Slade in Flame (1975)

Light the Rock n' Roll spark with a Flame in the guise of Dave, Noddy, Jim and Don and their showcase of the rise and demise of rock band Flame.

Director:

Richard Loncraine

Writers:

Andrew Birkin (screenplay), Dave Humphries (additional dialogue)

Stars:

Don Powell, Jim Lea, Noddy Holder

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Don Powell	...	Charlie
Jim Lea	...	Paul
Noddy Holder	...	Stoker
Dave Hill	...	Barry
Tom Conti	...	Robert Seymour
Alan Lake	...	Jack Daniels
Johnny Shannon	...	Ron Harding
Kenneth Colley	...	Tony Devlin
Anthony Allen	...	Russell
Sara Clee	...	Angie
Nina Thomas	...	Julie
Michael Coles	...	Roy Priest
Rosko	...	Self
Tommy Vance	...	Ricky Storm
John Dicks	...	Lenny

Storyline

Light the Rock n' Roll spark with a Flame in the guise of Dave, Noddy, Jim and Don and their showcase of the rise and demise of rock band Flame. Set in the hardships of North England's seventies working class society and music scene. This build-up from rags to riches is a parody of realism and grit, with double-dealings and harsh unforgiving dog eat dog mentalities, and the golden rule; if you play with matches then you're going to get burnt, in the flames of the music industry.

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Plot Keywords:

rock band | rock music | rock musician | music industry | fame and fortune | 

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Taglines:

In the cut throat world of the music business you're either a success or dead.

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Musical

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The production team distributed Flame T-shirts, flags and banners to the Slade Fan Club members attending filming of the free gig at the Rainbow Theatre on September 4th 1974. Fans were pre-warned not to display any of the real band's memorabilia and encouraged to bring homemade Flame costumes and signs. A planned second Rainbow concert a few weeks later on 21st October fell through due to budget constraints.

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Quotes

Jack Daniels: [after been given their work schedule] Thanks Mrs. B. Two pubs, four socials and a bloody jacaranda club.
Charlie: Not a bad week though.
Ron Harding's secretary: Not a bad month.

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the film black and white stills of each actor are shown with their name.

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Connections

Featured in It's Slade (1999)

User Reviews

"Mumble mumble(indecipherable)going for a piss" - D.Powell

The backdrop to this film was so bleak and gritty that one would not have been surprised to have spotted Jack Carter (in his black raincoat) passing by in the background.

With Alan Lake, Tom Conti and Johnny Shannon there to do the real acting, despite the serious nature of the film, Slade's thespian talents were little more important than the Beatles's were in Hard Days Night or the Monkees in Head. Despite that, Noddy Holder and Jimmy Lea (who were the brains behind Slade anyway i.e. they wrote all the songs) both aquit themselves extremely well; successfully creating credible, interesting and well rounded characters. Dave Hill simply played himself (not that that was a problem, as he was, to all intents and purposes, cast as himself anyway). I defy anyone to decipher a complete sentence mumbled by drummer Don Powell, but that oddly adds to his character's charm.

This successful hybrid between Get Carter and Stardust is truly a lost gem, that, despite it's rediscovery and favourable reassessment in the 90's, has still not received the popular recognition it deserves.

Who knows, if this had been a major success (as opposed to a major flop) on it's initial release, would it have been that long before we saw The Sweet doing a bullion job in The Sweeny?

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Slade in Flame

Filming Locations:

Olympic Studios, Church Road, Barnes, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Goodtimes Enterprises, Spouberry, VPS-Goodtimes

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1