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Slade in Flame

Original title: Flame
  • 1975
  • 1h 31m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
838
YOUR RATING
Dave Hill, Noddy Holder, Jim Lea, and Don Powell in Slade in Flame (1975)
Rock MusicalDramaMusicMusical

Light the Rock n' Roll spark with a Flame in the guise of Dave, Noddy, Jim and Don and their showcase of the rise and demise of rock band Flame.Light the Rock n' Roll spark with a Flame in the guise of Dave, Noddy, Jim and Don and their showcase of the rise and demise of rock band Flame.Light the Rock n' Roll spark with a Flame in the guise of Dave, Noddy, Jim and Don and their showcase of the rise and demise of rock band Flame.

  • Director
    • Richard Loncraine
  • Writers
    • Andrew Birkin
    • Dave Humphries
  • Stars
    • Don Powell
    • Jim Lea
    • Noddy Holder
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.9/10
    838
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Richard Loncraine
    • Writers
      • Andrew Birkin
      • Dave Humphries
    • Stars
      • Don Powell
      • Jim Lea
      • Noddy Holder
    • 29User reviews
    • 15Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos32

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    Top cast32

    Edit
    Don Powell
    Don Powell
    • Charlie
    Jim Lea
    Jim Lea
    • Paul
    Noddy Holder
    Noddy Holder
    • Stoker
    Dave Hill
    Dave Hill
    • Barry
    Tom Conti
    Tom Conti
    • Robert Seymour
    Alan Lake
    • Jack Daniels
    Johnny Shannon
    Johnny Shannon
    • Ron Harding
    Kenneth Colley
    Kenneth Colley
    • Tony Devlin
    Anthony Allen
    • Russell
    Sara Clee
    • Angie
    Nina Thomas
    Nina Thomas
    • Julie
    Michael Coles
    Michael Coles
    • Roy Priest
    Rosko
    • Self
    Tommy Vance
    • Ricky Storm
    John Dicks
    • Lenny
    Barrie Houghton
    • Ron
    A.J. Brown
    • Chairman of the Board
    Susan Tebbs
    • Judy Seymour
    • Director
      • Richard Loncraine
    • Writers
      • Andrew Birkin
      • Dave Humphries
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews29

    6.9838
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    Featured reviews

    kennethcampbell

    70'S Rockers Slade show the darker side of life in a rock band

    When 70's Glam Rock champions Slade where asked to appear in a movie, several script options came their way. It was not until Manager Chas Chandler and John Steel came across Flame that the ball started rolling (and Rocking). Original songs where written by usual Slade Songsters Noddy Holder and Jim Lea. Slade spent the latter end of 1974 filming around Leeds and London. The Movie premiered in 1975 accompanied by the hit record "Far, Far Away". The Movie shows the rifts building within the group and the behind the scenes wrangles of Management. Snatched from obscurity, Pub and Club band 'Iron Rod' are discovered just as their relationship with seedy Manager Ron Harding is ending. They are given a make over "Im not a bloody fish-finger" moans Paul (Jim Lea). But Flamboyant Barry(Dave Hill) and reluctant singer Stoker (Noddy Holder) are keen for glory. Drummer Charlie (Don Powell) provides the on screen laughs. New Manager Robert Seymour (Tom Conti) employs ex-Singer Jack Daniels (Alan Lake) to steal the group's contract from Harding, but Daniels gets discovered by Hardings heavies and is beaten up. Harding threatens Seymour with more violence unless his contract turns up. Seymour returns the group to Harding on the same night that Paul walks out on the group. harding goes to the groups hotel room where Stoker informs him "We've all had enough Ron", and the film finishes to the strains of "How does it feel?". Great concert scenes filmed at the Marquee club in 1974 featuring members from the Slade Fan Club. An Album 'Slade in Flame' was released to tie in with the film, and an accompanying book by Andrew Birkin are available. See it just to relive the Glam days of flares and glitz of the early 1970's. Keep On Rockin'
    8Scott_Mercer

