X
- 1976
- G
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 33 m
- 1976
- G
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 33 m
Summary A gangster movie in which all the gangsters are played by children. Instead of real bullets they use "splurge guns" that cover the victim in cream. The story tells of the rise of "Bugsy Malone" and the battle for power between "Fat Sam" and "Dandy Dan".
Directed By: Alan Parker
Written By: Alan Parker
- 1976
- G
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 33 m
- 1976
- G
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 33 m
Bugsy Malone
71
7.0
Summary A gangster movie in which all the gangsters are played by children. Instead of real bullets they use "splurge guns" that cover the victim in cream. The story tells of the rise of "Bugsy Malone" and the battle for power between "Fat Sam" and "Dandy Dan".
Directed By: Alan Parker
Written By: Alan Parker
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 7 Critic Reviews
71
71% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
14% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
14% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 7 Critic Reviews
71
71% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
14% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
14% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Writer-director Alan Parker's utterly delightful, tongue-in-cheek love letter to the gangster genre.
It’s a brave, funny and winning pic which is nearly – but regrettably not quite – a triumph.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 6 User Ratings
7.0
83% Positive
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
17% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 6 User Ratings
7.0
83% Positive
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
17% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
In an uncanny way the movie works as a gangster movie and we remember that the old Bogart and Cagney classics had a childlike innocence, too. The world was simpler then. Now it's so complicated maybe only a kid can still understand the Bogart role.
The songs and set pieces are still fresh and infectious and most of the child cast are mesmerisingly good. I defy anyone not to be caught up in the charm and nostalgia.
A perversely appealing apotheosis of cuteness. Almost inadvertently, the film becomes an ultimate comment on American innocence that can only refresh itself by regression. The unseen patron saint of Parker's stylish movie is not Little Caesar but Humbert Humbert. [27 Sept 1976, p.89]
Paul Williams’ annoyingly hummable honky-tonk soundtrack punctuates proceedings, which graze the zenith of that seventies inclination towards sexualising teen performers (think ‘Minipops’ in America).
It operates on darlingness and the kitsch of innocence. The almost pornographic dislocation, which is the source of the film's possible appeal as a novelty, is never acknowledged, but the camera lingers on a gangster's pudgy, infantile fingers or a femme fatale's soft little belly pushing out of her tight stain dress, and it roves over the pubescent figures in the chorus line.
Production Company
The Rank Organisation,
Goodtimes Enterprises,
Bugsy Malone Productions,
National Film Finance Consortium,
Fox-Rank,
National Film Trustee Company,
Robert Stigwood Organization (RSO)
Release Date Sep 15, 1976
Duration 1 h 33 m
Rating G
Tagline Grab your gat and grab your gal. Bugsy Malone is coming to town.
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 3 Nominations
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
BAFTA Awards
• 5 Wins & 9 Nominations
