The production design by Geoffrey Kirkland, who had spent a decade working in television and would be nominated for an Oscar a few years later for The Right Stuff (1983), is wonderful in a self-consciously theatrical kind of way, as is the sharp cinematography by Peter Biziou, who would work with Parker on a number of subsequent films, including Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982) and Mississippi Burning (1988), and Michael Seresin, who also became a regular collaborator with Parker on films such as Midnight Express (1978), Birdy (1984), Angel Heart (1987), and Angela’s Ashes (1999). That means we have a bunch of school-age kids strutting around in pinstripe suits and fedoras and sequined cocktail dresses, wielding tommy guns (that shoot custard pie filling, rather than bullets), and barking accented gangster slang at each other against a backdrop of beautifully designed, but highly artificial urban streets, nightclubs, and back offices. The film’s unique conceit is that it is an homage to Prohibition-era gangster films and movie musicals, but with all the roles played by children ages 8 to 13. Yet, Parker and his team of craftsmen put it together with a mix of such assuredness (perhaps foolhardiness) and clear love of the material that you can’t help but admire it on some level. When it works, it works almost in spite of its set-up, and when it doesn’t work, it is awkward, clumsy, and at some points just plain uncomfortable. Although it is much beloved in certain circles and was a major theatrical hit in England, it remains to my eyes an oddball experiment in cinematic genre mishmash and gimmickry that is only partially successful at best.

There is no way around it: Alan Parker’s feature debut Bugsy Malone is a bizarre film. Stars: Scott Baio (Bugsy Malone), Florrie Garland (Blousey), Jodie Foster (Tallulah), John Cassisi (Fat Sam), Martin Lev (Dandy Dan), Paul Murphy (Leroy Smith), Sheridan Russell (Knuckles), Albin “Humpty” Jenkins (Fizzy), Paul Chirelstein (Smolsky), Andrew Paul (O’Dreary), Davidson Knight (Cagey Joe), Michael Jackson (Razamataz), Jeff Stevenson (Louis), Peter Holder (Ritzy), Donald Waugh (Snake Eyes)

Bugsy malone characters