Paramount Presents: BUGSY MALONE [1976 / 2021] [Blu-ray + Digital] [USA Release]
The 1976 Musical Gangster Comedy Film! This is a Fantastic Cinematic Treat!
Before ‘FAME,’ ‘PINK FLOYD: THE WALL,’ THE COMMITMENTS’ and ‘EVITA,’ acclaimed director Sir Alan Parker redefined the movie musical with his first feature length film. Set in 1929 New York City, ‘BUGSY MALONE’ captures a flashy world of would-be hoodlums, showgirls, and dreamers — all portrayed by child actors. As Tallulah, the sassy girlfriend of the owner of Fat Sam's Grand Slam Speakeasy, future superstar Jodie Foster leads a talented cast. Sir Alan Parker’s sharp script, combined with the music and lyrics of Paul Williams of ‘PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE’ fame, makes for an irresistible satire that’s truly one-of-a-kind. Available for the first time in the USA on Blu-ray, in celebration of its 45th Anniversary, and this limited-edition has been remastered from the original film elements!
Quote from Executive Producer David Puttnam on ‘BUGSY MALONE’ – “We tried to make it as uncompromised as possible – the cars, the spurge-guns, the clothes – totally uncompromising.”
Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment is proud to spotlight a new line of Blu-ray releases for collectors and fans – PARAMOUNT PRESENTS. From celebrated classics to film-lover favourites, each title comes directly from the studio’s renowned library, spanning over 100 years of storytelling. The films have never looked better on Blu-ray – each lovingly remastered from 4K film transfers, featuring never-before-seen bonus content, and exclusive collectable packaging.
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1976 Cannes Film Festival: Nomination: Palme d'Or for Alan Parker. 1977 Academy Awards®: Nomination: Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score for Paul Williams. 1977 Golden Globes: Nomination: Best Motion Picture for a Comedy or Musical. Nomination: Best Original Score in a Motion Picture for Paul Williams. Nomination: Best Original Song in a Motion Picture for Paul Williams (Song: "Bugsy Malone"). 1977 BAFTA Awards: Win: Best Production Design/Art Direction for Geoffrey Kirkland. Win: Best Screenplay for Alan Parker. Win: Best Sound Track for Clive Winter, Ken Barker and Les Wiggins. Nomination: Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music for Paul Williams. Nomination: Best Costume Design for Monica Howe. Nomination: Best Direction for Alan Parker. Nomination: Best Film. 1977 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA: Nomination: Golden Scroll for Best Fantasy Film.
FILM FACT No.2: ‘BUGSY MALONE’ was Sir Alan Parker's first feature film. Sir Alan 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 to Derbyshire, 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 child.” Alan Parker's eldest son suggested children should be cast as the “heroes.” The director chose to cast several unknown actors in the film. The film was rehearsed and shot in England, largely on Pinewood Studios “H” stage, with locations in the Black Park Country Park, Wexham in Buckinghamshire and Reading, Berkshire.
Cast: Scott Baio, Florrie Dugger, Jodie Foster, John Cassisi, Martin Lev, Paul Murphy, Sheridan Earl Russell, Albin 'Humpty' Jenkins, Paul Chirelstein, Andrew Paul, Davidson Knight, Michael Jackson, Jeffrey Stevens, Peter Holder, Donald Waugh, Michael Kirkby, Jon Zebrowski, Jorge Valdez, John Rafter Lee, Ron Meleleu, Paul Besterman, Kevin Reul, Brian Hardy, Dexter Fletcher, Bonnie Langford, Mark Curry, Kathryn Apanowicz, Vivienne McKone, Helen Corran, Lynn Aulbaugh, Nick Amend, John Williams, Herbert Norville, Louise English, Kathy Spaulding, Fifi Marchese, Romana Kyriakou, Joanna Garbutt, Melanie Kelly, Beverley Horn, Susan Baker, Geraldine Cobb, Caren Lumsdale, Eileen Campbell (uncredited), Alan Cole (uncredited), Phil Daniels (uncredited), Paul DeFreitas (uncredited), Trevor Edwards (uncredited), Graham Fletcher-Cook (uncredited), Ella Harper (uncredited), Lee Mannering (uncredited), Gillian Privett (uncredited), Julie Privett (uncredited), Jonathan Scott-Taylor (uncredited) and Julie K. Smith (uncredited)
Director: Sir Alan Parker
Producers: Alan Marshall, David Puttnam and Robert Stigwood (uncredited)
Screenplay: Sir Alan Parker
Composer: Paul Williams
Costume Designer: Monica Howe
Cinematography: Michael Seresin, O.N.Z.M. B.S.C. (Lighting Cameraman) and Peter Biziou, B.S.C. (Lighting Cameraman)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
English: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono Audio
French: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English, English SDH and French
Running Time: 93 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Studio: The Rank Organisation / Paramount Pictures
Andrew's Blu-ray Review: ‘BUGSY MALONE’ [1976] is Screenwriter/Director Sir Alan Parker's utterly delightful, very tongue-in-cheek love letter and homage to the gangster film genre. With a cast entirely composed of under-16 year olds, the film traces the turf war between two rival gangs, one, headed by the aptly-named Fat Sam, boss of the Grand Slam Speakeasy joint; the other by the shady, pencil-moustached Dandy Dan. It is 1929 in Gotham, a vicious mob war is tearing the city apart. One man is caught in the middle. So begins, Screenwriter/Director Sir Alan Parker's utterly delightful, tongue-in-cheek love letter to the gangster film genre.
