All Those Years Ago is a low budget British factual movie released in 2003. The film was produced by Shotmaker Productions.

The movie is based on the musical band The Beatles.

Production

Stuart Hall wrote the script in 1996 and John Birkwood oversaw the production. A 50 strong cast and crew spent 18 months producing the movie on a low budget.

Everything, apart from the slow motion footage, which was done by 3D Video Productions in Cambridge, was done in-house. To make All Those Years Ago come alive, they had to recreate all of The Beatles early Hamburg songs, construct period sets, including The Cavern Club, build various bits of additional equipment and replicate the groups early guitars. All this was then binded together with a beautifully poignant musical score, written and produced by John Birkwood.

Plot summary

Those Years Ago , is the story of Allan Williams, who for eleven turbulent months acted as Manager/Booking Agent to the greatest Rock 'n' Roll band in history and is still remembered as "The Man who gave The Beatles away".

The film begins on the morning of the 9th December 1980, when the shocking news hits England, that John Lennon has been shot dead. As the media frenzy begins, Allan conducts an interview with Maureen Bennett, of The Liverpool Echo. As he relates his bitter tale of friendship, death and betrayal, the story drifts back to 1959 and the club where it all began, The Jacaranda.

All Those Years Ago , lets you witness that first meeting, when Allan thought John, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Stuart Sutcliffe were just idle layabouts. Allan's constant battle to find the band new drummers, including Tommy Moore and Norman Chapman. The chance meeting that set them on the road to stardom in Hamburg and John's reaction to the news that his best friend was dead. Allan tells his story from the heart, right up until the day he tells Brian Epstein not to touch The Beatles "with a f***ing bargepole".

The movie ends as it began, with an older and wiser Allan Williams concluding his interview and visiting a few of his old haunts. The story leaves him full of ifs buts and maybes and as they say the rest is history.

Trivia

Stuart Hall, who played John Lennon in the movie, is also the presenter of Propeller TV's Film First and former programme controller for Channel 7 Television.

External Links

Official web site

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