HTF REVIEW: "Ed Sullivan Show presents The Beatles" (with screenshots) (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

The four complete historic Ed Sullivan
Shows featuring The Beatles





Studio: Sofa Entertainment
Year: 2003
Rated: NR
Film Length: 240 minutes
Aspect Ratio: Full Frame (1.33:1)
Subtitles: None




LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE BEATLES!!!!

February 7th, 1964. A plane arrives at JFK Airport
in New York carrying an extremely popular rock
group from England. Upon arrival, The Beatles are
bombarded by thousands of swooning teenage girls
and their entrance in the U.S. was said to be
"Britain's revenge for the Boston Tea Party".



Two days later, Sunday February 9, millions of
Americans waited in front of small black and white
television sets in anticipation of seeing this new
phenomenon from Britain. The group was about to
appear on The Ed Sullivan Show, taped in the CBS
studios in New York City. The audience for that
show was estimated to be over 70 million people.

The show was well rehearsed and went off without a
hitch. Ed Sullivan made a pact that night with
his young Beatles-fan based audience that night
asking them to refrain from screaming between song
numbers. After all, this was a television show, not
a rock concert.



The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show for
three consecutive Sundays during February of 1964,
including a LIVE show from Miami Beach at the ballroom
of the Deauville Hotel. A fourth appearance on
the Ed Sullivan show came in September 1965 while
the group was preparing for their famous concert at
Shea Stadium.

Finally, fans have the opportunity to own all 4 of
these historic Ed Sullivan Show appearances on the
greatest video format ever to exist.

The Four Complete Historic Ed Sullivan Shows
Featuring The Beatles is a brand-new 2-disc
set that features all four complete Ed
Sullivan Show broadcasts that feature the Fab Four.
In addition to featuring The Beatles, there are
performances from other artists including: The
Original Cast from “Oliver!”, Cab Calloway, Cilla
Black, Frank Gorshin, Soupy Sales, Gordon & Sheila
MacRae and many more.



The DVDs arrive in a sturdy 3-pane 3-pane gatefold
cardboard enclosure with 2 DVDs sitting in plastic
hub housing above photos of screaming audience fans.
Complete chapter lists appear on the inside and
outside gatefold flaps -- but be aware that there
are some problems with the chapter listings. More
on that next...



There are a total of 2 one-hour shows placed on
each DVD. Menus give you access to individual
chapter stops that are conveniently placed so you
can quickly access a favorite performance on any
given show. Commercials generally are located at
the end of a particular chapter.

Be aware there is a goof up on the list of chapters
for the February 16, 1964 show. The numbers
you see listed on the box's chapter list do not
correctly correspond to the chapter numbers on the
DVD. Everything is off by one number. This is
obviously a goof that was not noticed before the
disc and/or packaging went into production.



All the shows are presented in their entirety,
complete with the original commercials that played
that evening from sponsors like Pillsbury,
Aeroshave, Anacin, Griffin shoe polish, Lipton Tea
and that god-awful Chef Boy-Ar-Dee pizza
out of the box my Mom used to make me as a kid.

I must say, I really enjoyed this 2-disc DVD set,
and not just for the fact that I love The Beatles
so much. This set has quite a bit of historical
value for the fact that The Ed Sullivan Show
is an undisputed American institution. It became
the definitive and longest running variety series
in television history (1948-71), and these two
discs showcase some of the diverse talent that
was never equaled by other variety and talk show.
Watching these shows brings back fond memories
of my childhood and Sunday night TV.


How is the transfer?


These shows look no better or worse than what I
had expected. I am guessing these shows have
been transferred directly from the original tapes
as quality is a little uneven based on the source
material. Picture is occasionaly marred by
dropouts, tape creases and picture jitter that
mostly occur at the beginning of each show. Images
are generally not very sharp, and contrast levels
are often too high. Much of the February 16,
1964 show broadcast from Miami suffers from
black corner borders that make the picture look like
an old scrapbook photo. Still, considering the fact
the show was recorded on tape some 40 years ago,
the image quality has held up very well and probably
looks very close to what viewers actually saw on
their tiny little B&W sets back in the day.



