Surprisingly incoherent and boring

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Admirable film.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit is a re-edited version of renowned documentary film-making team Albert and David Maysles' documentary,"What's Happening! The Beatles In The U.S.A." about the Beatles' first visit to the United States in 1964. It documents their trip as they travel to New York City, Washington, DC, and Miami Beach.The noted documentary filmmakers had the presence of mind to realize there was a story here, and they followed The Fab Four with their cameras throughout their first American adventure, capturing the magic of their music and the glorious madness that was Beatlemania. They were given extraordinary access to the Beatles during their several concerts and their seminal first appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. Also,it shows lots of spontaneous cheekiness with the press and fans; the Beatles' wide-eyed bemusement at the hysteria they caused; as much cutting up as a tiny hotel room allows; and even specific scenes such as goofing off on a commuter train and mod dancing in a nightclub.The performance segments alone are a must for fans. The three Ed Sullivan appearances show a great cross section of their hits at the time, including "All My Loving," "I Saw Her Standing There," a beautifully delivered "This Boy" by John Lennon, and a wobbly "I Saw Her Standing There" so out of tune George Harrison nearly cracks up as he listens to Lennon and Paul McCartney struggle for harmony. The blurry, badly mic'd footage of the concert at the Washington Coliseum shows the Beatles acting as their own roadies, setting up their instruments; the platform Ringo Starr drums on lurches ominously with each downbeat. It was a more innocent, exuberant time, to be sure, and this sweet documentary lets the Beatles phenomenon speak for itself.

Shown here as part of BBC2's Beatles' night, this vibrant documentary is the real-life alter-ego of the "A Hard Day's Night" Beatles' stereotypes and shows that the Fab Four were quite witty and offbeat enough, without fictional embellishment.Covering their arrival in the States in early 1964, just as "I Want To Hold Your Hand raced up the charts as their debut US hit and taking in concerts in Washington and Miami, interspersed with their historic and record-breaking appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, we get a first hand glimpse of the punishing schedule the Beatles endured in their bid to break America. Their youthful exuberance and enthusiasm gets them through and it's obvious that they take delight in their new-found celebrity in the homeland of rock 'n' roll, from where they took so much early inspiration. This of course was to pall, so that within two short years they'd exert their collective wills to get off the constant grind of globe-trotting touring.Their infectious, unscripted witticisms raise many a smile at their numerous press conferences and it's easy to see them unconsciously debunking the myth of fame and cult of personality which was the norm amongst pop idols of the pre-Beatle era, notably a certain Mr Presley, of course.The music's terrific, all the early classics turned out with vim and skill, again before their growing tiredness and cynicism, allied to their inability to hear what they were playing, conspired to drag down their performing standards.My only criticism is that a certain Mr Lennon is strangely absent from much of the backstage proceedings, perhaps because he required to attend to the needs of his wife, she unsurprisingly hidden away (you just see her in one scene) in the background while Paul refers to him at another point as "the married one"). That said, Paul George and particularly Ringo put themselves about entertainingly, so that in the end you never doubt that America will catch the British wave and propel them to super-stardom.As a long-term Beatles fan, who admittedly finds the later era Beatles a much more interesting proposition as people and musicians than the lovable mop-tops on show here, this was a fascinating insight into how four provincial lads would become world figures and mostly deserving of everything that came their way through personality, hard work and of course, loads of talent.

Beatles: First U.S. Visit (1994) *** (out of 4) Very entertaining documentary taking a look at The Beatles as they head to the U.S. for the first time to do three Ed Sullivan shows as well as a concert in Washington, D.C.. I had seen all of the concert/Sullivan stuff in other forms but the documentary still kept me entertained with everything that was happening behind the scenes. It was fun seeing the four men off the stage, although I'm not quite sure what they were going for with all their cigarette humor. It seemed like the boys liked playing with their cigarettes with the scene where Ringo is blowing the smoke into Paul's face. The Washington, D.C. show is one I've seen and listened to before via a bootleg tape i had back in the day. I never really liked this show because it was hard understanding the band due to all the screaming girls but the audio here was a lot better. Even with that said, I can't blame the band for quitting the tours due to this type of stuff. Of the four Sullivan shows I'd say I enjoyed the last one the best as I think their version of Twist and Shout was the best performance from anything here. This documentary certainly can't be compared to The Beatles Anthology but it's still fun.

I thought the movie was absolutely marvelous (an inside joke to anyone who has seen the movie). This one is definitely a keeper. The footage captures the innocence of the Beatles during the begining of their career. It is full of laughs and great fun. Any beatle fan would enjoy this one and I personally would go to any lengths to get a hold of it.