Bronco Bullfrog

Bronco Bullfrog
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)
Country United Kingdom
Language English

Bronco Bullfrog is a 1969 British black-and-white film directed by Barney Platts-Mills.[1] It was Platts-Mills' first full-length feature film.[2]

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.[3]

Accolades

The film has been described as "Mod poetry" and a "masterpiece".[4]

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.[5]

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.[6]

References

  1. "BFI Screenonline: Bronco Bullfrog (1969)".
  2. "BFI Screenonline: Platts-Mills, Barney (1944-) Biography".
  3. The eclipse of the moon man Malcom, Derek. The Guardian (1959-2003) [London (UK)] 26 Mar 1971: 15.
  4. 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.
  5. "Two Flipside Blu-ray Titles from BFI in September". Blu-ray.com.
  6. "theartsdesk.com, first with arts reviews, news and interviews - The Arts Desk".

External links

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