Bronco Bullfrog
| Bronco Bullfrog | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Directed by | Barney Platts-Mills |
| Produced by |
Andrew St. John Michael Syson |
| Written by | Barney Platts-Mills |
| Starring |
Del Walker Anne Gooding Sam Shepherd Roy Haywood |
| Music by |
Tony Connor Keith Gemmell Trevor Williams Howard Werth |
| Cinematography | Adam Barker-Mill |
| Edited by | Jonathan Gili |
Release dates | 1969 (UK) |
Running time | 86 minutes[1] |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Bronco Bullfrog is a 1969 British black-and-white film directed by Barney Platts-Mills.[2] It was Platts-Mills' first full-length feature film.[3]
Plot
The film follows the fortunes of a 17-year-old, Del (Del Walker) and his group of friends. As the film opens four youths (Del, Roy, Chris and Geoff) are seen breaking into a cafe in Stratford, East London, but they only get away with about ninepence and some cake, and it is clear that they are hardly master criminals. Back at their hut on waste ground they mention Jo (Sam Shepherd), known as 'Bronco Bullfrog' (for reasons which are never explained), who has just got out of Borstal.
Once Del and Roy (Chris and Geoff are hardly seen again in the film) meet Jo in a caff, they link up with him to carry out a bigger robbery. Meanwhile, Del meets Irene (Anne Gooding), a friend of a cousin of Chris', and they start a relationship, despite the disapproval of Irene's mother and Del's father. The remainder of the film follows Del and Irene as they attempt to escape their dead-end lives.
Production
The film was turned down by Bryan Forbes at EMI Films.[4]
Accolades
The film has been described as "Mod poetry" and a "masterpiece".[5]
Home Media
The film has been released in the BFI Flipside series dual format edition (DVD and Blu-ray), with other films (such as 1975's 'Seven Green Bottles', and Platts-Mills' 1968 film 'Everybody's an actor, Shakespeare said') as extras.[6]
The VHS version of the film had a 12 certificate, whereas the recent DVD versions have all had 15 certificates. The change is believed to come from the appearance of the taboo word cunt in graffiti in a very brief clip that the censors could have missed originally.
A new HD version of the film opened the ninth East End Film Festival on 22 April 2010, prior to its re-release in summer 2010.[7]
References
- ↑ "BRONCO BULLFROG (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 8 February 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
- ↑ "BFI Screenonline: Bronco Bullfrog (1969)".
- ↑ "BFI Screenonline: Platts-Mills, Barney (1944-) Biography".
- ↑ The eclipse of the moon man Malcom, Derek. The Guardian (1959-2003) [London (UK)] 26 Mar 1971: 15.
- ↑ Catterall, Ali; Wells, Simon (2001). Your Face Here: British Cult Movies Since the Sixties. Fourth Estate. p. 147. ISBN 1-84115-203-X.
Bronco Bullfrog is as close to pure Mod poetry as you're going to get and it's a crying shame that this masterpiece has only been seen by a handful of those in the know.
- ↑ "Two Flipside Blu-ray Titles from BFI in September". Blu-ray.com.
- ↑ "theartsdesk.com, first with arts reviews, news and interviews - The Arts Desk".
External links
- Director Barney Platts-Mills website
- Bronco Bullfrog at the Internet Movie Database
- Bronco Bullfrog at the British Film Institute's Screenonline
- Information about the film from Modculture.co.uk