Act Naturally: The Beatles on Film

by Steve Matteo

The Beatles produced five films during their time A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, and Let It Be. Some were cinematic successes, and some were not, but—along with subsequent reissues, bonus material, and Peter Jackson’s The Get Back, a documentary companion to Let It Be—they comprise an endlessly fascinating document of key phases in the group’s career.

In this comprehensive deep-dive into the band’s movies, author and longtime music journalist Steve Matteo follows the origins, filming, and often frenzied fan reception of projects from the 1964 premiere of A Hard Day’s Night through 1970’s Let It Be to the release of Get Back in 2022. Matteo explores the production process, original theatrical film releases, subsequent VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray releases, and bonus materials, along with the US and UK soundtracks. In addition to copious anecdotes and behind-the-scenes details, he also places these films in their larger context, a period of unprecedented artistic and commercial innovation in British and world cinema. Filled with stories and insights that will satisfy collectors, buffs, and casual fans alike, this is the definitive account of an underappreciated part of the Beatles’ creative output.

Genres: Nonfiction, Music, Film

332 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 15, 2023

Reviews

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name]

NG 3

Archive date 5/19/23
Pub date 5/15/23

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I once knew a woman who would begin one topic, then branch out into a related subject, add a few footnotes before launching into a similar train of thought until the air between us was filled with such a variety of crisscrossing themes that had the conversation been visible, it would have resembled the veins of a leaf as viewed under a microscope. Not everyone had the kind of time on their hands or patience necessary to listen to all Marianne’s exhaustive (and occasionally, exhausting) monologues, but anyone who did came away enriched and entertained.

I thought of Marianne when I read Steve Matteo’s Act Naturally: The Beatles on Film because while it certainly does fulfill the promise of its subtitle, it also presents a plethora of well-written background information that might be fascinating to some, overwhelming or even dull to others.

But let’s begin with the positive. Matteo is an excellent, descriptive writer. I won’t soon forget the image he paints of the Beatles waving to cheering crowds during the Liverpool premier of Hard Day’s Night while the city police band below them plays “Can’t Buy Me Love.” Ditto for the scene of Paul McCartney sketching out the idea for Magical Mystery Tour on airline stationery while flying home from the US.

And while the following might not be news to diehard fans, I found Matteo’s summation of the White Album quite illuminating:

“The album reflected not only the violence of the era, including protests against the war in Vietnam and nuclear proliferation and the assassination of political and social leaders, but also meditations on a variety of subjects, originally written on acoustic guitars in the tranquil days the group spent in India.”

Matteo provides a plethora of insightful background material to set the stage for each new Beatles cinematic endeavor. For instance, I never connected the dots between the plot of Help! and the James Bond films popular at the time. But yes, for all its comedy and musical numbers, Help! is a spoofy tale of international intrigue. Matteo brilliantly (if a bit tediously) sets the film within its historical context by listing and briefly describs each Bond film in chronological order before diving into Help!

However, more than occasionally, Matteo’s fondness for detail overwhelms his narrative, making the writing less cinematic and more encyclopedic. For instance, consider the following paragraph, which I quote in its entirety:

“Much has been said about the Beatles’ deal with UA. The initial budget of the film was 200,000 pounds for a black-and-white film. UA hired Walter Shenson to produce; he would be paid 12,000 pounds, splitting the profits 50/50 with UA. His company, Proscenium Films, had two separate deals with Brian Epstein: one with Northern Songs for the songs Lennon and McCartney would supply for the film (and, most importantly for UA, for the soundtrack), and one with NEMS Enterprises on behalf of the entire group. In the original deal, Epstein had said he wouldn’t accept less than an advance of 20,000 pounds and 25 percent of the net profits). Epstein then passed on the negotiations to his lawyer, David Jacobs. Jacobs quickly realized the number Epstein had floated was too low and eventually negotiated an advance of 25,000 pounds and 20 percent of the net profits.”

Interesting to anyone into numbers and percentages, but most likely, few others.

Act Naturally might not interest the general Beatles’ fan, but it is certainly an insightful and detailed labor of love and will be appreciated by anyone willing to take some time and a deep dive into the history of the Fab Four’s cinematic endeavors.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 4.0 of 5

There was a part of me that reacted with some joy - "Another Beatles book!" - and a part of me that thought - "Another Beatles book? What new can be said?" As it turns out, a fair amount new can be said.

