Beatles Stories

Seth Swirsky is not a professional filmmaker (and some of the camera work here shows that), but this is heck of a fascinating documentary project. Swirsky is a musician and a songwriter, with songs recorded by Taylor Dayne, Tina Turner, Al Green and Celine Dion, as well as themes for major motion pictures. But, after playing a gig in Hamburg and hearing stories from locals about the Beatles, he decided to contact a slew of well-known folks who interacted with the Fab Four during their career. How is got access to nearly 60 (mostly) celebrities like Sir George Martin, Graham Nash, Ben Kingley (actually a performing musician before turning to acting), Brian Wilson, Smokey Robinson, still amazes me! But I'm glad he did. The 85-minute film contains about 53 of these interviews - most lasting just a minute or two and a few were done by phone - with appropriate archival footage of the period to embelish them. Some of the stories are well know, but many aren't. And the connections with the Beatles run from the old-style comedy couple who shared the stage on the Ed Sullivan Show for the Beatles' debut to the guy who got the last autograph from John Lennon before he was murdered.

The bonus features ad much to the fun as there are 30 minutes of "bonus interviews" for folks not featured in the theatrical version. And there is a nearly-25-minute extended interview with Norman "Hurricane" Smith, the Beatles first recording engineer.

The project to film all these interviews (and get access to the interviewees - many recorded backstage at performances - took nearly seven years. I can't even imagine Swirsky's travel expenses! But, I think we should all be glad he did it. These stories are now "on record" (no pun intended) and available for future generations/

I hope you found this review both informative and helpful!

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

This documentary contains dozens of interviews with everyone from Ben Kingsley and Jon Voight to people you've never heard of, like one of the original "Apple Scruffs" (girls who used to hang around outside Apple Records offices hoping to talk to a Beatle).

Director Seth Swirsky wanted to capture as many stories about Beatle encounters as possible. Most of the interviews collected in the 85 minute movie last for only a few minutes before moving onto the next story. It results in a lot of variety. Some of the stories have been told before, but most of them will be unfamiliar to even the most devoted Beatlemaniacs. Some of the people he talked to (George Martin, Norman Smith - Beatles engineer, Joey Molland of Badfinger, Denny Laine of Wings) had professional associations with the Beatles or an ex-Beatle. But others - like The Bangles' Susanna Hoffs, who happened to bump into Ringo at a party - tell starstruck stories of chance encounters.

If you watch the whole movie and still want more, the DVD has you covered - 30 minutes of extra interviews. Swirsky reveals his methods on the director's commentary. He's a successful songwriter himself, having written songs for the likes of Taylor Dayne and Smokey Robinson (who appears in the documentary). This is his first film and it's admittedly a little rough around the edges, but ultimately an emotionally engrossing trip for Beatles fans.

This DVD is really terrific. As you watch it each story is better than the last. The different stories are very interesting from Graham Nash to Henry Winkler to Sir Ben Kingsley to Art Garfunkel.
The worst part of the DVD is that it ends.
I would recommend this to anyone.