Du rififi chez les mômes

Original title: Bugsy Malone

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

20K

YOUR RATING

Play trailer2:25

1 Video

85 Photos

Parody Comedy Crime Family Musical

The classic gangster story of Bugsy Malone told with an all-child cast.The classic gangster story of Bugsy Malone told with an all-child cast.The classic gangster story of Bugsy Malone told with an all-child cast.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

20K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 5 wins & 11 nominations total

Blousey Brown
(as Florrie Dugger)

John Cassisi

Fat Sam Staccetto

Martin Lev

Dandy Dan

Paul Murphy

Leroy Smith

Sheridan Earl Russell

Knuckles
(as Sheridan Russell)

Albin 'Humpty' Jenkins

Fizzy
(as 'Humpty' Albin Jenkins)

Paul Chirelstein

Smolsky

Andrew Paul

O'Dreary

Davidson Knight

Cagey Joe

Michael Jackson

Razamataz

Jeff Stevenson

Louis
(as Jeffrey Stevens)

Peter Holder

Ritzy

Donald Waugh

Snake Eyes

Michael Kirkby

Angelo

Jon Zebrowski

Shoulders

Jorge Valdez

Bronx Charlie

Director
- Alan Parker
Writer
- Alan Parker
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

User reviews113

6.820.3K

Featured reviews

7claudecat

great fun

I remember my father announcing a family plan to see this movie the year it came out, when I was 9. I didn't want to go--a gangster movie with kids? I thought it would be scary, or worse, boring. But the decision had been made, and I reluctantly went along to the theater. As it turned out, my father was right to take us: "Bugsy Malone" became one of my favorite childhood movies. My brother and I were given the soundtrack LP for Christmas that year (I still have it), and we learned all the songs.

I've since seen the movie as a grownup, and I still think it's very well-made. It wasn't until I was older that I could appreciate the acting, and the sophisticated production design (though I knew when I first saw the movie that it had a very clever script). My only quibble is the filmmakers' decision to have adults sing all the songs--it's a bit bizarre to hear grownup voices coming out of children, and after a while you start to notice that the voices sound the same, since they didn't cast different singers for each character (Paul Williams himself does most of the vocal work). It makes the film feel more low-budget than it should.

Mickey Dolenz directed a stage version of the film in London years later, which I was hoping had all-singing kids, but apparently the songs were pre-recorded. High schools now perform the show, however, so at last the voices will match.

Any kid that's interested in old Hollywood should be given a chance to see this film.

tam1222

Get a life!!!!

For anyone who sees this film as sinister or as a paedophiles dream GET A LIFE!!!! It was made in the 70's when we weren't politically correct and living was fun! What has happened to us that we can't see a film with children in it without thinking that it was made for an ulterior motive? Enjoy the film for what it is. I saw this film for the first time when I was about 9, loved it then and still do (I'm now 34!) It's harmless fun, something you would have loved to have been involved in had you been given the chance. All those splurge guns and pedal cars, think about it, it would have been great fun! And that's what you should remember when you watch it, it's great FUN! I have 2 children who ABSOLUTELY love this film as much as I do and I have no qualms whatsoever about letting them watch this. Just remember you were young once, watch this film, forget about everything, and recapture your youth!!!!

buckaroobanzai50

Don't 'Speak Easy' about this brill flick

A lot of people have criticized this, by saying it's basically just soft paedo porn, and aimless. But they're missing the point really. If you are of the MTV generation, and did not see this movie when you were 8 like I did, it WOULD be hard for you to see the charm of it all. The whole idea of setting the child actors in a pastiche of films from the '20s and '30s was a stroke of genius, and works pretty well even though some of the acting is a bit ropey. It was a well deserved hit when released, and fortunately wasn't followed up with a sequel. Alan Parker already had some prior experience of dealing with child actors when he made Bugsy, from his days in advertising, when he directed some now legendary Beef Burger ads in the UK. In a recent TV documentary, Parker spoke of the problems he had had with the studio during filming. They had no faith in the film's success, and therefore would not pay to build certain sets. Parker had to spend some £30,000 of his own money to finance the scenes he wanted to shoot. More fool the studio.

Another poster has commented that a film such as this would not be made today. I disagree. Film studios would readily cash in on any, franchise, as they call them now. And a film such as Harry Potter, though hardly multiracial the way Bugsy Malone is, only has a few adult leads actors in it.

By the way...What number Star Trek are they up to now?

ES-III

The greatest kiddie-gangster-musical flick ever to land on the Silver Screen!

