The Beatles Films Podcast

Produced by George Martin was originally a 2011 episode in the BBC's Arena documentary series, before being released more widely in 2012. We look at whether its informal conversational interviews work as a documentary technique, how watching it in the light of Get Back is quite revealing given George's recollection of his contribution to those sessions, and what his conversations with Ringo Starr...

As ever, here's this season's "Ringo Starr appears in seventies film which is problematic by modern sensibilities" episode. Blindman, a spaghetti western produced by Allen Klein, features Ringo as an unhinged Mexican bandit. We discuss, inevitably, its sexual and racial politics, talk about whether Ringo is playing against type (and, more broadly, whether he has established a "type" against which...

On to Christopher Münch's short fictionalised account of John Lennon and Brian Epstein's 1963 Spanish holiday, which explores their relationship and themes like miscommunication, and the power dynamic between the admirer and the admired. This was Ian Hart's first go at playing John, and we discuss how he and his co-star David Angus perform, the significance of the pair watching Ingmar Bergman's Th...

We're back in our documentary ashram with Ajoy Bose's 2021 film about the Beatles' relationship with his home country. The film does more than just tell the story of when they visited (though it does of course do that, AND tell the Ringo/baked beans story again, God love it): it takes its time exploring how India influenced the band and vice versa. We talk about how it represents George Harrison,...

We're thrilled to bring you this special bonus episode where we got the chance to talk to May Pang about her documentary, The Lost Weekend: A Love Story. We spoke about her part in the filmmaking process, her relationship with John Lennon and how she continues to be close to Julian, and why she wanted to tell this story, 50 years on. May was great fun and fascinating to speak to, and we want to th...

We knew this day would come. The 1984 film written by and starring Paul McCartney, derided by many, tolerated by some. We explain a bit about how a project like this actually gets as far as a cinema release, point out as gently as possible which bits don't stand up to narrative scrutiny as much as they might, and talk about the bits that - whisper it - actually have some merit. And we ask: is this...

We got an advance look at Mary McCartney's Abbey Road studios documentary If These Walls Could Sing, released in the UK and Ireland on Disney+ today, 6 January 2023. What did we think of its approach, and its array of heavyweight talking heads, from Paul McCartney (natch) to Elton John, John Williams, Jimmy Page, Pink Floyd and Nile Rodgers? Plus! Hear what revelations made Matt gasp, and how the...

To close out season two, welcome to part 2 of our conversation about The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour film. Thrill as we dissect the choreography of the Your Mother Should Know sequence in frankly punishing detail. Gasp as we unpack the quasi-religious subtext of The Beatles playing a group of omnipotent wizards. And nod knowingly as we wonder whether George Harrison was all that into it in gener...

Magical Mystery Tour first aired on BBC1 on Boxing Day 1967 in black and white. It didn't go down all that well. Then it went out in colour on 5 January 1968 on BBC2 and wasn't much better received. This was the Beatles' first major critical failure, but in part one we discuss whether it succeeded on its own terms: were they actually trying to entertain their audience, or were they more interested...

We're talking about David Leaf and John Scheinfeld's 2006 documentary on John Lennon's activism, with its dizzying array of intellectual heavyweight talking heads. There's a lot to unpack here, from how it doesn't shy away from showing John's naivety, to the value of pop stars using slogans to promote political causes, and whether you should expect them to contribute more than a catchy chorus. You...

The film whose soundtrack yielded the first Beatle solo album, and the first release on Apple Records, 1968's Wonderwall is on the face of it just a mad, psychedelic wig-out about a nutty professor. But is it saying something deeper about British repression and how the flower power generation chipped away at it? What did it mean to George Harrison to go off and do this on his own, given how he was...

Originally released in two parts in the BBC's Arena strand (as The Sun Will Shine Tomorrow and Tomorrow Never Knows on Christmas and Boxing Day 1998), The Brian Epstein Story was later re-edited and has aired twice on BBC4 with this title. The version we're discussing is this single edited version, which you can see on YouTube with some sound missing for copyright reasons at https://youtu.be/apKqM...

It's 1973: The Beatles are no more, but don't worry, David Essex has 100% filled the void. Here he stars as Jim MacLaine, a wayward youngster trying to make it after leaving home. His best work friend is played by none other than Ringo Starr, and neither of them is all that nice. How shocking is it to see Ringo playing a womaniser? Do we see his bum, or is it a stunt bum? (This gets more discussio...

