Bugsy Malone was one of my all time favourite films when I was a kid. Watching it as an adult you can see the variation in acting skills (Jodie Foster was outstanding) and it still holds its own. I loved the music and performed a rendition of the title song at my sister's wedding (with lyrics suitably modified).
So when I learnt that secret cinema were recreating Fat Sam's speakeasy, I leapt at the chance to go. Getting on the tube in our 20s outfits we felt like walking anachronisms, but as we neared the destination, we noticed more and more people dressed in a similar fashion.
On the way from the tube station to the venue we stopped at a cashpoint, and on inserting my card, I was asked if I wanted to continue in English or Cockney! Naturally I chose Cockney and every screen had been translated into rhyming slang. Amazing. 'Contacting your battle and tank', 'some moolah for your sky rocket', etc etc.
We approached the Roxy down a side alley where secret cinema people and props gave it a great prohibition atmosphere. The entrance had been converted into a bookstore, just like in the movie. And emerging from the maze of corridors into the beautiful and evocative ballroom was really a spine-tingling moment.
There was a bar where you could order special on the rocks, there was a
boxing gym out the back, there were the dancing girls, it was brilliant.
They had the full stage show, Fat Sam, audience members up on stage, the
works. And at the crucial moment of the final showdown at Fat Sam's,
out burst people armed with custard pies and the place was a frenzy of
pie-throwing. A magical and unforgettable evening.
