The First U.S. Visit

PG :-

Regular 1.33:1 / 4:3 - Dolby Digital Mono - Colour - 132 Minutes (total) - PAL

"The Beatles - The First U.S. Visit" chronicles the remarkable two weeks in February 1964 that began America's still-enduring love affair with The Beatles

Closely shot at the shoulders of John, Paul, George and Ringo by the pioneering Maysles Brothers, The First US Visit innovated a style of intimate film-making that set a benchmark for rock and roll cinematography.

Albert and David Maysles were granted all-areas access filming The Beatles in the eye of their own hurricane as the band besotted America. Their film captures the manic moments from when thousands of fans greeted The Beatles as Pan Am Flt.101 touched down in New York on February 7th and sparked a two-week frenzy.

As The Beatles became the first British act to conquer America - with I Want To Hold Your Hand at No.1 in the US charts - the Maysles Brothers shadowed the band off-guard and off-duty in dressing rooms, hotels and night clubs, at photo-sessions and press conferences, travelling together in limos and on trains as the then-wide-eyed lads from Liverpool sped from New York to Washington and Miami revelling in the wild reception to their first US trip.

Besides the revealing & sometimes never-seen-before footage of The Beatles offstage, DVD #1 also features selections from their first concert at The Washington Coliseum (with the revolving stage!) and their three historic performances on The Ed Sullivan Show - including the seminal night of February 9th when the band first exploded into the homes of a then-world record 73 million TV viewers.

On the Ed Sullivan shows they perform live "All My Loving" (twice), "I Want To Hold Your Hand" (twice), "Till There Was You", "She Loves You", "From Me To You", "This Boy", "Twist And Shout" and "Please Please Me". Whereas in Washington they perform "I Saw Her Standing There", "I Wanna Be Your Man" and "She Loves You".

The original black and white footage - which was first shown on US and UK TV in 1964 as a 40-minute programme - has been re-graded and the sound re-mastered for the new 80-minute version on DVD #1, although not in 5.1 because of the source material.

DVD #2 includes a 50-minute Making Of "The Beatles - The First U.S. Visit", featuring footage that has never been seen before as well as a new and revealing interview with cameraman Albert Maysles.