The Krays (film)
Encyclopedia
The Krays is a 1990
1990 in film
The year 1990 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall .* The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2....

 film based on the lives and crimes of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 gangsters Ronald and Reginald Kray, twins who are often referred to as The Krays
Kray twins
Reginald "Reggie" Kray and his twin brother Ronald "Ronnie" Kray were the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in London's East End during the 1950s and 1960s...

. The film was written by Philip Ridley
Philip Ridley
Philip Ridley is a British artist working with various media.- Biography :Ridley was born in Bethnal Green, in the East End of London, where he still lives and works. He studied painting at St. Martin’s School of Art and his work has been exhibited throughout Europe and Japan...

 and directed by Peter Medak
Peter Medak
Peter Medak is a Hungarian-born film director of British and American films.-Early life:He was born in Budapest, Hungary to a Jewish family, but in 1956 fled his native country for England due to the Hungarian Revolution...

.

Plot summary

The film begins with a shot of a swan in flight over the caption "Shall I tell you my dream?" and charts Ronnie and Reggie Kray's lives from their humble beginnings in the East End of London, where they were born in 1933, to their rise in the 1960s to become the most infamous and notorious gangland leaders in London's criminal underworld. They were subsequently convicted of murder and were incarcerated for over 30 years. Ron died in Broadmoor Hospital
Broadmoor Hospital
Broadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital at Crowthorne in the Borough of Bracknell Forest in Berkshire, England. It is the best known of the three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England, the other two being Ashworth and Rampton...

, a high security psychiatric hospital, in 1995. Reg however was released on 1 October 2000 on health grounds. He died 3 weeks later of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

. They were played by real-life brothers Gary
Gary Kemp
Gary Kemp is an English pop musician and actor who is the guitar player and chief songwriter for the 1980s Synthpop band Spandau Ballet. His brother, Martin Kemp, plays bass guitar in the band...

 and Martin Kemp
Martin Kemp (actor)
Martin John Kemp is an English actor, musician, and occasional television presenter, best known as the bassist in the New Romantic band Spandau Ballet, as well as for his portrayal as Steve Owen from the BBC soap opera EastEnders...

, who at the time of the film were more famous for their pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 group
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...

 Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet are a British band formed in London in the late 1970s. Initially inspired by, and an integral part of, the New Romantic fashion, their music has featured a mixture of funk, jazz, soul and synthpop. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s, achieving ten Top Ten singles...

.

The film charts the lives of the Krays from childhood, paying particular attention to how they were very close to their doting mother (played by Billie Whitelaw
Billie Whitelaw
Billie Honor Whitelaw, CBE is an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and is regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works...

) and also the relationship between the twins, with Ronald (Gary Kemp
Gary Kemp
Gary Kemp is an English pop musician and actor who is the guitar player and chief songwriter for the 1980s Synthpop band Spandau Ballet. His brother, Martin Kemp, plays bass guitar in the band...

) the more dominant and violent twin and Reginald (Martin Kemp
Martin Kemp (actor)
Martin John Kemp is an English actor, musician, and occasional television presenter, best known as the bassist in the New Romantic band Spandau Ballet, as well as for his portrayal as Steve Owen from the BBC soap opera EastEnders...

) carrying out acts of violence primarily at the behest of his brother. The real-life Ronnie was diagnosed as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.

The film contains a notoriously gruesome scene in which Ronald gives someone a so-called 'Chelsea smile', which involves holding a knife horizontally over the victim's mouth and applying pressure, the blade carving through the victim's cheeks and the resulting injuries giving the impression they are smiling "from ear to ear". On a lighter note the film also contains a memorable scene where the Krays hold a meeting at their parents' house. Halfway through the meeting the Krays' mother cheerfully brings up cups of tea for everyone and fusses over all the heavily built men who are crammed into one tiny room. Their mother was supposedly unaware that her sons' business activities were illegal. The other gangsters know how devoted the Krays are to their mother and they treat her with fawning respect.

