The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle

The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (1980)

A rather incoherent post-breakup Sex Pistols "documentary", told from the point of view of Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, whose (arguable) position is that the Sex Pistols in particular and punk rock in general were an elaborate scam perpetrated by him in order to make "a million pounds."

Date of release
1980-09-11
TMDB
6.4 / 10 (58)
Runtime
1h 43m
Genres
Comedy, Documentary, Music
Director
Julien Temple

Casting

Interesting facts

The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, also known as The Great Rock and Roll Swindle, is a 1980 British mockumentary film directed by Julien Temple and produced by Don Boyd and Jeremy Thomas. It centres on the British punk rock band Sex Pistols and, most prominently, their manager Malcolm McLaren.

Background

The film was initially conceived by manager Malcolm McLaren as way to break into the American market, preferring it over the release of an album or Single. And due to the bands fondness of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Russ Meyer was signed on as director, bringing in Roger Ebert as the films writer.

Ebert eventually came up with the screenplays Anarchy in the UK which at his request was changed to Who killed Bambi? referencing a scene in the film in which a deer is killed, as well as the song of the same name which was to be featured in the film but eventually ended up, like with many parts from it, in the Swindle.

Eventually, the film fell to ruin, after many clashes between Meyer and McLaren, culminating in a disastrous first day of shooting in which McClaren was unable to pay for Electricians on the film, having Meyer and his crew dropping out almost immediately. Soon enough, Julien Temple was brought on after having produced a series of short films on the Pistols, working with some of the material produced for Who killed Bambi?

The title of the film was inspired by an article written by skiffle musician Lonnie Donegan in the 1950s titled "Rock and Roll – It's a Swindle". A copy of the article resides in the Jamie Reid archive at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

The footage was filmed in early to mid-1978, between the departure of singer John Lydon from the band and their subsequent split. The movie was finally released nearly two years later. Lydon (who was listed in the credits as "The Collaborator") and original bass guitarist Glen Matlock only appear in archive footage — Lydon refused to have anything to do with the production.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

Recommended