Flame

The backdrop to this film was so bleak and gritty that one would not have been surprised to have spotted Jack Carter (in his black raincoat) passing by in the background.

With Alan Lake, Tom Conti and Johnny Shannon there to do the real acting, despite the serious nature of the film, Slade's thespian talents were little more important than the Beatles's were in Hard Days Night or the Monkees in Head. Despite that, Noddy Holder and Jimmy Lea (who were the brains behind Slade anyway i.e. they wrote all the songs) both aquit themselves extremely well; successfully creating credible, interesting and well rounded characters. Dave Hill simply played himself (not that that was a problem, as he was, to all intents and purposes, cast as himself anyway). I defy anyone to decipher a complete sentence mumbled by drummer Don Powell, but that oddly adds to his character's charm.

This successful hybrid between Get Carter and Stardust is truly a lost gem, that, despite it's rediscovery and favourable reassessment in the 90's, has still not received the popular recognition it deserves.

Who knows, if this had been a major success (as opposed to a major flop) on it's initial release, would it have been that long before we saw The Sweet doing a bullion job in The Sweeny?

Just obtained this on dvd, with an informative behind the scenes attachment - what a bargain @ £7.99.

The movie may well be regarded by many as old and therefore irrelevant. That would be a harsh judgement as it does, on a critical re-viewing, stand the test of time. To put it in perspective, Slade were Kings of their day, although this film was made toward the end of their useful life, at the fag end of glam (forget the Reading gig comeback - it was never as good as the first time around in true 70's style). In a nutshell, it is the story of a band "Flame" played by the members of Slade and it documents the transition from irreverent songsters to chart toppers, assisted along by a parasitic agent (aren't they all?) who latches on to them, promotes them as a cash cow and then dispenses with the problem by caving in to a former manager from their amateur days (played brilliantly by Johnny Shannon).

The songs from the film are not bad either: "Far Far Away" is still memorable, but all of them are totally eclipsed by the single release "How Does It Feel" - their first in this fame period not to make the top ten. That still stuns me as it is by far the best thing they ever did, and they had plenty of quality to underpin it (Buy "Sladest" or "Old New Borrowed & Blue" - all on CD). Slade in Flame uses the Black Country's darkness (pardon the pun) to its full effect and the story of individual personalities does unfold and develop with credibility - particularly Stoker & Paul. I also agree with Chris Murray re Don Powell - he had a scene down by the canal with an old mate from the foundry, inviting him to a swish recording industry party - that was a good scene and Don Powell did well as he was still recovering from a near death car crash at the time - he had to learn everything moments before it was filmed as he had no memory retention (gladly he fully recovered). Overall, the acting is good, the direction is tight and although the sound is poor (they had to subtitle it in English for the USA release as the accents were so broad) there is a charm to the film. Its a good tale well told.

I watched this film for the first time in around 30 years last night and was amazed at how well it stands up today.It is gritty,funny and has a good storyline.The direction by Richard Loncraine is crisp and the acting is pretty good throughout.

As the band Flame,Noddy,Jimmy,Dave and Don do a fair job as actors.Not Oscar winners but not bad at all.Tom Conti does well in his first major role as the oily manager and Johnny Shannon is convincing as their gangster like first manager.The best performance comes from Alan Lake as Jack.He is very good in every scene he is in and should have received more recognition for this role.

The film moves along at a good pace,never drags and will surprise many people with it's edginess and at times grim reality.I have seen quite a few music based films and this is most definitely right up there with the very best.It is now quite respected and this is deserved.It really should reach a much wider audience as it is a very good attempt at showing that it is not all a bed of roses when you achieve success.The soundtrack is great and there are also a couple of scenes that without a doubt influenced the makers of 'Spinal Tap',see if you can spot them.Well done Slade.They took a big risk by making a movie like this and although their career went downhill afterwards,this is a film they can be very proud of.

Forming in Wolverhampton, England, in the late sixties and coming from working class background's they originally called themselves The Vendors, after a while changing to Ambrose Slade, and finally to Slade.

The four-piece line up was to be Noddy Holder - Singer, Jim Lea - Bass, Dave Hill - Lead Guitarist and Don Powell - Drums.

Being managed and produced at the height of their career during the early 1970's by Chas Chandler, bass player to the Animals, and founder of Jimi Hendrix. After having several number one hits in England, their next phase in their career were to be the Movies.

For greater realism and to better their research, the band took the writer Andrew Birkin and the films director Richard Loncraine on tour with them to America. During Messer's Loncraine and Birkins tour of duty, they had gathered enough material to help them with their story. In fact, the vast majority of this movie is based on actual incidents that have happened to other Rock 'n Roll band's in their careers.

Released in the English Cinema's in January 1975, this is a dark and truthful translation of the Rock 'n Roll lifestyle. Deliberately shown this way to dispel the myth of the hype and glamour that the Business would want us to believe. Reselling the image as dishonest, disloyal, dirty and dangerous. Flame does a very good job here of testing your own loyalties, to be confronted with home truths that we would rather ignore, show business propaganda confronts a rude awakening.

We have it all here, a band heading from rags to riches, the double-dealing, well-heeled, and well-connected Manager, in the form of Tom Conti, his first movie. The greedy and highly psychotic back street agent, the hard tour that eats away at the bands heart and soul, which has them turning inside out and finally imploding into bitterness and resentment. Saving the best till last, we have the music, this movie has a great soundtrack that do Slade justice, having to write a completely new album to go along with Flame. It contains one of their finest songs to date: Far Far Away, reaching number two in the British charts in 1974.

There is a wonderful bit part by the late British D.J. Tommy Vance (1940 - 2005) as Ricky Storm.

Slade in Flame is not so much a parody but more of a Rock 'n Roll History lesson; it brings home the hardcore realities of the ivory-tower elite and the exploitations of what is Big Business. Showing the naivety of a Rock 'n Roll Band that want fortune and fame, but in the end pay the highest price, themselves.

The British Glam Rock kings of the 1970's never quite made the impact they should have in the states. Probably David Bowie is the only one of the bunch that most Americans have even heard of. The Sweet had only a few hits. Marc Bolan only managed one Top 40 record. Now that's a shame. Roxy Music was a cult group. Status Quo is virtually unheard of; a one-hit wonder whose only hit was their first single from 1967, "Listen to the Flower People," er, I mean, "Pictures of Matchstick Men." Slade shifted some LPs, but had no hit singles. But they did make this film, which can finally now be seen here in the USA on DVD. Interesting to watch from the American perspective, but anyone who's at all a fan of such British cultural touchstones as The Beatles or Monty Python should find plenty to enjoy here.

The group acquits themselves as actors quite well in this somewhat true-to-life tale of a rock band's rise and fall in England. The story starts in the mid/late 1960's, which helps to separate the real life Slade from the fictional Flame.

Although somewhat of a gritty drama, there are a large number of hilarious anecdotes (which all supposedly really happened, though not to Slade but to different bands) about the singer getting stuck on stage in a coffin (Spinal Tap pod incident, anyone?), the attack on the pirate radio station, and dealings with posh types on a train and shopping for a Rolls-Royce at a snooty dealership.

Overall, one of the better rock and roll films, if one of the lesser heralded ones. Worth watching for rock music fans or fans of 60's/70's pop culture. Just listen carefully, fellow Americans! You'll have a hard time sussing out some of the dialog with those Midlands accents. In fact, Noddy Holder said that when the film showed in St. Louis in the 70's, it was actually subtitled! Too bad that option is not provided on this DVD, but other than that, I don't have much to complain about here.