It was almost 62 years ago today that the Fab Four brought New York to a standstill on their first trip to the States.
And judging by the scene above it would be easy to believe that Beatlemania was still alive and kicking as US cops struggle to hold back crowds of adoring fans.
In fact, it’s from one of four linked films about the band as extras in London portray the crowds who met them outside The Plaza Hotel in New York on The Beatles’ arrival on February 7, 1964.
Director Sam Mendes, whose films include the James Bond movie Skyfall, chose the exterior of The Athenaeum private members’ club in Pall Mall for the shoot.
With London doubling for Manhattan, Mendes recreated the band’s reception ahead of their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show – a moment that ignited global Beatlemania.
Vintage cars, motorcycles and period costumes completed the illusion as the capital slipped back in time six decades for The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event.
At the eye of the storm were actors Paul Mescal, 30, as Sir Paul McCartney; Harris Dickinson, 29, as John Lennon; Joseph Quinn, 32, as George Harrison; and Barry Keoghan, 33, as Sir Ringo Starr.
Dressed in Sixties tailoring and sporting the band’s signature mop-tops, the stars were filmed forcing their way through the shrieking crowds as police struggled to hold the line – mirroring the band’s bewilderment at their first brush with American fame.
London was swept up in full-blown Beatlemania last weekend, more than 60 years after the chaos first erupted – as the capital was transformed into 1964 New York for filming on the new Beatles epic
The dramatic scenes form part of director Sam Mendes- ambitious four-film anthology charting the rise of The Beatles. Pictured: Actor Barry Keoghan who portrays Ringo Starr
All four films are due to be released simultaneously in 2028
Mescal was seen with a sleeve torn from his overcoat after battling through the staged throng, and Keoghan portrayed Starr’s obsession with gadgets by wielding a vintage video camera to capture the chaos around him.
In Mendes’s ambitious four-film anthology, each instalment will tell the story of The Beatles from a different band member’s perspective.
All four films are due to be released simultaneously in 2028.
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