Bugsy Malone

Set in New York in 1929, Bugsy Malone follows a turf war between two gangsters, Fat Sam and Dandy Dan, whose rivalry plays out with custard pies and cream rather than bullets. Dandy Dan has gained the upper hand with a weapon that fires splurge, and Fat Sam's speakeasy is under threat. Into this struggle steps Bugsy Malone, a likable young man who falls for Blousey Brown, a singer at the club, while the performer Tallulah has her own designs on him. The film is a gangster musical in which every role, from hoodlums to showgirls, is played by children.

Alan Parker wrote and directed this, his first feature, and it sits at the start of a filmography that continued through Midnight Express, Fame, The Wall, Mississippi Burning and Evita, among eleven later titles. Scott Baio plays Bugsy, with Florrie Dugger as Blousey and Jodie Foster as Tallulah; John Cassisi is Fat Sam and Martin Lev is Dandy Dan. The cast runs to thirty credited performers.

Released in July 1976, the film runs 93 minutes and mixes action, comedy, drama, family and music. On IMDb it holds a critics' rating of 6.5 from 29 reviews, while on TMDB it scores 6.6 from 325 votes, so professional and general audiences are closely aligned in their assessment of this unusual musical.