Malcolm McLaren was a genius. He was also a total nightmare. If you want to understand the chaotic collapse of the most dangerous band in the world, you have to look at the wreckage of Who Killed Bambi? The Sex Pistols' doomed attempt at cinema. It wasn't just a movie. It was a suicide note written in 35mm film.
Punk was always meant to burn out, right? But the way it happened—with a screenplay by a film critic, a director famous for softcore erotica, and a band that literally couldn't stand to be in the same room—is honestly stranger than any fiction. Most people think The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle was the plan all along. It wasn't. The original vision was much weirder, much darker, and arguably much better.
The Chaos of the Who Killed Bambi Sex Pistols Collaboration
By 1977, the Sex Pistols were the most hated and loved thing in Britain. McLaren, ever the provocateur, decided the next logical step wasn't a new album. It was a feature film. He didn't want a documentary. He wanted a "punk version of A Hard Day's Night," which is kind of hilarious when you realize Johnny Rotten wasn't exactly Paul McCartney.
The title Who Killed Bambi? The Sex Pistols' project name was already floating around, inspired by a song written by Edward Tudor-Pole and Vivienne Westwood. To pull it off, McLaren did the unthinkable. He hired Russ Meyer to direct. Yes, that Russ Meyer. The guy who made Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.
It was a total mismatch from day one. You had a director who demanded military-style precision and "well-endowed" actresses, and a band of nihilistic teenagers who didn't want to wake up before noon. The script was handled by Roger Ebert. Yeah, the Pulitzer-winning critic. Ebert and Meyer had worked together before, and Ebert’s script was a satirical, over-the-top takedown of the music industry. It was basically a cartoon version of the Pistols' reality.
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The production set up shop in London in late 1977. It lasted exactly one and a half days.
Why? Money. Or rather, the lack of it.
20th Century Fox was supposed to bankroll the thing, but when they saw Meyer’s footage—specifically a scene involving a nude Grace Kelly lookalike and the band's general aura of filth—they pulled the plug. There's also the legend that the executives at Fox were horrified by the "anarchy" of the band. Honestly, it was probably just the fact that McLaren was trying to make a movie with zero actual budget and a director whose style cost a fortune.
Why the Film Collapsed (and Why It Matters)
When the plug was pulled, everything splintered. Meyer went back to California. Ebert went back to his columns. The Sex Pistols went back to hating each other. But the footage didn't just vanish. If you've ever seen the music video for the song "Who Killed Bambi," you're seeing the remnants of those chaotic forty-eight hours.
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The collapse of Who Killed Bambi? The Sex Pistols' first cinematic outing marked the beginning of the end for the original lineup. Sid Vicious was becoming a liability. Johnny Rotten was becoming disillusioned. McLaren was becoming more obsessed with the "myth" than the music.
- The script featured a scene where the band members were supposed to be "attacked" by a giant, monstrous baby.
- Sting (yes, from The Police) was briefly considered for a role.
- The tension between Meyer and Rotten was legendary. Meyer reportedly thought Rotten was "unprofessional," which, to be fair, was Rotten's entire job description.
Eventually, McLaren recycled bits and pieces into The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle in 1980. But that movie is a different beast. It's McLaren's version of history where he's the puppet master. The original Who Killed Bambi would have been a collaboration—a bizarre, Ebert-scripted fever dream that actually captured the band at their peak.
Instead, we got a legal battle. The band sued McLaren. McLaren sued the film company. The fans got a handful of grainy clips and a catchy title song.
The Legacy of a Ghost Film
It’s easy to look back and say it never could have worked. It probably couldn't. The personalities involved were too big for the screen. But Who Killed Bambi? The Sex Pistols represents a moment where punk almost conquered Hollywood. It was the point where the subculture tried to swallow the mainstream and choked.
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If you're a fan of cinema history, the "what ifs" are staggering. What if Ebert and Meyer had finished it? It likely would have been a cult classic on par with The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Instead, it's a footnote. A very loud, very messy footnote.
The actual song "Who Killed Bambi" remains a weird outlier in the Pistols' discography. It’s not even Johnny Rotten singing; it's Edward Tudor-Pole, backed by an orchestral arrangement that sounds nothing like the raw power of Never Mind the Bollocks. It’s campy. It’s strange. It’s exactly what the movie would have been.
Actionable Insights for Music and Film History Nerds
If you want to dive deeper into this mess, don't just look for the movie. It doesn't exist in a finished form. Do these things instead:
- Watch 'The Filth and the Fury': Julien Temple’s 2000 documentary is the "correct" version of the band's history, told by the members themselves. It features some of the Meyer footage and explains the fallout better than any blog post ever could.
- Read Roger Ebert’s reflections: Ebert wrote extensively about his time with the Pistols. His account of trying to write for Sid Vicious is both hilarious and tragic. It provides a perspective on the band that isn't colored by the UK music press of the time.
- Listen to the 'Who Killed Bambi' single: Compare it to "Anarchy in the UK." You’ll hear the exact moment where the band’s identity was being sold for parts.
- Trace the Art School connection: Understanding McLaren and Westwood’s background in the art scene explains why they thought a Russ Meyer collaboration was a good idea in the first place. It wasn't about music; it was about "situationalism" and creating a spectacle.
The story of the movie is the story of the band: a lot of noise, a lot of potential, and a sudden, violent stop. They didn't need a script to tell us who killed Bambi. They did it themselves by trying to turn a revolution into a matinee.