Bugsy Malone (1976)

Powerful

One of my all time favorites.

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Fantastic!

An absolute timeless classic.... never gets boring and now loved by my own children too

This musical is a satire on the prohibition and resulting violence occurring in the 1920's. All the characters are kids playing adult roles. The satire is drawn against Bugsy Malone's younger life. The cars are all peddle operated. People get shot with paint and there are plenty of pies in the faces to substitute for violence. Instead of dealing in liquor, the kids are black marketing sarsaparilla (root beer). It's just a great satire of the prohibition era made into a musical, a great credit to younger generation actors. All the kids really do act the part of adults and do it very well. It is too bad the singing is not credited.

movies are seldom more clever and original than 'Bugsy Malone'. sure it's been done before but there wasn't anything like it except the 'Our Gang' comedies with the Little Rascals. not only does 'Bugsy Malone' achieve a high level of originality, it also features a winning score by pop icon Paul Williams and is excellently conceived by top notch director Alan Parker of the original 'Fame' movie.there's also nothing about 'Bugsy Malone' that is too saccharine. it's sweet but it's not too sweet and it features some very mature performances from it's all child cast. especially Jodie foster and Scott Baio who seem years beyond their age which is part of the fun.this movie also seems years ahead in terms of the "gangster" genre and it's satirizing of it. there are scenes that seem eerily right out of 'Miller's Crossing' and that movie hadn't even been made yet.most of all 'Bugsy Malone' showcases a excellent pop score by Paul Williams that manages to be good contemporary pop as well as evocative of the 1930's time period.there are few films even to this day that are quite like 'Bugsy Malone', and that's good. it keeps it's spirit of originality fresh. originality is what sets this fine family film apart from other films, especially in a industry full of imitators and sequels and remakes. but most of all, it's a hilarious family film and lots of good clean fun.

Bugsy Malone is that peg which doesn't fit neatly into any hole that you might want to force it into: is it a mobster film? A satire of mobster films? a family-friendly movie with an all-kid cast? Yes, yes, and yes...but still different from anything done before, or since. I have loved Bugsy Malone since I first saw it air on TV in the '80s, and it has held up astonishingly well as the wonderful and bizarre story that I remember.What Bugsy Malone establishes from the opening scene is that this is going to be a story told in old-Hollywood style, about gangsters circa '30s Chicago: except for the fact that every character is played by a child, average age 12 I believe. Other notable changes are the lack of realistic guns, and the "cars" which are pedaled by the drivers. Substituting for the usual violence and gore of gang wars are mobsters throwing cream pies and shooting each other with the newfangled "Splurge guns" which use a gooey marshmallow substance as ammo.Bugsy Malone also has great costumes and sets to recreate the Prohibition Era to scale for the smaller cast. The most memorable part of this movie for me, however, was in the musical numbers that pop in and out seamlessly between the quick lines and quips of the characters -- yes, a perfect tribute to the Golden Age of film when song and dance was the norm. The tunes are catchy and have a way of sticking in the head for days, particularly the closing number (which was recently used in a Coke commerical btw).The kid cast delivers weirdly convincing performances;I had no trouble suspending disbelief, to the point where I got quickly drawn into their charming alternate world. They are also clearly having fun, and it's hard to resist having fun along with them. Especially standout are Bugsy Malone, played by a dewy-cheeked Scott Baio, and snarky dance-hall girl Tallulah, played by Jodie Foster. Special mention goes to Florrie Dugger, the actress portraying Malone's love interest, Blousy Brown, but who inexplicably has nothing else on her IMDb page; I think she really could have had a career in film. The summary message of the movie is driven home at the very end by a grand, silly, fun scene which I won't spoil for you, but the words of that song say it all: We could have been anything we wanted to be, and it's not too late to change. It really left me wondering if Bugsy Malone had been a sendup, a strangely subtle statement against violence (being a literally childish thing), or a lovingly crafted shout out to director Alan Parker's favorite genre of film. All three perhaps? All I can say for certain is that it works, beautifully.