The trailer for a new Beatles documentary features new interviews with Sir Ringo Starr and Sir Paul McCartney recalling what it was like to land in the US at the height of Beatlemania.
Beatles ’64 will follow the Liverpool band – John Lennon, Sir Paul, George Harrison, and Sir Ringo – touching down at Kennedy Airport in New York City on February 7 1964, and is produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese.
It will feature never-before-seen footage of the band as well as capturing the camaraderie of the Fab Four.
In the Disney+ teaser, released on Thursday, black and white footage shows the band on a bus chatting with strong Liverpool accents, as well as joking and smoking and unsure which city they are in during their US tour.
Reflecting on that time, Sir Paul recalls their journey to America came shortly after President John F Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas in 1963.
The 82-year-old says: “Maybe America needed something like The Beatles to be lifted out of sorrow.”
It also shows Sir Ringo being interviewed by Scorsese.
While the filmmaker laughs, Sir Ringo says: “We were just like ‘we’re in America, America!'”
At one point after footage of screaming and fainting girls is shown, he also says: “I think the craziness was going on in the world and in the band, we were kind of normal and the rest of the world was crazy. Everybody got into the mania when The Beatles came to town.”
The film is directed by David Tedeschi and produced by Sir Paul and Sir Ringo as well as Harrison’s widow Olivia and Lennon’s son Sean.
Scorsese has previously directed the HBO Harrison documentary, titled George Harrison: Living In The Material World, which explored the life and music of the Beatles star.
A previous documentary, The Beatles: Get Back, directed by The Lord Of The Rings filmmaker Peter Jackson, was released in 2021 on Disney+.
Beatles ’64 will be released on November 29 on Disney+.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here