The audio presentation on these DVDs make for
interesting discussion. Though the shows have been
remixed for 5.1 Home Theater presentation, the
results are not what you would expect. The center
channel becomes a "catch-all" to the entire audio
presentation. While dialogue is placed in the
center channel where it belongs, so is everything
else. In fact, the center channel becomes more
prominent than the front left and right channels.
The rears do provide the sounds of a screaming
audience, but the levels are so low that you never
quite feel like you are in the middle of the action.
It would almost seem silly that anyone could take
those original mono recordings and turn them into
anything that remotely sounds like high-fidelity
5.1 sound.

Fortunately, the original mono mix is included,
and I highly suggest listening to it over anything
else. It seems that some restoration was done to
this mono presentation as audio sounds very clean,
slightly shrill, but with no detectable hiss. None
of the sound has been enhanced so don't expect any
high-fidelity audio from any of The Beatles
performances.


Final Thoughts



This is a DVD that every Beatles fan should have
in their collection. Problem is, you won't be able
to walk into the stores and buy it. It is available
through mail-order only at edsullivan.com.

The pricetag is $40 for the 2-DVD set, but by the
time you tack on shipping and handling expect to
pay about $50.


Release Date: Now


All screen captures have been further compressed.
They are for illustrative purposes only and do not
represent actual picture quality

 

[Danny_N]

Nice review This is indeed a must-have for Beatles fans. I've had it for two weeks now and almost every day I've played a few Beatles clips (can't bring myself to watch the full shows). I especially like the 65 show with a sarcastic John in top form. 2003 is turning into a super Beatles year . This DVD set; the Anthology in April; Let It Be later in the year and to top it of, I just got tickets for Paul McCartney's show in Holland on the 25th of April

 

[Robert Crawford]

Damn, I'm getting old I remembered those shows when they originally ran on Channel 2 back in the days of my youth.




Crawdaddy

 

[Craig S]

...that god-awful Chef Boy-Ar-Dee pizza out of the box my Mom used to make me as a kid.

Oh man, when I saw that commercial I was ROTFLMAO!! That stuff was horrid!! I'm so glad they left the commercials on this set - they are a scream!

 

[Mark C.]

Didn't the Beatles also play "Hey, Jude'' on the Sullivan show sometime around 1968? I have a vague recollection of them playing the song, their appearance that of "hippies,'' if my childhood impressions still hold true. Am I dreaming this?

 

[Randy_M]

Got it ordered...I was 14 during the Feb '64 shows, and was wondering what all the fuss was about. Here in middle America, we were a little behind the times...

Looking forward to these. Thanks for the review.

Cheers

 

[Marvin]

Didn't the Beatles also play "Hey, Jude'' on the Sullivan show sometime around 1968? I have a vague recollection of them playing the song, their appearance that of "hippies,'' if my childhood impressions still hold true. Am I dreaming this?

I think this was broadcast on the Smothers Brothers show, which used to follow Ed Sullivan.

As for the commercials on the DVD, anyone know where I can pick up some Aero Shave?

 

[jeff peterson]

I'm positive I saw them do "Don't Let Me Down" on the Sullivan show. I remember because we were at friend's of my parents that Sunday night and they had a COLOR TV so I got to see the Beats in glorious living COLOR.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

I'd love to see more stuff like this shown as they were originally broadcast, with the commercials left in. While TV today is a disgrace with the onscreen logos and never-ending commercial breaks, the older stuff is a lot of fun to look at now. I have the Beatles First US Visit laserdisc which has most of the performances from these shows but I'll be ordering this set too. One thing I've always liked about material shot on video is that it doesn't look as "old" as film does.
Also highly recommended for classic TV is the final Howdy Doody show from Image Entertainment. It presents the final show from 1960 on COLOR videotape just about exactly as it was first broadcast. The quality is good enough to pass for a live broadcast, without the added on-screen crap of course. Another fun one is Nancy Sinatra's "Movin With Nancy" special which includes RC Cola commercials made for the show.

 

[Darren D]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Didn't the Beatles also play "Hey, Jude'' on the Sullivan show sometime around 1968? I have a vague recollection of them playing the song, their appearance that of "hippies,'' if my childhood impressions still hold true. Am I dreaming this?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think this was broadcast on the Smothers Brothers show, which used to follow Ed Sullivan.

Neither.

