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Pretty Good

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

A Major Disappointment

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

It was madness, a frenzy, a pop-music explosion that still has barely been topped in the US for sheer virtuosity and awareness. After holding off on an official US mini-tour until they got some top 10 hits- and then suddenly getting THREE that were simultaneously number 1- 72 million people, more or less depending on who's reporting, watched the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show when they finally played in New York city on his nightly program (the filmmakers, Al and David Maysles, couldn't get permission to film in the CBS studio, so they just went across the street and found an apartment with a family watching it instead). In short, Hard Day's Night wasn't quite as zany fiction but a skewed documentary.For The First US Visit, on the fly and almost by total luck, the Maysles capture the Beatles in all their personal humor, affability, and knack with dealing with the press or the common fan (or just a little girl at one down-to-earth moment). It was the start of their particular, wonderful style of "cinema truth", where there are barely any interviews, the camera and sound is so technologically simple that they can film practically anywhere, and it verged on being a home movie. There are moments when it does become a home movie, which might be a flaw not really either the Beatles or the Maysles' fault. The approach is so new that the Beatles themselves- according to Al on the extras on the DVD- were utterly curious about how the equipment worked, and would sometimes, as would be the case during the first thrust of "Beatlemania", be self-conscious and look at the camera.But the feeling for the most part is so natural and cool that we get to just see what the Beatles were like... which, of course, are the Beatles in all their fun, their minor moments of seriousness, their whole bewilderment at how MAMMOTH their coming to America had become. The Maysles can capture that and little details (i.e. a woman in the background of a radio station playing a song and grooving along), which is great since the documentary is inter-cut with footage from the two Sullivan appearances (NYC and Miami) and a concert at Washington DC, shot live at times like a boxing match from afar. It's the 'early' period, and it's loaded with the crying and screaming girls, and those wonderful hits "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", "She Loves You", "Twist and Shout." It's all very sweet nostalgia and fun for the Beatles fan. 9.5/10

Beatles: First U.S. Visit (1994) *** (out of 4) Very entertaining documentary taking a look at The Beatles as they head to the U.S. for the first time to do three Ed Sullivan shows as well as a concert in Washington, D.C.. I had seen all of the concert/Sullivan stuff in other forms but the documentary still kept me entertained with everything that was happening behind the scenes. It was fun seeing the four men off the stage, although I'm not quite sure what they were going for with all their cigarette humor. It seemed like the boys liked playing with their cigarettes with the scene where Ringo is blowing the smoke into Paul's face. The Washington, D.C. show is one I've seen and listened to before via a bootleg tape i had back in the day. I never really liked this show because it was hard understanding the band due to all the screaming girls but the audio here was a lot better. Even with that said, I can't blame the band for quitting the tours due to this type of stuff. Of the four Sullivan shows I'd say I enjoyed the last one the best as I think their version of Twist and Shout was the best performance from anything here. This documentary certainly can't be compared to The Beatles Anthology but it's still fun.

If you wish to experience the group's charm and musical euphoria of this time full on, without the intrusions of a tacked on plot or supplementary characters, check out the wonderful documentary "The Beatles' First U.S. Visit". Done by the Maysles brothers - the duo behind the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" later in the decade - the film captures all the excitement [and footage] of the Beatles' triumphant arrival in America, including all their Ed Sullivan appearances, various backstage reflections and shenanigans, and an extended, supercharged sequence of their concert at Washington Coliseum. For my money, this film is even MORE essential than A Hard Day's Night; it is, quite simply, the best extended visual document of the Beatles that we have.

It's as if you're along for the ride as a spectator in the Beatles' entourage. A revealing look at the hoopla from their prospective. The behind the scenes footage has an intimate feel as there is no narrative to distance you from what's happening. The continuity flows seamlessly, though one wonders if the Maysles may have fabricated some of the ambient dialogue in the editing.