All This and World War II

All This and World War II is a 1976 musical documentary that juxtaposes Beatles songs, performed by a number of musicians, with World War II newsreel footage and 20th Century Fox films from the 1940s. It lasted a week in movie theaters and was quickly sent into storage, although it did play a midnight show at Landmark's Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles in June 2007. After Terry Gilliam turned down the offer to direct this documentary, 20th Century Fo... more

All This and World War II is a 1976 musical documentary that juxtaposes Beatles songs, performed by a number of musicians, with World War II newsreel footage and 20th Century Fox films from the 1940s. It lasted a week in movie theaters and was quickly sent into storage, although it did play a midnight show at Landmark's Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles in June 2007. After Terry Gilliam turned down the offer to direct this documentary, 20th Century Fox turned to Susan Winslow. She had previously participated as a researcher in the crew that produced Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (directed by Philippe Mora) which married 30s newsreel and mostly Warner Bros. movie footage to gramophone songs of the period. 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 realized additional money could be made through a soundtrack album. The decision was a sound one, as... less