The Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’ Film Director Goes On The Defensive

Michael Lindsey-Hogg, the director of the Beatles' 1970 Let It Be movie, responded to Ringo Starr's recent quote that he felt the film was joyless. Lindsey-Hogg's raw footage from January 1969 has been recut and refurbished by director Peter Jackson for the six-part documentary, The Beatles – Get Back, which rolls out over three days, November 25th, 26th, and 27th, 2021, exclusively on Disney+.

During a new chat with Rolling Stone, Michael Lindsey-Hogg was told of Ringo's assessment of his movie and said, “Personally, I don’t care. That’s his opinion. And we all have them. I mean, the polite version is everybody’s got elbows, and everybody’s got opinions. I like Ringo. And I don't think he’s seen the movie for 50 years. . . And I think, if you haven’t seen the movie in a long time, and you may not have the best memory in the world, all that kind of gets mixed up in your brain about what it was like. Because when I saw it last, I’m thinking, 'What is he talking about?'”

Hogg went on to defend his film, adding, “In fact, there’s great joy and connection and collaboration, and good times and jokes and affection in Let It Be. It ends with the concert on the roof, which is the first time they played together in public for three years, when they are magical. And they're having such a good time. They realize, 'Wow, we’ve been missing this.' And through much of the picture, they’re happy and they’re trying to work things out. You don’t always have a smile on your face when you’re trying to work something out. You’re thinking. So I just don’t think he’s seen it for a long time. And again, with respect, I don’t care. As a human being, he’s wonderfully quick and funny.”

Michael Lindsey-Hogg told us that he and the “Fab Four” had a pretty good read on each other as far as what was suitable to include in Let It Be — and what wasn't: “There's certain things that the Beatles wanted — but not a lot. And there are some things that I won, which they let go, including the famous (Paul McCartney / George Harrison argument), 'I'm not tryin' to get at you, well I'll play or I won't play at all. . .' — because they realized it can happen in any artistic collaboration that one person can think, 'I'd rather it this way,' with another person thinking 'It'd be better if it's that way.' They had been having conversations like that for 15 years, but because no one had ever seen them appear to be getting at each other. . . but that one stayed in.”