The Beatles Anthology (1995) s01e03 Episode Script

1
[crowd cheering]
["Help!" playing]
not so self-assured ♪
Now I find I've changed my mind ♪
I've opened up the doors ♪
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down ♪
And I do appreciate
you being 'round ♪
[music concludes]
[airplane engine]
-[fans cheering]
-[John] We were like
in the eye of a hurricane.
So we were just
in this little goldfish bowl
in the middle.
And one didn't really have time
to think what was going on.
It was just going on so fast.
[George] Ed Sullivan
had seen us in England,
and all the Time and Life
and Newsweek had all put
covers of The Beatles
on their magazines
prior to us arriving, so
It was a surprise, though,
because we thought
we'd have to work a little bit
for this notoriety.
[John] When we arrived here,
we knew how to handle press.
The British press
are the toughest in the world.
We could handle anything.
We were all right.
[crowd clamoring]
[Ringo] The press,
they started shouting at us.
They liked being
just shouted back at, you know,
and we did do it with humor.
[fan] Would you please sing something?
[all] No!
-Sorry.
-[Brian Sommerville] Next question.
[reporter 1]
Is there something you can sing?
No, we need money first.
[crowd laughing]
-There's a question here.
-[reporter 2] How many are bald
-if you have to wear those wigs?
-All of us.
-I'm bald.
-[reporter 2] You're bald?
-Oh, we're all bald, yeah.
-Don't tell anyone, please.
[reporter 3] I've got a question for you.
Do you plan to get a haircut at all
whilst you're?
[all] No. No thanks.
-I had one yesterday.
-[crowd laughing]
-That's no lie. It's the truth.
-It's the truth.
[Brian Sommerville] Okay,
there's one here.
[reporter 4] What do you think
your music does to these people?
-Uh, I don't know.
-Well
-[reporter 4] Makes them spend--
-It pleases them, I think.
Well, it must do
'cause they're buying it.
[reporter 5] Why does
it excite them so much?
We don't know, really.
If we did, we'd form another group
and be managers.
[George] Everybody in Liverpool
thinks they're a comedian,
and, uh, when you just
transposed it into New York
or somewhere, it was
it was great. I mean,
we were just being hard-faced,
really, and, uh, they loved it.
[fans cheering]
I remember, for instance, the great moment
of going into the limo
and putting on the radio,
and there we were on American radio.
["I Saw Her Standing There"
playing over radio]
I don't know.
She wouldn't dance
with another, ooh ♪
[DJ over radio] And tomorrow morning,
an exciting morning on WINS
as Brad Phillips
has the "Battles of The Beatles".
The Beatles take on
all the groups in the world
[Paul] Yeah! Yeah! [chuckles]
[overlapping chatter]
[DJ over radio] Tomorrow night at 7:00,
the Beatles read their own poetry
on a documentary, Meet The Beatles.
-all over the world.
-Oh?
-Oh really?
-[George] I don't get that.
-I don't understand this.
-[DJ over radio] Tomorrow night
from 7:00 to 8:00
here at WINS. Don't miss it.
We We ain't written no poetry.
-On the poster.
-[man] It's on a poster.
-[Paul] Is it?
-[man] Yeah.
[Paul] Oh yeah. Massive.
Ooh, hello!
[man] They've got
a tremendous crowd there.
-There's the kids.
-[John] How are we gonna get in?
You're missing a fab shot.
[John] Here y'are.
You're missing the kids.
[indistinct chatter]
[fans screaming, cheering]
[John] Hey, how are we gonna get in then?
[Paul] Ooh! They practically had her!
-Lock your door.
-[John] Lock the doors.
-[Paul] Hey. Hi.
-[Ringo] Well done, John.
[Paul] Hi, girls. [chuckles]
[fans clamoring]
[John] There's this old man here
goin' potty!
[John] There's an old fella
goin' proper crazy, you know.
[screaming continues]
[Paul] Get the horse, come on!
Oh well, it's okay.
He's gonna get the horses behind us.
[indistinct chatter]
[John] Oh, look at 'em all!
I didn't think anybody knew we would come.
[indistinct chatter]
[Paul] There's loads of 'em
to keep 'em down.
-[Ringo] Is this it?
-[John] Get in, quick!
[Ringo] We had this huge suite
of rooms in the Plaza Hotel.
And we had radios with the earpieces,
so we could phone in Murray the K
and we could listen to him
talking on the radio.
This was all so fascinating to me.
It was just too far out.
[John] We were so overawed
by American radio.
They had to-- Epstein,
our manager, had to stop us.
[music concludes]
We phoned every radio in town just saying,
"Will you play the Ronettes doing this?"
I mean, we want to hear the music.
We didn't ask for our own records.
We asked for other people's.
[John] Okay, this is John Lennon
of The Beatles on 1010 W-I-N-S.
[Murray] Now, we just want
to tell everybody,
this was the Beatles station.
They're taking over.
They're telling us what to play.
I got one more week of this,
and I'm gonna become
the Fifth Beatle, baby.
[Ringo] Well, I liked Murray.
He was a real good guy.
There was him and Cousin Bruce.
And he became,
uh, the so-called "Fifth Beatle"
because he was really big on our record.
You know, he helped make it a hit.
Paul, suppose you tell 'em
what we got next, baby.
We were very impressed with him,
and, uh-- so we used to ring
his radio show when he was on,
and he'd say,
"And the Beatles are here,
and I've got an exclusive interview.
And here we are with Murray the K!"
And we'd be ringing up,
"Hello? Excuse me a moment.
Oh, it's George.
Hi, George! How're ya doin'?"
And we'd, you know, give him
all the exclusives.
It's 'cause we loved him, you know.
[Paul] Okay, this is Paul McCartney
from WINS,
1010 W-I-N-S, and it's Marvin Gaye,
and here he is singing "Pride And Joy".
["Pride And Joy" playing]
Yeah, baby. You got it. [chuckles]
You are my pride and joy ♪
And I just love you,
love you, darlin' ♪
Like a baby boy loves his toy ♪
You've got kisses sweeter than honey ♪
And I work seven days a week
to give you all my money ♪
And that's why
you are my pride and joy ♪
And I'm tellin' the world you're my ♪
Pride and joy ♪
It's me. You know me. Yes.
