Bronco Bullfrog

Powerful and authentic, this fascinating record of the then-emerging Suedehead subculture was largely improvised by a non-professional cast of teenagers from East London.

“Its reputation as a Good Cause will do it no harm at the box office. As a film, however, it deserves far more than a pat on the back...”
Nigel Andrews, Monthly Film Bulletin, November 1970

In 1966, director Barney Platts-Mills joined forces with filmmaker James Scott and cinematographer Andrew St-John to produce a handful of documentaries. In 1968, Platts-Mills made Everybody’s An Actor, Shakespeare Said, about Joan Littlewood’s theatre workshops with working-class East End teenagers.

From that experience emerged the idea for Bronco Bullfrog, telling the story of a teenaged couple – Del, a young apprentice, and his girlfriend Irene – who have no money and nowhere to go. Frustrated with their lot, they turn to teenage rebel ‘Bronco Bullfrog’ for a taste of fun and freedom. 

With its unassuming style, semi-improvised dialogue, authentic locations and cast of non-professional actors, the film captured time and place with pinpoint accuracy, providing a fascinating insight into a world gone by.

Joan Littlewood’s theatre workshops, encouraging working-class stories to be depicted on stage, helped launch the career of Barbara Windsor when Sparrows Can’t Sing was made into a film in 1962.