The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit
The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit is a 1990 re-edited version of the 1964 16mm documentary What's Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A., about the Beatles' first visit to America in February 1964. Made by documentary filmmakers Albert and David Maysles, it documents the Beatles' U.S. trip as they travel to New York City, Washington, D.C., and Miami Beach. Most of the non-musical footage is of the Beatles in hotel rooms, often acting irreverently in front of the camera.
The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit
The new version is 83 minutes long, two minutes longer than the original.[1][2] Among other changes, it adds 22 minutes[3] of the Beatles' live recorded performances on The Ed Sullivan Show and removes several scenes with Brian Epstein.[4]
The original film premiered on 13 November 1964 as a special episode of the CBS variety series The Entertainers. It is still shown at various festivals, such as Silverdocs in 2008,[5] and was shown at a special screening at the Maysles Cinema in New York on 18 November 2011 in honor of Albert Maysles' 85th birthday.[6]