THE RUTLES: ALL YOU NEED IS CASH
This 1978 NBC telemovie, produced by Lorne Michaels and conceived, written and co-directed by Eric Idle, was a rockumentary spoof long before This is Spinal Tap!, and no less brilliant. It’s a spoof of the history and music and movies of The Beatles, and is so authorized it even has an unbilled cameo by George Harrison as a TV reporter. The more you know about the Fab Four and their albums and output and private lives, the more you’ll be amazed at the detail and brilliance of the detail here, including the musical parodies. Oh, and the cast? In addition to Idle and the others playing the “Pre-Fab Four,” you also get cameos by Paul Simon, Mick and Biana Jagger, Ron Wood, and not-yet-very-famous Saturday Night Live players Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray, as early Beatles deejay booster “Bill Murray the K.” Special price at Amazon. – DB