-[music concludes]
-No. Well, we're waiting
for a very important call from London,
which you're blocking the line on.
-[Brian Matthew] Hello, John.
-[John] Hello, Brian.
[Brian Matthew] Well,
what are your first impressions
of arrival in America?
[John] Well, I don't know.
They're sort of--
They're wild, you know. They're all wild.
They just seem to get--
[Brian Matthew] Wilder than they are
here in England?
[Paul] Well, it seemed like it.
Maybe it's just the first impression,
you know.
They just seem all out of their minds.
[Brian Matthew chuckles]
Did you get home at all, John,
between leaving Paris
and starting again for the States?
[John] Yeah, we were in-- well,
we were in London for two days.
You know, we got to England.
[Brian Matthew] You didn't go
up to Liverpool, though?
[John] No, th-- George went up there.
-[Brian Matthew] Uh-huh.
-[John] Yeah,
but he's regretting it.
He still hasn't slept.
[Brian Matthew chuckles]
Is George there now?
[John] Yeah, do you wanna speak to him?
[Brian Matthew] Yes, in a moment.
But, uh, John, is there anything you want
to say to the fans back here
at home first?
Yeah, well, tell 'em not to forget
we're only away for 10 days.
And we'll be back, you know,
and we're thinkin' of 'em.
[Brian Matthew] Now, let's have a word
with Ringo, could we?
-Hello, Brian.
-[Brian Matthew] Hello, how are you?
[Ringo] Fine.
[Brian Matthew] What was the first thing
you did when you got to your hotel, Ringo?
[Ringo] Um, well, we had this big,
mass press interview with
oh, about hundred people there, you know.
And then, uh, we got out of that,
and then we we had a Cadillac each.
[on radio] Marvelous cars.
[Brian Matthew] What sort of things
do they want to know
at the press reception?
[Ringo] Oh, all things. Are we bald,
you know,
and what do we do
with our money?
[on radio] All the usual things.
[Brian Matthew] You proved that you,
uh, don't wear wigs, I hope?
-[Ringo] Yes.
-[Brian Matthew] And what did you do?
-[Ringo] We took 'em off!
-[Brian Matthew chuckles]
[Ringo chuckles]
[Brian Matthew] Well, cheerio, Ringo,
and the best of luck to you.
[Ringo] Cheerio.
Give our regards to everyone.
-Here's George now.
-[Brian Matthew] Hello, George.
[George] Hello. How are you, Brian?
[Brian Matthew] Fine, thanks. How are you?
[George] Uh, not so bad.
[Brian Matthew] Uh, the first thing
you'll be doing over there
is The Ed Sullivan Show, isn't it?
[George] Yeah, we rehearse that tomorrow,
and then, uh, do the show on Sunday.
[Brian Matthew] What will you be doing
on the show?
Uh, I think we'll be doing, you know,
"I Want To Hold Your Hand",
"She Loves You",
"Please Please Me".
-You know, the usual ones.
-[Brian Matthew] Uh-huh.
How many of your records
are in the American Hit Parade
at the moment?
[George on radio]
We've got six in the Hundred.
And, uh, we-- It's-- We've got
"I Want To Hold Your Hand",
"She Loves You", "Please Please Me",
"From Me To You", "My Bonnie",
which is a laugh,
and "I Saw Her Standing There".
-[music concludes]
-You know, in
in New York, the, um, three records,
uh, "Please Please Me",
"She Loves You",
and "I Want To Hold Your Hand",
they're all No. 1.
[Brian Matthew] Well, that's marvelous!
And we're all very proud of you.
The very best of luck to all of you.
-[George] Yeah.
-[Brian Matthew] And we're looking
forward to seeing you
back home again soon.
Yeah, thanks.
Well, we'll see you, you know,
in two weeks, I suppose.
I had this throat thing,
because when you see the photographs
that they all went out
and did publicity shots
in Central Park,
there's pictures of just the three of them
with the New York skyline behind them.
-[John, Paul, Ringo] Yeah!
-[camera shutter clicking]
[Ed Sullivan] Now, yesterday and today,
our theater's been jammed
with newspapermen
and hundreds of photographers
from all over the nation,
and these veterans agree with me
that the city never has witnessed
the excitement stirred by these youngsters
from Liverpool,
who call themselves The Beatles.
Now tonight, you're gonna
twice be entertained by them
right now, and again
in the second half of our show.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Beatles! Bring 'em on out!
[audience cheering]
Hey! One, two, three, four, five
-["All My Loving" playing]
-Close your eyes ♪
And I'll kiss you ♪
Tomorrow I'll miss you ♪
Remember I'll always be true ♪
Hey!
And then while I'm away
I'll write home every day ♪
And I'll send all my loving to you ♪
I'll pretend that I'm kissing
the lips I am missing ♪
And hope that my dreams will come true ♪
And then while I'm away
I'll write home every day ♪
And I'll send all my loving to you ♪
All my loving I will send to you ♪
All my loving,
darling, I'll be true ♪
Hey! Hey! Whoa, hey!
Hey, hey, hah!
Yeah!
Close your eyes and I'll kiss you ♪
Tomorrow I'll miss you ♪
Remember I'll always be true ♪
And then while I'm away
I'll write home every day ♪
And I'll send all my loving to you ♪
[music continues faintly]
[Paul] Well, it's still supposed to be
the largest viewing audience
ever in the States, you know?
And the States being the biggest
showbiz town ever,
it was very important, you know.
I still get people
talking to me about it now.
You know, it's like "Where were you
when Kennedy was shot?"
All my loving, ooh, ooh ♪
[George] Later, they said
there was the least reported
-or there was no reported crime.
-[music concludes]
-[audience cheering]
-[George] Even the criminals
had a rest for for, like, ten minutes
while we were on.
You know, something very nice happened
and the Beatles
got a great kick out of it.
We just received a wire, they did,
from Elvis Presley and Colonel Tom Parker
wishing them a tremendous
success in our country.
I think that was very, very nice.
[audience cheering]
And then we did the train ride
to, uh, Washington.
["I Should Have Known Better" playing]
I should've known better
with a girl like you ♪
[Ringo] And that's where we got to know
quite a few of the press guys.
And that's where they started
to get friendly
and let us know that they were out there
actually to kill us.
