8mm Forum: The Beatles Come to Town

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Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on August 28, 2008, 02:21 PM:

The Beatles in Manchester/The Beatles come to town (1x200’, Derann Film Services)

The Beatles!, is there anybody more representative of the 1960s than they were? They spanned the decade and the entire world. They changed the times and the times changed them too. Somehow they were so linked to the decade it just seems appropriate they broke up in 1970.

I was born in 1962, so the 1960s were pretty much my childhood. Like many little kids of that time I had one of those wonderful cheap little Japanese transistor radios (…they have IPods now) and I heard so many of those great Beatles songs when they first came out. These days it’s easy to be nostalgic for that time, maybe forgetting the turbulence that was also going on in the world.

Let’s face it: threading up a Super-8 projector can be a nostalgic act. They were everywhere when we were younger but now they are fewer and further between. The less informed think they are extinct, but we know better. There is some material on film that really matches this mood and seeing the Beatles projected from "reel" film is one step closer to time travel.

Derann’s “The Beatles come to town” captures the Beatles pretty close to their beginning. They are still clean looking young lads in suits. The beards, the LSD, “Paul is dead”, the Walrus and the breakup are still several years in the future. If nothing else, they will not be doing live shows very much longer, especially in front of just a few thousand.

This Pathe News Short is the early Beatles exactly as you’d expect them. All of the required elements are there: there is the tight, panning close-up across all four, including John mugging for the lens. Then they are live on stage at the ABC Hardwicke Cinema to sing “She Loves You” and “Twist and Shout” in front of the mandatory audience of screaming teenage girls (-now mostly Grandmothers, of course). More than a few look like they’re about to faint or perhaps burst a blood vessel. A Bobbie gently keeps the beat while maintaining his “on duty” expression. An usher plugs his ears against the screaming.

The show’s date is Wednesday, November 20th, 1963. President Kennedy is still in office, but will be assassinated the day after tomorrow. Vietnam is still just the name of a country, and not yet an era. We are catching the 1960s world on the very edge of losing its innocence, but we get to bask in it if even for only a few minutes.

My print’s color and sharpness are very nice. The color was actually a surprise because I always thought it would be black and white. The sound is excellent, and so is the music!

Courtesy of U-tube, here it is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I91CFOCp04&NR=1

-If you want to really see it, talk to Derann.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on August 28, 2008, 03:52 PM:

Steve,

Is this the scope Beatles release? I had heard of some release called "The Beatles Come to Town" and it was in scope.
Is this it?

Great review. It made me pull out what I thought, (In some ways) was thier last innocent album, (so to speak) Magical Mystery Tour" (okay, slightly drug induced) transferred to Super 8 in the form of that lovely time travel capsule, Take two daily, haha!) Well it did have "Hello/Goodbye", (which I SOOO wish they would have put in Magical Mystery tour.

Which reminds, I know that they used thier Sgt. Peppers look for the next album, but the music "video" (film) of "Hello Goodbye" was for a song that was on MMT. If that was ever released on Super 8, I would certainly splice it onto MMT.

I did re-record the very end of MMT with, instead of the reprise of MMT theme, "Hello Goodbye", and fitted most of the song right there, which fits nicely, as there was originally a snippet of it at the very end of the credits anyhow, and "Hello/Goodbye" fits the end credits perfectly anyhow!

Once again, great little review, and I love the image!

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on August 28, 2008, 05:04 PM:

Hi Osi,

I've noticed that the film originally seems to have been made for 'scope, yet my print is printed 4x3 and not "squished", so it's looking like a pan and scan of some kind. It is obviously the same film, right down to the pretty blonde nearly biting a corner off her own coat!

I'd love it to be 'scope, but it works nicely flat too!

Posted by Simon McConway (Member # 219) on August 29, 2008, 07:30 AM:

Excellent review and, as a result, I've just purchased a new copy from Derann!

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on August 29, 2008, 07:41 AM:

Thanks Simon!,

I think you will enjoy it!

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on August 29, 2008, 09:38 PM:

Steve
Thats an excellent review and will check with Derann about getting a print, regarding the 60s I remember I was 11years old and was leaving a church late on a Friday night to catch the bus home with a friend of mine, we were both in the Boys Brigade in Glasgow when someone mentioned that President Kennedy had just been assassinated, it was shocking news and people were stunned that such a thing could have happened, although its been almost 45 years since that night it was one of those things from the 60s you dont forget.

Graham.

Posted by Simon McConway (Member # 219) on August 30, 2008, 04:20 AM:

My print arrived this morning, less than 24 hours after ordering from Derann; you really can't beat them for a great service!. The print is great with excellent colour, definition and sound. It really does give you a sense of what it was like at one of The Beatles' concerts!

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on August 30, 2008, 01:08 PM:

Great review Steve, I will have to get a print.
I do have 'The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show', which was a 200 footer released by Red Fox. This is no colourful Pathe Pic like Steve has reviewed, but the original Kinescope (filmed off TV) of the Beatles first TV appearance in the USA on February 9 1964 and features 'Please Please Me','Twist and Shout' and 'I want to hold your hand'. It is quite grainy , in black and white of course, but because it is live TV it really recaptures the early 60's nostalgia., particulary with the brief moments of Ed introducing the group in his inimitable style - "A really good shew!" (Alan King once said of the great Ed Sullivan that nobody knew what he did on TV, but he did it better than anybody else! [Big Grin]

). The girls, of course, are all in hysteria, shreiking their heads off and jumping up and down, and the boys (all wearing jackets and ties, and many wearing those black thick rimmed 'Robert Q.Lewis' glasses!) are in a shocked, immobile, silence, looking very unhappy indeed about the revelation before their eyes. There is a great crane shot as the camera tracks in on Ringo beating on his drums with his hair flopping around. Apparently the screaming of the girls in the theater was so intense that the CBS TV cameramen could not hear the directions over their headphones, and had to 'wing' all their shots. Whatever, they did a great job. The film ends with Ed extolling the audience " All right, Let's hear it again!".

