Unseen footage of The Beatles during 1965 Australian tour is unveiled

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Unseen Beatles footage released
By AFP
PUBLISHED: 26 April 2016

Never-before-seen footage of The Beatles "mucking around" in a make-up studio ahead of a television performance, shot more than half a century ago, was released by Australia's national film and sound archive Tuesday.

The 49-second black-and-white silent film clip -- which the national archive described as "really rare" -- was shot with an 8mm camera belonging to Australian dancer and make-up artist Dawn Swane, who was working at Granada TV in Manchester, Britain, at that time.

The previously unreleased footage, from November 1, 1965, shows the four members of the legendary band having fun in front of the camera as their make-up is applied.


Former Australian dancer and make-up artist Dawn Swane, 83, holds a call sheet autographed for her by the Beatles in 1965

"I was in the make-up room. And so we were having some champagne," Swane, now 83, said in a statement released by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA).

"And anyway, I don't know if it was John (Lennon) or if it was Ringo (Starr) but they took the camera off me and said, 'This is no way to use a camera', and they sort of jiggled it upside down and inside out a bit, and everybody was just mucking around.

"But that was great. I mean they were a nice group of people. They really were."

The clip, along with other home movies, including British actor Michael Caine in the make-up chair, was donated by Swane's daughter Melinda Doring to the national archive.

"We don't have anything as significantly rare in the collection in terms of a home movie," NFSA assistant film curator Tara Marynowsky told AFP.

"(To have) something so high-profile is just quite incredible to have, especially when our client Dawn Swane held on to it for quite some time. Years and years later, we get to uncover this and make that available to audiences... it's really, really rare actually."

Doring said she first saw the footage as a teenager, but came across it again four years ago and realised it was starting to have "vinegar syndrome", a chemical process which causes film to deteriorate.

"I knew there was stuff there that needed to be preserved, so I knew it was the right time to ring up the archive and get it stabilised and preserved before it would have been lost forever," Doring told AFP.

Swane has also kept the original call sheet for the television programme the performers were preparing for, "The Music of Lennon & McCartney", which has on it autographs from all four Beatles as well as legendary American composer Henry Mancini.






www.dailymail.co.uk
Unseen footage of The Beatles 'mucking around' in a makeup studio during 1965 Australian tour is unveiled 50 years after it was captured
· Footage of The Beatles shot on November 1, 1965 has been released
· Australian dancer and makeup artist Dawn Swane captured it during tour
· Fab Four were preparing for TV special The Music of Lennon & McCartney
By RACHEL EDDIE FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
PUBLISHED: 26 April 2016

Never-before-seen footage of The Beatles messing around in a dressing room has been uncovered after it was shot more than 50 years ago by an Australian ballet dancer and makeup artist.
The 49-second silent clip shows the Fab Four getting their makeup done for television special The Music of Lennon & McCartney on November 1, 1965.
Shot by now 83-year-old Dawn Swane, the footage shows the band pulling faces and goofing around playfully for the camera while sitting in their makeup chairs.


Never-before-seen footage of The Beatles has been uncovered after it was shot more than 50 years ago by an Australian ballet dancer and makeup artist (Paul McCartney pictured getting ready in the makeup room at Granada Studios, November 1, 1965)


John Lennon having powder put on his face in the makeup room in video shot by Dawn Swane in 1965

'I was in the make-up room, and we were having some champagne ... I don't know if it was John or if it was Ringo, but they took the camera off me and said "this is no way to use a camera" and they sort of jiggled it upside down and inside out a bit, and everybody was just mucking around. But that was great.
'I mean they were a nice group of people. They really were,' Ms Swane said of the moment.

Ms Swane has also kept the original call sheet for the television special, which has on it autographs from all four Beatles as well as legendary American composer Henry Mancini.
The footage is part of a collection of film clips shot by Swane who, having sustained an injury that put a halt to her dancing career, worked as a make-up artist at Granada TV in Manchester, England.





'I was in the make-up room, and we were having some champagne ... everybody was just mucking around. But that was great. I mean they were a nice group of people. They really were,' Ms Swane said of the moment (Paul McCartney pictured)

Also included in the collection of Swane's home movies and video recordings, which has been donated to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSAA), is footage of a young Michael Caine on the set of TV drama The Other Man.
The collection was donated by Swane's daughter Melinda Doring and the Beatles footage is available to watch on the NFSAA's YouTube account.
Ms Swane also performed at Grace Kelly's royal wedding in Monte Carlo in 1956 and travelled across Europe until suffering a back injury and returning to Sydney in 1958 to work as a makeup artist.
She returned in the mid-60s and began working as a makeup artist at Granada TV in Manchester, Britain, where she filmed The Beatles preparing for the television special.


Ringo Starr pictured in the makeup room at Granada Studios in 1965 in film by Ms Swane, Australian dancer and makeup artist


John Lennon having powder put on his face for television special The Music of Lennon & McCartney in 1965


The Fab Four before an appearance on television in Manchester (clockwise from top left: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison)

'We don't have anything as significantly rare in the collection in terms of a home movie,' NFSA assistant film curator Tara Marynowsky told AFP.
'(To have) something so high-profile is just quite incredible to have, especially when our client Dawn Swane held on to it for quite some time. Years and years later, we get to uncover this and make that available to audiences... it's really, really rare actually.'
Ms Doring said she first saw the footage as a teenager, but came across it again four years ago and realised it was starting to have 'vinegar syndrome', a chemical process which causes film to deteriorate.
'I knew there was stuff there that needed to be preserved, so I knew it was the right time to ring up the archive and get it stabilised and preserved before it would have been lost forever,' Ms Doring told AFP.


Ms Swane has also kept the original call sheet for the television special, which has on it autographs from all four Beatles (Ms Swane pictured holding the signed call sheet)