13 thoughts on “Beatles Movies”

1. Imagine I’m in love with you
   It’s easy ‘cos I know
   I’ve imagined I’m in love with you
   many, many, many times before

   I think about you night and day
   I need you and it’s true
   When I think about you, I can say
   I’m never, never, never blue. [I’ll Get You 1963]

   That is my own fave Beatles song. I never liked their movies but this new page is “Voted Up!” as I enjoyed their songs such as Ticket to Ride and Hard Day’s Night. The voice of John Lennon was my favorite one of the 4.

   The Beatles’ famous mega-selling album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band had one of the most striking and iconic covers ever at the time showing the 4 singers surrounded by superimposed images of droves of celebrities such as Monroe; Oliver Hardy; Oscar Wilde; Brando; Astaire; Tom Mix [as mentioned by Steve in a recent post to me] Karl Marx; Bob Dylan and many others.

   The Beatles became such a phenomenon in the 1960s that the Queen of England honored them with MBEs [Member of the British Empire]. Historically such Royal awards had been monopolized by the upper classes and all kinds of establishment figures; the Beatles were from lower class backgrounds; and “pop” music had been treated as an inferior -even despised in some quarters – art form.

   So I remember that in protest against the Beatles’ Royal awards several individuals such as retired Army offices returned their own awards to Buckingham Palace in disgust.

   Reply

   1. However the mega sales of the Beatles’ records were such that they brought massive foreign revenues into Britain whereas most of the recipients of British Royal honours tend to get their awards for their social rank and/or for the jobs they occupy regardless of how well they do those jobs– the awards “go with the territory”

      Ironically therefore the working-class Beatles globally probably brought more prestige and greater revenues to the British entertainment industry than maybe for example all the “upper crust” plummy-voiced actor knights and opera divas put together. Even Elvis was unnerved by their threat as musical icon rivals.

      Moreover ultimately with Al Leach ‘merely’ bubbling under its Top 10 Greatest Entertainers of the 20th Century Variety designated the Beatles as the greatest of them all above in the Top 10 even recognised 20th century entertainment monsters such as Bogie/Sinatra/Monroe/Brando and Chaplin; and the Beatles also joined those last four named in Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people of all kinds in the 20th Century.

      “Fools! For I also had my hour,
      One far fierce hour and sweet,
      When there were shouts above my ears
      And palms before my feet.”

      [G K Chesterton “The Donkey” about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday]

      Reply

      1. There are of course some 21st Century Greats around at the moment – take Hanks/Eastwood and Rosemary Clooney’s gorgeous nephew for example. And future Greats WILL arrive: someday to thrill and excite the ladies another Royal Dano will come. However since the 20th Century has completely gone the Beatles’ Time and Variety accolades [like the one below]have in a way a permanence that can’t be removed.

         ADDITIONAL TRIVIA

         ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: 100 Greatest Entertainers: 1950-2000

         As 1999 came to a close and a new century began, these were the celebrities who stood apart from the rest, the ones who helped shape the last five decades into an era of matchless entertainment. This is Entertianment Weekly’s choice for the top 100. From Marlon Brando to the BEATLES from Julia Roberts to Jerry Seinfeld, Entertainment Weekly’s 100 Greatest Entertainers 1950-2000 celebrates the stars who defined pop culture post- World War II- just as television and rock and roll were beginning to captivate the country. These are the matinee idols, the musical geniuses, and the industry trailblazers whose artistry and talents have made them the most fascinating personalities of our time. The TOP 18.
         1. THE BEATLES
         2. Elvis Presley
         3. Marilyn Monroe
         4. Steven Spielberg
         5. Madonna
         6. Frank Sinatra
         7. Saturday Night Fever
         8. Michael Jackson
         9. Lucille Ball
         10. The Simpsons
         11. Bob Dylan
         12. Marlon Brando
         13. Barbra Streisand
         14. Alfred Hitchcock
         15. The Rolling Stones
         16. Audrey Hepburn
         17. John Wayne
         18. Elizabeth Taylor

         Reply

2. I’ve seen 10 of the 35 Beatles connected movies on the chart, more than I thought.

   Favorites are – A Hard Days Night, Help, Yellow Submarine, Life of Brian, Time Bandits and Caveman (guilty pleasure, made me laugh back in the 80s)

   I’ve also seen – Let it Be (ages ago barely remember it), Candy, Mona Lisa and Oh What a Lovely War. Withnail & I has somehow passed me by.

   Surpised to see Candy was so successful, great cast includes Brando and Richard Burton but what a strange movie, a true oddity.

   Good work. Vote Up!

   Reply

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