This book takes a deep look at The Beatles' five feature films (A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, and Let It Be) as well as some of their work individually in films and touches on the revised footage of Peter Jackson's Get Back and Ron Howard's Hollywood Bowl films and the animated Beatles series and the Anthology footage. And when I say "deep dive" I mean it - almost ridiculously so. I mean, is it important for us to know:

Hairdresser Betty Glasgow worked on Lolita, A Hard Day's Night, Alfie, Georgie Girl, To Sir With Love in the 1960's and such work after the 1960s as Empire of the Sun, Titanic, Tomorrow Never Dies, Saving Private Ryan, and three Harry potter films.

Probably not. But it does indicate the level of research that Matteo has put into this book. Anyone with any connection to a Beatles film, and especially anyone who then had contact with other noted films or filmmakers, is mentioned or acknowledged here. It can get distracting, but I suppose if I were inclined to a career in wardrobe or makeup or continuity or some such, it might be nice to see these.

While I might poke a bit of fun at the inclusion of some of these people and their role with the film, I will totally admit that I highlighted more in this book than any other book in recent memory. My highlights are generally movies I'm interested in watching - movies mentioned because of some often tenuous connection to the Beatles (such as The Girl on the Motorcycle, which featured Marianne Faithfull (she is heard on the song "Yellow Submarine"), and Up the Junction which included music of Manfred Mann).

The average Beatles fan may have a reaction similar to my initial take: "Yay! ... Really?" But any Beatles fan who is also a cinephile will find this to be a real treasure.

The book can be a bit of a slog at times, with all the minutiae, but it can also be a real delight. I definitely felt that I learned some new things about the Beatles (Subafilms Limited was formed by Brian Epstein and the company produced Gerry and the Pacemakers' Ferry Cross the Mersey and the Beatles' concert film at Shea Stadium!), and this book helped put into perspective the timeline of events surrounding the Fab Four's film work within their commitments for producing albums and going on tour.

Looking for a good book? The bottom line here is that Act Naturally: The Beatles on Film by Steve Matteo is maybe too dense with material that is only peripherally needed. And that it's condensed into only 350 pages means it's info-dump heavy without much analysis. Still, it will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in the Beatles on film.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Paulie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn't entirely what I expected and what it said in the blurb on the back, really. I believed this book to provide information about the Beatles' films - well, and that it did, but the information was hidden under heaps of so much other stuff that wasn't always entirely relevant to the subject at hand. I understand that the author wanted to explain more about the British cinema of the 60s, to put the Beatles films in the relevant context of the time. However, at times it was simply too much information and the tangents on whether this or that person who worked on A Hard Day's Night has also worked with this or that other (famous) person made the book a bit hard to read.

Still, overall I thought it was an interesting resource. Maybe not for the casual Beatles fan, but everyone who has more than a fleeting interest in 60s music and film will probably find the book enjoyable.

[Aaron Badgley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly researched and well written.

[Teresa Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deep dive into the Beatles’ films

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the author had forgotten the point of the book from the very beginning. He spends a large amount of time exploring British films and actors to set the tone of when the Beatles first film debuted. I completely agree with this approach but it went on too long and could have been condensed. Outside of discussing Elvis and the beach movie series, the rest of the examples have no tie-in to the Beatles. The book begins more as a study of British film history than anything to do with the band.

Beyond the first chapter, the author overloads you with so much information, but most of it is useless to the point of the book. So much could have been shortened to make the book more compelling but instead it feels like a chore just to get to any information about the Beatles making a movie. While some may find it fascinating to read about each piece of equipment used in Abbey Road Studios for various albums, I found it dry. It’s information like this about topics unrelated to the filming of the movies that made me want to give up on this book so many times. When the author finally gets around to describing filming, it reads more like a bullet pointed list of dates and locations rather than providing any type of visual or story affecting the days. I found it to be a misstep that the author never describes the plot of each movie before he begins documenting each day of filming.

It wasn’t until the last three chapters of the book where the author is more focused on the band than the music and movies of the times. It’s here where I was completely engrossed in what was going on and how the movies were made and what the motivations were. There’s no denying the book is chock full of information but I didn’t feel half of it was relevant to what the plot of the book was described as. Did I learn something? Absolutely. But it took too long to be entertained and up until then it wasn’t an enjoyable read. This book is definitely for the more analytical type or for the musician who will find each engineer and guitar used fascinating as opposed to the casual Beatles fan.

Thank you to Rowman & Littlefield for this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.