Product Details

• Actors: Rosie McGinnity, Horst Fascher, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Paul Morley
• Directors: Steve Cole (IV)
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Kultur Video
• DVD Release Date: July 25, 2006
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000G1ALE8
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #139,643 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Stuart Sutcliffe - The Lost Beatle" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

At art college in Liverpool in 1959, Stuart Sutcliffe met John Lennon and they soon became close -with Lennon persuading Sutcliffe to use the proceeds of a painting he had sold to buy a bass guitar and join his band, along with Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Before long, with drummer Pete Best in the line-up, they won a contract in Hamburg playing sleazy clubs in the seedy Reeperbahn area of the city, amidst the casual sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll of the era. The newly-christened Beatles were on their way.

With the band on the brink of success, Sutcliffe left the group to concentrate on his first love, art, and his new love, German photographer Astrid Kirchherr. But Stuart's health soon began to decline. On the 10th of April 1962, Stuart suffered a seizure and slipped into a coma. As Astrid cradled his head in her hands, Stuart died of a cerebral hemorrhage, cutting short the life of the promising young artist.

Interviewees include Stuart's fiancée and Beatles stylist/photographer Astrid Kirchherr, early Beatles manager Allan Williams, Stuart's sister Pauline Sutcliffe, Liverpool flatmate to Sutcliffe and Lennon, Rod Murray and esteemed American art historian and writer Donald Kuspit.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Founding Father, July 27, 2006

By 

Volunteer of America (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Stuart Sutcliffe - The Lost Beatle (DVD)

This film about original Beatles member Stuart Sutcliffe was manna to a baby boomer Beatlemaniac like myself, who was 13 when Hard Day's Night was released. At that time the Beatles were much more than a top band; they WERE us, representing and leading all our creative urges, anti-establishment feelings, desire for something new, different, hip. And the imagery was (like much of the film's imagery) in black and white: the movie, Pop Weekly magazine, tv appearances, newspaper photos. Black Cuban-heeled boots, black narrow knitted ties, black polo neck sweaters, grey mohair suits.

Stuart Sutcliffe's contribution to the Beatles was considerable. A highly talented artist and creator, he bolstered John's considerable imagination and lent an artsy, more sophisticated influence to what could otherwise have conceivably remnained just another garage band. It was Stuart who bonded with Hamburg hipsters Astrid and Klaus Voorman (who drew the cover of Revolver); the impact of this pair on the band was significant. There's a reason he's on the cover of Sgt. Pepper, unlike the unfortunate Pete Best.

It was quite a treat to see Tony Sheridan - the celebrated bad influence and main attraction on the Beatles' first ever recording - looking very well, given his reputation at that time as a speed and alcohol maniac guitarist. Astrid herself of course is present, as well as Klaus Voorman, Allan Williams, their first manager, Horst Fascher, killer bouncer and Beatles protector at the Hamburg clubs, and other figures from that misty past. If you enjoyed the Beatles biography Shout - to my mind the best book written about them - you'll find the film enthralling.

Also included, a very interesting gallery of Stuart's art, much of it from the Hamburg days, and VERY good.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What if?, October 23, 2009

By 

Nowhere Man "Nowhere Man" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Stuart Sutcliffe - The Lost Beatle (DVD)

The effort to produce a documentary about Stuart Sutcliffe, art student and early member of the Beatles band, is notable. The idea to recreate the atmosphere surrounding his life and death and to reveal all the hypothesis and opinions related to his death is noteworthy.

The history comes in front of us with images, documents, persons and opinions in a decent, well-balanced, objective and impartial display. The choice and succession of quotes, fragments of correspondence, interviews and music are fortunate. The documentary is based on through research, we discover many details related to Stuart's life and death, but more importantly, like all well-done work, it leaves you with the desire and thirst to learn more. Moreover, we are--indirectly, of course--invited to judge with our own minds, to inquiry our hearts, to meditate and try to find our own answers.

Thanks to this documentary you can better understand John's deep sadness and perlexity in some alluring photos, or the poignant nostalgia of In My Life's lyrics and tune.

It is pleasant to see and hear the witnesses of "those days": Pauline Sutcliffe (Stu's sister), Astrid Kirchherr, Klaus Voorman, Tony Sheridan, Allan Williams, Rod Murray--people who knew Stuart and the other Beatles.

I don't know if Stu's contribution to the art world is important or not; if it really is, I don't know if it's due to its originality or to the fact that Stu is the tragic figure entangled with the Beatles' life. Would his paintings figure in the big collections, art albums and museums of the world had he not been a friend of John's or a member of his band? Would we contemplate Stu's art if he hadn't been, for a short while, a poor bass player in the already mythical Indra club? Difficult to give an answer. But is it important to have one?

The documentary is certainly worth watching. Maybe more revealing details from Stu's letters to John would have made it (even) more consistent and relevant.

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond "Backbeat", July 22, 2010

By 

jjaybird99 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Stuart Sutcliffe - The Lost Beatle (DVD)

"Backbeat" is one of my favorite movies, but it's rather fictionalized; this is a straight-forward documentary, narrated through interviews with Sutcliffe's friends and family (including Astrid, of course). It gives more background on the club scene in Hamburg, the true details of Sutcliffe's death, and a more explicite disgussion of Sutcliffe's relationship with Lennon (all speculation now, of course). I rented it from Netflix, and decided immediately to buy it. An absolute MUST for anyone wih an interest in the Beatles and/or Lennon.