
Michael Jackson as Razamataz
Bonnie Langford
Bonnie Langford
Bonita Melody Lysette "Bonnie" Langford is an English actress, dancer and entertainer. She came to prominence as a child star in the early 1970s then she subsequently became a companion of Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy's Doctor Who and has appeared on stage in various musicals such as Peter Pan:...
as Lena Marelli
Mark Curry as Oscar DeVelt
Vivienne McKone as Velma
Helen Corran as Bangles
Jonathan Scott-Taylor
Jonathan Scott-Taylor
Jonathan Scott-Taylor is a Brazil-born English former actor.He was born in São Paulo, Brazil to English parents; his father was a consultant for the fishery industry in Brazil at the time. Scott-Taylor started going to drama school at age 11. He played the character of Jim Hawkins in a stage...
as Newsreporter
Credits of Bugsy Malone (Original Cast Recording):
Paul Williams – Arranger, Moog Synthesizer, Producer, Piano (Electric), Vocals
Archie Hahn – Vocals
Julie McWirder – Vocals
Liberty Williams – Vocals
Jim Haas – Vocals (backing vocals)
Ron Hicklin – Vocals (backing vocals)
Lewis Morford – Vocals (backing vocals)
Sukey Smith – Vocals (backing vocals)
Jerry Whitman – Vocals (backing vocals)
Colin Cameron – Bass
David Cameron – Bass
Roger DeLillo – Brass
David Garland – Keyboards, Saxophone
Gary Mallaber – Percussion, Drums
Art Munson – Banjo, Guitar
Michael Natalie – Brass
Vince Trombetta – Brass
David Puttnam – Executive Producer
Alan Parker – Director, Writer, Liner Notes
Jay Mark – Engineer
Gary Ulmer – Engineer
Production
Bugsy Malone was Alan Parker's first feature film. Parker was trying to find a film that his children would enjoy, and his eldest son suggested one featuring a cast of only children.The director chose to cast several unknown actors in the film. To find his Fat Sam, Parker visited a Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
classroom, asking for "the naughtiest boy in class". They were unanimous in selecting John Cassisi
John Cassisi
John Cassisi is a former American child actor who starred in the television show Fish and in the movie Bugsy Malone as Fat Sam. He is now married with three children and is involved in construction work.-External links:...
, and Parker gave him the role. Actress Florrie Dugger
Florrie Dugger
Florence "Florrie" Dugger is an American former child actress, whose only role was "Blousey Brown" in the all-child cast of Bugsy Malone . When the film was cast, she was living in Europe on a United States Air Force base...
was originally cast in a smaller role; when the actress cast as Blousey suddenly grew taller than Baio, Dugger was promoted. At the time they filmed, all of the cast were under 17 years old.
Parker chose Paul Williams
Paul Williams (songwriter)
Paul Hamilton Williams, Jr. is an Academy Award-winning American composer, musician, songwriter, and actor. He is perhaps best known for popular songs performed by a number of acts in the 1970s including Three Dog Night's "An Old Fashioned Love Song", Helen Reddy's "You and Me Against the World",...
to score the film in order to get a more "palatable" modern sound, and simply because he liked him. Williams had scored Brian De Palma
Brian De Palma
Brian Russell De Palma is an American film director and writer. In a career spanning over 40 years, he is probably best known for his suspense and crime thriller films, including such box office successes as the horror film Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, The Untouchables, and Mission:...
's commercial failure Phantom of the Paradise
Phantom of the Paradise
Phantom of the Paradise is a 1974 musical film written and directed by Brian De Palma. The story is a loosely adapted mixture of The Phantom of the Opera, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Faust and also briefly references Frankenstein and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari...
, but had also written huge pop-radio hits (such as We've Only Just Begun
We've Only Just Begun
"We've Only Just Begun" is the signature song of The Carpenters, written by Roger Nichols and Paul Williams , and is often used as a wedding song. The song was ranked at #405 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".The song was recorded by Smokey Roberds, a friend...
(lyrics), and (Just An) Old Fashioned Love Song
An Old Fashioned Love Song
"An Old Fashioned Love Song" is a 1971 song by the American pop-rock band Three Dog Night. Chuck Negron performed the lead vocal on this track. Taken as the lead single from their 1971 album, Harmony, the song peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1971, becoming the...
). In fact, Williams would soon win an Oscar for his song Evergreen
Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)
"Evergreen " is the theme song from the 1976 film A Star Is Born. It was composed and performed by Barbra Streisand with lyrics by Paul Williams. The song was released on the soundtrack album to A Star Is Born....
from the 1976 film A Star Is Born
A Star Is Born (1976 film)
A Star Is Born is a 1976 American rock music musical film telling the story of a young woman, played by Barbra Streisand who enters show business, and meets and falls in love with an established male star, played by Kris Kristofferson, only to find her career ascending while his goes into decline...
