Kray twins biopic producer says he wouldn’t make film today: “They were cowardly psychopathic bullies”

A producer behind The Krays has explained that he wouldn’t make the movie today, calling the subjects “cowardly psychopathic bullies”.

The 1990 film stars Gary and Martin Kemp as the infamous East London gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray, and was a critical and commercial success.

Ray Burdis was a producer on the project, though is now directing new film Last Kings of London, which is touted as a darker look at the Krays from the perspective of the police and ordinary people.

“They weren’t folk heroes,” he said (via The Guardian). “They were just a pair of cowardly psychopathic bullies, who terrorised the East End of London in the 1960s.”

Reflecting on glamorising the twins in his original film, Burdis explained: “Because I’ve grown up with gangsters as a north London boy, I wasn’t intimidated at all by the Krays. I was intrigued. I wanted to make a film that glamorised them at the time because that’s what you did in those days.

“When it went out, I was happy as it was a big film. But, as I got older, I thought this was wrong,” he admitted. “I feel bad about certain aspects of the film. I thought it’s time for someone to speak out and tell the truth.

“Although there were violent scenes, we steered away from that. We went for the matriarchal side of it … mummy’s boys, good boys, lovely boys. They fought for their mother – that [was] the premise of the film. The film is about the myth of the Krays. It wasn’t about the reality.”

Burdis also opened up about meeting the Krays while making the 1990 film, revealing his company paid them £100,000 for the rights to their story, and they “never let them see a script”.

He also claimed that they lived up to their thuggish reputation, as he felt they could “grab you at any time”, and alleged that Reggie threatened to have him killed.

While both brothers have since died, Burdis said he would have made the new film even if they were still alive.

“But easier now,” he added. “A lot of people were terrified of them and even members of their gang, perhaps now, will own up to the fact that ‘this is how we behaved and it weren’t right.’”

“I don’t think they’d be too happy [about the new film]. It really does show what they were. They didn’t care about kids. They didn’t care about women. They just wanted what they wanted.

“Ronnie used to send out some of his gang to pick up young boys, 14-year-olds, so he could have sex with them. It was very sadistic. They were psychopaths. Ronnie was schizophrenic as well. They were very dangerous.”

The Krays were also portrayed in 2015 film Legend, which saw Tom Hardy play both of the twins.

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