Interview for New Musical Express (NME)

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IT had to happen, of course! The British national Press, which for the past four years has supported them, has now turned against the Beatles by viciously attacking their film “Magical Mystery Tour.” Almost to a man, the TV critics of the daily papers declared it a mighty flop. I said I enjoyed it when I wrote about it in the NME before Christmas — and I stand by this!

“Blatant rubbish,” was the Daily Express man’s verdict. “It’s colossal, the conceit of the Beatles,” said the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror declared: “It was chaotic.”

Now the writers who penned these gems are all highly-respected journalists and first-rate critics but I cannot help wondering if their vitriolic attacks were prompted by a combination of a dislike for “Magical Mystery Tour” and their personal dislike of the Beatles.

By far the most barbed criticism came from Express man James Thomas who wrote: ”The whole boring saga confirmed a long-held suspicion of mine that the Beaties are four rather pleasant young men who have made so much money that they can apparently afford to be contemptuous of the public.”

How wrong you are Mr. Thomas. The Beatles set out to make a film which they hoped the public would like and which would give them some sense of satisfaction. If they hadn’t been happy with the finished product then it would never have been shown. But they were pleased with it and I’m sure there were many viewers who enjoyed it, too.

The Beatles have always adopted a policy of attempting new ideas and techniques.

”We could easily have assembled a team of experts,” said Paul, “and asked them to come up with a first-class show for Christmas which would star the Beatles. But that would have been easy. We wanted to try and do it ourselves and we were expecting criticism but nothing quite as bad as we got.

“The mistake was that too many people were looking for a plot when there wasn’t one. It was just a series of unconnected events which we thought would be interesting or humorous or just pleasant to watch.”

And that is what ”Magical Mystery Tour” was all about — it was a romp, a journey into a fantasy land where anything happened. I watched the film twice at a special showing and reviewed it in the NME two weeks ago.

I wrote then that I found it immensely entertaining and having watched it a third time on TV I’m even more convinced that the film has great merit.

Naturally there were parts which feel rather flat. The chase, for instance, went on too long without building to any climax and Victor Spinelli’s spot as the barking Army Sergeant went on a bit too long.

But then there were the better points. The scene with them dressed as wizards should have been more fully exploited. There were other delightful cameos, too. John as the cowering waiter and Paul’s ”Fool On The Hill” scene were both appealing.

Those are the reasons why I disagree with the writers who dismissed it wholly as rubbish.

Certainly some of the sequences were unprofessional but others showed a spark of brilliance. As Paul says the film was a collection of unrelated episodes so why can’t it be judged as such?

I wholeheartedly agree with Dick Lester, the director of the Beatles’ last full-length movies, when he forecast that in future filmgoers will go to set a good film more than once.

Like a beautiful painting or a good book, something which one can go back to again and again, discovering something new each time. For me, anyway, ”Mystery Tour” had some of those qualities. And of all the TV shows of late, none has caused so much interest!

More quotes from Paul

“I got the general impression there was something wrong with it. Aren’t we entitled to have a flop ? It’s hard, because it’s our first, but we’ll get used to the idea. The lesson is good for us, and we’re not bitter about it.”

Asked had the Beatles missed the “magic” of their late manager Brian Epstein, Paul replied:

“We always miss Brian. But on a thing like this (Magical Mystery Tour), we take the decisions. I think he would have personally liked it – but I don’t think he would have liked the reaction to it, as he was always acutely aware of what the public felt about us.”

“We will get over it. We will consider possible public opinion when we do our next film, but still incorporate the things we want to do ourselves.”

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