The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (1980) on Netflix
NR19801h 43mComedyDocumentaryMusic
A mockumentary of the Sex Pistols told from the manager's side. The Embezzler claims he built the band and steered it toward profit, while The Crook, a private detective, investigates.
- Netflix4.1/5
- IMDb6.4/102,583 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
Told as a stylized mockumentary, the story opens with a bonfire of Sex Pistols merchandise and runs on the manager's own account. Calling himself The Embezzler, he claims to have created the group, though the band was already formed, and to have shaped it into a success while treating its members as puppets. His stated aim was money, collected from the labels the band passed through: EMI, A&M, Virgin and Warner Bros. Around his narration run set pieces, with The Crook as a private detective digging into what really happened to the band. The Tea-Maker and The Gimmick take smaller parts, and The Exile, a fugitive, appears.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (1980)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten refused to have anything to do with the film, calling it 'a pile of rubbish' and 'Malcolm's vision of what he believed; not true in any form'.
- Julien Temple's 2000 documentary The Filth and the Fury retold the Sex Pistols' story from the band's own point of view, acting as an answer to McLaren's claim in Swindle that he was the group's driving creative force.
