The Beatles - The First U.S. Visit with Albert Maysles: DVD Cover
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The Beatles - The First U.S. Visit Director: Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Kathy Dougherty, Susan Froemke

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  • DVD Release Date: 02/03/2004
  • Original Release: 1990
  • Rating: Not Rated
  • Sales Rank: 13,698

Viewer Rating: (6 ratings)

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  • Overview
  • Editorial Reviews
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Scenes

Features

Audio commentary by Albert Maysles; The Making of the First U.S. Visit featurette.

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Scene Index

The First U.S. Visit Chapters

  • "Here's what's happening baby -- the Beatles!"
  • The Beatles arrive at JFK -- February 7, 1964
  • Meeting the press in Central Park
  • The Ed Sullivan Show (NYC #1)
  • All My Loving
  • Till There Was You
  • She Loves You
  • I Want to Hold Your Hand
  • The Beatles at the Peppermint Lounge
  • The Beatles Arrive in Washington
  • The Washington Coliseum Concert
  • I Saw Her Standing There
  • I Wanna Be Your Man
  • She Loves You
  • Miami
  • The Ed Sullivan Show (Miami)
  • From Me to You
  • This Boy
  • All My Loving
  • Preparing to Leave
  • The Ed Sullivan Show (NYC #2)
  • Twist & Shout
  • Please Please Me
  • I Want to Hold Your Hand
  • The Beatles arrive back in the U.K.
  • End credits

    The Making of the First U.S. Visit Chapters

  • The Beatles are coming!
  • Ringo, George & John phone home
  • Under siege at the hotel
  • Live in your living room
  • Relaxing at the Peppermint Lounge
  • Heading for Washington
  • Perfect Synchronization
  • Washington Coliseum
  • The Ambassador's ball
  • Back to New York
  • Miami Beach
  • Going home

    Scene Index

    • Editorial Reviews

    On February 9, 1964, approximately 73 million people -- about 30 percent of the U.S. population -- tuned in to The Ed Sullivan Show to witness the sparks igniting Beatlemania. In this moment, the Fab Four forever changed the pop-culture landscape, setting a model for the marketing of a pop band on a grand scale. Albert and David Maysles captured the days surrounding this event on film, creating a work that became a blueprint for the rock documentaries to come (they went on to make the classic Rolling Stones film Gimme Shelter). Although four decades have elapsed, the film retains its raw energy: It's there in the shrieking girls, in the insectlike swarming of the press, and the simultaneous showmanship and goofy boyishness of the Beatles themselves. Released exactly 40 years after the fact, The Beatles First U.S. Visit DVD contains the entire 81-minute feature, including the entirety of the band's Ed Sullivan performances at this time (two in New York and one in Miami), from house cameras rather than the Maysles', as they were not allowed to shoot in the theater. In between are three songs from the Washington Coliseum concert, the group's first Stateside performance. The DVD also offers a new 50-minute piece called "The Making of the First U.S. Visit," featuring previously unreleased footage along with extensive commentary from Albert Maysles. And the camera's intimacy reveals the Fab Four as remarkably human: From moments such as the incredulous boys phoning home upon arrival in their Plaza Hotel suite to Ringo twisting and shouting with a handful of sweaty kids at the Peppermint Lounge, it's maniacally good fun. Lydia Vanderloo, Barnes & Noble

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    Customer Reviews

    A Window into The Livesby Iain010100

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    October 13, 2008: This film is basically a cameraman and sound man following the Beatles around during their first visit to America. There's no narration, no interviews, no pre-packaged concert footage, just a fly-on-the-wall view of the Fab Four during the days when being famous was still new and exciting for them. We see the Beatles sitting in a limo from the airport as a gang of teenage girls descend upon the car. We see their famous first press conference and how they instantly won everyone over, them in a night club dancing, Paul and John with two female fans as they duck away into a bathroom, their not yet jaded encounters with reporters, fans, politicians, and celebrities. We also get a seat view of them performing, and (because the camera wasn't allowed in the Sullivan Theater) a view of their first Ed Sullivan performance from the home of a family.

    The DVD also contains a recent interview with the original cameraman. This is almost as interesting as the film itself. He talks about the visit from his perspective and the footage that was left out of the original movie (which is also on the DVD).

    I watched this shortly after I finished reading Bob Spitz's "The Beatles: Biography." Reading the bio really put in context this moment in time. The Fab Four had no idea the fervor they were about to create in the States. They knew they were a local sensation in England and Germany, but when they were on the plane to New York they thought no one in America knew who they were. It was only when they looked out the airplane window at the waiting crowd did they realize their popularity.

    If you are a fan of the Beatles, this is something you should see.

    I Also Recommend: The Beatles: The Biography.

    40 years old and the sound quality is terrificby Anonymous

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    January 22, 2005: Very impressive. The folks at Apple deserve a standing ovation. Music DVDs are worthless without quality sound. This DVD delivers considerably more than expected. The Sullivan performances sound better than DVD recordings 1/10 their age. The Washington DC concert is a bit rough but we can't expect miracles. If you want a DVD of the Beatles early years, this is the one and only.


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