Rutles, The - All You Need Is Cash Details

The career of this mop-topped Liverpudlian band echoes that of a rather more famous quartet, in a witty documentary parody of the Fab Four's career. The brainchild of stars Eric Idle (who writes, co-directs and narrates à la Alan Whicker) and Neil Innes (responsible for music, lyrics and a killer John Lennon impersonation), this cleverly incorporates multiple film stocks and varied musical re-creations to send-up the iconic rise of The Beatles. There's inspired fake newsreel footage, interviews with both invented and real celebrities (Mick Jagger included), elaborate movie clips and brilliantly imitated live performances, using Innes's spot-on pastiches of classic tracks. Despite the pun-laden, sometimes painful links by Idle's roving reporter and inane cameos from Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi and, gamely, George Harrison, this has many clever touches. The pick of these is their fantastical animated spoof of Yellow Submarine.