I had just arrived from the UK the previous November 1963, exactly 2 weeks prior to the Kennedy assasination. The night of Ed's show I was sitting at a bar in a small town in central Pennsylvania, and when the Beatles came on there was a stunned silence in the restaurant and everyone was glued to the TV. The people had never seen anything like it before, and music in the USA was changed forever. This little film completely captures the moment it happened, all the more because it is filmed off TV and shows exactly the quality of TV at that time.
I was a big fan of the Beatles, they were a part of my youth, but they lost me forever when John started getting freaky, growing long hair and a beard and hooking up with Yoko Ono, and messing around with drugs. I prefer to remember them the way they were that night on Ed's show in Feb'64 - young and innocent.

[ August 30, 2008, 03:48 PM: Message edited by: Paul Adsett ]

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on August 30, 2008, 04:48 PM:

I've seen the most unlikely copy of the Ed. Sullivan footage.

The lady across the street when I was growing up is a sweet lady, but a horrific filmmaker, she'd shoot anything, leave it on a reel and show it too. There is a still in one of her photo albums of nothing but her own flash bouncing back off a window. It's labeled "at Carol's house".

Her all time classic was 8mm footage she shot off the TV screen of the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, and then double exposed on her kids in the pool. Well into the 70's "The Beatles in the Pool" got a curtain call pretty much every time she set up the projector! It was great in a certain Ed Wood kind of way.

(God Bless Her: I doubt I would ever have gotten involved in this stuff if it wasn't for her!)

Well, that's 3 prints plus the one I bought two weeks ago...

To paraphrase Gloria Swanson:

"All right, Mr. Brocklehurst, I'm ready for my commission" [Wink]

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on September 03, 2008, 07:28 PM:

Hi Steve
Your review must have been very popular Gary has told me it will be at least six weeks to get a print, should arrive in time for Christmas.

Graham. [Smile]

Posted by Gary Brocklehurst (Member # 606) on September 04, 2008, 03:48 AM:

Dear Steve, Osi, Simon, Graham & Paul

As a very big Beatles fan, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your posts

Should you have any rare Beatles memorabilia, then you know where I am (preferably free of charge as it is my 49th birthday today)!

Kindest Regards To All

Gary

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on September 04, 2008, 02:42 PM:

Hey Gary, you would know ...

first once again happy Birthday~

Okay, that out of the way, was this film that you offer, originally in scope. I would have sworn that this was a super 8 release sometime in the long past, but in scope? Am I comepltely off, or am I thinking of some other Beatles release in scope?

Thanks Gary, (ahead of time) if you should have the chance to reply.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on September 04, 2008, 03:14 PM:

Too late:

Gary is at the pub by now!

Posted by Gary Brocklehurst (Member # 606) on September 05, 2008, 03:25 AM:

Osi

The Beatles Come To Town was originally made in 'scope and if my memory serves me correct, Red Fox Films issued 'scope super 8 prints of same, although I could be mistaken

Thanks again to all for your kind birthday greetings!

Best Always

Gary

Posted by Graham Sinden (Member # 431) on September 05, 2008, 07:20 AM:

Hey Gary,

Do you have many of these in stock this month as I might order one later?

Graham S

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on September 05, 2008, 09:43 AM:

I KNEW IT!!

Thanks for verifying that, Gary. Your words always good enough for me!

Posted by Panayotis A. Carayannis (Member # 1220) on September 11, 2008, 04:15 PM:

P. M. Films issued a cinemascope print of the film.In fact I found a copy at the recent BFCC. It is a nice print, but reddish. A fellow collector here in Athens has another copy,similarly reddish !

Posted by Joe Taffis (Member # 4) on September 11, 2008, 04:47 PM:

I bought my scope copy of this from the Red Fox himself, Ron Knorr, way back when it was released. I believe he had both the scope & flat copies available. Just ran it again to check the color, and it hasn't changed or pinked, but it wasn't too colorful even when I bought it. By the way, don't confuse Steve's pic at the beginning of this post with this film...not the same show.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on September 11, 2008, 04:59 PM:

Ehhhh! The haircuts and the suits were close enough so I gave it a go!

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on September 11, 2008, 06:50 PM:

Do you know if Ron Knorr is still alive, Joe?

Posted by Joe Taffis (Member # 4) on September 12, 2008, 05:11 PM:

Very much so Osi...just spoke to him on the phone recently [Smile]

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on September 14, 2008, 08:57 PM:

There was a Scope print in a recent used Derann list "not the last one" and that copy sold... real...quick "not me" pity [Frown]

however the flat version in some ways is better as I dont have to muck around with Scope brackets etc "getting lazy" The photo Steve used really bought back the 60s look and apart from his
excellent review was one of the reasons to try to get a copy hopefully before Christmas [Wink]

Graham.

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on November 16, 2008, 08:02 PM:

Just recieved my copy from "Derann", apart from a few seconds of negative scratching right at the begining "not a problem" this short film is a real step back in time. I have only finished watching it... four times.. so I guess that pretty much tells you what I think of it. The print is very good as is with the sound, with sharp steady focus.

To sum up...its well worth getting, considering it was made 45 years ago "amazing" and is a film that for me has plenty of repeatability [Cool]

.

Graham.

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