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  • Acting for Two: Eric Idle played Dirk McQuickly, the Narrator and Stanley J. Krammerhead III, Jr.
  • Approval of God: None of The Beatles objected.
    • George Harrison liked it enough to produce and appear in the mockumentary All You Need Is Cash in a cameo as a reporter. In fact, George Harrison was known to reference the Rutles when explaining incidents in Beatle history. Harrison went so far as to say that All You Need Is Cash is one of the most accurate biographies of the Beatles ever made.
    • Ringo Starr liked the happier scenes in the film, but felt the scenes that mimicked sadder times hit too close.
    • John Lennon loved All You Need Is Cash and refused to return the videotape and soundtrack he was given for approval. His only reservation initially seemed to be how the Yoko Ono analogue was all but stated to be a literal Nazi, but was relieved when Ono herself found it hilarious.
    • According to Eric Idle's liner notes, featured on Rhino's DVD release, Paul McCartney had some reservations (reportedly mostly due to how Dirk McQuickly is portrayed in the "Let's Be Natural" sequence), but his wife Linda convinced him to enjoy it.
  • California Doubling: All You Need Is Cash was filmed in London and New York, which also doubled for many other locations.
  • Corpsing: During the scene in which Ron Nasty and Chastity are giving a press conference under a shower (parodying John and Yoko's love-ins), it's clear that Chastity's actress is trying her damnedest not to laugh. Even Neil Innes (Ron Nasty) seems to be wrestling with this; at the end of the scene, when saying, "We came to the conclusion that civilization is nothing more than an effective sewage system, and so by the use of plumbing we hope to demonstrate this to the world," his voice noticeably breaks when saying "world" as if trying to stifle a laugh.
  • Creative Differences: Eric Idle was content on filling the Rutles' back catalogue with Beatles titles now altered to include either references to food or the word "Rut," while Neil Innes preferred a subtle approach. Just a few examples....
    • The Rutles' equivalent of "All You Need Is Love": Neil Innes - "Love Life". Eric Idle - "All You Need Is Lunch."
    • The Rutles' equivalent of "I Am The Walrus": Neil Innes - "Piggy In The Middle". Eric Idle - "I Am The Waitress."
    • The Rutles' equivalent of "Twist and Shout": Neil Innes - "Number One." Eric Idle - "Twist and Rut."
    • The Rutles' equivalent of "When I'm Sixty Four": Neil Innes - "Back In '64". Eric Idle - "If I Sixty-Nine".
    • The Rutles' equivalent of Apple Corps: Neil Innes - Rutle Records. Eric Idle - Banana Records.
    • The Rutles' equivalent of "Sgt. Pepper": Neil Innes - "Major Happy's Up and Coming Once Upon A Good Time Band." Eric Idle - "Sgt. Rutter's Only Darts Club Band."
    • In the first (collaborative) film, Maharishi equivalent Arthur Sultan was a Ouija board mystic. In The Rutles 2, he became the owner of an Indian restaurant.
  • The Danza: Bill Murray as Murray the K.
  • Defictionalization: In the late '70s, "Cheese and Onions" actually turned up on a bootleg album of Beatles songs entitled Indian Rope Trick. At one point, Innes was accused of stealing Beatles songs on the basis of this performance of "Cheese and Onions" and was amused to find, when the fan played it back, that it was an early Rutles Saturday Night Live performance.
  • Dueling Works: All You Need Is Cash was released around the same time as another Beatles parody, Paperback Writer, a book featuring a Played for Laughs Alternate History of the Beatles (including a 1979 reunion).
  • Half-Remembered Homage: In one interview, Neil Innes said that the most important part of writing the music for The Rutles was not going back and listening to any of The Beatles, instead going by what he remembered sixties music being like. And it still ended up being close enough that ATV Music claimed copyright infringement and got a 50% share.
  • International Coproduction: The film was co-produced by the production companies of Eric Idle and Lorne Michaels.
  • Non-Singing Voice: Dirk McQuickly's singing voice was provided by Ollie Halsall, who briefly appeared as Leppo.
  • The Pete Best: It was David Battley and not Ricky Fataar who first played Stig on Rutland Weekend Television and Saturday Night Live. In these performances Dirk (still portrayed by Eric Idle) mocked George and Stig lampooned Paul.
  • Similarly Named Works:
    • "Another Day" is not a cover of the Paul McCartney solo song (though it's largely a parody of another McCartney song, "Martha My Dear").
    • "With A Girl Like You" bears no relation to "With A Girl Like You" by The Troggs.
  • What Could Have Been:
    • The band was initially a parody of The Rolling Stones called The Rutland Stones.
    • Eric Idle's other idea for SNL was Pommy, a sketch about a deaf, dumb and blind man trying to escape from the cinema while a Ken Russell film is playing.
  • You Look Familiar:
    • Eric Idle plays The Narrator, Stanley J. Krammerhead III, and Dirk McQuickly.
    • Eric's wife Tania Kosevich plays both Stanley's girlfriend and a German prostitute.
    • Gwen Taylor plays Mrs. Iris Mountbatten and Chastity.

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