Slade in Flame (1975)

The BFI are bringing out Richard Loncraine's tale of pop fame and eventual disillusionment, starring one of the most famous bands of the 1970s, on Blu-ray & DVD in a dual format edition. It's a film Mark Kermode has called 'the CITIZEN KANE of British pop movies'. I'm not sure if I'd agree with that - I think Brian Gibson's BREAKING GLASS very much has the edge - but it's still a valuable and fascinating record of aspects of Britain's pop music scene in the mid 1970s.

It's also a film that provides us with early examples of the work of not just its director, who would go on to make THE HAUNTING OF JULIA / FULL CIRCLE (1977) and the 1982 film version of Dennis Potter's BRIMSTONE AND TREACLE (also toplining a pop star, in that case, Sting) but also screenwriter Andrew Birkin (THE FINAL CONFLICT, THE NAME OF THE ROSE, PERFUME, THE CEMENT GARDEN). 

There's nothing especially remarkable about the plot - the band Flame is put together from the remains of The Undertakers (whose performances includes a bit that might have inspired a scene in THIS IS SPINAL TAP) and a band fronted by Alan Lake, with a drummer added after an audition. Talent spotted by Kenneth Colley for Tom Conti's management company, Stoker (Noddy Holder), Paul (Jim Lea), Barry (Dave Hill) and Charlie (Don Powell) are soon on the road to success, crazy publicity stunts and all, with the Red Sands Sea Forts at Whitstable providing a memorable location. It all goes predictably wrong with the band falling out and various threats to management leading to an ending that suggests the band will be short-lived.

A film that has acquired quite the reputation over the years, SLADE IN FLAME is the typical rags to riches tale of a rise to pop stardom, only in this case it feels filtered through a Ken Loach lens. There's a heavy emphasis on grim British locations and even the hotels the boys stay in at the height of their success are quite obviously going to seed. Despite Mark Kermode's gushing praise, it's also curiously uninvolving. We never really feel we get to know any of the band and the ending, while certainly a downer, lacks the punch of BREAKING GLASS. It's a good, gritty, uncompromising film but time (and an awful lot of similar movies) has diminished its impact somewhat.

Extras include a commentary track in which an effusive Mark Kermode prompts Richard Loncraine to take him through the production. There's a new ten minute interview with Tom Conti, an archival making of from 2007 (58 minutes), and a Noddy Holder interview from 2002 (54 minutes) some of which is used in the documentary. You also get a five minute piece on Savile Row tailor Tommy Nutter, two trailers and a still gallery. The first pressing comes with a booklet featuring new and archival writing. 

Richard Loncraine's SLADE IN FLAME is out in a dual format Blu-ray & DVD edition, and also on iTunes and Amazon Prime, on Monday 19th May 2025