Slade in Flame

Gritty rather than glam, this incendiary, cult rock-biz classic sizzles its way back to the big screen for its 50th anniversary.

Confounding and delighting audiences in equal measure at the height of Slade’s Top Ten pop majesty, Slade in Flame remains a singular rags-to-riches music film. Charting the rise of fictional rock group Flame, with Slade themselves playing the band, it offers a witty, sublimely cynical and warts-and-all inside-view of the music industry circa 1970. And it features a soundtrack stuffed with high-octane Slade boot-stompers. Labelled ‘the Citizen Kane of British pop movies’ by Mark Kermode, it features pitch-perfect performances by Slade, alongside an outstanding early role for Tom Conti, brilliant as an icy businessman hell-bent on making them stars.

Newly remastered by the BFI from original film materials, Slade in Flame returns in a blaze of glory.