Because we shouted at them,
they loved us. [chuckles]
God knows what would happen
-if we hadn't have shouted.
-[music concludes]
Two, four, four.
Two, four, seven.
-Two, five, one.
-[man] Roger.
[indistinct chatter]
[indistinct chatter]
Hi, it's great being here
in New York. Okay?
-[man] It's Washington.
-[chuckles]
Oh, is that the place?
I don't know, Washington.
I'm just moving so fast.
[DJ over speaker]
There may be a controversy
over the Beatles' apparel
and their hairdos,
but there's no debate about one thing,
they sure have got talent.
[crowd cheering]
[Ringo] The Washington gig,
there was like 10,
12,000 people.
That was a hell of a lot of people
in those days that you were playing to.
Good evening, how do you do?
[chuckles] How are you?
We'd like to thank everybody
here in, uh, America,
Washington, America, for--
-[fans screaming, cheering]
-Oh, for
We'd like to thank We'd like
to thank everybody for, uh,
buying this particular record
and starting this thing off
in America, and giving us
the chance to come here
and see you all in Washington.
Thank you! Song!
-One, two.
-["She Loves You" playing]
She loves you,
yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
She loves you,
yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
She loves you,
yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
Yeah ♪
You think you've lost your love ♪
Well, I saw her yesterday
It's you she's thinkin' of ♪
And she told me what to say
She says she loves you ♪
And you know that can't be bad ♪
Yes, she loves you ♪
And you know you should be glad ♪
She said you hurt her so ♪
She almost lost her mind ♪
But now she says she knows ♪
You're not the hurtin' kind ♪
She says she loves you ♪
And you know that can't be bad ♪
Yes, she loves you ♪
And you know you should be glad, ooh ♪
She loves you,
yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
She loves you,
yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
With a love like that,
you know you should be glad ♪
You know it's up to you,
I think it's only fair ♪
Pride can hurt you, too ♪
Apologize to her ♪
Because she loves you,
and you know that can't be bad ♪
Yes, she loves you ♪
And you know you should be glad, ooh ♪
She loves you,
yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
She loves you,
yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
With a love like that ♪
You know you should be glad ♪
With a love like that ♪
You know you should be glad ♪
With a love like that ♪
You know you should be glad ♪
Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
-[music concludes]
-[fans screaming, cheering]
[Neil Aspinall] We did
that Washington show.
It was like a boxing ring
right, with people all round.
Every song, you'd go
to a different side of the stage, right?
And, uh, so you had to move
the mics all the time,
you know? And Ringo was sitting on a--
like this round thing
in the middle of the stage
that his drums were on,
so he had to turn that round to face
whichever way the band were playing,
and the bloody thing got stuck!
He's gotta turn his drums round!
[Neil Aspinall] You know, so [laughs]
there's all this chaos going on
and whatever.
But But it was a good show.
-[Paul] All right?
-[George] Hello, hello, hello.
So, yeah
The song's called,
"I Saw Her Standing There".
-One, two, three.
-[fans cheering]
["I Saw Her Standing There" playing]
Well, she was just seventeen ♪
You know what I mean ♪
And the way she looked ♪
Was way beyond compare, woo! ♪
-How could I dance with another? Ooh! ♪
-Oh ♪
-When I saw her standing there ♪
-Since I saw her standing there ♪
Well, she looked at me ♪
And I, I could see ♪
That before too long
I'd fall in love with her ♪
-How could I dance with another? Ooh! ♪
-Oh ♪
-When I saw her standing there ♪
-Since I saw her standing there ♪
Well, my heart went boom
when I crossed that room ♪
And I held her hand in mine ♪
Oh, we danced through the night ♪
And we held each other tight ♪
And before too long
I fell in love with her ♪
Now I'll never dance with another ♪
-Ooh ♪
-Oh ♪
Since I saw her standing there ♪
Whoah! ♪
We danced through the night ♪
Yeah, and we held each other tight ♪
And before too long
I fell in love with her ♪
Now I'll never dance with another ♪
-Ooh ♪
-Oh ♪
Since I saw her standing there ♪
Well, since I saw her standing there ♪
Well, since I saw her ♪
[Ringo] We were surrounded by the kids,
um, and with it being America,
the parents sort of went along
with the kids more than they did
-in England.
-[music concludes]
I loved it. I absolutely loved it.
[fans screaming, cheering]
[John] We didn't think if--
whether we're that good or not.
You're gonna think you're good to-- to do
what we did, you know?
The last thing I remember
was playing music in a club,
and the next minute, this.
But we never thought about it too much
because it was an ongoing thing
it was happening to us
and it was hard to see, you know.
We were just in the middle
being ushered from room to room.
[Paul] Yeah, the British Embassy, it was--
there was a kind of party,
you know, so, the--
so this was one of the things
that was starting to happen.
Because we now were conquering America,
obviously the British Ambassador
could play a role in this,
and it would be good publicity
for him probably,
you know, so the, "I know 'em," you know,
um, but but there were a lot
of Hooray Henrys there,
and we'd never really met them yet.
We hadn't played many sort of Arts Balls
or Cambridge May Balls,
or that kind of thing.
We'd heard about these guys
who got a little bit stroppy
after a few drinks.
[in RP accent] "Oh, I say, you know,
play Rachmaninoff's
Piano Concerto. Ha-ha-ha!"
We were standing around saying,
"Hi, it's very nice," you know,
and having a drink, and, uh,
one of them came up behind me
and snipped a piece of my hair off.
-[indistinct chatter]
-[Ringo] You know,
which got me angry. So I just swung round,
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
[in RP accent] "Oh, it's okay, old chap.
We're just, you know"
Bullshit, bullshit.
[John] Some bloody animal
cut Ringo's hair,
you know, in the middle of--
I walked out of that, you know,
swearing at all of 'em,
you know. I just left in the middle of it.
[interviewer]
What do you have to say about that?
-[John] Really? [laughs]
-[crowd laughing]
["I'll Follow The Sun" playing]
One day you'll look to see ♪
[Paul] And then we eventually,
as you say, got down to Miami,
which was, well, I mean,
that was just like paradise.
Because, I mean,
we'd never been to anywhere
where there was palm trees.
And, uh, we took a lot of photos.
You know, we were like tourists,
and we had our Pentax cameras.
