All You Need Is Cash (also known as The Rutles) is a 1978 television film that traces (in mockumentary style) the career of a British rock group called The Rutles. As TV Guide described it, the group's resemblance to The Beatles is "purely – and satirically – intentional."

The film was co-produced by the production companies of Eric Idle and Lorne Michaels, and directed by Idle and Gary Weis . It was first broadcast on March 22, 1978 on NBC, earning the lowest [1], [2] ratings of any show on American television that week. It did much better in the ratings when it premiered in the U.K. on BBC2 less than one week later.

The music and events in the lives of the Rutles paralleled that of the Beatles almost to the letter, spoofing many of the latter's career highlights. For instance, the animated Yellow Submarine is spoofed as Yellow Submarine Sandwich, and the song Get Back became Get Up And Go. Songs from the film were released on an accompanying soundtrack (in LP, cassette, and 8-track formats).

Cast

The programme is notable for featuring a cross-section of both British and American comic talent, including those with ties to Saturday Night Live and the lesser-known but directly-related Rutland Weekend Television.

The Rutles were played by Idle, John Halsey , Rikki Fataar , and Neil Innes. Former Beatle George Harrison appeared in the film as a reporter. Others in the film include Michael Palin, Bianca Jagger, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, Gwen Taylor , Ron Wood, Terence Bayler , Henry Woolf , Jeannette Charles, Al Franken, Lorne Michaels, Tom Davis, Frank Williams , and Barry Cryer.

Playing themselves in uncredited roles were singers Mick Jagger and Paul Simon.

Subsequent re-releases

The show has been released on DVD, originally in a 66-minute version incorporating cuts for syndication, later in a "special edition" restored to its full length of 72 minutes and with extras including a commentary by Idle. The full-length version replaces a spoof newsreel voiceover by Idle with an American-sounding announcer.

The soundtrack was reissued on CD. It included additional tracks from the original TV sessions remixed in stereo by Neil Innes. Innes, Fataar and Halsey returned in 1996 to record The Rutles Archaeology, but without the involvement of Eric Idle.

External links and references

• Idle Thoughts, an interview with Eric Idle from March 2005
• The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash DVD, from Rhino Entertainment
• All You Need Is Cash on NBC-TV, part of an anonymous fan's website