Bugsy Malone - Plot

Plot

The film opens with a brief action sequence in which a mobster named Roxy Robinson (John Williams) is "splurged" by members of a gang, using rapid-fire custard-shooting "splurge guns". Once splurged, a kid is "all washed up" and his career in crime is over—the splurged gangsters are never shown as dead or even unconscious, merely "finished". Speakeasy boss, Fat Sam (John Cassisi) introduces himself and Bugsy Malone (Scott Baio), a boxing promoter with no money ("Bugsy Malone").

At Fat Sam's speakeasy, there is much dancing and singing ("Fat Sam's Grand Slam"), but Fat Sam himself is worried that his rival Dandy Dan (Martin Lev) will come to the speakeasy and try to take over. Blousey Brown (Florrie Dugger), an aspiring singer, has come for an audition, but Sam is too distracted. Bugsy meets Blousey when he trips over her luggage. He is smitten, and flirts with her. Suddenly, Fat Sam's is raided by Dandy Dan's men, who shoot the place up. Dandy Dan's men continue to attack Fat Sam's empire, eventually taking away rackets and splurging most of Fat Sam's gang. Fat Sam learns about the splurge guns when one is dropped and left at the scene of an attack. Fat Sam sends all his available men to see if they can track down the guns; they are trapped at a laundry and all splurged by Dandy Dan's gang. Bugsy returns to Fat Sam's to try to arrange a new audition for Blousey. He only finds Fat Sam's girlfriend, Tallulah (Jodie Foster), the chanteuse of the speakeasy, who tells him that she likes him. Although Bugsy rejects her flirtation, when Blousey enters, Tallulah plants a big kiss on Bugsy's forehead, making Blousey jealous. Blousey has her audition and Fat Sam hires her, but she still refuses to speak to Bugsy ("I'm Feelin' Fine")

Fat Sam hires Bugsy to come along to a meeting with Dandy Dan. This meeting turns out to be a trap, but Bugsy helps Fat Sam escape. Gratefully, Fat Sam pays him $200. Bugsy and Blousey reconcile, and have a lunch and a romantic outing on a lake. Back in the city, Bugsy promises to buy tickets for them to leave for Hollywood. However, when he returns Sam's car to the garage, he is attacked, and his money stolen. Bugsy is saved by Leroy Smith (Paul Murphy), who punches the attackers; seeing this, Bugsy realizes he has found a potentially great boxer. Bugsy introduces Leroy to Cagey Joe (Davidson Knight) and helps him begin training ("So You Wanna Be A Boxer"). Fat Sam once again enlists Bugsy's aid after his assistant Knuckles gets splurged by a splurge gun which Fat Sam invented. Bugsy, at first declines, but when Fat Sam pays him $400, he sees a another chance to fulfill his promise to Blousey, so he agrees to help Fat Sam. However, when Blousey finds out that Bugsy hasn't yet bought the tickets, she is left in a state of disappointment ("Ordinary Fool"). Bugsy and Leroy follow Dandy Dan's men to a warehouse, where they discover the guns are being stashed. The two of them can't take the place alone, so Bugsy enlists the aid of a large group of down-and-out workers at a soup kitchen ("Down and Out").

They steal the crates of guns and return with them to Fat Sam's just as Dandy Dan's gang arrives. Chaos breaks out and everyone is covered in a melee of custard. A pie hits the piano player Razmataz, who falls forward, striking a single bass note with his head. Silence instantly breaks out, and then the cast, now covered in white cream (with the sole exceptions of Bugsy and Blousey), engages in a final musical number ("You Give A Little Love"). The characters realise they can all be friends, and Bugsy and Blousey leave for Hollywood.