"Beatles '64" by Martin Scorsese coming to Disney+

[Hello Goodbye]

The trailer looks great. Supposedly there's unseen footage in it (Ron Howard must be quietly seething)

I know the scenes right after they tell us about the newly discovered footage is newly discovered footage. 😊 Paul's telling someone to "defy convention" and John's saying that they are "jolly English". I love discovering cool new stuff!

I'm going to watch "Beatles '64" and add to my backlog of memories.   

[Normandie]

I still have not yet had a chance to watch this. Has anyone seen it? Thoughts?

[Moogmodule]

I haven't watched it yet either. I have it on Disney to stream but for some reason I just haven't bothered.

[In My Life]

I still have not yet had a chance to watch this. Has anyone seen it? Thoughts?

I haven't watched it either. I've been too busy not getting ready for Christmas. 😉

[blmeanie]

there were some new footage of course but otherwise I was not overly impressed.  Was ok, just not great or new for me

[In My Life]

there were some new footage of course but otherwise I was not overly impressed.  Was ok, just not great or new for me

I was afraid of this, blmeanie. I saw a few headlines online that made me wonder.

[Normandie]

I finally watched this the other day and enjoyed it more than I expected. As bluemeanie mentioned, there were no suprises or revelations, and I've seen so much Beatles footage it was hard to tell which parts of it were new. However, the early/cuddly Beatles phase is my favorite, and their antics and jokes never fail to put a smile on my face.

Two parts struck me, and I jotted down the time stamps in case anyone is interested but does not want to watch the full film. The first part was Smokey Robinson's touching comments on the Beatles covering his and other Black artists' songs. That's around 0:38:40.

The second was David Lynch's comments on the power of music in general; that's at 1:13:10.

I also watched a short documentary titled "No Hamburg, No Beatles," which I enjoyed as well. Again, I didn't learn anything new, but the exclusive focus on their time in Hamburg was interesting, as was the footage of the Reeperbahn in the past and today. I'd recommend it with the caveat of not expecting any earth-shattering revelations.

I've been a bit under the weather today, so Midas Man will have to wait just a bit longer (if in fact, I am able to stream it via Olyn).

[Moogmodule]

Thanks Normandie. I haven't leapt onto watching the '64 documentary as it seemed to be just rehashing old ground. But it is the Beatles and has some new stuff in it so I will give it a go.

I haven't heard of the Hamburg documentary at all. Is it an old one? I'll have to look it up as I find that part of the Beatles development really interesting.

[Normandie]

Thanks Normandie. I haven't leapt onto watching the '64 documentary as it seemed to be just rehashing old ground. But it is the Beatles and has some new stuff in it so I will give it a go.

I think that (rehashing old ground) is why I put off watching it for so long instead of jumping right on it, as with Get Back. But I still found it worthwhile.

I haven't heard of the Hamburg documentary at all. Is it an old one? I'll have to look it up as I find that part of the Beatles development really interesting.

It's actually new, dated 2024. I saw a reference to it online somewhere; I'm drawing a blank as to exactly where. Like Beatles '64, it probably won't contain anything that you and everyone here hadn't already known, but it was quick (about 55 minutes, IIRC) and fun.

[Moogmodule]

I watched No Hamburg, No Beatles. I found it was free through a tv streaming app.  (SBS for Aussies who are interested)

I enjoyed it. As you say there wasn't a lot new. But they interviewed more the German side including Tony Sheridan's widow and even Horst Fascher who I thought must have passed away years ago.  It helped give me more of a picture of the difference between the clubs they played. Eg Indra vs Kaiserkeller vs Top Ten vs Star Club.

[zipp]

Yeah. I saw it on French national TV.

It's nicely done.

As Moog said it explains very well the differences between the clubs they played at in Hamburg.

[Normandie]

I recently rented "Stuart Sutcliffe: The Lost Beatle." It was basically a reworking of "No Hamburg, No Beatles" with the addition of a few quotes from letters Stuart had written to his family back home. Those were interesting, but I'm glad I paid only $3 USD. "No Hamburg, No Beatles" was far better IMO.

I was intrigued to see that Stuart's sister Pauline claim that John had injured Stuart in a physical altercation and that contributed to his subsequent death. (Unless I misunderstood—by that point, my interest was drifting.) I'd always assumed that was one of Albert Goldman's more outrageous allegations.

[Moogmodule]

I recently rented "Stuart Sutcliffe: The Lost Beatle." It was basically a reworking of "No Hamburg, No Beatles" with the addition of a few quotes from letters Stuart had written to his family back home. Those were interesting, but I'm glad I paid only $3 USD. "No Hamburg, No Beatles" was far better IMO.

I was intrigued to see that Stuart's sister Pauline claim that John had injured Stuart in a physical altercation and that contributed to his subsequent death. (Unless I misunderstood—by that point, my interest was drifting.) I'd always assumed that was one of Albert Goldman's more outrageous allegations.

I'd heard she'd said that but I think it was in a second book (or maybe second edition) she'd written and there was some suspicion she was finding a controversial hook to grab interest. It wasn't a story that she told earlier.