#Magical mystery tour movie series#

The band themselves would chart their later era, writing and directing trippier films such as the unfairly maligned Magical Mystery Tour (1967) вЂ“ its psychedelic colours muted by BBCвЂ™s airing in black and white. George Harrison and Eric Clapton perform at the Concert For Bangladesh on August 1, 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York City (Photo: Icon and Image/Getty Images) LesterвЂ™s film captures the optimism of the early 60s in a nutshell. Part of A Hard DayвЂ™s NightвЂ™s triumph is in how it captures that verve at both the personal and the formal level: the on-location shooting, the sense of playfulness. The four ladsвЂ™ knockabout sense of humour, their adorably groomed moppet heads, their quips to the press that were so witty you wondered if theyвЂ™d been scripted.

Their producer George Martin recognised it when he first met them: they were just likeable. The Beatles had star quality on screen from the very start. Without these, there would likely not be any In Bed with Madonna or Dig! or indeed any of the close-up-and-personal music docs of the past half-century. John Lennon made several films with Yoko Ono, including Imagine (1972), in which the couple worked alongside avant-garde master Jonas Mekas and Hollywood icon Fred Astaire. Richard Lester, director of A Hard DayвЂ™s Night (1964) and Help! (1965), was heavily influenced by the French New Wave film movement, borrowing from a lexicon of handheld camera and self-conscious trickery miles from the eraвЂ™s more conservative studio film-making. The 1964 doc WhatвЂ™s Happening! The Beatles in the USA was made by David and Albert Maysles, who popularised a more authentic, handheld style of American non-fiction film known as вЂњDirect CinemaвЂќ.

In the realm of documentary, the band have pushed film-Вmakers to experiment. John Lennon in вЂA Hard DayвЂ™s NightвЂ™ (Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) JacksonвЂ™s approach is the antithesis of Lindsay-HoggвЂ™s, but neither are alone in their fascination with this pop-culture phenomenon. JacksonвЂ™s opus is taken from more than 60 hours of footage filmed by Let it Be (1970) directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, though anyone who has seen Get Back can attest it is an entirely fresh look into the The BeatlesвЂ™ contentious creative process and, crucially, their relationships. From their own experimental and cult productions to films that paid homage, there is an entire cottage industry of disparate films that would never have existed without them. There are the films they starred in, and the documentaries and concert films вЂ“ but their influence extends further still. It follows, then, that as well as on music, they have left a considerable mark on cinema. The Beatles are one of the most relentlessly documented and filmed bands in history.

Of all the hours of footage of the band, this is one of the most defining: exquisite melancholy and guerrilla thrill.

#Magical mystery tour movie series#

In a special 60-minute cut from The Beatles: Get Back, Peter JacksonвЂ™s recent three-part series for Disney+, the gig we think we have already seen is refashioned on the big screen. The Fab Four, long hair tousled by the wind, performed brand new songs written in the previous weeks for what would be their last record, Let It Be. This week, for the price of an Imax ticket, you can get a time machine back to a bitterly cold London on 30 January 1969 and the BeatlesвЂ™ last-ever live performance together, on the rooftop of their Apple Corps building on 3 Savile Row.