Post by ravishakahr on May 14, 2006 8:30:54 GMT 1
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Flashback: Let It Be premieres in NYC
It was 36 years ago today (May 13th), that the Beatles' final movie, Let It Be, received its premiere in New York City theaters.
The film, which was shot in January 1969, was originally intended to be a TV special featuring the group rehearsing for their first live show in over two years. The early rehearsals captured the group, along with John Lennon's soon-to-be wife Yoko Ono, clearly bored, with only Paul McCartney showing any real enthusiasm for the new material. The first part of the film shows the strain of the early morning sessions held in a cavernous soundstage at London's Twickenham film studios.
Among the songs featured in the film are "Let It Be," "Get Back," "Don't Let Me Down," "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," "For You Blue," "Octopus' Garden," "I Me Mine," "Across The Universe," "The Long And Winding Road," and covers of "Besame Mucho," "Shake, Rattle And Roll," and "Kansas City," among many others.
In 1970 John Lennon spoke about the film to Rolling Stone, recalling that, "In a nutshell... it was time for another Beatle movie or something... It was just a dreadful, dreadful feeling being filmed all the time. I just wanted them to go away. And we'd be there at eight in the morning and you couldn't make music at eight in the morning... in a strange place with people filming you and colored lights."
The tension between the group is palpable, especially during the sequence where George Harrison and McCartney argue over Harrison's playing on the song "Two Of Us."
The movie lightens up considerably during the second half, when the filming moved to the group's new Apple studios, with the addition of keyboardist Billy Preston. To many, the highlight of the film is the final sequence when the Beatles play in impromptu set on the Apple headquarters rooftop, featuring "Get Back," "Dig A Pony," "I've Got A Feeling," "Don't Let Me Down," and "One After 909." Filmed on January 30th, 1969, it would be the band's final public performance.
Reviews for the film, which was released a month after the group's breakup, were mixed, citing the sluggish and depressing nature of the film, as well as director Michael Lindsay-Hogg's sloppy editorial choices. But across the board, both critics and fans agreed on the power of the group's triumphant rooftop set.
Beatlefan magazine's executive editor Al Sussman saw the film within days of its premiere and was left speechless by the group's live swan song: "It was really depressing. But, what made it worthwhile was the rooftop, y'know? Because when I left that theater, I was this far off the ground. Despite the fact that we knew everything that happened afterward. Yeah, that saves the film."
Let It Be scored the Beatles their only Academy Award, when they won the 1970 Oscar for Best Original Song Score. The film was briefly available on VHS in 1981, but is not yet available on DVD. The Beatles have been preparing a deluxe, multi-disc expanded edition culled from the 90 hours of footage shot during the sessions, but no release date has been announced.
