Filmmaker Julien Temple chronicles the Sex Pistols' tumultuous rise to fame, as told by their manager, Malcolm McLaren.Filmmaker Julien Temple chronicles the Sex Pistols' tumultuous rise to fame, as told by their manager, Malcolm McLaren.Filmmaker Julien Temple chronicles the Sex Pistols' tumultuous rise to fame, as told by their manager, Malcolm McLaren.
- The Collaborator
- (as Johnny Rotten)
- The Exile
- (as Ronnie Biggs)
- Helen
- (as Helen of Troy)
- Tadpole (kiosk attendant)
- (as Tenpole Tudor)
- Soo Catwoman
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaTo receive an 'X' certificate the BBFC required cuts to the final print. Full-frontal shots of Judy Croll (playing Soo Catwoman) in Malcolm McLaren's bathroom were optically enhanced to remove images of her lower regions (banned under the Protection of Children Act) and a long shot of her was cut by adding black panties to cover up the offending area. The scene was also cut by removing shots of Steve Jones' genitals during the sex scene with the Brazilian girl and Mary Millington's visible pubic area in her sex scene with Jones. A shot of Sid Vicious waving a flick-knife was moved back into the sequence to avoid equating sex with violence. The BBFC also demanded the inclusion of newspaper headline footage referring to the deaths of Vicious and Nancy Spungen. All later releases feature this same print.
- GoofsTowards the end of Sid Vicious' Punk rendition of Paul Anka/Frank Sinatra's "My Way", he pulls a revolver out of his pocket and starts shooting at the audience. He fires eight shots, which is more bullets than a revolver can hold.
- Quotes
Girl with ants on face: The Sex Pistols - a walking abortion. The Sex Pistols are nothing but a bunch of irresponsible half-dead lumps. But the best are born.
The Crook: I was only in it for the birds after the show.
Girl with ants on face: You, Steve Jones, are nothing but a walking dildo doing a good plumbing job. You'd swim through a river of snot, wade nostril deep through a mile of vomit, as long as you thought there was a sexy cunt at the end of it - and those cunts! Daddy's girl! Daddy's girls are in awe of the Sex Pistols! They really believe that what they're grooving to bores them to shit! Daddy's girls are just hot water bottles with tits. Why are they so fucking successful, the Sex Pistols? And the Sex Pistols like death, it excites them sexually. In the end, you see, it all comes down to one thing: they have a sort of negative Midas touch - everything they touch turns to shit!
- ConnectionsFeatured in Sid Vicious: My Way (1978)
- SoundtracksMy Way
(Comme d'Habitude)
Music by Claude François and Jacques Revaux
French lyrics by Gilles Thibaut
English lyrics by Paul Anka
Here are some real facts.
* McLaren was actually approached by the band to be manager, not the other way round.
* The Pistols were a proper, organic band and not created by McLaren or anyone else. Jones and Cook were childhood friends. Rotten and Vicious went back a long way too. This is something that has led to unfair criticism of the Pistols down the years as they have been likened to manufactured boy bands.
* The band and no one else wrote the songs, recorded them, played live, created the publicity and gave the interviews.
* McLaren did not instigate the Bill Grundy incident. The Pistols only appeared on the programme because Queen had pulled out. According to the band, McLaren was cowering in the back in case arrests were about to be made.
* Johnny Rotten walked out of the band. He was not sacked.
* Far from outwitting the Sex Pistols, John Lydon (Rotten) actually successfully sued him in the 1980s for control and a considerable sum of money. Some of the evidence used by Lydon's lawyers was from McLaren's boasting in 'The Great Rock & Roll Swindle'. This would suggest that McLaren is none too bright despite his affectations.
* The sackings and subsequent pay offs from A & M and EMI were, again, not engineered, it was merely the way things panned out.
* McLaren boasts about the money he made from the band. If he had been competent, he could have made a great deal more. It seems he coudn't even organise gigs properly.
* McLaren's claim at the start of the film that he invented punk rock can be disproved in about ten seconds. The Pistols were not the first punk band, merely the most high profile.
This is a terrible film. The only parts worth watching are the genuine footage of the band, later put to much better use in 'The Filth And The Fury'.
- tonygillan
- Dec 4, 2006
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
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- Also known as
- Who Killed Bambi?
- Filming locations
- Great Windmill Street, Soho, London, England, UK(exterior of Moulin Cinema)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro