Bugsy Malone

Sir Alan Parker died last week. He was a film director who made a lot of movies that I hadn't realized he directed. And he made all sorts of films. Over the next few weeks I'm going to take a look at a few of them. One I hadn't seen before was his debut, Bugsy Malone, which was released in 1976. It's a mixed bag, mostly because it rests on a gimmick.

It's a gangster film, but with an all-child cast. So we have kids, mostly in their tween years, dressed up in suits and flapper dresses, speaking patois gleaned from a hundred gangster movies, but no one dies--the guns shoot whipped cream. The cars look vintage, but they are powered by pedaling. And the kids don't drink alcohol, they have milk shakes or sarsaparilla.

This is cute, up to a point. Even though the film is only about ninety minutes long, it would have been better as a short. Indeed, there were short films in the '30s that used this idea, of little kids in adult roles  So while we may be charmed by the concept, it quickly grows stale, as the plot isn't all that interesting.

Scott Baio is the title character, a boxing promoter who is engaged by a gang leader, Fat Sam, to assist him in his turf war with Dandy Dan (I couldn't help but think of Baio's now reactionary politics while watching). There are some musical numbers, written by Paul Williams, and in a mistake acknowledged by both Williams and Parker, the voices of the kids are dubbed by adults, which makes for some creepy viewing. I will say it works with Jodie Foster, as Fat Sam's moll and a singer at his speakeasy. Her number is sung by an adult, but it fits her. As usual with anything Foster did as a child, she knows an incredible precociousness, and is miles better than anyone else in the film.

But in the end, I think, Bugsy Malone's charms outweigh it's problems. I enjoyed the sets and costumes, and the brio of the kids. In addition to Foster, John Cassisi is inspired as Fat Sam, and Florrie Dugger, who never acted again, is winsome as the female lead, Blousey Brown. Looking at the credits, I see that Dexter Fletcher, who is now a director (he made Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman), has a small but memorable role.

It's interesting that as far as I know, this gimmick was never tried again. I think that's probably for the best.