Review: 'The Beatles Acting Naturally: Obscure, Rare, Unfinished and Abandoned Film and TV Projects of the Fab Four'

Is there any item in the pop culture canon that has been more over-examined than The Beatles' music? Doubtful, but the Fabs' work on film has not received quite as much attention. Yet The Beatles not only starred in four movies, but they also made a number of promotional videos for their singles, made a multitude of TV appearances, been the topic of many documentaries, and even inspired a slew of fictional works from The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash to Danny Boyle's recent movie Yesterday. 

DJ, writer, film, producer, and filmmaker Rory Hoy amasses all of these appearances in his exhaustive new filmography The Beatles Acting Naturally, which means its subtitle, Obscure, Rare, Unfinished and Abandoned Film and TV Projects of the Fab Four, is a bit inadequate since he discusses both the obscure and the overly familiar. There are full chapters on A Hard Day's Night, Help!, Yellow Submarine, and the other readily available Beatles film projects as there are entries on oddities such as the guys' proposed production of The Lord of the Rings, a strange 1982 short featuring Ringo and Paul called The Cooler, their appearances on The Simpsons and cameos in the video for Billy Joel's "A Matter of Trust" video and just about every other Beatle-related visual project you could imagine. 

One does not necessarily expect a filmography to brim with personality, but Acting Naturally does. Hoy's voice is fully developed, effortlessly charming, and enthusiastic. His winning style makes this book both informative and a pleasure to read.