The Beatles’ made-for-tv film Magical Mystery Tour (1967) is a historical relic, a psychedelic totem of the times. If you think about it that way, it becomes much easier to accept.
The script, acting, and direction are minimal. At this point, the Beatles were the most influential and popular band in the history of the world. Their cinematic aspirations go beyond arrogance. As they no longer toured, and music videos were yet to be invented, this was the public’s only opportunity to see the Fabs perform new music. And perform they did. ‘Magical Mystery Tour’, ‘Fool on the Hill’, ‘I am the Walrus’, ‘Your Mother Should Know’. Years later, the footage provided the foundation for many documentaries and, yes, music videos.
The plot, such as it is, concerns travelers on a coach bus, without a clear destination, rambling through the English countryside. We have Ringo and his recently widowed Auntie Jessie. Other members on the bus include the tour director, a hostess, the conductor, and remaining Beatles. During the tour, odd events happen; it seems the bus riders/events are under the influence of four or five magicians. I know, I know… only in the 60s.
Perhaps we can consider Magical Mystery Tour to be an elaborate home movie. It displays all the amateurish bravado—and creativity—of a teenager experimenting with his first film equipment.
In the 1960s, lots of rock bands made movies. But we don’t watch The Dave Clark Five’s ‘Catch Us If You Can’ (1965) because, well, The Dave Clarke Five is in it. Anything ‘Beatles’ has somehow been sprinkled with the pixie dust of immortality.
So, we must make peace with Magical Mystery Tool, a hermetically sealed curio from an energetic, colorful time.
With The Beatles, the whole is always greater than the parts.
….
#thebeatles #magicalmysterytour #paulmccartney #johnlennon #film #review #1960s #popular #culture #bbc
Let's Play Something Else 