Beatles and Muhammad Ali’s Documentaries Mark 50 Years

“We used some superb footage of Ali shot over in England where he had some early professional fights.” The Brits were curious about this outspoken black man whose brash style was not what British TV viewers were used to seeing. “The British footage is why our documentary has a bit of a different look than other Ali films,” Krantz said, “so it has a lot of Ali footage that most Americans haven’t seen.”

In addition to highlights of fights with Englishmen Henry Cooper and Joe Bugner, Ali offers plenty of his amusing quips in the documentary. Ali’s rhetoric was colorful. “I’m the King!” he shouts in one scene shot in London, as he hyped a fight. “You got a queen, but you ain’t got no King! I’m the King!”

Almost as colorful as Ali is the documentary’s narrator Bert Sugar who perpetually wore a trademark fedora hat and almost always had a fat cigar he’d wiggle at you. Sugar had a special relationship with Ali. In order to make his calls better when he covered an Ali fight, the sportscaster once sparred with the Ali . . . just to learn what it might be like.

When he spoke of it, he’d raise his fists to demonstrate how he jabbed at Ali and he’d bob and weave like a prize fighter as he gave his account. “Seeing Bert, with his ‘dukes up,’ ready to poke you,” Krantz said, “was an intimidating experience, even though he was seventy something when he did with me.”

“You can’t imagine what a thrill it was for me, ” producer   Krantz said, “to work on back-to-back documentaries of the heroes of my youth, Ali and the Beatles” The latter work,  The Beatles: Their Golden Age,  tells the story of the Beatles from their beginning in 1960s, thru Ringo joining the group in 1962, to the very end in 1970 when the Beatles broke up.

In addition to their world tours, the documentary has highlights of their movies, all five of them. You’ll witness them dancing and singing their way across the screen, including a portion on the making of their first movie,  A Hard Day’s Night. Also included are scenes from  Help!,  Yellow Submarine,Magical Mystery Tour, and  Let it Be.

Not every scene in the Beatles documentary is as familiar as the boys’ movies. Rare footage in Krantz’s documentary include John Lennon reading his from his poetry book; Paul McCartney angrily lecturing a newsman about revealing his LSD usage;   George Harrison batting his eyes at his new wife Patty Boyd, and Ringo clowning around in the Irish countryside with the other Beatles.

“We liked to show a side of the boys that was seldom very public,” Krantz said. The famous scenes are here too:   a repentant John explaining his remark that the group was “bigger than Jesus;” the Beatles arriving in London as they returned from their world tour, and their triumphant return to their hometown, Liverpool.