    Wham Bam Thank You Glam

    The British Glam Rock kings of the 1970's never quite made the impact they should have in the states. Probably David Bowie is the only one of the bunch that most Americans have even heard of. The Sweet had only a few hits. Marc Bolan only managed one Top 40 record. Now that's a shame. Roxy Music was a cult group. Status Quo is virtually unheard of; a one-hit wonder whose only hit was their first single from 1967, "Listen to the Flower People," er, I mean, "Pictures of Matchstick Men." Slade shifted some LPs, but had no hit singles. But they did make this film, which can finally now be seen here in the USA on DVD. Interesting to watch from the American perspective, but anyone who's at all a fan of such British cultural touchstones as The Beatles or Monty Python should find plenty to enjoy here.

    The group acquits themselves as actors quite well in this somewhat true-to-life tale of a rock band's rise and fall in England. The story starts in the mid/late 1960's, which helps to separate the real life Slade from the fictional Flame.

    Although somewhat of a gritty drama, there are a large number of hilarious anecdotes (which all supposedly really happened, though not to Slade but to different bands) about the singer getting stuck on stage in a coffin (Spinal Tap pod incident, anyone?), the attack on the pirate radio station, and dealings with posh types on a train and shopping for a Rolls-Royce at a snooty dealership.

    Overall, one of the better rock and roll films, if one of the lesser heralded ones. Worth watching for rock music fans or fans of 60's/70's pop culture. Just listen carefully, fellow Americans! You'll have a hard time sussing out some of the dialog with those Midlands accents. In fact, Noddy Holder said that when the film showed in St. Louis in the 70's, it was actually subtitled! Too bad that option is not provided on this DVD, but other than that, I don't have much to complain about here.
    9freemanist

    Not Far Far Away from fabulous

    Just obtained this on dvd, with an informative behind the scenes attachment - what a bargain @ £7.99.

    The movie may well be regarded by many as old and therefore irrelevant. That would be a harsh judgement as it does, on a critical re-viewing, stand the test of time. To put it in perspective, Slade were Kings of their day, although this film was made toward the end of their useful life, at the fag end of glam (forget the Reading gig comeback - it was never as good as the first time around in true 70's style). In a nutshell, it is the story of a band "Flame" played by the members of Slade and it documents the transition from irreverent songsters to chart toppers, assisted along by a parasitic agent (aren't they all?) who latches on to them, promotes them as a cash cow and then dispenses with the problem by caving in to a former manager from their amateur days (played brilliantly by Johnny Shannon).

    The songs from the film are not bad either: "Far Far Away" is still memorable, but all of them are totally eclipsed by the single release "How Does It Feel" - their first in this fame period not to make the top ten. That still stuns me as it is by far the best thing they ever did, and they had plenty of quality to underpin it (Buy "Sladest" or "Old New Borrowed & Blue" - all on CD). Slade in Flame uses the Black Country's darkness (pardon the pun) to its full effect and the story of individual personalities does unfold and develop with credibility - particularly Stoker & Paul. I also agree with Chris Murray re Don Powell - he had a scene down by the canal with an old mate from the foundry, inviting him to a swish recording industry party - that was a good scene and Don Powell did well as he was still recovering from a near death car crash at the time - he had to learn everything moments before it was filmed as he had no memory retention (gladly he fully recovered). Overall, the acting is good, the direction is tight and although the sound is poor (they had to subtitle it in English for the USA release as the accents were so broad) there is a charm to the film. Its a good tale well told.
    7al-345

    Spinal Tap, but for real

    This is a real slice of 70's. (Slade in) Flame tells the story of a semi mythical band that crawls out of the midlands of England and makes it into the myth of Rock and Roll. I found the album back in my salad days, and finally found the movie on DVD in my washed up years. There are pluses and minuses, as with any real slice of life film. On the plus side, the story of a band that makes it and self destructs really summarizes the mythos of the era, and realistically and sympathetically portrays the pressures and glories of fame. On the negative side, the accents are so thick you really wish there were subtitles. Notionally in English, it's in REAL English, and as an American, it might as well be Swahili.

