Beatles 'Up Against It': Unmade Film

Interesting article:

The absurdly violent and gay Beatles movie that never got made

 

I'm actually quite glad the Beatles never attempted to make this film. The controversial story line aside, a movie of this scope would have required very trained and experienced actors. The acting requirements would have been way past the Beatles' scope. In addition, it would have taken too much time away from what they did best -- make music.

 

Did anyone here see the short-lived Off-Broadway production of Up Against It by Joseph Papp with music by Todd Rundgren?

Presumably Todd was hired for his ability to do faux Beatles, but he took the opportunity to write show tunes instead, several of which wound up on his own albums, like Parallel Lines, Love In Disguise, The Smell of Money and If I Have To Be Alone.

 

Joe Orton knew they couldn't act, only be themselves. In retrospect, the idea of hiring him as a screenwriter was a daft, give the kind of writer he was. The film had to attract a mainstream audience (and so needed a 'U' certificate): Orton was not the man for that.

 

I’m listening to the BBC radio play version now. There was NO WAY The Beatles would have made this.

They’d push the boundaries, but would have feared this as commercial suicide. It would have been a hard X certificate in both the UK and US, meaning most of their fans wouldn’t have seen it. And considering that Mick Jagger’s Performance was shelved by Warner Bros. for two years (made in 1968, released in 1970), this would have caused United Artists to lose their minds at the drafting stage.

But let’s say there was an alternate 1968 were this was released. The soundtrack would be songs used in the Magical Mystery Tour.

1968 may of been a good year for a film like this on paper, but other psychedelic sex-comedies like Candy and Skidoo were commercial disappointments. The Monkees Head was a flop, but as most people here know - The Beatles’ had more cultural cache. I can’t think of who would have directed it. Orton did send this script to Richard Lester, but The Beatles would to move away from Lester’s comedies. Donald Cammell or Nicolas Roeg (Performance again) would be my first guesses.

Then there’s the special effects budget it would have taken to make a film like this. I have no idea how they would have made the quadruple-conjoined Beatle monster at the film’s end with 60s effects. The script is gory in places and I have no doubt that the same team working on the Hammer Horror films would have worked on this to make the effects quite convincing.

Would have it been a commercial failure? The guaranteed X rating would preventing young fans from seeing it. I think the response would have been mixed. In the US, College students who grew up on the Beatles may have seen it, ‘68 was just before the New Hollywood would give American culture a centre stage voice again. There’s a chance that UK audiences may of rejected the film. Orton wrote for a higher brow audience than those who would have seen a The Beatles movie.

Would a flop hurt the group? Magical Mystery Tour was a contained failure since its mass exposure never made it past its UK TV screening (other country’s TV networks past on it, but it did end up on the college underground circuit). So most countries were spared the wired, psychedelic, strip club loving fabs of MMT. But this would be a world-wide mainstream release. So the kiddie-friendly image of The Beatles across the would be damaged forever.

The White Album and “Hey Jude” would still be released in ‘68. With their UA contract honoured, the Let It Be fiacsco may have been avoided alltogether. I’m sure Yellow Submarine would have still been produced as it never counted towards their on-screen contract. It may have even been released by UA as damage control or underpromoted it to distance themselves from the guys.