Here we find small boys who talk like Al Capone. Young girls are dressed in flapper dresses. Machine guns that only fires whipped cream. That's the bizarre genius that is a 1976 film musical with a unique take on prohibition-era Chicago. As if you don't know, Scott Baio stars as Bugsy Malone, a wise-guy who gets tangled up in a local gang rivalry, while a 14-year-old Jodie Foster is Tallulah, singer at the local speakeasy. Ridiculous, of course it is, and that is why we love the film so much and of course the premise is bonkers but it worked a treat, and of course launching British director Sir Alan Parker onto the Hollywood A-List status and introducing a very young Jodie Foster to the world as the vamp speakeasy songstress Tallulah.
That said, here we have the brilliant director Sir Alan Parker and producer David Puttnam, who knew that casting young adults alone would not carry the film on its own, which of course turned out to be totally rock-solid in every department. Sir Alan Parker's script is as sharp as any wise guy’s suit, and his attention to the genre period is a constant joy, and Sir Alan Parker even coaxes totally professional poised performances from his brilliant professional young performers, in particular John Cassisias as Fat Sam, and Jodie Foster as Tallulah, while generally side-stepping any kind of stage-school nauseating performances.
The film is a veritable treasure-trove of remarkable young talented cast carries the film effortlessly. The humour has something of a choreographed slapstick sequences, and the prepubescent cast pretending to be adults isn't quite as disconcerting in itself as Jodie Foster's charged performance as gun moll Tallulah. Almost 30 years later, the film still holds up, within inspired set designs, wonderful costume designs and brilliant musical compositions that place it among the finest of the 1970’s decade.
It was at the time very difficult to imagine that writer/director Sir Alan Parker and producer David Puttman thought that audiences would not go a Musical spoof of Prohibition-era gangster comedy, which takes a standard Depression-era gangster movie template and turns it into a musical performed entirely by children and it works so well as a tongue-in-cheek gangster comedy with a massive helping of wonderful tuneful musical songs and is helped with an outstanding performance with a very young and talented Jodie Foster.
BUGSY MALONE’ is a gloriously inventive, entertaining gangster movie pastiche, with young actors as mobsters and molls, driving pedal cars and splurge guns that fire stuff that resembles a custard-pie mix. Future star names include Scott Baio as the hero and, and in particular Jodie Foster as the speakeasy vamp who was reportedly furious when her big number “My Name is Tallulah” was dubbed by a professional singer. The songs and set pieces are still fresh and infectious and most of the young adult cast are mesmerizingly good. I defy anyone not to be caught up in the charm and nostalgia that works so well is down to the high quality chosen youngsters, the elaborate production design built across Pinewood stages, and an excellent set of songs by Paul Williams. Of course, it is cheesy as hell, but the film has earned its merit over the many years since its release in 1976 and you can’t help but smile along. So all in all, I love this film, especially ever since I viewed it in the cinema a long time ago and it is a great honour to add this to my ever increasing Blu-ray Collection.
