Taglines: An intimate bioscopic experience with The Beatles.
Let It Be movie synopsis. Filmed on-location at Apple and Twickenham Film Studios, The Beatles bang out songs and reminisce. Yoko Ono is a cloying presence as John Lennon’s silent, somewhat useless appendage throughout the film’s entirety. The final moments of film are the band’s legendary lunchtime performance on the roof of Apple.
It was the first time the band had played together in three years and would also be the last. Things go along quite nicely until the chief officer of a nearby bank calls in the cops and has the impromptu performance shut down. John closing the band’s rooftop performance: “I’d like to say thank you on behalf of the group and I hope we passed the audition.”
Let It Be is a 1970 British documentary film starring the Beatles and directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. The film documents the group rehearsing and recording songs for their twelfth and final studio album Let It Be, in January 1969. The film includes an unannounced rooftop concert by the group, their last public performance. Released just after the album in May 1970, Let It Be is the final original Beatles release.
The film was originally planned as a television documentary which would accompany a concert broadcast. When plans for a broadcast were dropped, the project became a feature film. Although the film does not dwell on the dissension within the group at the time, it provides some glimpses into the dynamics that would lead to their break-up. Following the film’s release, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr collectively won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score.
Let It Be has not been officially available on home video since the 1980s, although original and bootleg copies of the film still circulate, while early attempts to release the film on DVD and Blu-ray did not come to fruition. Another documentary film using the footage filmed for Let It Be, directed by Peter Jackson and titled The Beatles: Get Back, will be released in September 2020, which will be followed by a remastered re-release of Let It Be.
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The film observes the Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr) from a “fly on the wall” perspective, without narration, scene titles, or interviews with the main subjects. The first portion of the film shows the band rehearsing on a sound stage at Twickenham Film Studios. The songs are works in progress, with discussions among the band members about ways to improve them. At one point, McCartney seems to criticize a guitar part played by Harrison on “I’ve Got a Feeling”.
During a mildly tense conversation, Harrison responds: “I’ll play whatever you want me to play, or I won’t play at all if you don’t want me to play. Whatever it is that will please you, I’ll do it.” The context of the exchange is likely at least partially obscured by film editing, but perhaps just as likely not an uncommon representation of the interpersonal dynamics of any working band. Also appearing are Mal Evans, providing the hammer blows on “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”, and Yoko Ono at Lennon’s side at all times.
The Beatles are then shown individually arriving at Apple headquarters, where they begin the studio recording process with Harrison singing “For You Blue” while Lennon plays slide guitar. Starr and Harrison are shown working on the structure for “Octopus’s Garden” and then demonstrating it for George Martin.
Billy Preston accompanies the band on impromptu renditions of several rock and roll covers, as well as Lennon’s improvised jam “Dig It,” while Linda Eastman’s daughter Heather plays around the studio. Lennon is shown listening as McCartney expresses his concern about the band’s inclination to stay confined to the recording studio. The Beatles conclude their studio work with complete performances of “Two of Us”, “Let It Be”, and “The Long and Winding Road”.
For the final portion of the film, the Beatles and Preston are shown giving an unannounced concert from the studio rooftop. They perform “Get Back,” “Don’t Let Me Down,” “I’ve Got a Feeling,” “One After 909,” and “Dig a Pony,” intercut with reactions and comments from surprised Londoners gathering on the streets below. The police eventually make their way to the roof and try to bring the show to a close, as the show was disrupting businesses’ lunch hour nearby.
This prompts some ad-libbed lyrical asides from McCartney: during the second performance of ‘Get Back,’ he sings, “Get back, Loretta… you’ve been out too long, Loretta… you’ve been playing on the roofs again… and your mummy doesn’t like that… it makes her angry… she’s gonna have you arrested! Get back, Loretta!”. In response to the applause from the people on the rooftop after the final song, McCartney says, “Thanks Mo!” (to Ringo’s wife Maureen Starkey) and Lennon quips, “I’d like to say ‘thank you’ on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we passed the audition!”
Let It Be (1970)
Directed by: Michael Lindsay-Hogg
Starring: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, Peter Sellers, Linda McCartney, Linda McCartney, Billy Preston, Maureen Starkey
Screenplay by:
Cinematography by: Anthony B. Richmond
Film Editing by: Tony Lenny
Music by: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: United Artists
Release Date: May 13, 1970 (New York City), May 20, 1970 (United Kingdom)
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