With healthy doses of exuberance and plenty of raucous, good-time rock ‘n’ roll, “Beatles ’64” takes music lovers on a captivating guided tour of the group’s maiden American voyage. Directed by David Tedeschi and produced by Martin Scorsese, the film is a much-welcome respite from our bewildering times in much the same way that the Fab Four acted as a tonic in the tragic months following the Kennedy assassination. Brilliantly capturing the heady days of Beatlemania, “Beatles ’64” holds the power to make your heart sing with pure joy.
The film includes rare footage filmed by pioneering documentarians Albert and David Maysles, beautifully restored in 4K by Park Road Post in New Zealand. Viewers are treated to crisp footage of the Beatles’ February 7, 1964 arrival at the recently rechristened John F. Kennedy International Airport. The Fabs take it in stride as fans swoon over them in advance of their bravura Feb. 9 appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” when 73 million Americans tuned in to meet the Beatles.
While the footage is masterful, the music, as always, is king. The audience at a New York City screening broke into spontaneous applause during the group’s performance of “Long Tall Sally” at the Washington Coliseum, their first proper U.S. concert. The big moment came as the song reached its fever pitch with drummer Ringo Starr going into a mind-boggling double-time.
During a post-screening talkback, actor Ethan Hawke interviewed Tedeschi and Scorsese about the making of “Beatles ’64.” As the production team behind the Rolling Stones’ “Shine a Light and George Harrison: Living in the Material World,” Tedeschi and Scorsese commented upon their feelings of awe and reverence for the source material. Scorsese attributed the early days of Beatlemania as harbingers of an artistic change that not only impacted the 1960s, but that can be felt in the popular culture of the present day.
As a documentary, “Beatles ’64” is well-served by a host of interviews, including contemporary takes from Starr and Paul McCartney, as well as a flurry of heartwarming anecdotes from the likes of producer Jack Douglas and author Jamie Bernstein, among others. Archival footage of John Lennon and George Harrison reminds us that while the group’s music will enchant listeners for the ages, the Beatles’ story is a transitory one.
John Lennon in “Beatles ’64” (Disney+)
To the filmmakers’ great credit, “Beatles ’64” always has one eye tightly focused on the future. While the footage celebrates the group’s first fortnight on American soil, the documentarians shrewdly give Lennon the last word. Drawing its coda from 1975 interview footage, “Beatles ’64” leaves it to Lennon to explain the significance of the band’s inaugural American visit. “My picture of it now,” says Lennon, “is that there was a ship going to discover the new world, and the Beatles were in the crow’s nest. And we just said, ‘Land Ho!’”
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Oh, but what a discovery it was. What makes the Beatles’ 1964 visit so special is that it wasn’t a one-off pop-cultural moment. The Beatles made good on it and then some. While they may have been the darlings of the teenyboppers in February 1964, they would grow their demographic in powerful and lasting ways over the coming years on the shoulders of such classic tunes as “Yesterday,” “Michelle,” “In My Life” and “Eleanor Rigby.” By 1966, everybody was listening to the Beatles. And then, in their final act, they reeled off a slew of classic albums in “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “The White Album” and “Abbey Road.”
A visual and aural feast, “Beatles ’64” will undoubtedly inspire new generations of fans who, like their forebears all those years ago, simply couldn’t wait to meet the Beatles.
“Beatles ’64” streams on Disney+ beginning Friday, Nov. 29.
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