BUGSY MALONE MUSIC TRACK LIST
BUGSY MALONE (Written by Paul Williams) [Performed by Paul Williams]
FAT SAM’S GRAND SLAM (Written by Paul Williams) [Performed by Paul Williams]
TOMORROW (Written by Paul Williams)
BAD GUYS (Written by Paul Williams)
I’M FEELING FINE (Written by Paul Williams)
MY NAME IS TALLULAH (Written by Paul Williams) [Performed by Louise "Liberty" Williams]
SO YOU WANNA BE A BOXER (Written by Paul Williams)
ORDINARY FOOL (Written by Paul Williams)
DOWN AND OUT (Written by Paul Williams)
YOU GIVE A LITTLE LOVE (Written by Paul Williams) [Performed by Paul Williams]
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Blu-ray Image Quality – The Rank Organisation and Paramount Pictures brings us a totally stunning remastered film ‘BUGSY MALONE’ with a very impressive Eastmancolor 1080p image presentation and equally enhanced with 1.85:1 aspect ratio that really shows off this film, to look even better than when the film was released in the cinema in 1976. The colours are lush, convincing, and very natural looking, and in doing so give great details and reflections of Sir Alan Parker's vision of a stylized gangster saga where dark alleys and smoky bars serve as a major role in making us believe it is the real thing and also giving us a great atmosphere. This new upgraded Blu-ray release offers a very film-like look and what a cinema film buffs expect to see with a film of this calibre. What about the actual Blu-ray disc, the quick answer is, this is the best ever I have seen of the ‘BUGSY MALONE’ film and on top of all this, it is a totally perfect Blu-ray disc and far superior of the inferior DVD version currently on the market and one that retains The Rank Organisation original lab work, giving us a superb at times exceptionally sharp look, and the colours look bright and accurate. So, if you have even the slightest of interest in Sir Alan Parker's imaginative gangster saga, don't torture yourself, this is a must have Blu-ray disc, because once again, this is a very natural looking presentation which I certainly enjoyed a great deal and so well done The Rank Organisation and Paramount Pictures for their ultimate sterling professional work on this brilliant Blu-ray disc.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – The Rank Organisation and Paramount Pictures brings us the film ‘BUGSY MALONE’ with a wonderful natural sound experience in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. This is a very clean and very well balance soundtrack mix, which helped to give us a very pronounced dialogue presentation, and especially when it came to the musical numbers, especially from the child actors miming to the actual adult singer, was perfectly executed, also I really enjoyed the audio experience with the battle scenes and especially with the sounds of the splurge guns being used against the child actors when they get “splurged.” Overall, this is a very balanced audio experience and no major sound issues to report. So once again, this is a brilliant and excellent audio presentation and all done in a very professional way via The Rank Organisation and Paramount Pictures for their best ever work done on this brilliant Blu-ray disc.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Give A Little Love: Paul Williams on ‘BUGSY MALONE’ [2021] [1080p] [1.78:1] [6:13] Here we get to meet a much older Paul Williams who of course was writer and composer for the film ‘BUGSY MALONE’ and informs us how he was initially contacted to be involved with the film ‘BUGSY MALONE’ and informs us that the David Puttnam went to America to hopefully meet up with Paul Williams and beforehand was sent the script and some amazing illustrated drawing of the concept of the film done by Sir Alan Parker and was mightily impressed and also felt it was like another world, and Paul Williams was informed that Sir Alan Parker was brought up on the American Gangster films in his youth and especially with the iconic actors who appeared in those films like Cesar Romero, Edward G. Robinson, George Raft, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, and William Powell to name just a few. Due to circumstances Sir Alan Parker when in America was lucky to get an invite to Paul Williams home and after a very long conversation on what Sir Alan Parker wanted the film to look like and it gave Paul Williams a great incentive to get involved with the film, and was really keen to write all the songs and compose the music and informs us how he went about bringing all the songs and music to life. We also hear from Paul Williams that he could not believe that he had put somebodies voice into Jodie Foster’s mouth when she sung his song. Paul Williams was totally amazed with the cars used in the film, where someone had to us pedal power to drive them and at the same time use sound effects to make it sound like a real car. Paul Williams thought it was also amazing that when he viewed the film that the child actors sang his songs that they used grown up men and women voices, and initial the thought the film was going to be fabulous or it was going to be a terrible disaster. Paul Williams thought Sir Alan Parker did a really professional job in bringing strangers together in an orderly fashion and the ability to make all the child actors feel safe, and to feel affection towards strangers, and to create some wonderful friendships, and informs us that has only happened in a couple of previous projects he has been involved with and really enjoyed the massive pie fight at the end of the film and again brought everyone together with great friendship, and feels very proud of what had been achieved and Paul Williams sums up that it is still a great project after all these years, especially when the film was released in 1976 and still stands the test of time, and that people fell in love with the character Bugsy Malone, Fat Sam, Tallulah, Blousey Brown, Knuckles and especially all those characters that we learn to love and care so much about. At that point the interview with Paul Williams interview ended and despite it only lasting just over six minutes, it was really get to hear Paul Williams talking fondly of being involved with ‘BUGSY MALONE’ and well worth viewing. Of course, now and again we get clips from the film and where certain songs were featured in the film.
