Beatles ’64 is now streaming on Disney+. It takes viewers back to 1964 when The Beatles came to America for the first time. This was the height of Beatlemania. This film from producer Martin Scorsese and director David Tedeschi takes a different look at The Beatles’ trip to the U.S.A., their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, and some of the other things going on at this time that were impacted by the lads from Liverpool visiting.
From the moment that Beatles ’64 gets going, it becomes very clear that this isn’t going to be a documentary that is just about The Beatles. It starts by setting the stage. In this case, it was the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The first few minutes of the film show the weight of the world events on America. Then comes the Fab Four with their laid-back and humorous approach to life, drawing a fairly big difference.
Throughout the documentary, there are multiple different perspectives shown on the arrival of The Beatles on the west side of the Atlantic. Multiple fans who experienced Beatlemania are interviewed and share their experiences. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr also share their own experiences throughout the film. Other celebrities also share their memories. Some other interviews from 1964 show other perspectives, not always positive, about the arrival of The Beatles.
One thing that this film does really well is show more than the events of the days of The Beatles during their visit to the U.S.A. It also shows what was going on in the world as well and how The Beatles impacted those events. This was particularly true regarding race relations. The Beatles were one of the first big public figures to embrace different races and their music openly. Not only did they embrace other races, they sang their songs. It didn’t matter where the song came from, what did matter is they loved the music and performing it.
Another interesting from this film is how it shows the ups and downs of this trip to America. One example is their visit to the British embassy. While the British Ambassador was thrilled about this, others weren’t. They felt that the lads were of a lesser class and shouldn’t be honored in this way. Their visit to Carnegie Hall wasn’t without conflict either. It was interesting to see the positive and negative reactions that came with this trip.
Beatles ’64 is an interesting documentary about one specific point in time in the story of The Beatles. It has some new things for fans of The Beatles and is also an interesting look at the lads from Liverpool for newer fans as well. It is definitely worth watching on Disney+ and a wonderful addition to the documentaries that are being released on Disney’s streaming service. I give this documentary a solid hat tip. I really enjoyed it.
Mr. DAPs Hat Rating Scale
- No Hat – Didn’t meet expectations
- Hat Nod – It was ok
- Hat Tip – It was good
- Hat’s Off – Loved it!
