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Film of Beatles’ first U.S. concert to screen Feb. 11 in Hollywood for first time in 47 years* (Updated)

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This week is the 47th anniversary of the Beatles’ first U.S. visit and their initial appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” that plunged the country into the deep end of Beatlemania.

Two days after that seismic telecast, the Fab Four played their first bona fide concert on U.S. soil at the Coliseum in Washington D.C., an event that was shown in movie theaters around the country in a closed-circuit telecast that has never been widely broadcast since.

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But on Friday, the American Cinematheque will show the film of the entire concert for the first time since it was seen back in 1964, a film that also included pre-taped live performances by the Beach Boys and Lesley Gore.

Historian and Beatles enthusiast Domenic Priore (author of “Riot on the Sunset Strip: Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Last Stand in Hollywood”) will host the screening and will be joined by Beach Boys documentary director Alan Boyd and rock-and-roll visual archivist Ron Furmanek and other guests in presenting the film.

Kinescope copies showed up in the 1970s on the midnight movie circuit, but the original videotapes that are the source of Friday’s screenings at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood have not been shown in public in 47 years.

*[Update Feb. 10 at 3:39 p.m.]: Event organizer Domenic Priore alerted Pop & Hiss that Friday’s first screening has sold out, but a second screening has been added at 11 p.m. He also noted that tickets also are available at Fandango’s web site.

-- Randy Lewis

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