. (He would also go on to become very well known for his work in children's films, such as The Rainbow Connection
The Rainbow Connection
"Rainbow Connection" is a popular song written by Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher and originally performed by the character of Kermit the Frog in The Muppet Movie in 1979...
from his score for The Muppet Movie
The Muppet Movie
The Muppet Movie is the first of a series of live-action musical feature films starring Jim Henson's Muppets. Released in 1979, the film was produced by Henson Associates, Children's Television Workshop and ITC Entertainment....
).
Williams felt that "...the challenge for me was to provide songs that reflected the period ... and yet maintained an energy that would hold the young audiences attention." According to Parker, Williams was writing while on tour, recording songs in different cities, and sending the completed tapes to Hollywood. Arriving during pre-shoot rehearsals, the songs had to be accepted and used as they were, with voices by Paul, Archie Hahn and others.
Neither the director nor the songwriter was entirely comfortable with the results. Williams later wrote "I'm really proud of the work and the only thing I've ever doubted is the choice of using adult voices. Perhaps I should have given the kids a chance to sing the songs." Parker also commented: "Watching the film after all these years, this is one aspect that I find the most bizarre. Adult voices coming out of these kids' mouths? I had told Paul that I didn't want squeaky kids voices and he interpreted this in his own way. Anyway, as the tapes arrived, scarcely weeks away from filming, we had no choice but to go along with it!"
The movie was rehearsed and filmed in England, largely on Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
' "H" stage, with locations in Black Park Country Park (Wexham, Buckinghamshire) and Reading, Berkshire.
The "splurge guns" proved to be problematic. After initial experiments with cream-filled wax balls proved painful, Parker decided to abandon the idea of filming the guns directly. Instead, the guns fired ping-pong balls, and a fast cut
Fast cutting
Fast cutting is a film editing technique which refers to several consecutive shots of a brief duration . It can be used to convey a lot of information very quickly, or to imply either energy or chaos...
to a victim being pelted with "splurge" was used to convey the impression of the rapid-firing guns.
Release & Awards
Released in 1977, the film was a modest success, bringing in just over $2.7 million in the US. However, Paramount released it limited, usually dumping it onto second-tier theaters in a double-bill with The Bad News Bears, which had already been out for six months, and was no longer much of a draw. The film performed well in the UK and Japan, however.The film garnered 15 award nominations, including "Best Motion Picture (Musical/Comedy)", "Best Original Score" and "Best Original Song" (for the title track) from the Golden Globes, an Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for "Best Original Song Score" (Paul Williams), and the prestigious Golden Palm at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival
1976 Cannes Film Festival
The 29th Cannes Film Festival was held on May 13-28, 1976. A new section, 'L'Air du temps', which is non-competitive and focuses on contemporary subjects, is introduced at this festival and discontinued after the next.- Jury :...
. Actress Jodie Foster was the only one to win, receiving two BAFTAs, "Best Supporting Actress" and "Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles", however, both her nominations were for her previous year's work in Taxi Driver in addition to her work on Bugsy Malone.
Bugsy Malone was nominated for AFI's Top 10 Gangster Films list.
Home video releases / DVD / Blu-ray
In the early eighties, the movie was released on VHS. On 16 April 1996, it was re-released by Paramount on VHS. Although the movie has never been commercially released on DVD in the US, it has been available through Internet sites as an Asian import supporting Region 1 (US). On 9 September 2008, BMG/Arista released a Blu-Ray version, encoded for "all regions", as a United Kingdom import. This edition includes a director's commentary as well as other special features; however, as of October, 2009, the blu-ray version has been discontinued. A US DVD (Region 1) release was listed around 2003/04 as being available soon, however the movie has yet to be released in this format.Soundtrack
- Bugsy Malone – Paul Williams
- Fat Sam's Grand Slam – Paul Williams
- Tomorrow
- Bad Guys
- I'm Feeling Fine
- My Name Is Tallulah
- So You Wanna Be a Boxer?
- Ordinary Fool
- Down and Out
- You Give a Little Love – Paul Williams
A cast recording of the National Youth Music Theatre
National Youth Music Theatre
The National Youth Music Theatre or NYMT is a UK organisation for young people in the field of musical theatre, based in London. It runs acting auditions, workshops, and musical theatre productions...
Stage Show version of Bugsy Malone was released in 1998. Like the stage show, this recording featured two songs originally written by Williams, but not used in the film: That's Why They Call Him Dandy, and Show Business. (There is also some additional incidental orchestral score, such as an Overture and Exit Music.)
Legacy
In 2003, Bugsy Malone was voted #19 on a list of the 100 greatest musicals, as chosen by viewers of Channel 4 in the UK, placing it higher than The Phantom of the OperaThe Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...
, Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
, and The King and I
The King and I
The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
. Bugsy Malone ranks 353rd on Empire Magazine
Bugsy Malone has been adapted into a stage show. A TV documentary called Bugsy Malone: After They Were Famous features a reunion and interviews with Jodie Foster, Scott Baio, John Cassisi and Florrie Dugger. The British actors who played Fat Sam's gang are also reunited at Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
. It was aired in December 2004 on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
in the UK.
In 2007 during the Super Bowl XLI
Super Bowl XLI
Super Bowl XLI was an American football game that featured the American Football Conference champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League champion for the 2006 season...
