The Brian Epstein Story

United Kingdom, 1999, video, 140 minutes

Director: Anthony Wall. Producer: Debbie Geller.

This is the story of a man who had a hand in changing the world. His

discovery of the Beatles burst open the door to a British invasion of

pop and rock musicians the United States has not seen since. In the

process, Epstein's life was changed dramatically. By 1963 he had

become the most successful pop manager in history, with clients like

the Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Cilla Black, Billy J. Kramer or

the Dakotas dominating the U.S. pop charts in the number one spot for

37 weeks that year.

Tracing the rise and fall of the man behind the biggest cultural

revolution of our time, director Anthony Wall reveals Epstein's

profound sense of himself as a Jewish and homosexual outsider. The

realization that he was gay during the 1950s and 60s in the

working-class city of Liverpool, before the emergence of the gay

rights movement the normalization of homosexuality, only increased his

despair. He was able to rescue himself and break out of his provincial

existence by reinventing himself through his association with the

Beatles.

With an incredible archive of early Beatle footage and interviews with

Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden, Billy J. Kramer, George Martin and

Epstein's Aunt Stella, this one should not be missed by any fan of the

Beatles and 1960s rock and roll.

--

The Brian Epstein Story (1999)

This BBC documentary about the notorious manager of the Fab Four, a

man whom Paul McCartney calls "The Fifth Beatle," is not quite as

enlightening and detailed as one might hope. Still, with a running

time of well over two hours and separated into two portions, the

documentary does expose us to much seemingly new or little known

information about Brian Epstein.

It's important to note that this seems to be one of the first

full-fledged documentary devoted to the man who truly molded the

greatest pop group of all time. Two of the most important things to

note about this person is that he is Jewish and a homosexual. Epstein,

who influenced more of 60's culture than perhaps any other single

person, a man with his pulse on his own "times," was gay.

Of course, the fact that he had to remain fairly closeted and quiet

about it to all but his immediate circle leads to many dead ends in

researching this aspect of his life. No old boyfriends or gay

associates pop up in interviews in the film. A manservant does speak

of a few intimate details, all of which portray Epstein in a rather

sweet light, but this aspect of his life is not quite the focus of

this documentary.

This is a well-rounded look into the man behind the band. There is

quite a bit of interesting family history; stories of Epstein's early

wonts and his work in the family owned retail store, where he garnered

great success as the manager of the record shop; and lots of insight

to how he "discovered" and nurtured the Beatles. But even here there

are holes. Glaring omissions in the film include the Beatles signing

with Capitol, the Beatles getting started in films or any interview

statements with George Harrison or Ringo Starr.

Those interviewed who do share interesting details and thoughts on

Epstein in seemingly newly filmed segments include Paul McCartney,

Marianne Faithfull, Billy J. Kramer and Gerry Lewis (of Gerry and the

Pacemakers, both of whom Epstein also managed, and George Martin. In

addition to old interviews with "The Boys" (as Eppie called the

Beatles), there are retro segments with Cilla Black and much archive

footage of the man being interviewed himself. One of the most

interesting of these is Epstein's last recorded interview with Murray

the K in America where the manager seems highly drugged while talking

about Jimi Hendrix. Jude Law also adds voice to Epstein's written

words, narrating segments here featuring details from Eppie's diary.

"The Brian Epstein Story" certainly isn't as chock-full of details as

I would like. Nor is it of particular interest to all but the most

devoted of Beatle fans. But it is a nice primer on one of the most

interesting and influential people of pop culture which slightly

explores the fact that he was a gay, Jewish, and fastidious man who

died much too soon.

Notes:

Directed by Anthony Wall. The introductory logo for "Arena" featured a

piece from Brian Eno's "Music for Films."

Report Card

Content: B+

Completeness: C-

Cinematography\Lighting: C

Special Effects\Make Up: B

Music: B+

Final Grade: B-

--

The Brian Epstein Story

Synopsis

A two-part BBC documentary about the man behind The Beatles' meteoric

rise to worldwide fame, The Brian Epstein Story details the life and

premature death of Brian Epstein, one of the most influential managers

to ever enter the rock & roll arena. Combining rare '60s footage and

present-day interviews with the likes of Paul McCartney and Marianne

Faithfull, the documentary traces Epstein's life from his beginnings

as the child of a Lithuanian Jewish retailer to his fateful visit to

Liverpool's Cavern Club one night in November 1961, when he became

acquainted with four young Merseyside lads. Unlike many profiles of

people associated with The Beatles, The Brian Epstein Story doesn't

frame its subject in terms of Beatlemania, but instead offers a

portrait of Epstein as a man who, despite the trappings of celebrity,

remained somewhat of a dignified enigma both during his life and after

his death

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOTE: This Bootleg is a fan compilation seemingly only available on the trade Circuit; I have not seen this available from any ‘professional’ label. Disc One & the first Track of Disc Two are the complete audio tracks of the video as described above.
The remaining tracks are VH-1 UK promotions for the release of The Beatles smash greatest hits compilation "1".
All in all, a nice bootleg for any serious collector; no artwork is available at this time.