LET IT BE
(1970 - filmed early 1969)With John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston
Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg
Reviewed by JB and JL
Many
people think of LET IT BE, which shows the Beatles rehearsing
new
songs for an album and possible live appearance, as the film that
chronicles the Beatles
breakup, but in retrospect, LET IT BE chronicles almost nothing.
Director Lindsay Michael-Hogg had 30 days worth of
footage to
work with
and yet came up with a finished film with almost no narrative.
The
first half of the film shows the Beatles going through some very sloppy
rehearsals of new songs and sloppy jams of old ones. Then
comes
three Paul McCartney songs, shot in the studio. The
songs themselves - "Two of
Us", "Let It Be" and "The Long and Winding Road" - are among the most
tuneful and tasteful of the sessions, but McCartney
looks so sincere he looks insincere, and John Lennon and George Harrison both look
like they'd rather be a million miles away. John's
contributions on bass are forgettable, while the sounds George coaxes
out of his guitar are a symphony of boredom. Finally,
the
film climaxes with a rooftop concert featuring the Beatles actually
sounding like the great band they were, energetically rocking their way
through such Beatles classics as "Get Back" and
"Don't Let Me Down".
Some of what Hoggs does include is priceless, such as a discussion between McCartney and Harrison, in which Paul is trying to tell to George that his guitar is not needed on a particular song. The exchange cuts off right after Harrison's now classic reply "I don't mind. I'll play whatever it is 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." Sharp-eared listeners may catch Paul's reference, through all the crosstalk, of a similar argument that took place during the recording of "Hey Jude". Yet, although Harrison actually quit the band (temporarily) a day or two later out of frustration - he had problems with John too - this moment just sits there in the film, with no context and no followup. There is also a short section of Paul trying to drum up support for playing live again, while John just stares at him without any interest and more than a hint of real contempt. But Hoggs does not allow us to hear Lennon's ultimate reply, which was probably some witty Lennonesque variation of "Yer daft!". With John and George both off their game, and Ringo reduced to a session player with little input on the music, the film is centered around Paul, to such a point where it becomes obvious not enough footage was shot of John, leading to some badly mismatched editing where John is singing on the soundtrack but not on the screen.
The film has some other minor charms, mostly found
in off
the cuff
moments, such as Paul and Ringo performing a Jerry Lee Lewis style duet
on a piano, or George helping Ringo out with his composition "Octopus's
Garden". (Note that the second Paul walks in, the good
times stop dead!). Even during some fairly
average numbers
such as
John's "Suzy Parker", George's "For You Blue" or the old standard
"Besame Mucho", the sense of fun you can only get from a group of
friends playing music together shines through. Even at a time
when the group was splintering and getting on each other's nerves, they
still enjoyed playing together when they sensed a good groove going on. This is evident in the rooftop
concert, where they run through several of the songs they have been
practicing and refining all month. Tellingly, however, the
impromptu concert consisted of only five songs, some of them repeated,
though only "Get Back" gets a reprise in the film. The highlight, for
me at least, is the resurrection of "One After 909", a Lennon-McCartney
song from the early days, refashioned as an all-out rocker and
featuring one of George's hottest guitar solos and some funky electric
piano courtesy of Beatle friend Billy Preston, who was brought in
halfway through the sessions to help break up some of the tension.
The film
has long been unavailable except through underground channels,
and both
Paul and Ringo seem to think that a new LET IT BE movie, freshly edited
from all available footage, would tarnish the Beatles
carefully
crafted 21st Century image.
So LET IT BE will eventually become known as a lost
classic.
It's not. There are some nice songs and moments,
but like
the album of the same name, it's one of the group's least
rewarding endeavors. Three stars rewarded simply because the
best
musical performances in the film are worth five stars
collectively. 
- JB
As John B. says, the film, as edited, turns a rather unflattering
spotlight on Paul. Enough footage was shot, however, to make a
month-long film, such that you could take another 80 minutes and turn
it into The Mal Evans Story (which might have been more interesting).
The original edit reportedly had much more John-and-Yoko footage, which
was cut at the behest of Lindsay-Hogg or Paul, depending on which
version of the story you read. I'm sure that Paul thought the final
edit would portray him positively, as the "true" leader of the Beatles,
but it's his feigned sincerity and forced enthusiasm that leaves the
most lasting impression. His dewy-eyed camera stare as he sings his
piano ballads cry out for John to break in with one of his goon faces,
but John was about three years removed from that sort of clowning by
1969.
But what really brings the film down
for me, even
more so than the gloomy boredom, is the musicianship, rooftop concert
notwithstanding. Old rock chestnuts are given perfunctory
walk-throughs, bum notes and forgotten lyrics abound, and the guitars
never sound in tune. It's clear that they knew it, and equally clear
that they didn't give a damn. Five years earlier, they would have blown
the roof off the joint with three-chord rockers they could have played
in their sleep. By '69, they approach "Blue Suede Shoes" or
"Be-Bop-a-Lula" as if they really were asleep. You almost long for the
moptops from A
HARD DAY'S NIGHT to charge through the doors and show
these old burnouts how it's done. But John was then more
interested in
nuzzling with Yoko and shooting various chemicals into his bloodstream;
George wanted to hang with Eric Clapton and other musicians who
respected him, rather than with the guys who'd treated him like a dopey
kid brother for 11 years; and Ringo probably enjoyed his gin rummy
games with Mal more than the jam sessions. Despite his delusions to the
contrary, Paul couldn't carry the show by himself, and came off looking
like a fool on the Twickenham hill when he tried to.
Perhaps the most effective way to
approach this
material would have been to edit it down to an hour-long television
special that focused on the rooftop concert. It might have altered our
perceptions of Beatle history, but if it would have made for a better
film. In a way, however, I'm glad the film exists as it is. It's an
important warts-and-all document that brings the Beatles' saga to a
dramatically satisfying, if depressing, conclusion. Yes, they had one
more miracle in them with Abbey
Road,
but it's not as if their final recorded work marked a return to groovy
vibes amongst them. I sense (based on comments made in the Anthology)
that they mustered their remaining pride and professionalism in order
to make a grand exit, keeping their personal animosities in check for a
couple of months.
That LET IT BE is an accurate and
important
document does not mean it is an entertaining, or even endurable, hour
and twenty minutes. But it is the Beatles, there is that rooftop
concert, and therefore earns a two-star rating. 
- JL
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Copyright © 2010 John V. Brennan, John Larrabee