I was the one ♪
But tomorrow may rain
so I'll follow the sun ♪
And now the time has come
and so, my love, I must go ♪
And though I lose a friend,
in the end you will know ♪
Oh ♪
One day you'll find ♪
That I have gone ♪
But tomorrow may rain
so I'll follow the sun ♪
[music concludes]
[Ringo] This was just
the most brilliant place
I'd ever been to,
and people were lending us
yachts or anything we wanted.
I mean, this family lent us their boat,
and they let me drive a 60-foot yacht.
[chuckles] You know, a speedboat,
which I proceeded to bring in
to port head-on [laughing]
[crashing sound]
not really knowing much
about driving speedboats.
[imitates speedboat] And so, you know,
they have those pretty rails
on the front hanging over,
well, this was kkkrrrgg
and just bent the the bugger
all over the place.
But they didn't seem to mind,
you know. They were just happy.
[Paul] We had a great time there.
We We stayed in a hotel
most of the time and sort of looked down
on the sand, where the kids,
the fans, would write,
"I LOVE JOHN" on the sand, you know,
so you could read it
from your hotel room.
I remember playing at one of the hotels,
and they always have cabarets.
[George] What's your name?
-[Paul] Which one are you?
-[fans screaming]
[Ralph Renick] And now, from the stage
of the Deauville Hotel,
here he is Ed Sullivan!
["There's No Business
Like Show Business" playing]
[audience cheering]
[music concludes]
Thank you very, very much. Thank you.
Well, you know, it's so very nice
to be here.
Thank you, Ralph Renick,
for that very nice intro.
And now this has happened again.
Last Sunday, on our show in New York,
the Beatles played
to the greatest TV audience
that's ever been assembled
in the history of American TV.
Now, tonight, here in Miami Beach,
again, the Beatles face
a record-busting audience.
[audience cheering]
Ladies and gentlemen
here are four of the nicest youngsters
we've ever had on our stage
The Beatles! Bring them on out.
[fans screaming, cheering]
["This Boy" playing]
-That boy ♪
-This boy ♪
Took my love away ♪
He'll regret it someday ♪
But this boy wants you back again ♪
That boy ♪
Isn't good for you ♪
Though he may want you too ♪
This boy wants you back again ♪
-Oh, and this boy ♪
-[both vocalizing]
Could be happy ♪
Just to love you ♪
But, oh my ♪
That boy won't be happy ♪
-Till he's seen you cry ♪
-[crowd cheering]
Excuse the mess, won't you? Packing.
-Well, come on, then.
-[George] Hang on.
-[Paul] Come on.
-[George] Hang--
[Paul] Ouch!
[George] You've got to stick
everything in.
It's all sort of hanging out the edges.
[music continues faintly]
[chuckling]
Huh, where's the zip?
[Ed Sullivan] These youngsters
from Liverpool, England,
and their conduct over here
not only as fine professional singers,
but as a group of fine youngsters,
will leave an imprint
with everyone over here who's met 'em!
-Okay, let's go.
-[crowd cheering]
[John] But nobody ever sort of
made it in America,
and we were dying to be the first.
[George] A lot of people
had tried and failed in America.
[Paul] We were just very confident.
Confidence was at an all-time high.
[Ringo] I felt we'd conquered America.
It was sort of an attitude we had,
"Okay, we've conquered Sweden,
we've conquered France.
Yeah, so America was ours now."
["I Want To Hold Your Hand" playing]
[crowd cheering]
[fans screaming]
Oh yeah,
I'll tell you something ♪
I think you'll understand ♪
When I say that something ♪
I wanna hold your hand ♪
I wanna hold your hand ♪
I wanna hold your hand ♪
Oh, please ♪
[interviewer] What did you most
like about the trip, Ringo?
Oh, I just loved all of it,
you know, especially Miami.
-[interviewer] Yeah.
-The sun, you know.
I didn't know what it meant
until I went over there.
[interviewer] Don't you
get it up in Liverpool?
No, they they're finished
up there, you know.
-[laughs]
-Cut it out.
[interviewer]
Did you ever have a chance, John,
-to just get away on your own
-Yeah.
without anybody recognizing you?
We borrowed a couple of
millionaires' houses, you know.
-Well
-Well, we did!
You could afford to buy a couple
of millionaires' houses, couldn't you?
No. Not yet. Not yet.
We'd sooner borrow them. It's cheaper.
And we did a bit of water
skiing. Well, sort of. And--
Yeah, we had a great time.
[interviewer]
Did your wife enjoy it over there?
Uh, she loved it. Who? Who? Who?
[shushes] Don't tell them
he's married. It's a secret.
[interviewer] Oh, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry about that.
I didn't mean to-- What about the, uh,
taste of the fans over there?
Did you find, same stuff?
-He never bit any.
-[both chuckle]
Yeah. Uh--
We expected them to be very different,
-but they weren't at all.
-[interviewer] Yeah.
[laughs] The The accent was
the only thing, you know.
It was the only difference.
Lovely. Yeah.
Did they reckon you sang in an
English accent or American one?
No, some fella said, "How come,
'cause you're from Britain,
and you still sing in an American accent?"
or something.
Funny. We'd been trying
to explain it to him
-that it's a Liverpool accent.
-That we are American, you know,
but he wouldn't believe us.
He kept-- Oh, it was funny.
[interviewer]
I hear anyway that the four of you
are going to be millionaires
by the end of the year.
-Really? Oh.
-Oh, that's nice.
-Thanks.
-[interviewer] Have you got time--
-I hope so!
-Congratulations.
Have you Have you got time
to actually spend this money?
What money?
["A Hard Day's Night" playing]
It's been a hard day's night ♪
And I've been working like a dog ♪
It's been a hard day's night ♪
I should be sleeping like a log ♪
But when I get home to you,
I find the things that you do ♪
Will make me feel all right ♪
[Paul] We'd always-- You know,
I'm talking about this progression
with the Beatles from, you know,
little Stevedores and Dockers Union,
Cavern, better clubs, you know,
so-and-so
So, uh, films was one
that we'd always thought--
we'd loved The Girl Can't Help It,
and we knew that in rock and roll,
you could get in a film.
How do you reckon that one out?
I loved the
the pictures as a kid, you know.
