As is now part of
popular Beatles lore, virtually from the beginning of their phenomenal climb to
super-stardom, cameras were constantly rolling; indeed, videography paralleled
and documented most every facet of the Beatles’ lives and creative processes.
Thus it comes as no real surprise that the “Fab Four” (and individual Beatles)
accumulated a considerable amount of rehearsal, studio, and live performance
footage, and subsequently gravitated into feature films (A Hard Day’s Night and
Help!), the promotional film/“music video” genre (with “Strawberry FieldsForever” and “Penny Lane”), art-house film-making (The Magical Mystery Tour),
animation (Yellow Submarine), and documentary format (Let It Be).
A Hard
Day’s Night
In the fall of 1963, movie producer Walter Shenson of United
Artists films approached Beatles manager Brian Epstein with the idea of the
Beatles starring in feature film about their phenomenal popularity, with the
working title, Beatlemania. Widely considered the first time a movie was made
primarily for the resulting soundtrack (UA thinking that even if the film was a
flop they would recoup their investment through the music), the Beatles began
shooting in March of 1964, with production ending about four weeks later. The
final product (basically the behind-the-scenes goings-on surrounding a
performance at Scala Theatre in London) premiered on July 6, 1964 in London
(August 11 in New York City), with a reported 1 ½ million copies of the
soundtrack sold by July 17 and the “A Hard Day’s Night” single certified gold
by August 25.
Help!
So financially lucrative was A Hard Day’sNight that within a few months Shenson again approached the Beatles with a film
idea; this time, a James Bondish adventure shot in the Bahamas, Austria, and
London that again focused on the “Beatlemania” phenomenon, but with a plot
centered on a bizarre cult bent on retrieving a sacred ring that had come into
Ringo’s possession. Shot between February and May of 1965, the resulting Help!
(at various points titled Eight Arms to Hold You and Beatles Two, Help!)
premiered in London in July of that year, with the soundtrack released in the
US in August and the film premiering on the 18th of that month. By September of
1965, the “Help” single was certified gold, the album/soundtrack reaching #1 in
the US by September 11.
“Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane”
Released as a Double A-Side single in February of 1967, “Strawberry
Fields Forever”/“Penny Lane” were later included on the Magical Mystery Tour
album, as well as used in The Magical Mystery Tour film, but not before the
Beatles made one of the most significant moves in Rock music promotion:
creation of the “music video.” Filmed on January 30 and 31, 1967 in Knole Park
(West Kent) and King’s Road (at Markham Square, Chelsea) the promotional films
feature such avant-garde visual effects as stop-motion animation, reverse film,
“jump-cuts” from day to night, and the Beatles dumping paint over an upright
piano. Today considered minor masterpieces of cinematography—and the start of
an entirely new film genre–both films were later selected by New York’s Museum
of Modern Art as the most influential promotional music films of the 1960s.
The Magical Mystery Tour
Said to have been Paul’s brainchild
following a visit to San Francisco, California’s “Haight-Ashbury” district, The
Magical Mystery Tour set out to capture the spirit of the (in)famous “Merry
Pranksters,” a group of real-life anti-establishment psychedelized Hippies who
traveled around the country in a psychedelic painted school bus. Filmed in
mid-September 1967, by all accounts, John and George voiced great trepidation
about participating in this largely plotless and scriptless film—but were
convinced by Paul that they owed it to their fans. (John’s biggest contribution
is the fat woman/spaghetti dream sequence.) Though the Magical Mystery Tour LP
hit gold by December of that year (offering several monster hits), the film
bombed when it premiered in December—reviewers deeming it formless, disjointed,
and amateurish.
Yellow Submarine
To fulfill an agreement Brian
Epstein had made with King Features head Al Brodax to approve production of a
full-length animated feature film if The Beatles Saturday morning animated TV
show was a success (which it was), it was at Ringo’s urging that Yellow
Submarine become the project (the 1966 Paul song given to Ringo for Revolver).
Initially wanting nothing to do with the project, the four Beatles left for
India as Brodax developed the screenplay and hired John Clive, Geoff Hughes,
Pater Batten, and Paul Angelis to voice for John, Paul, George, and Ringo,
respectively. Just before completion, however (in early 1968), the band
returned from India, viewed the footage, and decided they wanted to contribute.
(Their contribution was a short piece featuring the four tagged onto the end
and used widely to promote the film.) Released in London in July of 1968
(November in the US), Yellow Submarine proved an unexpected success, drawing
both young and old to its wildly creative imagery and, of course, its clever
soundtrack. Due to the Beatles’ lack of involvement, however, United Artists
was able to retain full rights to this film—though the Beatles receive a large
percentage of the music royalties.
Let It Be
By the end of 1968,
all four Beatles had branched out into individual projects (in different
musical directions), with Paul suggesting that the best way to recapture the
old all-for-one energy was to record an album rooted in old Rock ‘n’ Roll—and
film it for their fans. (Essentially, a documentary allowing outsiders to
witness the Beatles’ creative process.) Shortly into the project, however, it
became apparent that there was too much animosity between them to “go back” to
the old days, and that the old magic was feeling forced. With filming and album
production taking place from January 2—16, 1969, the result was not so much a
nostalgic return to their roots as a visual, in-your-face demonstration of how
far apart the Beatles had grown. (It did, however, result in what is perhaps the
Beatles’ greatest live performance, the now-famous “Roof-top Concert.”)
Released in the UK and US in May of that year, the Let It Be LP was certified
gold by May 26, 1970, with die-hard fans rushing to theaters to witness what
most had never seen before: the Beatles playing live.
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