SAWDUST CAESAR

Stylish young Mod, school-leaver Tommy has to forget his friends and grow up quickly when he gets caught up with the criminal activities of his murdered friend's big brother bent on revenge. The true 'face' of Sixties Mods and Rockers.

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Sawdust Caesar depicts the coming-of-age of Tommy who, with his friend Dinger, both fresh out of school, are making a small name for themselves as up-and-coming young criminals. But when Dinger is murdered by Kenser, the leader of a gang of bikers, the mood of the story changes when Dinger's older brother Vince, one of the top men in The Firm, recruits Tommy in place of his little brother. While Tommy's young eyes are being forcibly opened by the more unpleasant aspects of gangland life, Vince continues his search for Dinger's killers, eliminating each of the gang one by one.

To further complicate Tommy's increasingly tenuous relationship with the mob, he is seduced by Beryl, the attractive wife of Ray, the top man. Worse, they are discovered in bed by Vince. But Vince has his own secret, a psychopathic aversion to street girls, and, after berating Tommy for messing around with his best friend's wife, rather than rock the boat he lets the matter drop, preferring instead to use the information as a means of retaining Tommy's diminishing loyalty.

Kenser, by now the only survivor of the gang, is caught and achieves unexpected fame as the star of a snuff movie. But Vince's time on Earth also draws to a close when Ray discovers that he is the call-girl killer. Faced with gangland execution, Vince displays an unexpected side to his nature by letting Tommy off the hook - by failing to disclose information which could have led to his own survival.