Most of the scripts I had written at the time seemed to be returned to me each time with almost a rubber stamp on them saying: “too parochial,” and “too English.” In the crippled British film industry of 1974, this meant “nothing doing”.Undaunted, and for totally pragmatic reasons, I therefore began writing my “American script.” I have to say that I was not alone in this, egged on as I was by my stalwart producer and TV commercials partner, Alan Marshall, who, as always, was chief cheerleader in those dark days of discouragement. However, any notions of a feature film career were distracted by our busy commercials business and a less than active (and, to be honest, completely disinterested) British film industry. I had also had some success with a film I had made for the BBC, The Evacuees (1974), written by Jack Rosenthal and which eventually won a BAFTA and an Emmy. At the time, I had been happily and successfully directing commercials and had managed to write the screenplay for David Puttnam’s first film, Melody. It would be a year or so before this family game came to fruition as a screenplay. On my eldest son Alex’s insistence, it was peopled with kids, just like the four of them sitting in the back of the car. It was a world of gangsters and showgirls set in New York City, a long time ago, and a long way from where we lived. In 1974 I had four small children and to keep them occupied on long (and mostly boring) car journeys, I would invent a story for them. There’s a saying that “hindsight come with 20/20 vision”, so I hope I can remember how this curious film came about.īefore Bugsy Malone was a film it was just a story. Francis Coppola, a few years after he first saw the film, reassured me that I wasn’t a complete lunatic: “Alan, when we (filmmakers) know nothing, at the outset of our careers, our naïveté sometimes forces us do fresh and original work, crazy as it might seem in hindsight.” Having made thirteen more feature films since, I have to say that Bugsy Malone is not a film I would dare to attempt now. As for the impossibly difficult logistics of actually filming it, that too eluded us. Looking back after all this time, it’s easy to see that we must have been crazy even to have attempted it, but curiously, back in 1975, it never occurred to us for a moment that such an absurd creative notion would not work. It was a lunatic idea that one would only attempt at the beginning of a career, infused as it is with such ingenuousness, yet also with almost manic, devotion. My overall impression was that it must have been made by someone who was a good few custard pies short of a tray. Yes I'd recommend this film, particularly if your intrigued to see Jodie Foster in an early role.Watching Bugsy Malone so many years after having made the film, was a bizarre experience for me. The music is pretty decent too, suits/matches the time its set in.
Its pretty good choreography given the young ages of the cast.
I thought it was funny watching the kids chase others in 'cars' powered by feet (a la the Flintstones) and I also thought it was funny that the 'guns' (referred to as 'splurge guns') fire mashed potato or something similar, rather than bullets. those with Jodie Fosters character flirting with the male characters, are a bit uncomfortable to watch these days but that aside, its pretty entertaining, with some good musical numbers and fairly witty dialogue in the script. Its a bit of a weird combination, certainly and some moments, esp. those with Jodie Fosters character flirting with the male characters, are a bit uncomfortable to watch This is certainly an amusing film, a pretty quirky one at that, with the all child cast and the distinctly adult settings.
This is certainly an amusing film, a pretty quirky one at that, with the all child cast and the distinctly adult settings.
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