Neither the director nor the songwriter were 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!" [15] Filming [ edit ] A 2003 television 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. The documentary reported that Dugger, who (unlike her co-stars) had never acted again, had chosen to pursue a career in the United States Air Force Medical Service. [35] [11] Bugsy Malone was Alan Parker's first feature film. Parker was trying to find a film project that was not "parochial" and decided upon an American gangster setting: "I had four young children and we used to go to a cottage in Derbyshire at weekends. On the long, boring car journey up there, I started telling them the story of a gangster called Bugsy Malone. They’d ask me questions and I’d make up answers, based on my memories of watching old movie reruns as a kid." His eldest son suggested children should be cast as the "heroes". [9] I had quit the business, because I didn’t like driving into Manhattan. Well, the long and the short of it is that I wanted to play with my friends after school, but it happened to be raining that day, so I went to the city to meet with Alan Parker. I read it, but I just barely read it. I didn’t even want to be there. He was English, but I didn’t even know what that was. He was just this weird guy with long hair, and I didn’t know what he was. [Laughs.] So I sort of read the script, threw it at him, and walked out the door. That was it: I’d gotten the part before I got home. [13] The song "Ordinary Fool" has been covered by numerous artists including Ella Fitzgerald and The Carpenters.

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 "Hold On" that can be found on his debut album. a b "100 Greatest Musicals – Broadcast Christmas 2003, Channel 4 (UK). Presented by Denise Van Outen". thecustard.tv. The Custard. 2003. Archived from the original on 16 October 2007 . Retrieved 18 June 2008. During the prohibition era, a mobster named Roxy Robinson is "splurged" by members of a rival gang, using rapid-fire cream-shooting "splurge guns". Once splurged, a gangster is "all washed up... finished". Mob boss Fat Sam Staccetto introduces himself in the opening narration, as well as introducing Bugsy Malone, a penniless boxing promoter who is 'a little too popular with the broads... but a nice guy' ("Bugsy Malone"). a b Alexander Walker, National Heroes: British Cinema in the Seventies and Eighties, Harrap, 1985 p 86Martin Lev as Dandy Dan, rival gang boss who steals Fat Sam's territory (Lev died in 1992, 20 days before his 33rd birthday) The story is an homage to the archetypical gangster films of yore: Fat Sam (John Cassisi) is a mob boss who finds himself in conflict with his rival Dandy Dan (Martin Lev) when the latter uses new weaponry to muscle into Sam’s territory. Low-level mug Bugsy Malone (Scott Baio) finds himself drawn into the conflict even though he just wants to romance the ingenue Blousy (Florence Garland), with Sam’s moll Tallulah (Jodie Foster) waiting in the wings. The narrative is standard fare for the genre, but that familiarity was necessary to anchor the quirky reimagining as a children’s musical. AFI's 10 Top 10 Nominees" (PDF). Archived from the original on 16 July 2011 . Retrieved 19 August 2016. {{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown ( link) Bugsy Malone DVD Special Edition PaulWilliamsCoUK.Plus.com David Chamberlayne. Retrieved 3 June 2010. Two rival gangsters battle for turf and a new, strategically important armament during the Prohibition Era -- a cliche if the entire cast weren't children.

Bugsy Malone is a 1976 gangster musical comedy film written and directed by Alan Parker (in his feature film directorial debut). A co-production of United States and United Kingdom, it features an ensemble cast, featuring only child actors playing adult roles, with Jodie Foster, Scott Baio and John Cassisi in major roles. The film tells the story of the rise of "Bugsy Malone" and the battle for power between "Fat Sam" and "Dandy Dan". Shenton, Mark. "Bugsy Malone, review of Lyric Hammersmith's Olivier nominated revival", LondonTheatre.co, 27 June 2016

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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 the first pre-shoot rehearsals, the songs had to be accepted and used as they were, with voices by Williams, Archie Hahn, and others.

Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge. Set in New York City, it is a gangster movie spoof, substituting machine guns that fire gobs of whipped cream instead of bullets. The film is based loosely on events in New York and Chicago during Prohibition era, specifically the exploits of real-life gangsters such as Al Capone and Bugs Moran. Parker lightened the subject matter considerably for the children's market and the film received a G rating in the U.S. Bugsy Malone premiered at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or. It was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on July 12, 1976, by Fox- Rank Distributors, and in the United States by Paramount Pictures on September 15. Although a commercial success in the UK, it was not a financial success overseas. The film received critical acclaim, with praise drawn for Parker's screenplay and direction, its musical numbers, unique narrative and the performances of the cast.

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a b The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time – #400–301 empireonline.com; Empire Online. Retrieved 3 June 2010. In 2003, it was voted #19 on a list of the 100 greatest musicals, as chosen by viewers of Channel 4 in the UK. [7] In 2008, Empire ranked it 353rd on their list of 500 greatest movies of all time. [8] a b Will Harris, "Scott Baio talks Chachi, Bob Loblaw, and Howard Cosell", AV Club 3 April 2014 accessed 7 April 2014 The "splurge firearm" proved to be problematic. After initial experiments with cream-filled wax balls proved painful, Parker decided to abandon the idea of filming the firearms directly. Instead, the firearms 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 firearms. [12] [16]