(no subject)

[skygiants]

SCENE: innerbrat and rushin_doll 's apartment, living room, evening
PLAYING: the television

DEBI: Hah, I see, that character is the Tallulah!
BECCA: . . . what?
DEBI: You know, like from Bugsy Malone.
BECCA: . . . what?
DEBI and ANA, IN HORRIFIED UNISON: You've never seen Bugsy Malone?!?!
BECCA: . . . what?
ANA: It's a musical! About gangsters! They all have funny moustaches! It's made for you!
DEBI: Also, there aren't any cast members over the age of fourteen!
BECCA: . . . what?


Needless to say, I have now seen Bugsy Malone, and have upgraded my '. . . what?' to an 'oh my god, WHAT?'

Bugsy Malone is indeed a musical about gangsters. To be specific, it is a musical about a brutal gang war.



Except instead of real guns, all the gangsters wield 'splurge guns', which shoot out cream. I am not making this up. NOR AM I COMMENTING. Simply presenting you with the facts.



A splurge-shot gangster goes catatonic and then disappears, though, so the principle is probably not actually all that different. Also, all the gangsters are indeed played by kids aged 10-14. Occasionally wearing false moustaches.





They built the whole set to scale - tiny shops, tiny pedal-cars. Tiny ponies! I have to admit it's impressive.

The only things not child-sized are . . . the singing voices. Because SOMEONE thought it would be a brilliant plan to travel around the country, recording all the songs AS SUNG BY ADULTS, and then have the kids lip-sync them. The result is . . . well.

This is Our Hero, charming and dashing ladies' man Bugsy Malone, attempting to convince a bunch of broke soup-kitcheneers to join him in a gangster raid. No one noticed that it might be A LITTLE STRANGE to a.) have a manly voice coming out of prepubescent Scott Baio, and b.) have Scott Baio occasionally shout lines of dialogue in the middle of the song IN HIS OWN VOICE.

Also kind of disturbing are the tiny preteen showgirls, led by baby Jodie Foster, who does a pretty good job of playing a femme fatale gangster moll considering that she was about thirteen at the time.



In her signature number, she does her very best to vamp her way through a room full of children in moustaches sipping milkshakes, singing about how no one will ever treat you finer, and just . . . I'M SO CONFUSED.



Here, she is attempting to seduce Scott Baio away from his love interest. Eventually she scandalously kisses him on the forehead.

Sidenote: aside from launching Scott Baio's career and confirming Jodie Foster as a talented and yet confusing actress, by the way, this film also marked the first onscreen appearance of one Dexter Fletcher, aka 'Babyface.'

I . . . I just . . . I have no room to talk, I know. I mean, I love Newsies. I am a wholehearted supporter of ridiculous fake moustaches and of terrible child-actor dancing in musicals. And yet . . . there are SO MANY CHOICES HERE I DO NOT UNDERSTAND.

Comments

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

I remember when that movie hit the theaters. And my thoughts then were pretty much, "OMG, WHY?!?!"

Somehow, I managed to avoid seeing it, though it played regularly on HBO or Cinemax, back in the day 80's. I'm still not sure how (sheer diligence, perhaps?).

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

Hee! I love Bugsy Malone to pieces, partly because it's on such crack, and partly because I saw it when I was a kid, and the kids in the film seemed to engage in much the same kind of play-acting that we did.

Although the kid playing Fat Sam apparently played himself. Which is kind of scary and awesome at the same time.

If you're confuzzled in a positive way and not in a "TAKE THIS AWAY FROM ME" way, I really recommend the reunion.

*goes to find it*

Hm, I'm not sure this is the right video, but it might be:

[skygiants]

Apparently the director wanted to make a movie starring all kids, for his kids? Which: noble endeavor! And yet . . .

[skygiants]

I think my OVERWHELMING CONFUSION has overwritten positive OR negative feelings! I can't even tell!

. . . I will totally be investigating this reunion thing, tough.

(Haha, I loved that anecdote on wikipedia - that he just went into a Brooklyn classroom and was like "okay, point out the naughtiest kid in class." And they all pointed to Fat Sam UNANIMOUSLY.)

[blacksheep91.livejournal.com]

Dude I was in Bugsy Malone. I was Fat Sam! (...Well...I'm a girl...but it doesn't matter I killed it!)

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's the "...and yet...." part.

[skygiants]

HAHAHA AWESOME. That must have been a heck of a role. (Did they dub your voices over with adult voices? . . . does Fat Sam actually sing?)

[schellibie.livejournal.com]

Well that looks like the most glorious thing ever.

[blacksheep91.livejournal.com]

...They put me in a fat-suit under an orange suit. Of course it was awesome.

No and yes. We had to sing. And when I didn't have a solo in the Fat Sam's song, I sang with the chorus. "Did they dub us-" what a ridiculous notion! We and performance camp were professionals! (...as much as you could be with the K-10ish age range of the cast >_>;)

[skygiants]

IT IS PRETTY AMAZINGLY RIDICULOUS.

(However I still maintain the superiority of Christian Bale's gloriously terrible dancing in Newsies over all comers, when it comes to hilarious child musicals.)

[skygiants]

I am so sorry for doubting your professional integrity! Also: AMAZING.

[ceitfianna]

I've seen parts of it and remember being confused. I'll stick to Newsies for my musical and child actor loves.

[skygiants]

Newsies is ALWAYS a good choice.

[agoodshinkickin.livejournal.com]

Thank you for taking this for the team.

[skygiants]

I think you might owe me a drink to make up for the alcohol I did not have (and needed) while watching this in your stead.

[agoodshinkickin.livejournal.com]

Done and done!

[bravenewcentury.livejournal.com]

Get this: I had to read Bugsy Malone for school. In fact, as our English teacher was fond of making us do when we read plays, we had to read aloud in lessons with different people being assigned to different characters (I was indifferent to the inherent dorkiness of this exercise so normally got the biggest part. I read a mean Bugsy. And if you think the film is weird, try imagining it all being read by awkward thirteen year old British girls).

Thankfully we didn't also have to sing (nor were adults brought in to sing on our behalf). I had forgotten how BIZARRE that sounded.

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

I'm rewatching the reunion now, it's such great fun!

And in a strange way, it makes the film more comprehensible, because most of them really haven't changed at all.

Maybe if you think of it as a send-up of old Hollywood movies, it'll work better?

[skygiants]

. . . much like my reaction to the film itself, I can't decide if that is terrible or awesome. (But I can tell you that my thirteen-year-old self would have been all over the opportunity to read as Bugsy.)

IT IS SO BIZARRE. And to add to the strangeness, they are very obviously using different singers in every song, including the ones that are supposed to be sung by the same character . . . giving the vague impression that they are all being possessed by a rotating cast of singing demons.

[skygiants]

. . . the best thing about this reunion is how British the whole thing is. *dying*

[bravenewcentury.livejournal.com]

giving the vague impression that they are all being possessed by a rotating cast of singing demons

I think you've just come up with the plot of the anime version.

[genarti]

Not having seen this musical except for those couple of YouTube clips you inflicted on me, I nonetheless feel that a rotating cast of singing demons possessing the kids would explain a LOT.

[skygiants]

I'd watch it!

[skygiants]

Everything except the actual dialogue!

[genarti]

*weakly* Demons with very good falsetto?

(Also, I have Newsies songs in my head now. Thanks.)