Search - A Beatle in Benton, Il on DVD

Heads up, Beatlephiles

R. Leon | Los Angeles | 05/09/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Be warned before you buy this DVD that there is NO film footage of George Harrison (or any of the Beatles) in this documentary. It consists entirely of interviews with a few of the people of Benton, Illinois who met George on his first visit to the states to see his sister in 1963, just before the Beatles hit it big in the states.

The film gets off to a promising start with an interview with the first DJ to play a Beatle's record in North America. This DJ also interviewed George on her radio show during his visit. She says that during her interview of George, George's brother Pete took home-movies. Sadly for this film neither a recording of her radio interview, nor the home footage is shown.

The film then documents the efforts to save the house formerly owned by Lou Harrison (George's sister) and turn it into a bed and breakfast for the enjoyment of tourists and Beatlephiles. The interviews with Lou are fun, (she is very charming) but would only be interesting to those who find the most trivial of Beatle minutia to be of any value.

This could have been a fairly interesting documentary in the proper hands. Even a small amount of Beatle footage would have helped. As it stands, it is very amateurish and tedious."

Rip - off

John Tipre | Big Bear City CA | 07/05/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Where is George? There is no film footage! a couple of snap shots and people we don't know tell us how George visited their town all those years ago. I wouldn't give 50 cents had I known. P.S. on the rating scale, this one deserves minus zero."

Benton, Illinois, Beatletown USA!

BeatleBangs1964 | United States | 04/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I love this video and I love the book by Jim Kirkpatrick and Louise (Lou) Harrison (George's older sister). This is such a treat!

In mid-September, 1963 Beatle George Harrison and his older brother Peter visited their sister Louise and her family who, at that time were living in Benton, Illinois. Louise had local radio stations play her brother's records; she introduced him to people living in the area, including John Malkovich's family!

George met a local band called the Four Vests and played guitar with them; one Vest told George that "with the right backing son, you'll go far." That was humorously ironic because less than 3 months later, the Beatles would give a special Royal Command Performance for the Queen and, on February 7, 1964 make world history by their meteoric arrival in America!

I loved watching the interviews of Benton residents; one Vest said that when he saw George's hair, it reminded him of Moe Howard of Three Stooges' fame. Local disc jockeys and neighbors described their meetings with George as did the surviving members of the Four Vests. Interestingly, the Vests had a left-handed bass player like another band George played with.

In 1994-95, plans to demolish Louise Harrison's former house on McCann Street were made as the town wanted to install a parking lot. (Reminds you of Joni Mitchell's song, "Big Yellow Taxi.") Neighbors, disc jockeys and even Louise herself rallied to save "Beatle House," as the place was called. I loved watching the news footage from that time period and the tireless efforts of people to preserve the home George Harrison visited.

Their efforts paid dividends. Thanks to Louise, Beatle House is now a Beatle museum replete with Beatle paraphrenalia and videos. This is such a treat to watch and is a fascinating part of Beatle history. I give this a hearty endorsement and a "yeah, yeah, yeah!" Be sure to read "Before He Was Fab," the book Louise co-authored about her brother's trip to Benton. You will be very glad you did."

Terrible Doc on a very interesting topic

MayNotLast | Los Angeles, CA USA | 08/22/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Looks like someone made this with their home-video camera. Beware of the suspiciously glowing reviews included here on Amazon -- I can only believe they were written by the "film's" creator or close relatives, or someone he owes money to who is trying to boost sales. If you absolutely must see this doc, rent it on Netflix."