Beatles '64 is a 2024 documentary film directed by David Tedeschi and produced by Martin Scorsese. It was released on Disney+ on 29 November 2024.
Premise The film documents the cultural impact of the Beatles on the United States in the aftermath of their first three-week visit to the country in February 1964, in which their historic first performances on The Ed Sullivan Show occurred. It includes archival footage from the Beatlemania era, and examines the personal dynamics of the group's members during the period.
Production The film was directed by David Tedeschi, who had first become involved with Apple Corps following his role as an editor on Martin Scorsese's documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World, with the two directors becoming "very good friends with Olivia Harrison", the wife of the late George Harrison. It was produced by Scorsese, Olivia Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Sean Ono Lennon, Margaret Bodde, Jonathan Clyde, and Mikaela Beardsley, with Jeff Jones and Rick Yorn serving as executive producers.
The film features footage shot by Albert and David Maysles originally for the 1964 documentary What's Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A., digitally restored in 4K by Park Road Post. New interviews with McCartney and Starr were also filmed. Footage of the Beatles' February 1964 performances on The Ed Sullivan Show and at the Washington Coliseum in Washington, D.C. has also been restored, with audio from these performances remixed by Giles Martin using de-mixing technology developed by Peter Jackson's WingNut Films and previously used for Beatles releases on the 2022 reissue of Revolver and the 2023 reissue of 1962–1966.
Cast
Soundtrack
A soundtrack album from the film was released digitally and on streaming platforms on 22 November 2024, a week prior to the documentary's release. The album contains studio recordings by the Beatles of songs featured in the film, as well as the original versions of tracks covered by the Beatles (e.g., the Chuck Berry recording of "Roll Over Beethoven", the Little Richard recording of "Long Tall Sally"). The compilation also includes a cover of "Yesterday" performed by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1968. Track listing All tracks written by Lennon–McCartney and performed by the Beatles, except where noted.
Notes uses the 2023 remixed edition from that year's reissue of 1962–1966 uses the 2009 remastered edition from The Beatles: Stereo Box Set
Critical reception . Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 78 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Peter Bradshaw wrote in The Guardian: "Contemporary interviews and amazing archive footage combine in a sublime snapshot of the band’s whirlwind first US visit".
Accolades Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program Philip Stockton, Allan Zaleski, and John M. Davis Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction Program Josh Berger and Giles Martin
See also The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit - Another documentary film about The Beatles U.S visit The Beatles: Get Back Let It Be (1970 film)
References
External links