Entertainment
Intimate documentary captures the Beatles goofing around as they take America by storm in 1964
Likely most people have seen iconic footage of the Beatles performing on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” But how many have seen Paul McCartney during that same U.S. trip feeding seagulls off his hotel balcony?
That moment — as well as George Harrison and John Lennon goofing around by exchanging their jackets — are part of the Disney+ documentary “Beatles ’64,” an intimate look at the English band’s first trip to America that uses rare and newly restored footage. It streams Friday.
“It’s so fun to be the fly on the wall in those really intimate moments,” says Margaret Bodde, who produced alongside Martin Scorsese. “It’s just this incredible gift of time and technology to be able to see it now with the decades of time stripped away so that you really feel like you’re there.”
“Beatles ’64” leans into footage of the 14-day trip filmed by documentarians Albert and David Maysles, who left behind 11 hours of the Fab Four goofing around in New York’s Plaza hotel or traveling. It was restored by Park Road Post in New Zealand.
“It’s beautiful, although it’s black and white and it’s not widescreen,” says director David Tedeschi. “It’s like it was shot yesterday and it captures the youth of the four Beatles and the fans.”
The footage is augmented by interviews with the two surviving members of the band and people whose lives were impacted, including some of the women who as teens stood outside their hotel hoping to catch a glimpse of the Beatles.
“It was like a crazy love,” fan Vickie Brenna-Costa recalls in the documentary. “I can’t really understand it now. But then, it was natural.”
The film shows the four heartthrobs flirting and dancing at the Peppermint Lounge disco, Harrison noodling with a Woody Guthrie riff on his guitar and tells the story of Ronnie Spector sneaking the band out a hotel back exit and up to Harlem to eat barbeque.
The documentary coincides with the release of a box set of vinyl albums collecting the band’s seven U.S. albums released in ’64 and early ’65 — “Meet The Beatles!,” “The Beatles’ Second Album,” “A Hard Day’s Night” (the movie soundtrack), ”Something New,” “The Beatles’ Story,” “Beatles ’65” and “The Early Beatles.” They had been out of print on vinyl since 1995.
The Beatles’ U.S. visit in 1964 also included concerts at Carnegie Hall, a gig at the Washington Coliseum in Washington, D.C., and a visit to Miami, where the band met Muhammad Ali. The documentary shows members of the band reading newspaper coverage of themselves.
Musicians like Sananda Maitreya, Ron Isley and Smokey Robinson also discuss the Fab Four and what they took from Black music. There also are interviews with residents of Harlem, critic Joe Queennan and filmmaker David Lynch, who saw the Beatles play the Washington Coliseum.
“Beatles ’64” tries to explain why young people were so besotted by John, Paul, George and Ringo. Their visit came just months after the assassination of President John. F. Kennedy and Tedeschi argues Beatlemania was a salve for a nation in mourning.
“Part of it is I think that the light was just off. They were depressed. Everything was dark. And ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ lit them up,” says Tedeschi.
As McCartney says in the documentary: “Maybe America needed something like the Beatles to lift it out of mourning and just sort of say ‘Life goes on.’”
Ahad Raza Mir and Dananeer Mobeen are making headlines with their ongoing drama ‘Meem Se Mohabbat’, which has garnered a great deal of attention from viewers.
However, it’s not just their on-screen chemistry that has fans talking. Off-screen, the duo has also become the subject of dating rumours, with fans speculating about the growing bond between them.
Ahad and Dananeer’s families have also become close in recent months. Ahad’s father, Asif Raza Mir, stars alongside Dananeer in ‘Meem Se Mohabbat’, and Ahad’s mother.
Adding fuel to the dating speculations, Dananeer recently shared a heartfelt Instagram story featuring a picture of her favorite dish, Dumba Karahi, cooked by Ahad’s mother Samra Asif using her own mom’s recipe.
This thoughtful gesture from Ahad’s family has left fans wondering if there’s more to their relationship than meets the eye.
It is to be noted that a few months ago rumours were rife that Ahad is in relationship with actress Ramsha Khan. But now latest buzz suggests that he is no longer seeing her.
However, there has been no official confirmation regarding any of these speculations.
Earlier, Ahad and his father also celebrated Dananeer’s graduation, further strengthening the bond between the two
A leaked video from the film’s set recently went viral on social media.
It shows Salman stepping out of a kaali-peeli taxi in a rugged look, wearing a blue shirt and jeans. The shoot took place in Mumbai under tight security, and parts were also filmed near Hyderabad’s famous Falaknuma Palace.
While the Ek Tha Tiger actor is seen sitting beside the driver, a few others can be seen sitting in the backseat. As the taxi stops, two other taxis coming behind are seen pulling their brakes.
A couple of months back, Bollywood superstar Salman Khan reportedly purchased bulletproof SUVs from Dubai, amid the death threats issued by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
After around 8 months of the firing incident, Salman also upgraded the security of his home in Mumbai’s Galaxy Apartment.
However, recently, Sallu was spotted travelling in a ‘Kaali Peeli’ taxi and the video has gone viral on social media.
Salman Khan is ready to wow his fans once again with his upcoming film Sikandar. Directed by AR Murugadoss, known for hits like Ghajini and Thuppakki, the movie promises intense action and drama. Produced by Sajid Nadiadwala, Sikandar will release on Eid 2025.
Richard Gere has opened up about moving to Spain from the United States with his family.
In a recent interview with Elle España, the 75-year-old said that since making the move with his wife Alejandra Silva and their children — sons Alexander, 5, and James, 4, in addition to Silva’s 11-year-old son Albert from her previous marriage to Govind Friedland — they are “happier than ever.”
“The truth is that you are seeing us in our momentum. We are happier than ever,” he told the publication. “[Alejandra], because she is at home and I because, if she is happy, I am happy.”
The Pretty Woman actor first revealed he was selling his home in Connecticut with the goal of moving to Spain back in November 2024.
The home had been originally purchased in 2022 for $10.8 million.
Back in April that year, the Runaway Bride actor opened up about wanting to leave the U.S. and start a life with Silva in Spain so she could spend more time with her relatives.
Silva, 41, is originally from La Coruña, Spain, though she’s spent considerable time with Gere in the States since their 2018 wedding.
Gere met Silva in Positano, Italy, in 2014 when he was still married to his second wife, Carey Lowell — with whom he shares 24-year-old son Homer. Before Lowell, the Hollywood star was married to supermodel Cindy Crawford from 1991 to 1995.
“For Alejandra, it will be wonderful to be closer to her family, her lifelong friends, and her culture,” Gere told Vanity Fair Spain at the time. “She was very generous in giving me six years living in my world, so it is only fair that I give her at least another six living in hers.”
The Agency actor further discussed the move while speaking on The Today Show in November. “My wife is Spanish, and we’re going there for her family, her friends, her culture,” he said. “The kids are bilingual, so it’s really going to be great for them.”
Gere isn’t the only well-known figure to have left the U.S. Eva Longoria also revealed in a November interview with Marie Claire that she and her family were splitting their time between Spain and Mexico City.
“I get to escape and go somewhere. Most Americans aren’t so lucky. They’re going to be stuck in this dystopian country, and my anxiety and sadness is for them,” she told the outlet.
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