You know a song is a classic when it gets parodied. The legendary KISS ballad “Beth” is no exception. This brand new short film based on the KISS Gold-selling single from their 1976 album Destroyer, is brought to you by director Brian Billow through Anonymous Content, and advertising creative director Bob Winter.
In the original song “Beth,” we hear only KISS drummer Peter Criss’ side of a phone conversation—he pleads to stay and record with the band rather than come home to Beth.
Now, for the first time ever, we hear Beth’s side of the story. Hers is the epic tale of a woman trying to run a family in the midst of a rock and roll lifestyle. The dry humor works off the basis that 100 percent of the Peter Criss character’s dialogue is true to the song’s lyrics.
Billow said, “Bob [Winter] and I both view this film as a visual love poem to our heroes: KISS.”
“Beatles ’64” Documentary Captures Intimate Moments From Landmark U.S. Visit
Likely most people have seen iconic footage of the Beatles performing on "The Ed Sullivan Show." But how many have seen Paul McCartney during that same U.S. trip feeding seagulls off his hotel balcony?
That moment — as well as George Harrison and John Lennon goofing around by exchanging their jackets — are part of the Disney+ documentary "Beatles '64," an intimate look at the English band's first trip to America that uses rare and newly restored footage. It streams Friday.
"It's so fun to be the fly on the wall in those really intimate moments," says Margaret Bodde, who produced alongside Martin Scorsese. "It's just this incredible gift of time and technology to be able to see it now with the decades of time stripped away so that you really feel like you're there."
"Beatles '64" leans into footage of the 14-day trip filmed by documentarians Albert and David Maysles, who left behind 11 hours of the Fab Four goofing around in New York's Plaza hotel or traveling. It was restored by Park Road Post in New Zealand.
"It's beautiful, although it's black and white and it's not widescreen," says director David Tedeschi. "It's like it was shot yesterday and it captures the youth of the four Beatles and the fans."
The footage is augmented by interviews with the two surviving members of the band and people whose lives were impacted, including some of the women who as teens stood outside their hotel hoping to catch a glimpse of the Beatles.
"It was like a crazy love," fan Vickie Brenna-Costa recalls in the documentary. "I can't really understand it now. But then, it was natural."
The film shows the four heartthrobs flirting and dancing at the Peppermint Lounge disco, Harrison noodling with a Woody Guthrie riff on his guitar... Read More