The Beatles' movies are fab topic of LIer's 'Act Naturally'
George Harrison, left, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Wilfrid Brambell (as Grandpa) and Paul McCartney in a publicity shot for the 1964 movie "A Hard Day's Night." Credit: Everett Collection /Mary Evans/AF Archive
It's been 19 years since Smithtown music journalist Steve Matteo published “The Beatles’ Let It Be,” an in-depth study of the group's rehearsals for a stage comeback. Since then, Matteo had been anxious to write another book about the lads from Liverpool.
As Beatles films and albums were restored and reissued in new formats, Matteo found his angle: an up-close and in-depth look at the Fab Four's five films — “A Hard Day’s Night” (1964), “Help!” (1965), “Magical Mystery Tour” (1967), “Yellow Submarine” (1968) and “Let It Be” (1970). The result is “Act Naturally: The Beatles on Film” (Backbeat, $24.95). Matteo recently discussed his work on the book with Newsday.
"Act Naturally: The Beatles on Film" is a new book by Smithtown music journalist Steve Matteo. Credit: Backbeat
What were your own experiences and reactions in watching and listening to The Beatles during their heyday?
I listened to their albums when I was a child. As an adult, and as I worked as a music journalist, I became aware of how important they were. When John Lennon was shot, it was the end of the ‘60s, even though it was 1980. It was a watershed. Reagan was elected president; within a few weeks Lennon was shot; then AIDS came along. Everything changed.
Why did you want to write a book about their films?
I love the idea of where movies and pop music meet. I wanted to make it more than just another Beatles book. I wanted to bring depth and content to the discussion. These movies were not made in a bubble. There are long stretches of the book where The Beatles leave the narrative. I wanted to include the revolutions in fashion and art that were happening in Europe. I wanted to give the people who worked on the Beatles films — the directors, cinematographers, writers — their due. First and foremost, this is a film book.
Films with pop singers have been a staple form of entertainment since the advent of sound films. There were films with Rudy Vallee, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley. How do The Beatles' films fit into this subgenre?
Usually in those other films you had some scenes [in a narrative] and then the band or the singers came out and performed. The Beatles are in their films all the way through. The films are about who they were and what they did. They’re documentaries or cinema verité. You get a sense of what it was like to be at the center of the storm of their stardom.
British film was flourishing in the late 1950s and early '60s. Gritty kitchen-sink dramas like “Room at the Top” and “Look Back in Anger" expressed a pessimism about life in Britain. What happened when The Beatles' films mixed into this trend?
With “A Hard Day’s Night,” British film become about potential instead of negativity. There was a lot of negativity in Britain following World War II. Britain was no longer a superpower. Major parts of London were bombed out; people were still rationing. Then, suddenly came this youth culture. The class structure was breaking down. The notion that children should be seen and not heard no longer applied. If you had some unique talent and you were young, you were something new.
How did The Beatles' films influence cinema?
{Director] Richard Lester used the Beatles' music throughout “A Hard Day’s Night.” This hadn’t been done before. “The Graduate” and “Easy Rider” used music in the same way Lester used it. [Martin] Scorsese used rock and roll music throughout “Mean Streets.” Also, many of the artists who worked on the Beatles films continue to work in film today. They worked on the Harry Potter films, on the Lord of the Rings films.
The Beatles stormed the pop music scene in the mid-'60s. How do their music and films play with young people 60 years later?
Kids today are fascinated with the ‘60s. They’re under a tremendous amount of pressure; everything is so divided. Music is not as central to the culture now as it was then. There isn’t the cohesiveness today that there was for the baby boomers in the '60s. So kids now look to the '60s as a golden era. They watch The Beatles' films and buy their albums. I go to record stores and see as many young as older people buying Beatles albums on vinyl. I don’t think there’s ever been a time when kids are so into the music their parents listened to — that their grandparents listened to!
