YMMV / Bugsy Malone

• Americans Hate Tingle: Was a huge success in the UK, not so in America, presumably because movie musicals were out of fashion; it also came a hair too late to capitalize on the 1930s Genre Throwback craze that peaked two years prior. It remains relatively obscure in the United States and is not available on DVD and Blu-Ray there, but it is available to buy in Digital HD and has streamed free-with-ads on Pluto TV.
• Awesome Music:
  • "Down and Out", which is about Bugsy rousing the depressed homeless to action in a soup kitchen.
    We as one shout: "Up, up, up and out!"
  • "You Give A Little Love" by Paul Williams.
• Funny Moments:
  • When attempting to take a plaster cast of wheel tracks after the failed meeting between Fat Sam and Dandy Dan, one of Smolsky's men slips on a discarded pie and spills plaster all over Smolsky. Cue Beat, then... "YOU IDIOT!" Then we see him trapped inside the now-set plaster.
  • Knuckles accidentally sprays Fat Sam with a seltzer bottle, so Sam plants Knuckles's hat over his head and sprays him in the face with it, then proceeds to spray the others in the face with it to stop them laughing.
  • Much of the snarky dialogue from Bugsy, Blousey and Tallulah.
    "You ever see a broad carry a torch so high?" "Yeah, the Statue of Liberty ."
  • The "Get Babyface" gag, which ends with: "Get Babyface. I am Babyface, what am I saying?"
  • Fat Sam and his gang are in his office taking stock of the damage done by the rival gang. Fat Sam flat-out orders the gang to tell him who's behind all the attacks, but upon hearing Dandy Dan's name he instantly becomes so enraged that he falls out of his chair while screaming at them not to mention Dan's name in his office. Made all the better for the gang's nervous reactions before they say Dan's name and their stuttering delivery.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Fat Sam being a professional criminal is made a little weird by his actor John Cassisi being sentenced to 2-6 years for money-laundering and bribery.
• He Really Can Act: Florrie Dugger made her first and only screen appearance in this film as Blousey. She wasn't an actress by trade as her parents were only in the country due to her father being a US airman stationed in the UK. It's a shame that she didn't pursue an acting career as she showed in this film that she definitely had some real potential.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Most people only find out about this movie because of Jodie Foster's role in it. To a lesser extent, Dexter Fletcher is another draw for some people.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • Dexter Fletcher makes his film debut as Babyface.
  • Lena Marelli is played by Bonnie Langford (under her birth name Bonita Langford) in her film debut, who nowadays is better known for portraying companion Mel Bush in Doctor Who and Carmel Kazemi on EastEnders.
  • Snake Eyes is played by Donald Waugh, who would later be best known for playing Hughes in Grange Hill.
• Special Effect Failure: A literal kind. Specifically, the splurge guns, which were supposed to actually shoot wax balls filled with cream (similar to what we see being loaded in one shot). When they proved problematic, it was decided that they would be shown shooting ping-pong balls, with the cream only shown in shots that don't actually feature the guns. This is most evident in the opening scene.
• Tear Jerker: The songs "Tomorrow" and "Ordinary Fool". You feel so sorry for Fizzy and Blousey respectively during these numbers.

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