The Beatles Playing Themselves

Rating: 8/10 (3 June 2014)

Recently caught this on TCM, hadn't seen it in may years. There's not much of a plot (come to think of it, virtually none!) but it's a day in the life of the Fab Four, during the birth of Beatlemania, as they are going to be performing at some BBC TV extravaganza. Expertly filmed in B&W, director Richard Lester manages to capture a documentary feel to this without the heavy handed narration. At the heart of this are the boys performing some of the best of their early music, some simple yet brilliant pop. About the final .15-20 minutes they are on stage in front of a screaming audience of mostly teenage girls. Lester has some great shots during this-including from behind the group, looking out into this mass of pubescent frenzy. If you have no interest in the Beatles you'll probably be bored...but if you don't know much about them and are curious as to what the fuss was about, check it out.