It's time to kill a sacred cow like the tiresome contrarian clickbaiters we are: is The Rutles actually terrible? Well, no, it's good, but we're not wholly convinced. Does it work as a parody, or does it too often just imitate rather than parody? (We say "parody" a lot in this episode.) Join us as we deconstruct it until you're no longer able to enjoy a thing you once loved. It's why the internet...

McCartney 3, 2, 1 arrived on Disney Plus and Hulu as a sort of Get Back appetiser in 2021. Rick Rubin asks Paul about his craft and runs through isolated tracks from some of his most famous songs. What does it tell us about Paul, his creative process and his role within The Beatles? How does he come across, given the reverential tone? How impressive was the portable camping stove he had in his tee...

We're looking at Jessie Nelson's 2001 film, which features an Oscar-nominated performance by Sean Penn as a man with learning disabilities and a Beatles obsession, fighting for custody of his daughter, soundtracked by Beatles songs played by contemporary artists. Is Sam's Beatles fixation used effectively as a motif? What's it like to watch portrayals of disability from this period compared to con...

Arguably the only actual proper Beatles biopic, 1979's Birth of The Beatles has big leather cowboy boots to fill. Can Nick Cotton from Eastenders pull off the role of George Harrison? Why is the guy who plays John Lennon about sixty? We also discuss how this is the only real template we have for the inevitable Beatles narrative film, and Matt gives his pitch for making one. Meet the Beatles Films...

We're back for season two, with the potentially warmish potato of Sam Taylor-Wood's Nowhere Boy, a 2009 telling of teenage John Lennon's relationship with his Aunt Mimi and his mother Julia just before her death. How good are the performances and casting, and where does Aaron Taylor-Johnson rank on the Lennometer? Did John really want to be, uh, in an Oedipus's Garden in the shade? Do we buy the k...

In part 2 of our season one finale (so, the last one, the actual FINALE finale, the episode_final-FINAL(1).mp3), we're looking at Richard Lester's Help! and in particular the story and the film at large. For a discussion of the music and how it's treated in the film, see part 1. Or just listen to them both in a row. Is it, inevitably, a bit problematic seen through today's lens? Does the story mak...

The Beatles Films Podcast covering an actual Beatles film! It'll never catch on. For our season one finale (yes, we're calling it that) it's a two-parter on Richard Lester's 1965 film, derided in some quarters and compared unfavourably to A Hard Day's Night. But ah, the songs. In part 1: how are the songs treated, how are they staged and how do they fit into the film? What's interesting about the...

George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison: pretty solid line-up. Is a 25-minute documentary enough to do it justice? Is George happier in the Wilburys than he was in the Beatles? And what sort of AirBNB host would Dave Stewart be? You can watch it on YouTube: https://youtu.be/SUQ_gj-biIc Meet the Beatles Films Podcast The Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed W...

We don't approach films about John Lennon's murder by Mark Chapman with much enthusiasm, but there's a place for them if they're done well, respectful and insightful. How does JP Schaefer's 2007 telling do on this score? Well ... You can watch Chapter 27 on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85Ss66lBY3E Meet the Beatles Films Podcast The Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed...

So to Alan G Parker's 2017 documentary, long on title, short on the rights to use any of the songs. Is this a problem? How tight a focus on the album does the film have? How does its collection of talking heads stack up? Watch it on streaming services: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/it-was-fifty-years-ago-today-the-beatles-sgt-pepper-and-beyond Read Ed's review from 2017: http://www.theshiznit...

Don't know about you, but for us Backbeat was just about as formative as anything in our views and mental image of Stuart Sutcliffe and The Beatles' early years. We discuss how he and John Lennon are depicted, how the casting choice of Stephen Dorff impacts Beatles fans' view of Stuart to this day, and why there's so much nudity in it. Won't anyone think of the children? There's a New Yorker artic...

We're on about Julie Taymor's 2007 Beatles jukebox musical, starring Jim Sturgess, WITH Evan Rachel Wood, AND Joe Anderson, BUT Bono. Is it problematic to repurpose songs with a specific meaning to suit a story? Is there any way around this in a jukebox musical anyway? Find out literally none of the answers to these questions, but hopefully enjoy some discussion around them. But hey, it's not the...