    The flick is full of authentic and believable characters. The small time manager, the pirate DJ, and the hippy dippy groupies all make the film seem as real as your own life. If you've seen Spinal Tap, you'll see more than a handful of scenes - a singer trapped in a coffin, high class and moneyed fops dealing with the low class entertainers, and the horrors of ridiculous costumes and friends knifing friends. If you like Uriah Heep, UFO, or any band who played a festival at Wolverhampton, this id worth the accents. If you think rock and roll is too loud, pass. But this is rock at its most basic. Loud, dirty, and important for the most unimportant reasons possible.
    7Cinema_Fan

    What Cost F(l)ame?

    Forming in Wolverhampton, England, in the late sixties and coming from working class background's they originally called themselves The Vendors, after a while changing to Ambrose Slade, and finally to Slade.

    The four-piece line up was to be Noddy Holder - Singer, Jim Lea - Bass, Dave Hill - Lead Guitarist and Don Powell - Drums.

    Being managed and produced at the height of their career during the early 1970's by Chas Chandler, bass player to the Animals, and founder of Jimi Hendrix. After having several number one hits in England, their next phase in their career were to be the Movies.

    For greater realism and to better their research, the band took the writer Andrew Birkin and the films director Richard Loncraine on tour with them to America. During Messer's Loncraine and Birkins tour of duty, they had gathered enough material to help them with their story. In fact, the vast majority of this movie is based on actual incidents that have happened to other Rock 'n Roll band's in their careers.

    Released in the English Cinema's in January 1975, this is a dark and truthful translation of the Rock 'n Roll lifestyle. Deliberately shown this way to dispel the myth of the hype and glamour that the Business would want us to believe. Reselling the image as dishonest, disloyal, dirty and dangerous. Flame does a very good job here of testing your own loyalties, to be confronted with home truths that we would rather ignore, show business propaganda confronts a rude awakening.

    We have it all here, a band heading from rags to riches, the double-dealing, well-heeled, and well-connected Manager, in the form of Tom Conti, his first movie. The greedy and highly psychotic back street agent, the hard tour that eats away at the bands heart and soul, which has them turning inside out and finally imploding into bitterness and resentment. Saving the best till last, we have the music, this movie has a great soundtrack that do Slade justice, having to write a completely new album to go along with Flame. It contains one of their finest songs to date: Far Far Away, reaching number two in the British charts in 1974.

    There is a wonderful bit part by the late British D.J. Tommy Vance (1940 - 2005) as Ricky Storm.

    Slade in Flame is not so much a parody but more of a Rock 'n Roll History lesson; it brings home the hardcore realities of the ivory-tower elite and the exploitations of what is Big Business. Showing the naivety of a Rock 'n Roll Band that want fortune and fame, but in the end pay the highest price, themselves.

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    Related interests

    Tim Curry, Nell Campbell, and Patricia Quinn in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
    Rock Musical
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Prince and Apollonia Kotero in Purple Rain (1984)
    Music
    Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music (1965)
    Musical

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Alan Lake was sacked on the first day of filming, after getting drunk at lunchtime. He was only reinstated after his wife, actress Diana Dors, undertook to keep him sober during the film's shoot.
    • Quotes

      Jack Daniels: [shouts over the din of a poor drum solo audition] Not your actual Gene Krupa is he?

      Barry: Who's she?

      Jack Daniels: Before your time.

    • Crazy credits
      At the end of the film black and white stills of each actor are shown with their name.
    • Connections
      Featured in It's Slade (1999)
    • Soundtracks
      How Does it Feel?
      Performed by Slade

      (uncredited)

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    FAQ14

    • How long is Slade in Flame?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • 2004 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Flame
    • Filming locations
      • Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, UK
    • Production companies
      • Goodtimes Enterprises
      • Spouberry
      • VPS-Goodtimes
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Gross worldwide
      • $81,609
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      • 1h 31m(91 min)
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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