I used to go a hell of a lot
to the Beresford
and the Gaumont,
you know, up in Liverpool.
[music continues faintly]
Uh, great memories
from the Saturday Morning Pictures,
uh, you know, whatever it was.
If it was a pirate movie,
I would be a pirate.
You know, if it was a Western,
Saturday morning after the movie
I would come home as a cowboy.
I mean, it was
was great fantasy land for me,
movies, as a kid.
Well, we were interested in films,
and what happened was, um,
Brian started talking to people,
knowing of our interest
[music concludes]
and, um, he came up
with Dick Lester's name.
And, well, he did
The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film.
It's a short with Spike Milligan,
classic, little sort of comedy short,
it's about five minutes or something.
But I don't know if it's that funny now,
but it was very funny then.
-[jazzy incidental music playing]
-[birds chirping]
-[music concludes]
-So they got hold of Dick Lester,
and we we were really pleased.
And Dick came round.
He was a bit of a musician.
He could play a bit of jazz piano.
So, uh, he was even more interesting.
Um he was American,
but he'd been working in Britain,
and he'd worked with the Goons,
so that was kind of enough for us.
And he got hold of Alun Owen,
who was a Welsh, uh, playwright.
And so he was a very likable Welsh bloke,
and he came and he hung out
with us for a few days,
which was great, 'cause he picked up
all the little sort of things
"He's very clean, isn't he?"
Picked up all the little
sort of jokes and the sarcasm,
you know, the sort of
the "Beatle way", the humor,
you know John's wit,
and each one of us
Ringo's laconic humor, you know.
So he picked up our characters,
which was good.
[John] Normally, in pictures
you do things back to front.
Like, the end, you you make
a film of that on one day,
and then the next day,
you do the beginning,
but in this one,
we almost did it in sequence.
So it was very exciting.
We got on a train
at Marylebone Station one day,
and so the train took off,
and we were in a film.
[Paul] Excuse me, have you seen
that little old man we were with?
[Paul] And there were these little girls,
schoolgirls in gymslips,
who were actually models.
And we, of course, were quite
fascinated with them,
-and George married one.
-Sorry for disturbing you girls.
[Paul] Pattie. Pattie Boyd
was one of the girls on the train.
["I Should Have Known Better" playing]
So I should have realized
a lot of things before ♪
If this is love,
you've got to give me more ♪
Give me more ♪
Hey, hey, hey ♪
Give me more ♪
[John] For the whole of the train bit,
we're just in-- going to pieces, you know,
we were so embarrassed about it all.
It was all so romantic, with these lights
and, you know, coming to work in the limo.
I mean, the getting up early
in the morning
wasn't the best thing we could do.
And, uh, especially, I mean,
the scene in Hard Day's Night where
the one I actually got
really good credit for,
was the walking on the beach.
Uh, "on the beach!" [laughs]
-by the canal
-["This Boy" instrumental playing]
uh, with the camera and that,
like, the lonely guy scene.
[Ringo] That came about because, you know,
I came directly to work,
very unprofessional,
straight from a nightclub,
and, uh, I was a little hungover,
to say the least. You know,
I was just so out of it. So
we said, "Well, let's do anything!"
And, uh
My version of it, I said,
"Well, just let me walk around,
and film me."
And why I look so cold and dejected
is because I felt like shit
[laughs] you know, so there's
no no acting going on there.
I just felt so bad!
I was less embarrassed than the others,
you know that? But I think John
also got into the movie too.
[music concludes]
-Hello.
-Hello.
-Oh, wait a minute, don't say you are--
-No, I'm not.
-Oh, you are.
-I'm not.
-Oh, you are. I know you are.
-I'm not, no.
-Excuse me.
-You look just like him.
Do I? You're the first one
that's said that, ever.
Yes, you do. Look.
-No, me eyes are lighter.
-Excuse me.
All right, Noddy.
-Me nose.
-Oh, yes, your nose is very
-Is it?
-Well, I would have said so.
Oh, you know him better, though.
I do not. He's only a casual acquaintance.
-That's what you say.
-What have you heard?
-It's all over the place.
-Is it? Is it really?
Mm, but I wouldn't have it.
I stuck up for you.
-I knew I could rely on you.
-Thanks.
You don't look like him at all.
[John] She looks more like him than I do.
[camera shutter clicking]
[George] Alun Owen tried to write a scene
of us being harassed by the press,
which was part of our daily duty, really.
And they were saying things,
you must have seen A Hard Day's Night,
saying things like,
"How did you find America?"
Turn left at Greenland.
"What do you call that hairstyle?"
Arthur.
Has success changed your life?
Yeah, I think it did,
'cause, as I say, Alun hung around with us
and, uh, was careful to
to try and put words
into our mouths
that he might have heard us
speak or that he thought
So I think he did a very good script.
[cymbal crashes]
Leave them drums alone.
[floor manager] Oh, surely I could
just have a little touch.
You so much as breathe heavy
on 'em, and I'm out on strike.
[floor manager] Aren't you being
rather arbitrary?
There you go, hiding behind
a smoke screen of bourgeois clichés.
I don't go messing about
with your earphones, do I?
-Spoilsport.
-[Ringo] Well?
He's very fussy about his drums, you know.
They loom large in his legend.
-What's up?
-Oh, he's sulking again.
I'll show him.
["If I Fell" playing]
If I fell in love with you,
would you promise to be true ♪
And help me understand? ♪
'Cause I've been in love before ♪
And I found that love was more ♪
[George Martin] They didn't
really get totally immersed
in record production until later on,
when they stopped touring.
There wasn't time.
They would dash into the studio,
put down their tracks,
and they'd leave
all the work really to us.
[music concludes]
I mean, they were
they were incredibly busy
during those first years.
["I'm Happy Just To Dance
With You" playing]
Before this dance is through
I think I'll love you too ♪
I'm so happy when you dance with me ♪
I don't wanna kiss ♪
[George] If you look at our itinerary,
some of those years, where we--
we did, uh, maybe a tour
of England, a tour of Europe,
a tour of America,
two albums and about four EPs
and three singles,
and we made a movie all in the same year,
you think, "Jesus! How did we do that?"
-[music concludes]
-[John] Okay, ready?
Paul? They're runnin'.
