The film is based loosely on events in New York and Chicago during Prohibition era, specifically the exploits of real-life gangsters such as Al Capone and Bugs Moran.
The film received critical acclaim, with praise drawn for Parker's screenplay and direction, its musical numbers, unique narrative and the performances of the cast.
Chaos ensues as a massive splurge gun fight erupts and unarmed patrons throw cream pies, covering everyone (except Bugsy and Blousey), but somehow no one gets "finished" this time.
Parker was trying to find a film project that was not "parochial" and decided upon an American gangster setting: "I had four young children and we used to go to a cottage in Derbyshire at weekends.
Richard Sylbert, the art director-turned-executive at Paramount Pictures was approached with Parker's visual presentation of the material and agreed to help distribute the film.
About casting Foster as Tallulah and working with her, Parker said: I sat on my own, suitcase at my side, in the shabby screening room with its threadbare carpets replete with Darryl F. Zanuck's cigar burns in the mouldy leather armchairs that smelled of fish.
Even then, when she was twelve, I joked that if I got sick, she could take over.Parker chose Paul Williams to score the film in order to get a more "palatable" modern sound, and simply because he liked him.
[13] Williams had scored Brian De Palma's commercial failure Phantom of the Paradise, but had also written huge pop-radio hits (such as "We've Only Just Begun" (lyrics), and "(Just An) Old Fashioned Love Song").
Williams felt that "... the challenge for me was to provide songs that reflected the period ... and yet maintained an energy that would hold the young audiences attention."
After initial experiments with cream-filled wax balls proved painful, Parker decided to abandon the idea of filming the firearms directly.
The website's consensus reads, "Delightfully bizarre, Bugsy Malone harnesses immense charm from its cast of child actors playing wise guys with precocious pluck.
"[18] Arthur Thirkell of the Daily Mirror applauded Foster's performance and called Bugsy Malone "one of the most delightfully professional films to hit the screen in the last decade.
"[19] Alexander Walker of the Evening Standard called it "an impossible film to categorise—but a wholly fresh, inventive, enjoyable experience to view.
"[20] Russell Davies of The Observer said that "the performance he has coaxed from Scott Baio in the title role is particularly remarkable; the lad catches a consistently honest, unflashy diffidence that is the very essence of that traditional figure in American mythology, the average guy.
"[21] David Castell of The Sunday Telegraph said that "all W.C. Fields-like prejudices are left outside this vast adventure playground in which the children conduct themselves with an earnestness and natural dignity that is a delight to watch.
[23]Kenneth Baily of The Sunday People said that "some may fear that kids glamorised as speak-easy chorus girls and slicked-up as gangsters could turn out a sick joke.
"[24] Derek Malcolm of The Guardian gave the film a more mixed assessment, praising Williams' music, Parker's script and direction and the various performances, while noting that "there are times when the movie loses its way, when the invention sags and when the essential artificiality of the concept becomes apparent.
It is a nostalgic pastiche of all the cliches of the gangster movie and the musical of-the early days of sound films, the novelty being that it is entirely played by children of an average age of 12.
Its rapturous reception by the public at the Cannes Festival in May shows that this kind of novelty appeals strongly to a large section of the audience, so I'd not like to make too much of my own feeling that a couple of reels would be more than enough of such a gag: after that you tend to pine for something more than the performances or the pastiche script or the joke of the cream-spattering machine guns have to offer.
[26]Rex Reed gave the film an exuberantly positive review upon its debut in New York, less than two months later: In the commercial cinema, Bugsy Malone (Baronet) has captured my heart.
Written and directed by newcomer Alan Parker, it's bright, wholesome and as lively as anything I've seen in films in longer than I care to remember, and although it might seem too coy for most adult tastes, the kids love it and you can send them off to see it with no fear of brain damage.
A delicious musical spoof of Forties' Warner Brothers gangster epics, entirely sung, danced and performed by children, Bugsy Malone has clever Paul Williams songs, high-kicking pubescent chorines, tommy-gun dialogue out of Damon Runyon, and the most precocious cast of mobster moppets ever assembled on a screen that shows their talents to be twice the size they are.
[28] Gene Siskel also gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and said that "what makes Bugsy Malone really worth watching—as opposed to being just a cute idea—are the fine performers, terrific choreography, catchy songs, and bright photography.
"[30] Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote "The world that Alan Parker has created in 'Bugsy Malone' is very peculiar, but he is remarkably successful considering the terrible odds against such a stunt in the first place.
"[31] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times called it "a rare, original, tuneful, lighthearted, charming, and preposterously innocent family film".
[32] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post panned the film as "a freakish embarrassment" and an "icky misconception", though he singled out Jodie Foster for praise as an actress whose "precociousness is truly extraordinary".
[40] In 2003, Bugsy Malone was voted #19 on a list of the 100 greatest musicals, as chosen by viewers of Channel 4 in the UK, placing it higher than The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, and The King and I.
[6] In 2005, Bugsy Malone was voted 39th on a list of the 100 greatest family films (also compiled by Channel 4) ahead of Beetlejuice and The Princess Bride and behind Bedknobs and Broomsticks and It's a Wonderful Life.
[7] A 2003 television documentary called Bugsy Malone: After They Were Famous features a reunion and interviews with Jodie Foster, Scott Baio, John Cassisi, and Florrie Dugger.
The documentary reported that Dugger, who (unlike her co-stars) had never acted again, had chosen to pursue a career in the United States Air Force Medical Service.