Eric Idle Wants to Know Why His Beatles Parody Isn’t Available Anymore

Eric Idle is best known for his work/online feuds with Monty Python, but he also produced a number of notable works outside the Python canon. One of the best and most prolific of Idle’s solo endeavors was 1978’s The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash. The Beatles parody, about Liverpool’s “Prefab Four,” was the first ever feature-length music mockumentary, predating This Is Spinal Tap by six years. 

The TV movie wasn’t a huge hit originally. When it first aired on NBC, All You Need Is Cash reportedly received “the lowest ratings of any prime-time television show airing on network television that week.” But it subsequently amassed a large cult following. Even Yoko Ono was a fan, despite the fact that her Rutles surrogate was a literal Nazi. 

But for some reason, the original film isn’t available on any streaming services right now. And physical home video releases are surprisingly difficult to track down. Fans aren’t the only ones who are confused, either. Idle recently posted on social media that he “doesn’t understand” why the movie isn’t streaming.

In a later post, Idle clarified that there have actually been some “discussions” about re-releasing it, but he’s having a tough time understanding why exactly that hasn’t happened yet. 

As Idle pointed out, the rights are owned by Lorne Michaels’ company Broadway Video. That’s because Michaels financed the project after Idle brought a clip of his fake band, which debuted on his sketch show Rutland Weekend Television, to Saturday Night Live. Michaels’ involvement explains why the movie’s cast includes his bestie, Paul Simon, and several members of the Not Ready for Prime Time Players.

All You Need Is Cash was released as part of a Rutles “anthology” Blu-ray set, along with its belated sequel. But that has since gone out of print and fetches high prices on eBay. While it’s unclear exactly why the film is in intellectual property limbo, Idle’s late co-Rutle Neil Innes, who penned the Grammy-nominated soundtrack, was sued by the owners of the Beatles catalog at the time. Why? Because they thought the songs were too similar to the real deal, ultimately settling for a percentage of the royalties. 

So it’s certainly possible that this complication might be presenting additional challenges.

One fan pointed out that the movie is still available on DVD, but only in the U.K.

While there are few legitimate ways to obtain the movie, as of this writing, you can still watch the whole thing on a website that rhymes with “SchmooFloob.”