It was the David Frost show...1968. I found this clip not long ago, and I got goosebumps watching it when all the young audience members went reverently up on the stage with them, singing along with them...great live performance. Lennon was on bass for once, while McCartney on the piano.

 

[Jack Smith]

Nice review. Hopefully they'll release the shows with the Motown acts, especially the original Temptations, and also the shows featuring James Brown & The Famous Flames (the backup singers) and that killa' band. Hit me!!!! Now take me to the bridge and drop me off!

 

[Kajs]

Sounds great, but I can't afford it.

 

[Greg O' Connel]

Sounds great, but I can't afford it.

Ditto. $40 for four episodes on 2 DVDs? Couldn't they have just put it on one with no sacrifice of quality? I don't see why this disc which has mainstream hit written all over it is being treated as some sort of obscure niche title.

 

[Paul D G]

Just to clear up any confusion, the Beatles played Sullivan only four times and all shows are included here.



I would dare to say watching the entire program is a must. It puts everything in perspective historically. The Beatles have been a major part of my life since it's beginning, being too young to experience as it all happened. I've seens these clips on their own countless times at Beatlefests and Beatle-days at the local Landmark Theatre back when they played a different double feature everyday (until VHS hit).

Sure, the Beatles were headliners on the first show, but the next week they were just another act, with Mitzi Gaynor taking the spotlight (with massive applause at When The Saints Go Marching In). Other acts puts you back in time, such as watching Frank "Riddler" Gorshin doing impressions of movie stars of the day. Indeed, BECAUSE the entire shows are included make this a must buy set. Just having the Beatle performances issued on a DVD wouldn't have been good enough.

And, for the record, the KOOL ciggie ads were dropped from the DVD so they're not totally complete.

-paul

 

[Jack Briggs]

They were not "just another act" on the Miami show; they headlined, and appeared twice. And the third show, which was actually taped on the afternoon of February 9, before the evening's live broadcast, also headlined The Beatles.

The band's fourth in-studio appearance was in 1965, during the band's second full-blown tour of the U.S.

Promo films of the band lip-syncing to records were broadcast on the Sullivan show throughout the years.

And in a 1970 Sullivan broadcast an entire hour was dedicated to The Beatles, celebrating the band's progress as musicians and songwriters. During that presentation, clips from Let It Be were shown.

True, the "Hey Jude" performance was for The David Frost Show, and it was shown in the U.S. on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, along with a live, in-studio tape rebroadcast of the band performing "Revolution."

Clips from Let It Be were also broadcast on the old Glenn Campbell Show on ABC (the band was playing "Get Back").

Beatle clips were broadcast on several variety shows in the U.S. The "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" proto-videos were shown on the old ABC Saturday-evening variety hour, Hollywood Palace, for example. Even American Bandstand showed promo clips of the band lip-syncing to records.

And I saw each of the Ed Sullivan broadcasts when they were first broadcast. (I saw the band live in 1966, btw.)

 

[Tony-B]

Wow. I am too young to have seen The Beatles perform on Sullivan. Now is my chance! The Beatles are one of the greatest bands ever, and this DVD sounds very interesting. I might have to pick it up sometime.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

The discs are pricey. Yes, they are single-layered and probably could have fit on one disc with some careful mastering and authoring. Also, when I bought them, it took the discs 11 days to arrive, certainly slower than most of us are accustomed to with mail order. But I have no real customer service complaints.

All that said, I'd say the discs are pretty essential to any Beatles fan.

The second show looks to be sourced from kinescope, not videotape. Hence the distortion, reduced detail, darkened corners, and so on.

 

[Enrique B Chamorro]

it will be interesting to see how this set compares
with the clips that will be part of the Anthology
for sound and picture quality.

 

[Chris Lockwood]

Sounds good. About how many minutes of Beatles footage is in the set? (Please don't say "all"- I'm looking for a number. )

 

[Douglas_H]

Jack,
you are correct sir!
The Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields videos were also
shown on American Bandstand.
This was America's first view of the "new" Beatles
look and sound.
Dick interviewed the audience afterward to get their
impressions.
I too am getting old but I still remember watching
The Beatles on Ed Sullivan.
It's been said before but if you weren't alive to
witness it you can't fully appreciate what it was like.
They were so good.
This is a must have.
Thanks Ron!