Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

More than 20 classic Beatles songs are featured in this unforgettable musical/fantasy that stars Peter Frampton and The Bee Gees as a rock band who must save their All-American hometown of Heartland from a mean old real estate magnate. Guest performers include Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Earth, Wind & Fire, Steve Martin, Billy Preston, and, yes, George Burns. 111 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1; Subtitles: French, Spanish.

If it weren't for a couple of inspired performances, as well as the time-capsule weirdness of it all, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band would be definitively unwatchable. This misguided effort to dramatize the classic Beatles album (the Fab Four had nothing to do with it, thank goodness) also includes tunes from other Beatles LPs, strung together in lumbering '70s rock-opera style. Peter Frampton, then at the crest of his brief run at the top, stars as Billy Shears, with the Bee Gees wearing the glossy day-glo band jackets from the Pepper album cover. Earth, Wind & Fire turn in a spirited revamp of "Got to Get You into My Life," and Aerosmith thrash their way through "Come Together"; but most of the performances are pretty awful. Out-and-out novelties include Steve Martin doing "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and George Burns (but of course) warbling "Fixing a Hole." This high-profile 1978 flop helped kill the hot streak (Saturday Night Fever, Grease) of record and movie producer Robert Stigwood and sink his RSO movie-music empire. --Robert Horton