Accustomed to holding sway over the movie industry, Americans were rather rattled and swiftly “waking up” to the new British cinema.Įnter The Beatles. Matteo tells us that The British film industry’s ascension to importance in the Sixties – with remarkable films such as This Sporting Life, Billy Liar, and Tom Jones – raised eyebrows worldwide. 18) He reinforces the fact that The Beatles were working in a short-lived genre, one whose box office popularity came as quite a surprise to critics…and often, to filmmakers and stars as well.
Matteo does this to remind us that “the British teen film with a rock music backdrop was still relatively new in 1962.” (p. Simultaneously, Matteo studies the evolution of the music-based “teen films” of the early 1960s, including Beat Girl, Love Me Tender starring Elvis Presley, and Beach Party starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. By introducing readers to late Fifties and early Sixties contemporary landmark productions such as Don’t Look Back in Anger, Matteo meticulously traces the rise of the important British films of the entire decade.
Matteo places the films (and their filmmakers) within the framework of what he refers to as “the British film new wave” of the 1960s. Belying its fun and frivolous cover, Steve Matteo’s new book Act Naturally: The Beatles on Film is a serious consideration of every short film and full-length motion picture in which John, Paul, George, and Ringo starred.
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