All This and World War II
Promotional movie poster
Directed bySusan Winslow
Produced bySanford Lieberson
Martin J. Machat
CinematographyAnthony Richmond
Edited byColin Berwick
Music byLennon–McCartney
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • November 12, 1976 (1976-11-12)[1]
Running time
88 min.
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.3 million

All This and World War II is a 1976 musical documentary[1] directed by Susan Winslow. It juxtaposes Beatles songs covered by a variety of musicians with World War II newsreel footage and 20th Century Fox films. The film was rejected by critics and ran only two weeks in cinemas.[2]

Cast

The film features clips from the Nazi Germany army newsreels, various films from 20th Century Fox and other studios, and from other propaganda films featuring Jack Benny, Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy, Milton Berle, Humphrey Bogart, Richard Burton, Neville Chamberlain, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Clark Gable, Adolf Hitler, Bob Hope, Joseph P. Kennedy, Laurel and Hardy, James Mason, Benito Mussolini, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, and James Stewart.[3][4]

Production

The film was researched by Tony Palmer 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.[5] He remade the film in 2016 as The Beatles and World War II.[6][7]

The musical director was Lou Reizner, who also produced the soundtrack album.[2]

Although it was rumoured that Terry Gilliam turned down the offer to contribute animation to the documentary, Russ Regan, who conceived the film, has stated that Gilliam was never asked.[2]

Reception

All This and World War II was mercilessly lambasted by the critics, audiences stayed away and Fox promptly withdrew the film from distribution.[4] The reviewer in the New York Daily News wrote that the film's PG rating must have stood for "Positively Ghastly".[2] In 1977, the film was screened out of competition at Cannes[8] and has occasionally been shown at film festivals and on cable TV in the US.[2]

The film has gained a small cult following in the UK since being screened by BBC2 as part of their fifteen-hour themed broadcast "Rock Around The Clock", which ran from the afternoon of 27 August 1983 into the early hours of the next day.

On 1 June 2007, the film played a single midnight show at Landmark's Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles.[9]

Home Video

All This and World War II has never been officially released on home video in any format, but pirated 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.[10] A version of this film, entitled The Beatles and World War II, was released as a DVD plus two-CD set by Gonzo Multimedia in 2016. However, this is a revised edition by original director Tony Palmer, using different footage and a different soundtrack.[5]

Soundtrack

All This and World War II
Soundtrack album by
various artists
ReleasedNovember 5, 1976
Recorded1974–1976
GenreRock
Length98:45
LabelRiva (UK), 20th Century (U.S.)
ProducerLou Reizner
Singles from All This and World War II
  1. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"
    Released: November 18, 1974
  2. "Let it Be"
    Released: November 1975
  3. "Get Back"
    Released: 1976
  4. "We Can Work It Out"
    Released: November 1976
  5. "Magical Mystery Tour"
    Released: 1976
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]

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 soundtrack actually generated more revenue than the film.) The album was released on 25 October 1976 and the film was released on 11 November 1976.[12]

The album reached number 23 on the UK Albums Chart, with a total of seven weeks on that listing,[2] and number 48 on the Billboard Top 200.[13][14] It also made number 17 on the Dutch album charts and number 37 on the New Zealand album charts.[15] The soundtrack is notable for featuring the solo recording debut of Peter Gabriel, formerly of Genesis, singing "Strawberry Fields Forever".

A live concert featuring many of the artists who appeared on the soundtrack and album was planned for London's Olympia. However, the idea was abandoned due to difficulties in getting a date that all or most of the artists could make.[16]

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,[17][18] and two of the tracks ("Let It Be" performed by Leo Sayer 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.[19]

The album was finally released on CD in 2006 on the Hip-O Select label[20] and again in 2015 as a limited-issue release on the Culture Factory label, complete with the original gatefold sleeve.[21]

Single releases

Track listing

All songs by Lennon–McCartney.

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1976) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[24] 14
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[25] 17
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[26] 37
UK Albums (OCC)[27] 23
US Billboard 200[28] 48

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Erickson, Hal. "All This and World War II: Overview". MSN Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 23, 2012. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dannelley, Ronnie (August 2005). "'All This and World War II': Rock's Strangest Film". Rock 'N Roll Case Study. Ear Candy Magazine. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  3. ↑ "All This and World War II 1976". The Video Beat. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 Hall, Phil (October 1, 2004). "The Bootleg Files: 'All This and World War II'". Film Threat. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  5. 1 2 Marinucci, Steve (July 12, 2016). "Wacky Beatles tribute 'All This and World War II' gets makeover and new title". AXS. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  6. ↑ NOW Magazine
  7. ↑ New DVD/CD "The Beatles and World War II" Features Star-Studded Collection of 1970s Fab Four Covers - Music News - ABC News Radio
  8. ↑ Burridge, Shane (2005). "All This and World War II". Newsgroup: rec.arts.movies.reviews. Archived from the original on March 21, 2015. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
  9. ↑ Havens, Edward (May 30, 2007). "All This and World War II". FilmJerk. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved March 26, 2016.
  10. ↑ "War is Hell!". Shocking Videos. Mark Johnston Enterprises and Shocking Videos. Archived from the original on August 21, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2011. ALL THIS AND WORLD WAR II (76) Finally available!
  11. 1 2 "All This and World War II". AllMusic. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  12. ↑ Billboard 30 Oct 1976 (page 82)
  13. ↑ "Top 200 Albums". Billboard. January 1, 1977. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
  14. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums, 1955-2001, ISBN 978-0634039485
  15. ↑ "All This and World War II". Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  16. ↑ page 4, Record Mirror, 8 January 1977
  17. ↑ "Various – The Songs Of John Lennon & Paul McCartney Performed By The World's Greatest Rock Artists". Discogs. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Various – The Songs Of John Lennon & Paul McCartney Performed By The World's Greatest Rock Artists". Discogs. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Various – With A Little Help". Discogs. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Various – All This And World War II". Discogs. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  21. ↑ "Various – All This And World War II – Original Soundtrack". Discogs. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  22. ↑ "Lucy in the sky with diamonds in Canadian Top Singles Chart". Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on December 13, 2014. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
  23. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  24. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 321. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  25. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Soundtrack – All This and World War II" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  26. ↑ "Charts.nz – Soundtrack – All This and World War II". Hung Medien.
  27. ↑ "Various Artists | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
  28. ↑ "Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
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