A-one, two, three, four
-["I'll Be Back" playing]
-You ♪
If you break my heart, I'll go ♪
But I'll be back again ♪
[music continues faintly]
[Brian Matthew] The next few minutes
are in the lap of the gods
and the hands of the Beatles,
which means anything can happen.
[music concludes]
We're gonna hear
shorter versions of, uh
-[John] Yes.
-songs from their film.
-[John] It's a film, yes.
-[Brian Matthew] Gather round,
famous film stars.
-[John] Gather round.
-[Brian Matthew] That's them.
-[Paul] Right, Brian.
-[Brian Matthew] Now, look,
in my young days, when I was a lad,
they used to have actors in films
-and that. Now they
-[John] Hey, listen
-[Paul] It's all changed now, Brian.
-[John] It's all changed now.
[Paul] They're not doing that.
No actors.
[Brian Matthew] In those days,
the actors used to say
their best bits were left
on the cutting room floor.
-Did you find that?
-[John] No.
No, no, those were
the good bits in the film.
-You should have seen the rest!
-[Brian Matthew] Yes?
-[John] Rubbish.
-[Brian Matthew] Was it really?
-[John] Even worse, yes.
-[Brian Matthew] Who was worst?
-[John] Oh, Paul.
-[Brian] I see.
[Paul] I think John was about the worst.
-[John] No, it was you.
-[Paul] Oh, Ringo was very good.
-[Brian Matthew] He was.
-[Paul] He's a good lad, yes.
[Brian Matthew] They're saying
he's a new Charlie Chaplin.
-Do you think that's right?
-[Paul] New Charlie Chaplin?
[John] Oh aye, yeah. He's an old one!
We're out!
["Can't Buy Me Love" playing]
Can't buy me love ♪
I found it exciting. I I loved it!
Because there was a lot of comedy in it,
people were saying, "Oh, you know,
they're young Marx Brothers.
I think there was nothing else to
There'd never been a group
of four people, I suppose,
doing comedy besides them.
But I think that was part of the thing,
that the Beatles were very funny.
I mean, they actually were funny.
I don't care too much for money ♪
For money can't buy me love ♪
[John] Well, all of us
liked the bit in the field
where we all jump about like lunatics,
because that's pure film,
as the director told us.
You know, it's just pure filming,
and we could have been anybody.
But we enjoy that.
I don't care too much for money ♪
For money can't buy me love ♪
Can't buy me love ♪
Everybody tells me so ♪
Can't buy me love ♪
No, no, no, no ♪
Say you don't need no diamond rings ♪
And I'll be satisfied ♪
Tell me that you want
the kind of things ♪
That money just can't buy ♪
I don't care too much for money ♪
Money can't buy me love ♪
Whaow! ♪
Can't buy me love ♪
Everybody tells me so ♪
Can't buy me love ♪
No, no, no, no ♪
Say you don't need no diamond ring ♪
And I'll be satisfied ♪
Tell me that you want
the kind of things ♪
That money just can't buy ♪
'Cause I don't care too much for money ♪
Money can't buy me love ♪
Can't buy me love, love ♪
Can't buy me love ♪
-[music concludes]
-[audience cheering]
[George] Well, John,
I believe you've written a book,
and this book's called John Lennon
In His Own Write, folks.
John Lennon In His Own Write,
W-R-I-T-E, you see,
it's a larf. It's a larf
a minute with John Lennon.
Some of you might, uh,
find it a bit difficult to understand
because, you see,
it's in a sort of funny lingo.
Well, we get it, you see.
It's-- It's full of larfs.
And, uh, I I don't really know
how you could describe it, but
[Ringo]
I've never read anything like it.
You know, the stories
are so funny ha-ha!
Many little drawings
which will make you laugh.
We also have the Wrestling Dog.
Once upon a tom
in a far off distant land
far across the sea
miles away from anyway
over the hills as the crow bark
Ow!
39 peoble lived
miles away from anywhere
on a little island on a distant land.
When harvest time came along
all the people celebrated
with a mighty feast
and dancing and that. It was Perry's
-for Perry was the Loud Mayor
-job to provide
and Perry's great pleasure
I might add
-a new and exciting
-and usually it was
thrill and spectacular performer
sometimes a dwarf was used
this year Perry had surpassed himselve
by getting a Wrestling Dog!
But who would fight this wondrous beast?
I wouldn't for a kick-off.
Wouldn't get me fighting it, Dudley!
-[crowd laughing, cheering]
-Mr. John Lennon
But when we said
you'd just written it,
have you, in fact, just done it,
or did you do it a long time ago?
It's been a long time.
-Long time.
-[Keith Fordyce] How long?
About 40 years or so, I think.
[Keith Fordyce] Come off it.
How long ago did you write it?
No, it's a couple of years, you know.
Some of it's old, some of it's new,
something borrowed,
something brown.
-[laughs]
-[laughs]
[Keith Fordyce] Is this, uh, the start
of a big literary career for Lennon?
I'm hoping to go straight, yes, aye.
[Keith] I mean,
you've heard of "literary lions",
maybe we should have
a "literary Lennon" in future.
[crowd laughing]
-[laughs] I get it!
-[Keith Fordyce] You with me?
A bit slow been away.
-[secretary] Yes, 27, 28.
-Yes.
-[telephone continues ringing]
-Uh, provisionally subject
[secretary] Hello?
[woman over telephone]
Yes, long distance calling
for the manager of the Beatles.
[man over telephone] What is his name?
[woman over telephone]
May we have his name, please?
Their manager's name is Mr. Brian Epstein.
[woman over telephone] Brian Epsteen?
[man over telephone]
Epsteen? What was the first name?
B-R-Y-A-N? B-R-I-A-N?
The manager's name is Brian Epstein.
Well, he needed someone to write a book.
He needed someone to write
what was called his autobiography.
But I mean, he was only 29.
Well, then I went to Torquay with Brian
-["No Reply" playing]
-for four days
to write this potboiler with him,
A Cellarful of Noise.
And he said, on the third day,
"I've had a lovely, lovely idea, Derek.
I want you to join us."
"Well," I thought,
"this is incredible.
This is the idea, after all."
And I'd given up on the idea
of joining them for the time being,
thinking, "If it happens, it happens."
So, uh, after about 15 years
on newspapers,
I just dropped out and joined the Beatles
as his, uh, Brian's personal assistant,
and then, eventually,
as their press officer.
