\u201cMagical Mystery Tour\u201d could arguably be considered as both The Beatles\u2019 worst and best film.
\n<\/p>\n
On the negative side, it is one of the worst-produced films ever released \u2013 with comedy segments that dribble on for too long and never pay off, painfully unsteady cinematography, slovenly editing and an overwhelming sense of self-indulgence, especially with Paul McCartney trying (and rarely succeeding) at being cute or funny. \u201cMagical Mystery Tour\u201d affirmed that The Beatles\u2019 many talents did not include film production \u2013 and if the final number \u201cYou\u2019re Mother Should Know\u201d is any indication, choreographed dancing was also not their m\u00e9tier.<\/p>\n
But on the positive side, this was the only Beatles film where the Fab Four were able to be themselves, rather than scripted characters or the victims of highly selective editing (as per \u201cLet It Be\u201d and Peter Jackson\u2019s belated revisionism). Their sense of mischief and merriment permeated the project \u2013 and if it was never laugh-out-loud hilarious, there was the charm of an overly ambitious home movie with the foursome clearly having fun in an unfamiliar setting. <\/p>\n
The highlight might have been the brief segments with The Beatles as the oddball wizards who are supposedly casting spells over the eponymous tour bus and its motley passengers. Each Beatle seemed to be in his own film during the scene, but somehow their individual personalities blended together. And even the wobbly \u201cYou\u2019re Mother Should Know\u201d number has a pleasant lo-fi appeal that recalls the British quota quickies and the American Poverty Row musicals where an excess enthusiasm compensated for the lack of sophistication. <\/p>\n
Over time, \u201cMagical Mystery Tour\u201d gained a nostalgic sheen as a time capsule for psychedelic mid-1960s, with The Beatles\u2019 songs, fashions and their underground cinema-worthy eccentricities captured the zeitgeist of that brief burst of hippie-dippie happiness. If one can forgive the sloppiness of the presentation, \u201cMagical Mystery Tour\u201d is a lot of fun \u2013 and running at less than hour, it mercifully never wears out its welcome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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