The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash

The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash (1978) is a mock-documentary you can watch online on iFILM. Eric Idle of Monty Python invented a fake Liverpool band and shot a straight-faced film about them. The resemblance to the Beatles is the whole joke, and it is merciless.

A reporter chases the rise and fall of the "Prefab Four" with total sincerity: sweaty Hamburg clubs, screaming fans, a psychedelic detour, the lawyers, the breakup. Idle plays the soaked presenter; Neil Innes wrote songs that mimic the originals so closely they are funny and slightly uncomfortable at once. The cameos pile up — Michael Palin, Mick Jagger as himself, and a Saturday Night Live invasion of John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray.

One detail seals it: George Harrison shows up on screen, an actual Beatle blessing the parody of his own band. The comedy is dry and very British, built on precise detail rather than broad gags, so it lands best if you know the Fab Four story cold and like your humor deadpan. Stream The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash (1978) online on iFILM.