I remember we played in Amsterdam
was when Derek first became,
-like, on tour with us.
-[music concludes]
It was all very exciting and wonderful,
but, uh, I think only a madman
would have volunteered
-to join such a thing.
-["Long Tall Sally" playing]
I'm gonna tell Aunt Mary
'bout Uncle John ♪
He said he had been busy
but he got a lot of fun ♪
Oh baby, yeah, now, baby ♪
Woo-ooh-ooh, baby
Some fun tonight ♪
[music concludes]
We nearly didn't do that tour.
Yes, I was desperately ill. I,
uh, was having my tonsils out.
[chuckles] Yeah.
George is a very loyal person,
and he said,
"If Ringo's not part of the group,
well, it's not Beatles."
He said, "I don't see we should
do it. I'm not gonna go."
What a guy. I never knew that.
How many Beatles does it take
to change a light bulb, see?
Four. And, uh Anyway, I--
Yeah, I really despise
the way we couldn't ever
make a decision for ourselves.
It was always, like,
"No. Sorry," you know.
"But Ringo must go with us."
"Sorry! We'll get a new drummer."
[upbeat drum music playing]
Oh, welcome. [whistles]
-Got it! All right, Jimmy?
-All right.
-Got it.
-Got it, Jimmy.
-We got it.
-Got it.
And it was very strange, and, uh,
you know, because I wasn't well
and they'd taken Jimmy Nicols
and I thought they didn't
love me anymore, you know,
and all that stuff went through my head.
["Long Tall Sally" playing]
I saw Uncle John with Long Tall Sally ♪
He saw Aunt Mary coming ♪
And he ducked back in the alley ♪
Oh baby, yeah, now, baby ♪
Woo-ooh-ooh, baby ♪
Some fun tonight
Ow! ♪
Well, Long Tall Sally's
built pretty sweet ♪
She's got everything
that Uncle John needs ♪
Oh baby, yeah, now, baby
Woo-ooh-ooh, baby ♪
Some fun tonight, ah! ♪
[fans cheering]
[fans cheering]
Well, we're gonna
have some fun tonight ♪
Have some fun tonight, wooh! ♪
Everything's all right ♪
Have some fun tonight ♪
Have some fun ♪
Yeah yeah, yeah, wah! ♪
We're gonna have some fun tonight ♪
Have some fun tonight ♪
Everything's all right ♪
Have some fun tonight ♪
Yeah, we'll have some fun,
some fun tonight ♪
-[music concludes]
-[interviewer] You're on, Jimmy,
whether you'll find it difficult
to take over the role of Ringo?
-Uh, no, not really. No.
-[laughs]
As far as Ringo, I can never,
um, I can never make up for what
Ringo is, you know. I just try my
[interviewer] How long
will you be doing this?
-Um, until next Thursday.
-[interviewer] Next Thursday?
-You're sort of understudy?
-Yes. Yes, I am.
[interviewer]
Do you think it a great break?
-Oh, yes. Excellent.
-[laughs]
[interviewer]
Are the others treating you good?
-[laughs]
-Marvelous.
[interviewer] How is Ringo, by the way?
Your throat is so sore.
You're trying to live on jelly
and ice cream.
And I was a smoker in those days,
and I was smoking the next day.
And that was pretty rough, you know.
[inhales]
["I'll Be Back" playing]
'Cause I told you once before ♪
Goodbye ♪
But I came back again ♪
I love you so ♪
I'm the one who wants you ♪
Yes, I'm the one who wants you ♪
Oh-ho, oh-ho ♪
Oh you could find better things to do ♪
Than to break my heart again ♪
Always good for a gag is John, you know.
What do you expect to do
in Hong Kong? [laughs]
Well, Bob [chuckles]
Well, Bob, in Hong Kong, um,
I don't know, just sort of see
what's happening.
You know, it's very different, isn't it,
from what I've ever seen before,
I should imagine.
Do you think you'll get an opportunity
-to do any sightseeing?
-Hope so.
You could find better things to do ♪
Than to break my heart again ♪
[Paul] Hong Kong was different.
It was all army personnel.
It was very funny.
We'd expected all Asian people.
It was all British army personnel.
I wanna go ♪
[George]
But it was all these British people.
There weren't any Chinese
there at that time.
You know I hate to leave you ♪
Oh-ho, oh-ho, oh you ♪
[Paul]
It was a slightly sort of flat show.
As I say, it was in a smallish place.
They all sort of behaved themselves,
and they all looked like
they looked like
a "khaki" audience, you know,
it was slightly strange.
But we just played.
I don't think we enjoyed
the show too much.
["Any Time At All" playing]
Any time at all ♪
Any time at all ♪
Any time at all ♪
All you gotta do is call
and I'll be there ♪
[Paul] We had these capes
that were disasters
when we hit Australia,
and the rain hit them,
and the dye started coming out.
[Neil Aspinall] And they put the Beatles
on the back of this,
you know, uh
flatback truck, right, with umbrellas,
right, in these--
and they were wearing these
capes, right? I was okay.
I was in the cab.
The driver wouldn't go any faster.
I kept saying,
"Go faster. It's pouring down."
And he'd say, "These kids
have been waiting here, you know,
for 24 hours to see these guys."
Got to the hotel, and everybody was blue,
'cause the dye had soaked off these coats
that were made in Hong Kong! [chuckles]
has faded away ♪
I'll try to make it shine ♪
There is nothing I won't do ♪
When you need a shoulder to cry on ♪
I hope it will be mine ♪
Call me tonight and I'll come to you ♪
[music concludes]
They played Amsterdam, Hong Kong,
and I met them in Australia.
And Australia was great, of course,
because, you know, the flight
is just horrendous to Australia.
It still is. It's, you know,
they may have shaved
a couple of hours off the flight,
but it's still a hell of a long way.
And I remember getting off the plane
and just feeling like a disaster area.
But Australia was fabulous.
I mean, it was great being back
with the boys and back in the band.
And they'd bought me presents
in Hong Kong, and, you know,
that that was a really
nice moment in the whole deal.
[fans screaming]
I'd like to say one more thing.
It's very nice for all of us
to have back with us now Ringo!
