Peebs

Primary Colors (1998)

Border Incident (1949)

Thunder in the East (1952)

The Jean Genie -- David Bowie

Uggams, Leslie

Quatermass and the Pit (1967)

I hadn't heard this but now that you mention it, the sleeves look a little short on John. According to The Rolling Stone: "Lennon and Starr wore their ladies’ coats. It was 45 degrees in London that raw January afternoon, and that doesn’t account for the icy wind whipping over the West End buildings. Impending fog had ruled out an expensive helicopter aerial shot, and the threat of rain was very real. These conditions were not ideal to making rock and roll. “[My] hands [are] too cold to play the chords,” Lennon muttered between songs, and Apple Corps exec Ken Mansfield held a constant stream of lit cigarettes so George Harrison could warm his fingertips. To ward off the winter chill, Lennon borrowed Yoko Ono’s fur coat (as he did on occasion). Ringo Starr also donned his wife Maureen’s red raincoat."

Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969) Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? (1971) What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael (2018)

Several years ago, we took our kids to see A Hard Day's Night on the big screen and I think John was their favorite, too. Yes! That pink pinstripe with the purple shirt is fantastic. Not many guys can pull that off. George and Pattie win for best dressed couple of the group. Nice to see her make a brief appearance in Get Back. I've read her book Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me. Honorable mention: I thought Maureen Starkey looked pretty cute with her long bangs. She seemed to be genuinely enjoying listening to the music, tapping her feet and smiling.

James Gleason

Nice to get a musicians take on that, thanks James. It's a great little scene and you can see George, in a lovely way, enjoying giving advice and encouragement to Ringo. I agree that John really comes alive in the concert on the roof. (Even adding that little quip at the end, "I hope we passed the audition..." ) Do you think it was just editing or do you think John was sort of checked out, letting Paul take the reins during rehersals?

I finally got around to seeing Get Back. As a Beatles fan I was a little hesitant to watch it though I had read that Peter Jackson was putting a more positive spin on the proceedings than Let It Be (1970). It was a bit too long, the footage collected was never intended for a 7-hour 48-minute miniseries. But by the time you get to the iconic rooftop concert it is quite remarkable that they put those songs together in such a short time and under those conditions. As others have mentioned, they really were in need of a guiding hand after Brian Epstein died. Starting off at the unfamiliar Twickenham soundstage, trying to put together a live tv special in a few weeks and having cameras document their every move doesn't seem like fertile ground to write songs. When they finally moved to Apple, everyone seemed more comfortable, but it still seemed a little chaotic with the equipment and setup not being ready to go. After walking out and finally being coaxed back, George seemed in better spirits, and we heard him work on some of his own songs like Old Brown Shoe. I love the scene where George, the more skilled songwriter, helps Ringo work on Octopus's Garden. The addition of Billy Preston also seemed to bring new life to the group. While the documentary seems to end on a triumphant note with rooftop concert, the specter of Allan Klein and eventually Phil Spector stepping in to produce (or overproduce if you are McCartney) the Let It Be album would all lead to a much more bitter end of The Beatles. I'm glad it didn't dive into any of that mess. As I was watching, it seemed that John Lennon was almost, I don't know, a passive member of the group. It seemed that there weren't many scenes of him contributing to songs or when it was a "John" song like Across the Universe, he just played it, but it felt like there was no footage of him working on it like there was of Paul working on say, Get Back. The bigger songs on that album were more McCartney songs so maybe that's it. Or maybe I'm just reading too much into it. I wonder if anyone else had any thoughts on this. Overall, I enjoyed the documentary but I think it could have been edited down. On a completely superficial note, I loved those late 1960's fashions:

Tennessee Johnson (1942)

William Powell

Ding Dong, Ding Dong -- George Harrison

Laughter in Paradise (1951)

Through a Glass Darkly (1961) Next: The Looking Glass War (1970)

The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

Quinn, Martha

I Love You, Alice B Toklas! (1968)

O'Rourke, Heather

The Glory Brigade (1953)

Red, Hot and Blue (1949)

Morrow, Vic

The Shootist Next: Anne Baxter