Show Notes
In December 1968 Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who next month filmed The Beatles for the Let It Be/Get Back sessions, shot this circus-themed showcase for the post-psychedelic rock movement, starring John Lennon and Yoko Ono fronting supergroup The Dirty Mac, which also featured Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Mitch Mitchell. Between performances the Rolling Stones introduced acts like The Who and Taj Mahal, and there were pieces to camera from John and Yoko with Mick Jagger.
We ask: Beatles or Stones: is it a stupid question? Why was the film, like so much of the Get Back footage, shelved for so long, only seeing a release in 1996? Why didn't The Beatles perform here as a group? And was Yoko Ono subverting the gendered norms of the rock 'n' roll vocal performance by wailing a lot?
You can pick up the DVD cheaply to watch the whole film, or watch most of the Rock and Roll Circus on YouTube, on a Stones official playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA26O6DcPwiaMAzvHCrOqZmnE46UyQQjU Watch Britpop Now, the programme we mention from 1995 presented by Damon Albarn: https://youtu.be/skb6lVS35Jk The documentary Matt mentions is Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg, available to rent online: https://www.flicks.co.uk/movie/catching-fire-the-story-of-anita-pallenberg Performance is available to rent online too: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/performance The Netflix documentary about his 1968 comeback special is Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley: https://www.netflix.com/title/81462290
Meet the Beatles Films Podcast
The Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed Williamson. We're both film writers and Beatles fans. Between us we've written for TheShiznit.co.uk, Total Film, Den of Geek and Virgin Media.
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More from The Beatles Films Podcast
More chasing and more studied pointlessness as we head into the film's final scenes. We look at the Buster Keaton influence on the escalating police chase scenes, and ask whether Ringo is actually back where he belongs when he rejoins the group, given that there's been no narrative resolution of his earlier discontent. We look at the filming and editing techniques of the concert scene, and have a look at John's final words for Grandfather.
(Ringo's Theme.) We get on to Ringo Starr's real introduction to the world as an actor, when everyone thought "Hey, he's not bad at this, is he?" In particular he does a great job with Wilfred Brambell in the canteen, convincing us he's slowly becoming persuaded to leave the group. We spend some time parading with Ringo, looking at his interactions with the boy and in the pub.
Part 4 takes in three of the film's key solo spots: John Lennon's scene with Anna Quayle, George Harrison in the teen TV show office, and Paul McCartney fronting the Beatles' performance of And I Love Her.
From the hotel to the TV studio. We see the Beatles at a press event, which revisits one of the film's themes: that Beatlemania persists with or without the Beatles themselves. We get into more class dynamics between Ringo Starr and the sound engineer ("Aren't you being rather arbitrary?") and John Lennon's delivery of If I Fell gets us into discussing whether he could sing love songs straightforwardly without undercutting them with a joke, something which Paul McCartney didn't struggle with.
Part 2 covers roughly the next 12 minutes of Richard Lester's film. We look at the absurdist downplayed reaction to finding an intruder in your hotel room cupboard, and the generational disconnect in how comfortable the Beatles seem in the nightclub, vs how grandfather can only fit in at the casino by pretending to be someone else. Plus! The class dynamics in Ringo Starr's jump-dancing with a posh fellow clubgoer, and some more magic realism in John Lennon's bathtub scene.