Bugsy Malone, a childhood favorite of mine, is perhaps the only musical spoof of gangster films and film noir where all the roles of the gangsters, flappers, bartenders and hitmen are played by children (collective age: 12). In place of the universal racketeer firearms are "splat guns" that cover victims in whipped-cream. Likewise, the cars are pedal-driven like bikes. The story tells of the rise of the womanizing, ex-boxer Bugsy Malone (Scott Baio) who finds himself enlisted in the mob of speakeasy-owner Fat Sam (John Cassisi), who's in the middle of a fierce territorial battle with the suave Dandy Dan (Martin Lev). Dan has come up with a new weapon, the splat gun, leaving Fat Sam to rely on the antiquated manually-thrown pies for his heists. Sam's gang is sweetly gunned-down bit by bit, and Bugsy is ultimately recruited to get a hold of this new weapon and rebuild the gang (which he does with the homeless Down-And-Outs and boxer Leroy Smith, played by Paul Murphy). Baio is remarkable (if you can believe that), and most of the performances are amazing! Jodi Foster excels as vampy nite-club singer Tallulah, and Florrie Dugger (as Blousey Brown -- in her only role to date) is wonderful as Bugsy's piquant love interest. I just don't understand why more of these child-actors didn't go on to bigger and better things like Jodi Foster! And whoever played "Babyface" is remarkable, showing three-times the amount of charisma of Macaulay Culkin. The film was nominated for a series of Oscars and Golden Globe awards and it's apparent as to why. Paul Williams' score is amazing - so many of these songs should be remade! If telling you to seek this one out for sure!

8The_Core

Lots of fun!

Interesting that the average age of the child actors in this film is 12. I was 12 years old when this film came out in 1976, and saw it in the theater. What fun! Well, it isn't quite as much fun as it was then (it's a kid's movie in every sense of the term), but still enjoyable to watch. Jodie Foster demonstrated a 'star quality' presence even then, and although the songs were poorly dubbed, they were good songs.

Recommended for kids of any age (sorry for the bad cliche) if you like watching something fun and different -- especially if you want to see a truly original take on the gangster theme. My younger brother has this on VHS tape, and I just plugged it into the VCR and watched it again today.

8/10

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Trivia
The pedal-driven cars could achieve a maximum speed of around ten miles (16 kilometers) per hour. They were all custom-built by hand and each cost around the same amount of money as a regular road-going Mini at the time.

Goofs
When Blousey returns for the second time to Fat Sam's for an audition, Knuckles opens the door. He tells Blousey, "He's busy lady. Come tomorrow" in an English accent. Throughout the movie, he has an American accent.

Quotes
[talking about Blousey]
Velma: You ever seen a broad carry a torch so high?
Tallulah: Yeah, the Statue of Liberty.

Alternate versions
Two Bugsy Malone video discs are available [9/9/2013] in the U.S.: a 10/11/2005 Region 1 "import" DVD (UPC 4895033728429) distributed by Panorama Entertainment having a feature runtime of 89 minutes (1:29:44) and a 9/9/2008 "All Regions" BD (UPC 5037115290830) distributed by ITV Studios (formerly, in part, Granada Productions) with a feature runtime of 93 minutes (1:33:51 that includes running a 9 second Granada International logo clip, not on the DVD, before and after the movie, 1:33:33 + 00:18). ITV Studios was formed in 2009 by the merger of Granada Productions and Carlton International. Ironically, the DVD case cover lists a 94 minute runtime and the Blu-ray case cover lists an 89 minute runtime. The only differences between the two presentations, once the 18 seconds for the Granada International logo clip is subtracted from the BD time, is (1) after the Rank gong is struck the second time, the text "The RANK ORGANISATION presents" is superimposed over the gong in the BD version while the text "THE RANK ORGANISATION" is superimposed over the gong in the DVD version, (2) the DVD runs the movie about 4% faster than the Blu-ray disc, and (3) the DVD has 1.33:1 aspect (640 pixels x 480 pixels), letter boxed on all four sides to 1.62:1 aspect ratio (596 pixels x 367 pixels) while the BD has 1.78:1 aspect (1920 pixels x 1080 pixels). Both disc conversions appear to have used "pan and scan" cropping from the film's 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Sometimes the cropping appears similar, but other times, one may crop the height mostly from the top while the other mostly from the bottom. The feature on the Blu-ray disc runs at 24 Hz. Although the DVD runs at 60 Hz, the speed-up is similar to the 4.3% speed-up when 24 frame/second film is transferred to 50 Hz Pal format using 2:2 pulldown and may point to a 50 Hz master in its past.