Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978)

Director:

Michael Schultz

Writer:

Henry Edwards (writer)

Release Date:

24 July 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Musical

Tagline:

A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

Plot:

Small town band hits it big, but they must battle a nefarious plot in the music industry.

Plot Keywords:

Cult Favorite | Surreal | Based On Album | Beatles | Based On Song

Cast

Peter Frampton	...	Billy Shears
Barry Gibb	...	Mark Henderson
Robin Gibb	...	Dave Henderson
Maurice Gibb	...	Bob Henderson
Frankie Howerd	...	Mr. Mustard
Paul Nicholas	...	Dougie Shears
Donald Pleasence	...	B.D. Hoffler
Sandy Farina	...	Strawberry Fields
Dianne Steinberg	...	Lucy
Steve Martin	...	Dr. Maxwell Edison
Aerosmith	...	Future Villain Band (FVB)
Earth Wind & Fire	...	Themselves
Alice Cooper	...	Marvin Sunk (the 'Sun King')
Billy Preston	...	Sergeant Pepper
Stargard	...	The Diamonds

Also Known As:

Banda de los corazones

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

USA:PG | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-12 | USA:PG (certificate #25273)

Filming Locations:

Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Robert Stigwood Organization (RSO)

Trivia:

Billy Preston, who sings the song "Get Back", played the piano on original version with The Beatles.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: The bass drummer in the original Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is clearly not hitting his drum. Also, his bass drumming is out of time with the music that the rest of the band is playing.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "100 Most Shocking Moments in Rock and Roll History" (2001) (mini)

Soundtrack:

Mean Mr. Mustard

A Guilty Pleasure

In 1978, when I was 12 years old, we were living in Moscow, while my father was stationed at the Canadian Embassy. To escape the "fun" of living behind the Iron Curtain, we routinely took the Moscow-Helsinki express and travelled around Scandinavia. Our trip always ended at this huge department store in Helsinki, where we'd order all our non-perishable groceries until our next trip. My brother and I were allowed to purchase one record apiece to take back with us.

So one time, I picked up the soundtrack to this film. I don't think the movie had been released yet. Goodness knows, I didn't know that the movie was going to be a howler. All I know is that I loved the soundtrack. I listened to it over and over, and pored over the photographs on the album cover, trying to get a sense of the movie.

A few years later, I read "The Golden Turkey Awards" and then I started to realize how bad the movie was. I didn't get my chance to see it until 1997. Oh, it stunk! Cheese everywhere, from the awkward love story to the campy antics of the villain and his robots.

And yet, I watch it every time it comes on TV. Finally, I have the movie to go with the soundtrack. And let's face it - I love cheesy movies.