Bugsy Malone   Starring: Jodie Foster and Scott Baio Distributor: ITV Studios Global Entertainment RRP: £9.99 3711536773 Certificate: U Release Date: 06 April 2015

New York in the nineteen twenties was a dangerously alluring place where a guy with an angle could make a fast buck, while the mobsters make big money from speakeasies. Rolling into town, Bugsy Malone, a would-be fight promoter, gets drawn into the gang rivalry between Fat Sam and Dandy Dan. Dan has the upper hand as he possesses the splurge gun. With the custard flying, Bugsy meets and falls for songstress Blousy Brown, but the seductive Tallulah has other plans for Bugsy...

Bugsy Malone (1976. 1 hr 29 min 57 sec) is a musical comedy, directed by Alan Parker and memorable for having an all child cast. The story is very loosely based on famous gangster of the prohibition era, including Al Capone. The film was Parker's first, he also wrote the script.

For a film aimed predominantly at a young audience, it has the convolution of plot more attributed to an adult movie and is structured, apart from the musical numbers, like a conventional gangster film.

Bugsy (Scott Baio) swings into town, to try his luck. Fate places him at Fat Sam’s (John Cassisi) speakeasy at the same time as Blousy Brown (Florrie Dugger) is arriving for an audition, one that never happens as Dandy Dan raids the place. Bugsy is more than a little taken by Blousy and continues to try and get her an audition, but Bugsy’s charms have caught the eye of Tallulah (Jodie Foster) who intends him for herself.

The rivalry between the gangs continue, with Bugsy having to be rescued from one unfortunate encounter by Leroy (Paul Murphy) who Bugsy immediately recognises as a boxing contender. After some shenanigans, Fat Sam’s group get hold of some splurge guns ending the film in an all out custard fight.

Parker had a long association with making films that were out of the ordinary and following on from Bugsy would direct a series of successful musicals, Fame (1980), Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982), The Commitments (1991) and Evita (1996). Bugsy Malone presented a successful triumvirate of good script, good acting and good songs. The film was prescient in its choices of Baio, who would go on to have a long running role in Happy Days and of course the incomparable Jodie Foster. That said, the rest of the cast do well and you easily forget that you’re watching a film predominantly full of unknown and untried actors.

There is only one odd thing about the film and that’s the singing. Paul Williams was approached to do the score, which was completed whilst he was on tour. However he sent the tapes in quite late meaning that these were used in the film, so you have adult voices coming out of the young casts’ mouths. Not that it did the film or his career any harm as the score was nominated for an Oscar. The film went on to win a number of BAFTA’s.

Bugsy Malone has charm and originality enough to appeal to an audience of any age. The disc has no extra, but does have subtitles for the hard of hearing.

7

Charles Packer