Scott Baio plays the titular Bugsy, who is drawn into a turf war between the rival gangs of Fat Sam (John Cassisi) and Dandy Dan (Martin Lev) thanks to his friendship with Fat Sam and his need for cash to win the love of aspiring movie star Blousey Brown (Florrie Dugger). Fat Sam's star singer and girlfriend, Tallulah (Jodie Foster), complicates Bugsy's romance with Blousey, but the gang war is the bigger problem with a new gun that fires cream pie topping at targets much faster than the traditional crust pies. Fat Sam's guys are being hit with whipped cream left and right, and it's up to Bugsy to round up enough support to face off with Dandy Dan.
As the cream pie guns suggest, this is a very silly movie that rewrites the tropes of the classic gangster story for an entirely kid-sized world. The success of The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974) almost certainly contributed to the appeal of the project when Parker came up with it, with gangsters back in the public imagination and Young Frankenstein (1974) demonstrating an appetite for unusual spoofs of classic genres. In addition to the cream pies replacing bullets, Bugsy Malone has adorably detailed pedal cars decked out to look like 1930s automobiles, sarsaparilla instead of booze, and guards in baseball uniforms wielding bats. In keeping with the original hits of the gangster genre, we have a speakeasy with its chorus girls and piano players, phone booth shenanigans, Italian restaurants, and Dandy Dan living in full 1930s splendor, complete with an estate that would make Charles Foster Kane or Howard Hughes feel at home. The child actors never mug for the camera or overplay their lines the way they do on a lot of modern kids' TV fare; they play their characters like they're 1930s stars reincarnated in 12 year old bodies, with Jodie Foster and Martin Lev both especially adept at inhabiting their roles. Their seriousness keeps the gimmick of an all-child cast from becoming too annoying for adults to enjoy, even as the absurdity of the whole concept permeates every scene.
The musical element of the picture is a mixed bag, with brilliant dance numbers undercut by the way the songs are performed. I'm a great fan of Paul Williams' cinematic work, especially the cult masterpiece, Phantom of the Paradise (1974), but in Bugsy Malone it's distracting to hear the voices of Williams and other adult singers coming out of the mouths of the young stars. The songs themselves are often quite good, and the ensemble dance sequences are really well done, but you might or might not find the dubbing a deal breaker, depending on your response to the movie as a whole. Some of the more memorable songs include "Bugsy Malone," "Fat Sam's Grand Slam," and "My Name is Tallulah," while the chorus girls and Sam's gang ( particularly in the number "Bad Guys") do some of the most impressive dancing. Williams' work on the picture earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song Score, so the dubbing did not prevent his work as a songwriter from being appreciated at the time of the film's original release.
Jodie Foster, of course, also starred in Taxi Driver (1976) that same year and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance; she would go on to win Best Actress Oscars for The Accused (1989) and The Silence of the Lambs (1992). Scott Baio made his big screen debut as Bugsy but is probably best known for his roles on the TV series Happy Days and Charles in Charge. For more movie music from Paul Williams, you can't go wrong with The Muppet Movie (1979), and for more musicals from director Alan Parker, see Fame (1980), Pink Floyd - The Wall (1982), The Commitments (1991), and Evita (1996). If you enjoy gangster spoofs, check out the 1984 comedy Johnny Dangerously, starring Michael Keaton.
