I am the Paulrus
Nov 05, 2008, 05:51 AM
Rare Beatles film fetches £4,100 ($6600 U.S.)
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/berkshire/7710600.stm
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45176000/jpg/_45176060_4ffa9a0f-6ead-4bc1-b5d3-176349df7902.jpg
The Beatles were filmed playing in Kansas City
See a report and some of the footage here:
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/ynews?ch=4226714&cl=10532696&lang=en
A rare 8mm film reel of a gig by The Beatles in the US has sold at auction for £4,100 ($6600 U.S.).
The two-minute long footage, taken in Kansas City during the Fab Four's first tour of the US in 1964, went under the hammer in Reading, Berkshire.
It was found in a drawer by fan Drew Dimmel who, as a boy, smuggled the movie camera into the concert hall.
The silent footage shows John, Paul, George and Ringo playing at the Municipal Stadium in Kansas City.
Mr Dimmel was one of 20,000 fans who attended the concert, which had been hastily arranged after manager Brian Epstein accepted an increased offer of $150,000 - around $1m (£627,000) in today's money.
Mr Dimmel explained that for the concert his father agreed to lend the boy and his brother a brand new colour movie camera.
The plan was to stand at the front of the stage and record the show.
But after being told to go back to his seat, Mr Dimmel passed the camera to a journalist who offered to film from the press pit.
After getting the film developed, the young fan placed it at the bottom of a desk drawer, where it remained for almost half a century.
Mr Dimmel said: "We cleared out my parent's estate two months ago and there we discovered it at the bottom of the drawer, still lying in its original photo-lab box with 'Beatles 1964' on the back of the box where I'd feverishly scrawled it in blue ballpoint pen.
"It is the one and only motion picture in existence of the one and only concert the Beatles would ever perform in Kansas City."
Description from the auction website:
"The Beatles: Rare footage from a 8mm colour film reel from September 17th 1964, un - scheduled gig on the Beatles first tour of the USA. approx 2 min long pictures only. When confirmation was announced on my local “rock” station, WHB, that tickets were going on sale to see The Beatles, live, at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City (Missouri)… I persuaded my Dad to drive me down to the ticket booth at the park and bought 2 field-level tickets, paying $6.50 apiece…On the evening of September 17, 1964, twenty thousand of us gathered at Municipal Stadium to hear the Beatles, who were paid the, then unheard of fee of $150,000 for the 31-minute concert. Mr. Finley, owner of the city’s baseball team and Municipal Stadiums major client, had initially offered Beatle manager Brian Epstein $50,000 but was turned down. He increased his bid to $100,000 and, again, Mr. Epstein declined. Finally, when Mr. Finley raised his offer to a record-breaking $150,000 – the highest sum of money ever paid a band for a single performance at that time– Brian Epstein accepted. But what was truly UNHEARD OF: the turnout at the performance was nearly 15,000 below the venue’s maximum capacity. Throughout their inaugural tour of the United States, the Beatles attracted “capacity crowds” at every concert except for the Children’s Mercy Hospital benefit held in Kansas City (the one and only Beatles concert ever performed here). The crowd of 20,207 was just over half of Municipal Stadium’s estimated capacity of 35,000 with seats installed on the field. The low attendance didn’t wasn’t because Kansas City residents disliked the Beatles; rather, the Beatles were caught in the crossfire of local animosity toward “Charles O. Finley”. Finley, owner of The Kansas City Athletics Baseball Team since 1960, guaranteed the payment of $150,000 out of his own pocket, regardless of ticket sales. Finley rationalized the concert with the slogan, Today’s Beatles Fans Are Tomorrow’s Baseball Fans.”
http://www.cameo-auctioneers.co.uk/2008-11-04/search.cgi
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/berkshire/7710600.stm
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45176000/jpg/_45176060_4ffa9a0f-6ead-4bc1-b5d3-176349df7902.jpg
The Beatles were filmed playing in Kansas City
See a report and some of the footage here:
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/ynews?ch=4226714&cl=10532696&lang=en
A rare 8mm film reel of a gig by The Beatles in the US has sold at auction for £4,100 ($6600 U.S.).
The two-minute long footage, taken in Kansas City during the Fab Four's first tour of the US in 1964, went under the hammer in Reading, Berkshire.
It was found in a drawer by fan Drew Dimmel who, as a boy, smuggled the movie camera into the concert hall.
The silent footage shows John, Paul, George and Ringo playing at the Municipal Stadium in Kansas City.
Mr Dimmel was one of 20,000 fans who attended the concert, which had been hastily arranged after manager Brian Epstein accepted an increased offer of $150,000 - around $1m (£627,000) in today's money.
Mr Dimmel explained that for the concert his father agreed to lend the boy and his brother a brand new colour movie camera.
The plan was to stand at the front of the stage and record the show.
But after being told to go back to his seat, Mr Dimmel passed the camera to a journalist who offered to film from the press pit.
After getting the film developed, the young fan placed it at the bottom of a desk drawer, where it remained for almost half a century.
Mr Dimmel said: "We cleared out my parent's estate two months ago and there we discovered it at the bottom of the drawer, still lying in its original photo-lab box with 'Beatles 1964' on the back of the box where I'd feverishly scrawled it in blue ballpoint pen.
"It is the one and only motion picture in existence of the one and only concert the Beatles would ever perform in Kansas City."
Description from the auction website:
"The Beatles: Rare footage from a 8mm colour film reel from September 17th 1964, un - scheduled gig on the Beatles first tour of the USA. approx 2 min long pictures only. When confirmation was announced on my local “rock” station, WHB, that tickets were going on sale to see The Beatles, live, at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City (Missouri)… I persuaded my Dad to drive me down to the ticket booth at the park and bought 2 field-level tickets, paying $6.50 apiece…On the evening of September 17, 1964, twenty thousand of us gathered at Municipal Stadium to hear the Beatles, who were paid the, then unheard of fee of $150,000 for the 31-minute concert. Mr. Finley, owner of the city’s baseball team and Municipal Stadiums major client, had initially offered Beatle manager Brian Epstein $50,000 but was turned down. He increased his bid to $100,000 and, again, Mr. Epstein declined. Finally, when Mr. Finley raised his offer to a record-breaking $150,000 – the highest sum of money ever paid a band for a single performance at that time– Brian Epstein accepted. But what was truly UNHEARD OF: the turnout at the performance was nearly 15,000 below the venue’s maximum capacity. Throughout their inaugural tour of the United States, the Beatles attracted “capacity crowds” at every concert except for the Children’s Mercy Hospital benefit held in Kansas City (the one and only Beatles concert ever performed here). The crowd of 20,207 was just over half of Municipal Stadium’s estimated capacity of 35,000 with seats installed on the field. The low attendance didn’t wasn’t because Kansas City residents disliked the Beatles; rather, the Beatles were caught in the crossfire of local animosity toward “Charles O. Finley”. Finley, owner of The Kansas City Athletics Baseball Team since 1960, guaranteed the payment of $150,000 out of his own pocket, regardless of ticket sales. Finley rationalized the concert with the slogan, Today’s Beatles Fans Are Tomorrow’s Baseball Fans.”
http://www.cameo-auctioneers.co.uk/2008-11-04/search.cgi