Bugsy Malone

The film opens with a brief action sequence in which a gangster (Roxy Robinson) is "splurged" by a rival gang of mobsters (Dandy Dan's gang) using rapid-fire "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".)

At Fat Sam's, there is much dancing and singing, but Sam himself is worried about his rival Dandy Dan. He has just found out about the splurged gangster, who was one of his men. Blousey Brown, an aspiring singer, has come for an audition, but Sam is too distracted. Our hero, Bugsy Malone, cutely meets Blousey when he trips over her luggage. He is smitten, and flirts with her, but she plays hard-to-get. Suddenly, Fat Sam's is raided by Dandy Dan's men, who shoot the place up. Sam declares, "This means WAR!"

Bugsy offers Blousey a lift home (although he actually has no money for cab fare). At a cafe, Bugsy explains that he is a boxing promoter—he finds and develops raw, talented boxers and helps them with their careers. Then Bugsy demonstrates his (allegedly) criminal nature, by trapping the waitress in a phone booth, as they skip the check.

Sam and his girl Tallulah leave the bar, where Fizzy the caretaker sings about how he never gets a chance to audition and is always told to come back tomorrow, and being a dancer, while a chorus girl dances slowly. Blousey finds more disappointment in her job search; when she argues with Bugsy, he tells her he knows Sam, and can arrange another audition for her.

Meanwhile, Dandy Dan's men continue to attack Fat Sam's empire, eventually taking away even his "sarsparilla" and grocery-store rackets, and splurging most of Sam's gang. During one such raid, Dan's man Doodle accidentally drops one of the splurge guns, which had been kept secret from Sam. For this bungle, Doodle is wiped out by the gang (Custard Pied), after Dan places a rose in the buttonhole of each member except him.

Fat Sam calls his gang in and has now learned of the guns. He reacts by sending all his available men to see if they can track down the guns; only his right-hand man Knuckles remains with him. At a Chinese Laundry, the men are trapped, and all splurged by Dan's gang.

Back at Sam's, Bugsy has come to arrange Blousey's audition. There, he finds Tallulah instead, who tells him that she likes him. Although Bugsy rejects her flirtation, when Blousey enters, Tallulah plants a big kiss on Bugsy's forehead, leaving a very visible lipstick mark. She thus succeeds at making Blousey jealous. Blousey manages an audition at Fat Sam's Speakeasy. Sam has decided to call in an outside "expert" by the name of Looney Bergonzi. Rejected by Blousey after he tries to explain, Bugsy runs into Sam, who hires him to come along to a meeting with Dandy Dan. This meeting turns out to be a trap. Looney is quickly wiped out by Dan's men, but Bugsy helps Sam escape. Gratefully, Sam pays him $200 and lends him his car as a bonus. Tallulah gets a solo on the stage when the speakeasy is full again.

Bugsy and Blousey reconcile, and have a lunch and a romantic outing on the 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. He is saved by one Leroy Smith, who punches his attackers; seeing this, Bugsy realizes he has the makings of a great boxer and helps him begin training at Joe's Gym. Cagey Joe (the owner of the gym) tests Leroy to see if he has what it takes to be a boxer.

Sam once again enlists Bugsy's aid, offering him $400 this time, but Blousey is not happy to hear of the delay, and hangs up on him and she is angry with herself for thinking that she could trust Bugsy. Bugsy and Leroy then follow Dan's men to Dock 17, where they discover the guns are being stashed. The two of them can't take the place alone, so Bugsy and Leroy find a large group of down-and-out workers who are having their free lunch and Bugsy persuades them to join him. Bugsy manages to enlist the aid of this army of down-and-out workers, including Baby-Face, who agree to take on Dandy Dan's gang at the warehouse.

They steal the crates of guns, and return with them to Fat Sam's, just in time to meet Dan's gang as they've come to finish off Sam once and for all. Chaos breaks out, with cream flying in every direction; everyone is covered in the melee of custard. Eventually, the piano player Razmataz gets their attention and stops the fight with a single, ringing piano note, and all present realize they can be friends. Blousey and Bugsy then escape to Hollywood, and the credits roll.