It is a well-known fact that former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr had a penchant for acting. He’s starred in a string of films, including Candy, The Magic Christian, 200 Motels and Lisztomania, in a host of roles that range from the utterly bizarre to the completely forgettable; how can we get past his seriously dated role as ‘Larry the Dwarf’ in 200 Motels?
However, as the 1980s dawned, Starr decided to strike it out on his own and attempt to display his talent as an actor away from the confines of other peoples’ scripts, and I guarantee that what ensued is one of the most surreal things you’ll see this week.
To promote his 1981 album Stop and Smell the Roses, an 11-minute promotional film, The Cooler, was created in order to showcase three of its highlights. Wanting the album to be a success, Starr enlisted the help of his old bandmate, Paul McCartney, who wrote the tracks ‘Private Property’ and ‘Attention’.
The Cooler features the aforementioned tracks as well as ‘Sure to Fall’, which was originally written by Carl Perkins, Quinton Claunch and William Cantrell. Leaning on McCartney heavily, these three tracks were produced by him, and the film was produced by his company, MPL Communications. It was directed by former 10CC members Lol Creme and Kevin Godley and featured Starr and his wife Barbara Bach as well as Paul and Linda McCartney.
Remarkably, the mini-film was entered into the short film category at the Cannes Film Festival, and it is styled in the form of a musical psychodrama. It is set in a prison camp in a dystopian future and contains flecks of The Great Escape, The Prisoner and perhaps even Westworld.
The former Beatles drummer plays a regular escapee who is caught at the start of the film and thrown into ‘The Cooler’, a form of solitary confinement that he knows very well, and it is here that the influence of The Great Escape is made very clear, as Steve McQueen’s iconic character Captain Virgil Hilts is routinely placed in ‘The Cooler’ at the Nazi POW camp Stalag Luft III.
In ‘The Cooler’ we witness Starr’s mental state rapidly deteriorate, and during this period of mania, he fantasises about being imprisoned and the strange relationship he has with the camp commandant, played by Bach, who channels the essence of a classic femme fatale. Strangely, McCartney appears as three different characters in the film: a fellow prisoner, the cowboy father of Ringo and the bass player in a country band.
It’s an extraordinary watching experience, but one that should be undertaken nonetheless. The ’80s was a weird time for everyone, let alone Starr and McCartney.