Availability

Sometime after the film's theatrical run, the movie was released on videocassette by RCA/Columbia. The movie has never been released on Region 1 DVD, and as of 3 January 2010 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was established in November 1979 as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, releasing 20 titles: The Anderson Tapes, Bell, Book and Candle, Born Free, Breakout,...

 has yet to announce any plans for a DVD release. However, a special edition region 2 DVD has been released in the UK. This UK DVD release also contains a 53-minute documentary about the Krays, featuring interviews from the press and the police about their activities and eventual arrest, as well as from a former member of their gang.

As of 27 September 2011 the film is available for instant streaming only on Netflix
Netflix
Netflix, Inc., is an American provider of on-demand internet streaming media in the United States, Canada, and Latin America and flat rate DVD-by-mail in the United States. The company was established in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California...

.

Cast

  • Billie Whitelaw
    Billie Whitelaw
    Billie Honor Whitelaw, CBE is an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and is regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works...

    .... Violet Kray
  • Tom Bell
    Tom Bell (actor)
    Tom Bell was an English actor on stage, film and television. He was dark-haired, lean, and in his later years often played characters having a sinister side to their nature.-Biography:...

      .... Jack 'The Hat' McVitie
  • Gary Kemp
    Gary Kemp
    Gary Kemp is an English pop musician and actor who is the guitar player and chief songwriter for the 1980s Synthpop band Spandau Ballet. His brother, Martin Kemp, plays bass guitar in the band...

    .... Ronnie Kray
  • Martin Kemp
    Martin Kemp (actor)
    Martin John Kemp is an English actor, musician, and occasional television presenter, best known as the bassist in the New Romantic band Spandau Ballet, as well as for his portrayal as Steve Owen from the BBC soap opera EastEnders...

    .... Reggie Kray
  • Susan Fleetwood
    Susan Fleetwood
    Susan Maureen Fleetwood was a British stage, film and television actress, best known as a star of the classical theatre companies of England. She received popular acclaim in the television series Chandler & Co and The Buddha of Suburbia.-Personal life:Fleetwood was born in St...

    .... Rose
  • Charlotte Cornwell
    Charlotte Cornwell
    -Life and career:Cornwell was born in Marylebone, London, England, the daughter of Ronald Cornwell. She is the half-sister of spy novelist John le Carré . She describes him as "the best brother a girl could have"...

    .... May
  • Kate Hardie
    Kate Hardie
    Kate Hardie is a British actress, who has appeared in a number of film and television roles.-Biography:Hardie's stage name is derived from those of both her parents: Jean Hart and comedian turned naturalist Bill Oddie.-Career:...

    .... Frances
  • Avis Bunnage
    Avis Bunnage
    Avis Bunnage was a British actress of film, stage and television.She attended Manley Park Municipal School and Chorlton Central School in Manchester. She worked as a secretary and a nursery teacher before deciding to become an actress...

    .... Helen
  • Alfred Lynch
    Alfred Lynch
    Alfred Cornelius Lynch was a British actor on stage, film and television.Lynch was born in Whitechapel, London, the son of a plumber. After attending a Roman Catholic school, he worked in a draughtsman's office before entering national service...

    .... Charlie Kray, Snr
  • Gary Love
    Gary Love
    Gary Love is a British actor and film director. He is best known for playing the role of Sergeant Tony Wilton in the award winning series Soldier Soldier....

    .... Steve
  • Steven Berkoff
    Steven Berkoff
    Steven Berkoff is an English actor, writer and director. Best known for his performance as General Orlov in the James Bond film Octopussy, he is typically cast in villanous roles, such as Lt...

    .... George Cornell
  • Jimmy Jewel
    Jimmy Jewel
    James Arthur Thomas J. Marsh, known as Jimmy Jewel, was a British television and film actor.The son of a comedian and actor who also used the stage name Jimmy Jewel, the youngster made his stage debut in Robinson Crusoe in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, at the age of four, performed with his father...

