All This and World War II (1976)

2.7
(11)

Beatles’ “significance” pushed to the breaking point in this bizarre documentary that juxtaposes their songs (sung by a number of rock stars) with World War II newsreel footage. Helen Reddy sings “Fool On The Hill” while Hitler relaxes at Bertchtesgaden, and Rod Stewart husks “Get Back” while Nazi troops goose step.

Director: Susan Winslow.

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Many thanks to Copetes Filmoteca for recording this from Argentine TV when it was aired in late 2019 and uploading it on Youtube so that it could be saved for posterity, as expected it comes with hardcoded subtitles in Spanish. As for the source of this copy most likely comes from a faded film print as it looks mostly like a mix of magenta and purple (it’s supposed to look mostly b&w with some parts in color. Very rare documentary which I film never got an official home video release, most likely due to the music rights although Wikipedia states: “A fairly high-quality transfer is also available as an unofficial DVD release“, no idea what they mean by “high quality” but if anyone out there has a copy of this DVD please let me know, I’d be curious to see how it compares with this version since this one is obviously not the best either. I also downloaded a second version from Youtube (many thanks to DPJTRON) which you can download here this version has better colors and better audio as the uploader did some audio restoration songs especially on the Beatles songs that play during the film but the copy from Argentine TV despite being faded has better detail and more image in all sides. Enjoy!

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9 Comments

  1. July 29, 2023
    Reply

    Saw this at Los Angeles’s Cinerama Dome on the huge, rounded screen — basically, the IMAX of the ’70s — when I was ten years old, and I never forgot it. Amazing, mesmerizing big-screen experience. Unjustly bad reviews for a great cinematic pastiche/collage. Documentarian Susan Winslow was ahead of her time. I’m guessing that it’s never been available on home video because it was made a couple of years before the home video boom, so arrangements probably weren’t made for those rights. Now that Disney owns Fox, maybe it will be easier to have this restored and re-released, since the “Get Back” movie was shown on Disney… or maybe it will be harder. Anyway, thank you for putting this up, Jon!

  2. Thanks but NO thanks
    July 29, 2023
    Reply

    Wow! 0_0 What idiot thought that THIS was a good idea for a film? Absolutely appalling 😛

    • Mateus
      July 29, 2023
      Reply

      Yeah? Well, you know. That’s just like uh… your opinion, man.

      • Chuck
        July 30, 2023
        Reply

        10 points for the Dude reference.

  3. Gabrielle
    July 30, 2023
    Reply

    This is an outstanding find. Thank you so much for the chance to see this!

  4. Allan
    August 11, 2023
    Reply

    -The Beatles soundtrack brings new life to rarely-seen WWII clips in this documentary, but some may find it a tired cliche. Despite this, the film’s footage is compelling and emotional, particularly in its depiction of the liberation of Europe and the unity of the country during wartime.

  5. ANON80
    August 27, 2023
    Reply

    That Wikipedia is correct. I have a DVD of this which was purchased from Revenge Is My Destiny website in the 90’s before it closed.

  6. Sean Ramsdell
    July 17, 2024
    Reply

    The Fab Four’s Atomic Cafe before The Atomic Cafe

  7. Nick
    October 13, 2024
    Reply

    In the 80’s I had 100’s of videos and “All This” was the only one I had stolen. I had to wait up untill last week to obtain a brand new copy on DVD from Film Classics in South Australia. Wow so good. Look this flick is not Hitchcock, Polanski, Bergman etc etc, but for me the level of nostalgia is massif. I only wish that Ringo and his mate would get the rights and use original Beatle songs as a soundtrack as a side B to a DVD version. Also remember Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent movie Metropolis with its original orchestrated sound track was also revamped years ago with Rock Music as an alternative, a good idea and it’s good to have a choice. It’s funny how people can sometimes get angry about art. And as we all know art is a big part of propaganda, advertising etc. Adios.

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