, an animated Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
commercial was based around the song You Give a Little Love from Bugsy Malone. It was animated to look like the action computer game Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto (series)
Grand Theft Auto is a multi-award-winning British video game series created in the United Kingdom by Dave Jones, then later by brothers Dan Houser and Sam Houser, and game designer Zachary Clarke. It is primarily developed by Edinburgh based Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games...
. But they replaced the character's normal actions of anger and crime with opposite redeeming actions. The version of the song in the commercial features vocals by Moses Patrou.
The episode "Dissolution" of Spaced
Spaced
Spaced is a British television sitcom written by and starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, and directed by Edgar Wright. It is noted for its rapid-fire editing, frequent pop culture references and jokes, eclectic music, and occasional displays of surrealism and non-sequitur humour...
, a British situation comedy written by and starring Simon Pegg
Simon Pegg
Simon Pegg is an English actor, comedian, writer, film producer, and director. He is best known for having co-written and stared in various Edgar Wright features, mainly Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and the comedy series Spaced.He also portrayed Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the 2009 Star Trek film...
and Jessica Stevenson
Jessica Stevenson
Jessica Hynes is an English actress and writer. She was known professionally as Jessica Stevenson until 2007.She is possibly best known as one of the creators, writers and stars of the British sitcom Spaced....
, pays a subtle and brief homage to Bugsy Malone. A cake fight occurs during Daisy's birthday dinner. The waiter signals angrily to the pianist to end the fight. The brief piano piece heard at the end of Bugsy Malone's final splurge gun fight and as an incidental throughout the movie is played.
The 13th track on British rapper Dizzee Rascal
Dizzee Rascal
Dylan Kwabena Mills , better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a Ghanaian British rapper, songwriter and record producer. His music is a blend of garage, hip hop, grime, ragga, pop and electronic music, with eclectic samples and more exotic styles...
's 2007 album, Maths + English
Maths + English
- Track listing :*1 Samples Lyn Collins' "Think " and Galactic Force Band's "Space Dust Gurnhill EZI".*2 Co-mixed by Shy FX.*3 Samples "So You Wanna Be a Boxer" from the film musical Bugsy Malone.*4 Omitted from US version.-Charts:...
, entitled 'Wanna Be' references the Bugsy Malone track 'So You Wanna be a Boxer'. The song "Ordinary Fool" has been performed on recordings by Karen Carpenter
Karen Carpenter
Karen Anne Carpenter was an American singer and drummer. She and her brother, Richard, formed the 1970s duo The Carpenters. She was a drummer of exceptional skill, but she is best remembered for her vocal performances of idealistic romantic ballads of true love...
, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
and Mel Tormé
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
.
The Swedish EBM
Electronic body music
Electronic body music or industrial dance is a music genre that combines elements of industrial music and electronic dance music...
band Spetsnaz
Spetsnaz (band)
Spetsnaz is an EBM duo, formed in Örebro, Sweden by Stefan Nilsson and Pontus Stålberg in 2001....
performed a cover of "Down and Out", which was released as an extra track on the "Hardcore Hooligans" single. The Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
based band Moira Stewart (named after the British newsreader) included a cover of "You Give A Little Love" (with a slight change of title to simply "Give A Little Love") on their début album "Sweetness, Yes!".
In the 2009 comedy, In the Loop
In the Loop (film)
In the Loop is a 2009 British satirical black comedy film directed by Armando Iannucci. It is based on the BBC Television series The Thick of It satirising Anglo-American politics in the 21st century and the Invasion of Iraq...
, a character played by Gina McKee
Gina McKee
Georgina "Gina" McKee is an English actor known for her television roles in Our Friends in the North , The Lost Prince and The Forsyte Saga ; and her portrayal of Bella in the film Notting Hill ....
remarks, after seeing that most of the top positions in D.C. are staffed by young college graduates, "They're all kids in Washington. It's like Bugsy Malone, but with real guns."
In 2010, UK band Silvery
Silvery
Silvery are a London-based 4-piece indie rock band, signed to Blow Up Records . Their sound was best described by Journalist David Quantick in The Word as “Splenetic, frenetic, kinetic” and in NME as “Girlie harmonies, sniggering, fairground piano.....
included a cover of 'You Give A Little Love' on their second album 'Railway Architecture', and Olly Murs
Olly Murs
Oliver Stanley "Olly" Murs is an English singer-songwriter and TV presenter. Murs rose to fame after being the runner-up on the sixth series of The X Factor...
, runner up in the 2009 UK series of The X Factor
The X Factor (UK)
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...
, sampled 'So You Wanna Be A Boxer' in his song entitled Hold On that can be found on his debut album
Olly Murs (album)
-Charts:-End of year charts:-Certifications:-Tour:On 21 November 2010 a UK tour was announced for 2011 to promote the album.-Release history:...
.
Tampa Bay Lightning player Ryan Malone
Ryan Malone
Ryan Malone is an American professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the National Hockey League .-Playing career:...
's locker room nickname is Bugsy, a homage to this film.