What’s Happening! The Beatles in the USA

Synopsis

A humorous, freewheeling and candid account of The Beatles arrival in America in February 1964. The Maysles follow the Fab Four for five days, from the crazed JFK airport reception to unguarded moments inside the Plaza Hotel in preparation for their landmark Ed Sullivan Show appearance to their equally frenzied homecoming. Inspiring Richard Lester’s A Hard Day’s Night (1964), What’s Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A. was subsequently rereleased by Apple Corps. in an edited version as The Beatles: The First US Visit (1999).

Director Biography

Born in 1926, Albert Maysles is a pioneer of Direct Cinema and was, along with his late brother David, the first to make nonfiction feature films, where the drama of life unfolds as is without scripts, sets, interviews or narration. Albert made his first film, PSYCHIATRY IN RUSSIA (1955), as he transitioned from psychologist to filmmaker. This year Albert received the National Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama.