Today’s movie is a biography with a scene set on April 10. I
hope you will enjoy this film and watch it tonight.
BACKBEAT
In 1960 Liverpool after artist
Stu Sutcliffe earns 50 guineas from selling a painting, he uses the money to
buy a bass guitar so he can accompany the rock –n-roll band he’s in, the
Beatles to Hamburg for an extended gig.
The Beatles made up of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison,
Pete Best and Stu Sutcliffe arrive in Hamburg and begin playing at a dive
called the Kaiserkeller between strippers. The music eventually attracts the
attention of some of Hamburg’s existentialists, including Klaus Voormann.
Tensions arise in the Beatles. Paul is upset that Stu really can’t play very
well and the band starts taking speed to keep awake during the long hours they
have to play. Then Stu meets Astrid Kirchherr, who takes a series of soon to be
iconic photos of the group. Bert Kaempfert recruits them to sing backup on Tony
Sheridan’s recording of “My Bonnie”. Stu does not play, because he chose to
spend the day with Astrid, who dumps Klaus, her former boyfriend for Stu. The
Beatles start playing at the more upscale Top Ten Club until George is deported
for working while being underage. After
he turns 18 while the band is performing at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, the
band returns to Hamburg. Stu and Astrid resume their relationship. Stu begins
to have sudden debilitating headaches. He proposes to Astrid and gets accepted
at the Hamburg College of Art. Stu leaves the band and stays in Hamburg when
the other members return to England. He has a huge fight when he thinks Klaus
is trying to move back in on Astrid, but Stu and Astrid reconcile. Then on
April 10, 1962 [1:28:52 to 1:33:17] Stu has a massive brain hemorrhage and
dies. The Beatles return to Hamburg the next day and all of the, especially
John are devastated. The Beatles go on to superstardom.
An interesting biopic. Paul
McCartney says it is not accurate, while Astrid Kirchherr says it is. Focuses
on the relationship between John, Stu and Astrid and basically ignores the rest
of the group.
The Beatles: The Biography by Bob Spitz (Little,
Brown and Company, New York, 2005) at pages 305-306 and the film at 1:35:20
gives Stu’s date of death.
Producers - Finola Dwyer and
Stephen Woolley
Director - Iain Softley
Screenplay - Iain Softley and
Stephen Ward
Runtime – 1 hour 40 minutes
Released - April 14, 1994
Cast –
Stephen Dorff as Stuart Sutcliffe
Sheryl Lee as Astrid Kirchherr
Ian Hart as John Lennon
Gary Bakewell as Paul McCartney
Chris O'Neill as George Harrison
Paul Duckworth as Ringo Starr
Scot Williams as Pete Best
Kai Wiesinger as Klaus Voormann
Jennifer Ehle as Cynthia Lennon
Copyright by Ivan Walters 2014.
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