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The Great Rock & Roll Swindle (1980)

Boisterous, lewd 'mockumentary' about the rise and fall of The Sex Pistols, presented by Malcolm McLaren as 'The Embezzler', and with bass guitarist Steve Jones as the trilby-and-raincoat clad 'Investigator', who in a series of pastiche scenes discovers how the band made so much money for so little effort.

The film includes several animated sequences, as well as unique coverage of Steve Jones and Paul Cook's meeting in Brazil with infamous train robber Ronnie Biggs (this, along with McLaren's claims throughout the film to have been the creator of both the Pistols and punk rock in general, infuriated John Lydon, who refused to have anything to do with the production and whose appearance is confined to archive footage).

Finally released in 1980, it also features Edward Tenpole-Smith, Irene Handl and dwarf actress Helen Wellington-Lloyd, who had earlier appeared in Derek Jarman's 'Jubilee'. Also a cameo appearance from porn actress Mary Millington, who shortly afterwards ate herself to death during a bulimic binge. The film's title is shared by a short story about the Pistols written by sci-fi author Michael Moorcock.


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Do You Remember The Great Rock & Roll Swindle?

Do You Remember The Great Rock & Roll Swindle?