[crowd cheering]
[Paul] Two, three, four
-["All My Loving" playing]
-Close your eyes and I'll kiss you ♪
Tomorrow I'll miss you ♪
Remember I'll always be true ♪
And then while I'm away
I'll write home every day ♪
And I'll send all my loving to you ♪
I'll pretend that I'm kissing
the lips I am missing ♪
And hope that my dreams
will come true ♪
And then while I'm away ♪
I'll write home every day ♪
And I'll send all my loving to you ♪
All my loving I will send to you ♪
All my loving,
darling, I'll be true ♪
Yeah! ♪
[Brian Matthew] The news from Down Under
is that when
the Beatles arrived in Adelaide,
they were greeted by 300,000 fans,
which isn't surprising when you consider
that the Beatles occupy
the top six placings
on the Australian chart.
It looks as though
Australia is truly in the grip
of Beatlemania. Hurry home, boys!
-[crowd cheering]
-[music concludes]
[Paul] That was like
heroes' welcome, that was.
That was the kind of thing
where you'd go to the town hall
and they'd all be in the center.
We quite enjoyed all that stuff.
Could get a bit wearing,
but that, that certainly wasn't.
When there was
that many people, you know,
you were just flabbergasted!
[George] Yeah, shocked and stunned.
Just happy that it was-- that, you know,
"Oh, we're still popular down here, too."
Nice feeling. And everybody was saying,
"Oh, there's more people here
than came to see the Queen!"
Well, I should think so.
She didn't have any hit records!
[John] You know, it's funny,
but there was more people
came to see us there than anywhere.
I mean, it looked like that.
I think the whole of Australia was there!
[Ringo] Well, we were on the roof
of, uh
some hotel. I don't know
if it was Sydney or Adelaide,
or where it was, but it was Australia,
and there was thousands,
thousands and thousands of kids.
And one of the things that stuck out
in my mind was that, uh,
or in my memory, was there was a
there was some guy on crutches.
I don't know why I just was focused in
on this guy at the time.
And, uh, he was shouting
and getting all excited,
and I actually saw him,
like, throw his crutches away,
you know, sort of like
he was healed. [chuckles]
And he-- he fell right on his face.
I mean, he just fell over.
So, before we go, we'd like to say,
uh, to all of you here tonight,
and to everybody
who's sort of come along
to see us on this tour,
we'd like to say thank you all very much
for coming along, because it was lovely.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
-[crowd cheering]
-["You Can't Do That" playing]
I've got something to say
that might cause you pain ♪
If I catch you talking
to that boy again ♪
I'm gonna let you down
and leave you flat ♪
Because I told you before,
oh, you can't do that ♪
Aaah! ♪
[crowd cheering]
You can't do that ♪
You can't do that ♪
You can't do that ♪
You can't do that ♪
You can't do that ♪
Everybody's green ♪
'Cause I'm the one who won your love ♪
But if they'd seen ♪
You talking that way,
they'd laugh in my face ♪
So please listen to me
if you wanna stay mine ♪
I can't help my feelings,
I go out of my mind ♪
I'm gonna let you down ♪
-Let you down ♪
-And leave you flat ♪
Gonna let you down and leave you flat ♪
Because I told you before,
oh, you can't do that ♪
-[crowd cheering]
-[music concludes]
Even though we felt, yes,
we're established,
and we've conquered all these countries,
and, uh, we're selling a lot of records,
and they all love us,
you know, I don't think we--
or I didn't feel like
it's still gonna go on forever.
["A Hard Day's Night" playing]
It's been a hard day's night ♪
[John] And when you first
see yourself on the big screen,
you just watch yourself, you're thinking,
"Oh, look at my Look at that ear!
Oh, look at me nose," you know.
"Look at me hair stick--"
And each one of us did that.
But when I get home to you ♪
I find the things that you do
will make me feel all right ♪
You know I work all day ♪
To get you money to buy you things ♪
And it's worth it just to hear you say ♪
You're going to give me everything ♪
So why on earth should I moan? ♪
'Cause when I get you alone ♪
You know I feel okay ♪
When I'm home,
everything seems to be right ♪
When I'm home,
feeling you holding me tight ♪
Tight, yeah! ♪
It's been a hard day's night ♪
And I've been working like a dog ♪
It's been a hard day's night ♪
I should be sleeping like a log ♪
But when I get home to you,
I find the things that you do ♪
Will make me feel all right, aaah! ♪
[Ringo] They're very supportive,
the Liverpool people.
and they loved us getting on, you know.
I think, though, they felt
we were traitors when we left.
But the, you know, the whole town
was behind us.
[John] We heard that
we're finished in Liverpool,
you see. And after a bit,
we began to believe it.
We thought, "We don't
wanna go home," you know.
"If they're gonna do that,
we'll just sneak home
to our houses."
And, you know, they kept going on.
People saying,
“Oh, I've been down the Cavern.
They don't like you anymore."
Of course, they're talking to people
that didn't even know us then anyway.
We went back and it was--
it was one of the best ever!
[crowd cheering]
["Things We Said Today" playing]
You say you will love me
if I have to go ♪
You'll be thinking of me,
somehow I will know ♪
Someday when I'm lonely ♪
Wishing you weren't so far away ♪
Then I will remember
things we said today ♪
You say you'll be mine, girl ♪
Till the end of time ♪
These days such a kind girl ♪
Seems so hard to find ♪
Someday when we're dreaming ♪
Deep in love, not a lot to say ♪
Then we will remember ♪
Things we said today ♪
Me, I'm just the lucky kind ♪
Love to hear you say that love is love ♪
And though we may be blind ♪
Love is here to stay ♪
And that's enough ♪
To make you mine, girl ♪
Be the only one ♪
Love me all the time, girl ♪
We'll go on and on ♪
Someday when we're dreaming ♪
Deep in love, not a lot to say ♪
Then we will remember ♪
Things we said today ♪
Me, I'm just the lucky kind ♪
Love to hear you say ♪
That love is love ♪
And though we may be blind ♪
Love is here to stay ♪
And that's enough ♪
To make you mine, girl ♪
Be the only one ♪
Love me all the time, girl ♪
We'll go on and on ♪
Someday when we're dreaming ♪
Deep in love, not a lot to say ♪
Then we will remember ♪
Things we said today ♪
[music concludes]