"SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND" (1978)

Starring: Peter Frampton, The Bee Gees (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb & Maurice Gibb), Frankie Howerd, Paul Nicholas, Donald Pleasence, Sandy Farina, Steve Martin, Aerosmith, Earth Wind and Fire, Alice Cooper, Billy Preston, Stargard  &  George Burns
Written by Henry Edwards
Directed by Michael Schultz

Polly Staffle Rating: ****

    When it comes to musicals, lots of people love "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory," "The Wizard of Oz" and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." Those are all fun films that most people have fond memories of from their childhood. But you can keep all three of those movies because my all time favorite would have to be the 1978 flop "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

    Back in the early '80s when I was in third grade, my family bought two VCRs. My brother and I would tape everything we could get our hands on. We taped (for our personal viewing and no rebroadcasting) lame sitcoms, cartoons, primetime dramas, any and every miniseries or made for TV movie and every single video we rented. We usually didn't ever watch most of the crap we recorded. But two films stand out in my head as favorites we watched constantly. One of the films was the goofy martial arts sendup "They Call Me Bruce," which we actually watched so many times the tape it was recorded on broke. At the time we were extremely devastated like we would never be able to see the film again. The other movie we ran into the ground was "Sgt. Pepper." To me it was the greatest movie in the world - next to "Star Wars" and "Return of the Jedi" of course.

    I'm actually a bit ashamed to admit, but at the time I saw the film I don't think I knew who The Bee Gees or Peter Frampton were. I knew of The Beatles because my dad liked them but I had no clue the film was based off songs by John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison. I didn't read film credits then or as we actually called them - "the words." (As a side note to that, I had an uncle who didn't believe in recording the useless credits because they took up too much room. "You can fit more movies on one tape if you cut them off," he would say.)

    Basically this film was my introduction to all the music and musicians on display. After seeing it, I remember getting extremely interested in The Beatles and around that same time saw a film called "The Complete Beatles," as well as "Let It Be" and "A Hard Day's Night." But none of them intrigued me like "Sgt. Pepper."

    I'm not sure why, but in my house we actually had the soundtrack to this film before we had the actual original album by The Beatles with the same name. I remember when my dad finally bought that record, I was disappointed. It only had 13 songs on it. Where were the other 11 tracks featured in the film? "What a gyp," I thought. Little did I understand the brilliance of the album or their other records. I've since become as appreciative of The Beatles as the next guy. But ironically, I never liked anything The Bee Gees or Frampton did after this film, while The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" and "The White Album" are two of my all-time favorites.

    So does "Sgt. Pepper" live up to the hype of my childhood upon viewing it now? I would have to say yes. I really can't understand why no one likes this film. People loved producer Robert Stigwood's previous two films "Grease" and "Saturday Night Fever." But this film was such a failure to him it helped end his RSO record/movie machine.

    To me, "Sgt. Pepper" is such a great time capsule and a loving tribute to the greatest band of all time. I am amazed how you can take some songs from a band's catalog and make a movie that makes any sense at all. Maybe when it is all said and done you would be able to do this with Michael Jackson. There are so few musicians that do concept albums these days like The Beatles did. Silverchair and Marilyn Manson are two that come to mind. Jackson sort of does, as well as Eminem, Korn and a few others but nobody has enough material that is as cinematic as the songs in "Sgt. Pepper." And this was material written way before there ever was a "Friday Night Videos," "Radio 1990," "Night Flight," "Night Tracks" or MTV.

    Every main character in the film is based off Lennon and McCartney lyrics. There's of course Sergeant Pepper, as well as Mr. Kite, Billy Shears, The Hendersons, Mean Mr. Mustard, Dr. Maxwell Edison, Lucy & the Diamonds and Strawberry Fields.

    George Burns plays Mr. Kite and is strangely the only character that has a speaking part. He narrates the tale, but the film mostly moves along with music videos - one after the other. Subtitles from time to time explain locations, but for the most part this film is 113 minutes of great songs set to images.

    Frampton is Billy Shears and The Bee Gees are the Hendersons. Together they make up Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which is named after a war hero. Pepper led a marching band with magical music instruments through several wars. The instruments, which include a heart shaped coronet that later inspired me to play trumpet in junior high school, are safely guarded by Mr. Kite.

