Bugsy Malone (1976)

Bugsy Malone: Directed by Alan Parker. With Scott Baio, Florence Garland, Jodie Foster, John Cassisi. The classic gangster story of Bugsy Malone told with an all-child cast.

“A lot of people have criticized this, by saying itu0026#39;s basically just soft paedo porn, and aimless. But theyu0026#39;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 u0026#39;20s and u0026#39;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 wasnu0026#39;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 filmu0026#39;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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnother 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. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBy the way…What number Star Trek are they up to now?”