Act Naturally: The Beatles on Film
By Steve Matteo
344 pages • 978-1-4930-5901-0 • $24.95 • Paperback
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
“A terrific read that puts the Fabs’ films into an
insightful and fact-filled context with a fresh perspective on just how
important the movies were to their lasting legacy.” —Dennis Elsas, legendary
WNEW FM and WFUV New York disc jockey and co-host of Fab Fourum on Sirius XM
“With Act Naturally: The Beatles on Film, Steve Matteo
provides readers with the definitive, go-to book for understanding the group’s
cinematic forays. Chockful of new information, Act Naturally is rife with
stories about the Fabs’ filmic excursions and key aspects of their unparalleled
contribution to music and celebrity culture.” —Kenneth Womack, author of John
Lennon 1980 and Fandom and the Beatles
“Steve Matteo is the perfect companion and tour guide in
navigating the Beatles’ fascinating dalliance with film, from the British New
Wave of Richard Lester’s A Hard Day’s Night to the atmospheric verité of
Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s Let It Be. This is a most welcome—and long
overdue—exploration of an important but often overlooked facet of the Beatles’
saga.” —Mark Rozzo, author of Everybody Thought We Were Crazy and a founding
member of Bambi Kino
“Fans of the films of the Beatles have not been given a
book to revel in for many years. Steve Matteo has provided one: a deep-dive
look at the Beatles, their soundtrack music, and their films. The Beatles
remain the epitome of what a band can be. All-time greats. Matteo's history
swiftly and clearly follows their path, transporting the reader to swinging
’60s London and beyond. This book is every Beatles fan's ticket to ride.”
—Noah Charney, author of The Devil in the Gallery: How
Scandal, Shock, and Rivalry Shaped the Art World
“The Beatles are a gift that keeps on giving. Steve
Matteo’s book is a gift in itself. For those of us who will always love the
Beatles, Matteo’s book renews and expands this love of the songs and the four
guys we thought we knew.” —David Yaffe, author of Reckless Daughter: A Portrait
of Joni Mitchell
“Act Naturally is saturated with the author’s contagious
love for his subject. It’s a miraculous chronicle of how those precious films
came to be, their history from every imaginable angle, the characters—likely
and unlikely—who had a hand in the productions, and industry logistics. I am so
grateful to have been shuttled back to the 1960s, to swinging London, and to
the Beatles’ glorious films. I learned a lot, and anyone interested in films of
the ‘50s and ‘60s will get a huge charge out of this wonderful and meticulous
history.” —Maura Spiegel, author of Sidney Lumet: A Life and Professor of
English and Film at Columbia University
Backbeat Books is proud to announce the release of Act Naturally by Steve
Matteo. The five films the Beatles worked on during their time together (A Hard
Day’s Night, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, Let It Be) all
represent key phases in the group’s career—some successful, some not. Subsequent
reissues of the films have provided a deeper understanding of the group with
the addition of bonus material, along with the recent release of Get Back on
DVD and Blu-ray. With Let It Be last available on VHS in 1981, the Get Back
series of Let It Be film footage by Peter Jackson, culled fifty-five hours of
raw footage, to piece together a companion documentary to the original Let It
Be film. The Beatles have never done anything like this before with any of
their films.
In this most up-to-date deep dive into the band's
cinematic output, author and longtime music journalist Steve Matteo follows the
fan frenzy around their films from the 1964 premiere of A Hard Day’s Night through
1970's Let It Be to the release of Get Back in late 2021. Their earlier films
parallel an unprecedented period in the artistic and commercial evolution of
British world cinema. Matteo explores the production process, original
theatrical film releases, subsequent VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray releases and bonus
material, along with the U.S. and U.K. soundtracks. The film legacy of the
Beatles is an exciting inside look at the group and their music-making process.
Steve Matteo is the author of the books Let It Be and Dylan
and contributed to the collection The Beatles in Context. He is a contributing
editor for The Vinyl District and has written for such publications as The New
York Times, The Los Angeles Times, New York magazine, Time Out New York, Rolling
Stone, Spin, Rock's Backpages, Elle, Interview, and Salon. He often appears on
radio in his capacity as a music journalist and author.
Since 1991, Backbeat Books have been favorites among passionate music fans and musicians.
Known for their depth, spirit, and authority, Backbeat offers a diverse range
of books - from biographies and memoirs, critical examinations and histories,
to authoritative volumes on musical instruments and instruction - covering all
areas of rock 'n' roll, jazz, and beyond.
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