''All This and World War II'' is a 1976 musical documentary directed by Susan Winslow. It juxtaposes Beatles songs covered by a variety of musicians with

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

newsreel footage and

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

films, in a manner meant by the filmmakers to be similar to the 1975 documentary '' Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?'' The film was severely mauled by critics and lasted just two weeks in cinemas before being pulled.

Cast

The film featured clips from the

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

army newsreels, various films from

and other studios, as well as other propaganda films featuring

Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century wit ...

, Edgar Bergen &

Charlie McCarthy Charlie McCarthy is Edgar Bergen's famed ventriloquist dummy partner. Charlie was part of Bergen's act as early as high school, and by 1930, was attired in his famous top hat, tuxedo, and monocle. The character was so well-known that his popularit ...

, Milton Berle, Humphrey Bogart,

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...

, Neville Chamberlain,

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

Joseph P. Kennedy Joseph Patrick Kennedy (September 6, 1888 – November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, and politician. He is known for his own political prominence as well as that of his children and was the patriarch of the Irish-American Ken ...

, Laurel and Hardy, James Mason, Benito Mussolini, Franklin Delano Roosevelt,

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

, and James Stewart.

Production

The film was researched by

Tony Palmer Tony Palmer (born 29 August 1941)IMDb: Tony Palmer
Retrieved 24 September 2011 is a British film direc ...

who had previously released ''All My Loving'', a history of 1960s music (1968), and the 17-part rock history documentary '' All You Need Is Love: The Story of Popular Music''. He remade the film in 2016 as ''The Beatles and World War II''. The musical director was

Lou Reizner Lou Reizner (born Chicago 1934, died London 26 June 1977) was a record producer, A&R executive and head of Mercury Records European operations. He produced Rod Stewart's first two solo albums, the orchestral version of The Who's rock opera Tomm ...

, who also produced the soundtrack album. Although it was rumoured that

Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including '' Time Bandits'' (1981), '' ...

turned down the offer to contribute animation to the documentary, Russ Regan, who conceived the film, has stated that Gilliam was never asked.

Reception

Critics savaged the movie with gusto, audiences stayed away, and Fox promptly yanked the film from release. The reviewer in the New York ''Daily News'' wrote that the film's PG rating had to have stood for "Positively Ghastly". It appeared out of competition at

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...

in 1977, has occasionally been shown at film festivals, and even on American cable TV. BBC2 gained the film a small cult following in the UK when it was screened as part of their fifteen-hour theme night "Rock Around The Clock", which ran from the afternoon of 27 August 1983, into the early hours of the next day. On June 1, 2007, the film played a single midnight show at Landmark's

Nuart Theatre The Nuart Theatre is an art house movie theater in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the flagship location of the Landmark Theatres chain in the United States. Location The Nuart is on Santa Monica Boulevard, one block from the ...

in Los Angeles.

Distribution

The film has never been officially released on home video or DVD, but bootleg copies of the film are available from several collector-to-collector resources. A fairly high-quality transfer is also available as an unofficial DVD release. A version of this film was released as a DVD plus two CD set by Gonzo Multimedia – TPDVD191 in 2016, entitled ''The Beatles and World War II'', but this is a revised edition by original director Tony Palmer, using different footage and a different soundtrack.

Soundtrack

The original intention of the filmmakers was to use actual Beatles music in the film. The decision to use other artists covering Beatles music was made by the film's producers after they realised additional money could be made through a soundtrack album. The decision was a sound one, as the soundtrack actually generated more revenue than the film. The album was released on 25 October 1976 and the film was released on the 11th November 1976. The album reached number 23 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

, with a total of seven weeks on that listing, and number 48 on the

Billboard Top 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artis ...

. It also made number 17 on the Dutch album charts and number 37 on the New Zealand album charts. The soundtrack is notable for featuring the solo recording debut of Peter Gabriel, formerly of Genesis, singing "

Strawberry Fields Forever "Strawberry Fields Forever" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released on 13 February 1967 as a double A-side single with " Penny Lane". It represented a departu ...

". The LP was also released in 1979 with the title ''The Songs Of John Lennon & Paul McCartney Performed By The World's Greatest Rock Artists'', and two of the tracks ("Let It Be" performed by

Leo Sayer Gerard Hugh "Leo" Sayer (born 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter whose singing career has spanned five decades. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom ...

and "Because" performed by Lynsey de Paul) were released on the Beatles cover version CD album ''With A Little Help'' that was issued in Europe in 1991. The album was finally released on CD in 2006 on the Hip-O Select label and again in 2015 as a limited-issue release on the Culture Factory label, complete with the original gatefold sleeve.

Single releases

* Elton John’s rendition of "

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. It was written primarily by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnersh ...

", when previously released as a single in 1974, became a US and Canadian number-one hit. * Rod Stewart’s version of "

Get Back "Get Back" is a song recorded by the British rock band the Beatles and Billy Preston, and written by Paul McCartney though credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. It was originally released as a single on 11 April 1969 and credited to ...

" was subsequently released and became a UK hit single (#11). * Ambrosia's cover of "

Magical Mystery Tour ''Magical Mystery Tour'' is a record by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a double EP in the United Kingdom and an LP in the United States. It includes the soundtrack to the 1967 television film of the same name. The EP ...

" reached #39 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100.''Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990'' -

Track listing

All songs by

Lennon–McCartney Lennon–McCartney was the songwriting partnership between English musicians John Lennon (1940–1980) and Paul McCartney (born 1942) of the Beatles. It is the best-known and most successful musical collaboration ever by records sold, with the ...

Personnel

Barry Gibb Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He rose to worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees, one of the most commercially successful groups in the history of popula ...

– vocals * Robin Gibb – vocals *

Maurice Gibb Maurice Ernest Gibb (; 22 December 1949 – 12 January 2003) was a British musician. He achieved fame as a member of the pop group Bee Gees. Although his elder brother Barry Gibb and fraternal twin brother Robin Gibb were the group's main lea ...

– vocals *

Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. Hopkins performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, most notably ...

– piano * Les Hurdle – bass * Barry Morgan – drums * Ronnie Verrell – drums *

Wil Malone Wil Malone (born 1952, in Hornsey, North London) is a British music producer and arranger, who has worked with artists including Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Todd Rundgren, The Verve, Massive Attack, Depeche Mode and Italian rocker Gianna Nannini ...

– orchestral arrangement *

Harry Rabinowitz Harry Rabinowitz MBE (26 March 1916 – 22 June 2016) was a South African-British conductor and composer of film and television music. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, he was the son of Israel and Eva Rabinowitz. He was educated at the Univ ...

– conductor *

David Measham David Michael Lucian Measham (1 December 19376 February 2005) was a British-Australian conductor and violinist. Measham was born in Nottingham, England, to a musical family. His father, Lester, had trained as an opera singer and his mother, J ...

– conductor

Charts

References

External links

* *
Original theatrical trailer
{{DEFAULTSORT:All This And World War Ii Compilation films 1976 documentary films 1976 films 20th Century Fox films American documentary films Documentary films about World War II The Beatles in film Jukebox musical films Collage film Riva Records albums 20th Century Fox Records soundtracks 1970s English-language films 1970s American films