Pyramid Video

Here’s the basic “joke” of Bugsy Malone: it’s a gangster picture enacted by children. Acted out before scaled-down sets, the film details the career of Bugsy Malone (Scott Baio), who rises to the top of the criminal ladder in 1920s New York. Whenever gunfire is called for, the kiddie crooks substitute whipped cream for bullets. Paul Williams contributes several good songs, which are performed by adult singers and lip-synched by the pint-sized actors. The only cast members who seem to have a clue of what’s going on are John Cassisi as diminutive Capone clone Fat Sam, and the incomparable Jodie Foster as the sultry nightclub thrush Tallulah.