    .... Cannonball Lee
  • Barbara Ferris
    Barbara Ferris
    Barbara Gillian Ferris is an English actress and former fashion model.She appeared in a number of films and productions for television and is possibly best remembered as Dinah, the young woman who eloped with Dave Clark in the 1965 film Catch Us If You Can...

    .... Mrs. Lawson
  • Victor Spinetti
    Victor Spinetti
    Victor Spinetti is a Welsh comic actor.-Early life:Spinetti was born in Cwm, Ebbw Vale, Wales of Welsh and Italian heritage from a grandfather who was said to have walked from Italy to Wales to work as a coal miner...

    .... Mr. Lawson
  • John McEnery .... Eddie Pellam
  • Philip Bloomfield.... Charlie Pellam
  • Norman Rossington
    Norman Rossington
    Norman Rossington was an English actor best remembered for his roles in The Army Game, the Carry On films and the Beatles film A Hard Day's Night.-Early life:...

     .... Shopkeeper
  • Patti Love .... Iris
  • Michael Balfour .... Referee
  • Terence Dackombe.... Thug
  • Jonty Reason .... Thug
  • Roger Monk .... Charlie Kray, Jnr.
  • Jimmy Flint .... Perry
  • Andrew Kitchen .... Dennis
  • Michael Carr .... Eddie
  • Ian Burfield .... Whip
  • Bob Brimson .... Grey
  • Russell Gold .... Terry
  • David Arlen .... Dickie
  • Jon McKenna .... Sam Ripley
  • Sean Blowers
    Sean Blowers
    Sean Blowers is a British actor. He is well known for playing John Hallam in London's Burning from 1988 to 1996 and he has also been in The Bill, A Touch of Frost, Dalziel and Pascoe, Heartbeat, New Tricks, Staying Alive, Crossroads, Doctor Who and has appeared in The Krays, The Living Daylights...

    .... Chris Ripley
  • Murray Melvin
    Murray Melvin
    Murray Melvin is an English stage and film actor.The son of Hugh Victor Melvin and Maisie Winifred Driscoll, he is best known for having created the role of Geoffrey in the Shelagh Delaney play, A Taste of Honey, a role which he recreated opposite Rita Tushingham in the 1961 film of the same name...

    .... Newsagent
  • Sadie Frost
    Sadie Frost
    Sadie Frost is an English actress, who currently runs fashion label Frost French and has designed the kitchens for a new development in the East End of London.-Biography:Frost was born Sadie Liza Vaughan in London...

    .... Sharon Pellam
  • Stephen Lewis
    Stephen Lewis (actor)
    Stephen Lewis is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Inspector Cyril "Blakey" Blake in the LWT Sitcom On the Buses, Clem "Smiler" Hemmingway in the longest running sitcom Last of the Summer Wine and Harry Lambert in BBC Television's Oh, Doctor Beeching!.-Career:Lewis began his...

    .... Policeman
  • Peter Turner .... Regal Manager
  • Soo Drouet .... Jack's Girlfriend
  • John H. Stracey
    John H. Stracey
    John H. Stracey is a former professional boxer who was world Welterweight champion. He also had, at one point, a boxing school in London....

    .... Boxer
  • David Fenwick .... Doctor
  • Laura Cox .... Ivy
  • Angus MacInnes
    Angus MacInnes
    Angus MacInnes is a Canadian actor. He is most famous for his role as Gold Leader in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, and as former hockey great Jean "Rosey" LaRose in the comedy Strange Brew...

    .... Palendri

Soundtrack and audio

The film sound track came out on the Parkfield music label and featured:
Chris Rea .... Bitter Sweet,
The Zombies .... She's Not There,
Jimmy Jewel .... Balling the Jack,
Matt Monro .... Walk Away.
Audio voice samples from the film have also been popular in modern music and featured on jungle tracks such as Buju Bantons Murderer remix by R33CE.COM.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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