The Beatles and the Movies

The Beatles in costume (photo edited by me)

Two weeks ago I was at this antique and costume store and was flipping through their DVD collection and came across this really bad-looking movie called 'Caveman' that just so happened to star Ringo Starr of the Beatles and also Dennis Quaid. I ended up watching off Tubi the other day, not something I'd recommend as it wasn't a very good film, but it opened the door to the wonderfully confusing relationship between the Cinema and the Beatles.

As a band, The Beatles made 4 films together, all of them releasing between 1964-1970. Most of the films are comedies, though Let It Be is a documentary, and you can say a lot about those on their own but I want to focus on their solo careers and their unmade film, specifically Ringo's because he has been in a significant amount. The other Beatles did also dabble in film but more in a producing (George produced a Monty Python film.) Their unmade films consisted of a western, an adaptation of the Three Musketeers, and an adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. The Lord of the Rings adaptation didn't happen due to to J.R.R Tolkien's dislike for the Beatles and he did not sell them the rights.

For some reason Ringo has over 100 acting credits, ranging from the Narrator in Thomas the Tank Engine to Youngman Grand in The Magic Christian. It is a truly interesting catalogue of some of the strangest films ever, and side character in popular TV Shows. Caveman is in the first camp, it is a comedy about a caveman played by Ringo who is outcasted from his community for trying to sleep with the leader's girlfriend. Ringo ends up forming his own community of misfits to rival his old one. The whole film is comprised of a made up language, there is only like 10 or so real words spoken, and they are all from the only Asian caveman. Truly a fascinating film, the dinosaur puppets are honestly the best part, the rest is just whatever in my opinion, though the 10 minute Yeti interlude was a bit funny. I personally would call this a 1/5 film tops but it has like the charm of that Very Offensive movie your dad makes you watch when you turn 15.