Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (film): Difference between revisions

[[File:Sgt__Pepper_poster_9184.jpg|frame| Cue the insane calliope...]]

 

 

 

This [[All-Star Cast]] fantasy tries to wrap a storyline around Beatles songs and the characters in them, as a vehicle for popular acts of the time. There is no spoken dialogue aside from that of narrator Mr. Kite (George Burns), the mayor of Heartland U.S.A.

Alas, back home an evil organization known as "F.V.B." has its sights set on the original instruments, for the joy and love they embody is anathema to them. The mean Mr. Mustard (Frankie Howerd) and his goon the Brute easily overpower Mr. Kite and steal the four instruments for them; soon Heartland has decayed into a sleazy shadow of its former self that Mr. Mustard gleefully dominates. Billy's girlfriend Strawberry Fields runs away from home and tells the band what happened; together they must track down the stolen instruments if they hope to restore Heartland -- which won't be easy thanks to all the treachery surrounding them.

 

 

{{tropelist}}

* [[All-Star Cast]]

* [[Big Bad]]: F.V.B., which stands for Future Villain Band (Aerosmith).

* [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]: B.D. is the sort who will spike your drink with drugs to make you less resistant to signing his contract (he does this to Billy); Mr. Mustard becomes a smaller-scale version of this within Heartland, opening arcades and fast food restaurants as the town decays without the magic instruments.

* [[Cosmic Keystone]]: A small-scale version -- the four magic instruments protect Heartland USA's [[Sugar Bowl]] status.

* [[Dirty Old Man]]: Mean Mr. Mustard was described as a "dirty old man" in the original song, and the film version bears this out when he kidnaps Strawberry Fields -- his advances towards her are how "When I'm Sixty-Four" is incorporated into the film.

** It's interesting how they managed to take a happy song Paul wrote about his father and turned it into an extremely creepy song about an old man stalking a young woman. Kudos to the acting talents of the late Frankie Howerd in his last film.

* [[Disney Villain Death]]: {{spoiler|The lead singer of Future Villain Band}}; unusually for this trope, we see the dead body on the ground.

* [[FemBot]]: Mustard's assistants.

* [[The Power of Love]]: When Billy is left unconscious after his fight with Father Sun, Strawberry's love -- and the song that gave her her name -- brings him around.

* [[Race Lift]]: {{spoiler|Sgt Pepper was white; when he's reborn, he's black!}}

* [[Steve Martin]]: Making his feature film debut as Dr. Maxwell Edison.

* [[Spiritual Successor]]: Producer Robert Stigwood had previously had a huge hit with the 1975 film adaptation of ''[[Tommy]]'' and was trying to repeat its success.

{{quote|'''Telegram:''' We hear your music is great STOP We need a tape of your songs and we need it now STOP And if we like your music we'll make you superstars and the money will never stop STOP Signed BD Hoffler, Hollywood}}

* [[Tie-in Novel]]: Yep, it had one... and neither Billy Shears nor the Hendersons speak in that version either. As with the [[Tie-in Novel]] of Stigwood's ''Grease'', this one has ''very'' little resemblance to the movie, and seems to be screenwriter Henry Edwards' attempt to fix what was wrong with the film by adding characters and making the story considerably more elaborate. Strangely, the book manages to reference the film in its narrative -- the book ends with Sgt. Pepper's band gaining an all-star line-up, as in the film, except the list of celebrities in this unseen band stretches for several pages, ending with the Beatles, the Bee Gees, Peter Frampton, and other figures associated with the film.

* [[Unholy Matrimony]]: Lucy and Dougie Shears (Billy's brother and the manager of the new Lonely Hearts Club Band) are brought together by their mutual love of money.

* [[Villain Love Song]]: "When I'm Sixty-Four" for Mr. Mustard.

* [[Villain Song]]

[[Category:The Musical]]

[[Category:Films of the 1970s]]

[[Category:Film]]

[[Category:The Beatles]]