Special Feature: Filmmaker Focus: Executive Producer David Puttnam on ‘BUGSY MALONE’ [2021] [1080p] [1.78:1] [5:27] Here David Puttnam informs us that he first met director Sir Alan Parker in 1975, who at the time was 21 years of age and David Puttnam was 24 years of age, and they both worked at that same Advertising Agency, and David Puttnam was also an acting agent for a number of years for the photographers David Bailey and Brian Duffy. Then decided to change careers and eventually got to work in the film industry and joined up with Sir Alan Parker, and David Puttnam persuaded Sir Alan Parker to write a screenplay after hearing that when driving his children to school and home would tell gangster stories involving children that they really loved and said he should make a film out of these stories and that is how the film ‘BUGSY MALONE’ came to be a reality. After making that film, both of them went into making television commercials for British television and also were involved in making short films. But what David Puttnam felt about Sir Alan Parker making the film ‘BUGSY MALONE’ was an amazing experience, especially how he directed all the young children so professionally, But initially David Puttnam wanted the film to be a musical, but Sir Alan Parker did not want to make the film a musical, but after a long discussion between David Puttnam and Sir Alan Parker and eventually Sir Alan Parker was persuaded when David Puttnam brought in Paul Williams it changed everything, which again he explains how he decided to go to Hollywood in wanting to meet Paul Williams and through some amazing circumstances finally got to meet Paul Williams and invited him over to England to finally meet Sir Alan Parker and of course as they say, “The rest is history.” David Puttnam said the film ‘BUGSY MALONE’ was a great experience and nothing went wrong and it was one of those films that if things did go wrong there would have been in serious trouble. But with Sir Alan Parker’s dexterity and belief in the project, helped us a great deal across a tightrope. David Puttnam says that ‘BUGSY MALONE’ was a massive box office success in the United Kingdom and amazingly in France, but sadly it was not a box office success in America. For a long time after the film’s release, Sir Alan Parker did not want to be associated with the film, because he felt the film was too juvenile, but when they started to do anniversary releases of the film and especially when Sir Alan Parker got to hear how the general public were very fond of the film, that eventually changed his mind about how he felt about the film ‘BUGSY MALONE.’ So Sir Alan Parker wanted to have children in schools to see the film for free and it was a massive success, and at that point with this special interview with David Puttnam ends. But despite this interview only lasts just over five minutes, it was still very interesting hearing David Puttnam’s comments on what it was like working on the film ‘BUGSY MALONE.’ Again, we get to view several clips from the film ‘BUGSY MALONE’ to show us why they wanted to use children to act out their characters and to make a film that is so unique and by the way, David Puttnam informs us that the spurge-guns did not actually fire the stuff, instead when you see people get hit, this was done by the crew throwing stuff at the children.
Theatrical Trailers: Here we get to view four different Original Theatrical Trailers and they are as follows:
‘BUGSY MALONE’ [1976] [1080p] [1.78:1] [2:11]
‘PAPER MOON’ [1973] [1080p] [1.78:1] [3:55]
‘GREASE’ [1978] [1080p] [1.78:1] [2:03]
‘BLACK BEAUTY’ [1971] [1080I] [1.37:1] [1:01]
Finally, ‘BUGSY MALONE’ is an absolutely delightful magical film experience that really swings and especially seeing all the young actors mime to grown-up pre-recordings, meaning that the boy’s voices comically plummet a dozen octaves as soon as they start crooning. But this only adds to the total delightful fun, and with such wonderful melodic irresistible tunes by the brilliant tune smith Paul Williams. Anyway who really cares, it is a totally magical delightful viewing experience. Sure, some of the performances are distinctly Year Nine drama class, but the whole idea is so gloriously weird and it doesn't matter, because it is totally thrilling and simply nothing like it has been done or been seen before. The great set piece songs and splurge gun attacks at Fat Sam's Grand Slam speakeasy, and Scott Baio's gives us an utterly winning performance as the delightful and engaging Bugsy Malone, and ensures this film musical is guaranteed to inspire those warm Sunday afternoons, where the whole family enjoy sitting around watching the television kind of feeling. And there is proof that there is some justice in Hollywood; Jodie Foster, the only old child actor who went onto achieves full-blown mega-stardom, who sometimes acts her small co-stars off the screen. So all together now: “We could have been anything that we wanted to be and it’s not too late to change. You give a little love and it all comes back to you (da da da ra da da da).” Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