    Shears and company have created a buzz with their music that is reaching far beyond their small town of Heartland. They are invited to Hollywood by a big record company, so they leave in a hot air balloon and are wined and dined with an implied orgy of drugs, booze and sex. The band signs with the label and they shortly rocket to fame.

    While they are away, Mr. Mustard steals the instruments and begins causing havoc in their hometown. Corruption takes over Heartland and the youth of the community dance while playing video games in arcades. Strawberry, who is Billy's girlfriend, isn't going to stand for decadence or the possibility that her man may be romantically involved with the slutty singer Lucy, so she decides to do something.

    I remember when I was little I had a crush on Strawberry. She definitely steals the show with her two songs - "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Here Comes the Sun." I think she was the favorite of my younger sister as well. There's a scene in the movie where something bad happens to Strawberry and no matter how many times my sister had seen "Sgt. Pepper" she always got upset. I never really remember her getting upset watching anything else except a time Odie was taken to the pound on a Garfield cartoon. I did a search to see what else the actress that played Strawberry ever did and to my amazement found Sandy Farina never appeared in another movie or sang on any other album. Farina has done a number of jingles though including Fibercon, Sara Lee, Jif and many others. You can actually hire Farina through Fretless Productions. Check out the website, which includes MP3s of Farina's work (www.fretlesspm.com). If I ever decide to get a Polly Staffle theme song, maybe I'll check into it.

    Strawberry leaves home to get the band, so they can retrieve the instruments. What follows is a lot of weirdness. There's the classic Steve Martin scene. Martin sings "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" while hitting old people in the head with a mallet to turn them into younger-looking men and women in skimpy Boy Scout uniforms. When Billy and company show up, a Jedi-like sword fight takes place. Then there is the Alice Cooper scene with the shock rocker singing "Because." Cooper plays the Sun King and it is his job to take Maxwell's revamped patients and brainwash them. Aerosmith also appears in the film performing "Come Together" in what I consider their greatest accomplishment besides the "Walk this Way" recording  they did with Run-D.M.C. We are also treated to performances by Earth, Wind & Fire and long time Beatles friend Billy Preston. According to Preston's official website (www.billypreston.net), Billy is widely acknowledged as a "Fifth Beatle" having been the only outside person with a credit on any of their albums.

    In the end, the band saves the day with a little help from their friends. Sure the plot is flimsy, but who cares? A movie this fun doesn't have to worry about things like that. What I didn't realize as a child was the social commentary and good morals being taught with "Sgt. Pepper." There's of course the corrupt empire that runs the record company, the TV network and anything related to selling the band. There's the battle against evil with good winning, but at a cost. There's the importance of staying grounded when fame grabs you by surprise. The film shows that in times of need sometimes we all need a hand from others and much can be accomplished when we come together.

    This film has so much more to offer. I haven't even mentioned a ton of things. There's George Burns singing and dancing. Donald Pleasence, who played Dr. Loomis in "Halloween," as record producer B.D. Hoffler singing "I Want You." There's a spinning waterbed that looks like a record, a see-through glass coffin, hilarious and badly outdated robots and computers, and an all-star finale featuring Keith Carradine, Johnny Winter, Curtis Mayfield, Hank Williams Jr.,  Bonnie Raitt, Robert Palmer, Wilson Pickett, Helen Reddy, Frankie Valli, Wolfman Jack and a lot more.

    There is so much talent on display in "Sgt. Pepper." Director Michael Schultz is also the man behind the films "Cooley High," "Car Wash," "Last Dragon," "Greased Lightning," "Krush Groove" and "Disorderlies." He has also done a lot of television programs from episodes of "The Rockford Files," "Baretta," "Starsky & Hutch," "What's Happening!," to "L.A. Law," "Picket Fences," "The Practice," "Charmed," "Ally McBeal" and "Everwood." He also directed one of my grandmother's favorite movies - "The Jerk, Too." She actually asked recently if the 1984 made-for-TV sequel to the Steve Martin film was on DVD. To knowledge it isn't, but my brother used to have a blurry copy of it on a VHS tape.

    But getting back to "Sgt. Pepper," you just have to see this movie for yourself to believe it. It blows any film The Beatles ever had anything to do with out of the water and gives "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" a run for its money as wackiest musical of all time.