The Concert for Bangladesh (1972)

Director:

Saul Swimmer

Release Date:

7 June 1972 (Sweden)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Tagline:

The Greatest Concert of the Decade! Now you can see it and hear it...as if you were there !

Plot:

The first benefit rock concert when major musicians performed to raise humanitarian relief funds for the refugees of Bangladesh of 1971 war.

Plot Keywords:

Concert | Bangladesh | Eric Clapton | Bob Dylan | Ringo Starr

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

George Harrison	...	Himself
Bob Dylan	...	Himself
Ravi Shankar	...	Himself
Ringo Starr	...	Himself
Eric Clapton	...	Himself
Leon Russell	...	Himself
Billy Preston	...	Himself
Klaus Voormann	...	Himself
Jim Keltner	...	Himself
Pete Ham	...	Himself (as Badfinger)
Tom Evans	...	Himself (as Badfinger)
Mike Gibbins	...	Himself (as Badfinger)
Joey Molland	...	Himself (as Badfinger)
Jesse Ed Davis	...	Himself
Jim Horn	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Allan Beutler	...	Himself
Kamala Chakravarty	...	Herself
Chuck Finley	...	Himself
Jeany Greene	...	Herself
Marlin Greene	...	Herself
Dolores Hall	...	Herself
Jacky Kelso	...	Himself
Ustad Aliakbar Khan	...	Himself
Claudia Lennear	...	Herself
Lew McCreary	...	Himself (as Lou McCreary)
Ollie Mitchell	...	Himself
Don Nix	...	Himself
Don Preston	...	Himself
Carl Radle	...	Himself
Alla Rakha	...	Himself
Mal Evans	...	Himself (uncredited)
Allen Klein	...	Himself (uncredited)
Phil Spector	...	Himself (uncredited)

Directed by
Saul Swimmer

Produced by
George Harrison	....	producer
Allen Klein	....	producer

Cinematography by
Richard E. Brooks

Production Management
Steve Bono	....	production manager

Sound Department
C. Robert Fine	....	sound mixer

Production Companies

• Apple Corps
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
• U.S. Committee for UNICEF

Distributors

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
• Warner Home Video

Also Known As:

Runtime:

USA:103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:G | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Felt Forum, Madison Square Garden - 4 Pennsylvania Plaza, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Apple Corps

Trivia:

Harrison discussed the concert extensively (including technical problems with filming) in his autobiography, "I Me Mine".

Goofs:

Continuity: In between 'Blowin' in the Wind' and 'Just Like a Woman', Bob Dylan attaches his capo to the second fret of his guitar. George Harrison then leans over to speak to Leon Russell, but immediately in the next shot, Dylan's guitar is capoed on the fourth fret and George is back in his regular position. (This is most likely due to the deletion of another Dylan song, 'Mr. Tambourine Man', which was played with a capo on the 2nd fret and is included on the film's soundtrack album.)

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Concert for Bangladesh: Take a Bow (2005) (V)

Holds Up After All These Years

The Concert for Bangladesh (1972)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Concert film of the August 1st, 1971 benefit concert held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. George Harrison put together this all-star benefit to gather money for the issues going on in Bangladesh. The first part of the show featured Ravi Shankar performing some Indian music and then the more well-known artists hit the stage. Joining Harrison we get Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Leon Russell and towards the end Bob Dylan. Countless other musicians join the cause as the two shows were edited down to this one film. Overall I can't see how anyone would be disappointed in regards to the music because it's of the highest level from start to finish. Even if you overlook Ringo messing up his lyrics "It Don't Come Easy" the music is just so refreshing and of the highest level. Harrison really hits a home run on numbers like "My Sweet Lord," "Here Comes the Sun," "Something," and "Bangla Desh." Other highlights including a rocking version of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" from Russell and a show-stopping number by Preston. With all of that said, the greatest moment of the concert comes when Bob Dylan walks onto the stage. You can easily tell that the producers thought this was the high point as well considering they included four of his songs here. This was only Dylan's second live show since the notorious electric tour of 1966 so you can tell he's nervous but as a die-hard fans it's usually these moments where he shines the brightest. He delivers wonderful performances of "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," " Blowin' in the Wind" and perhaps one of the greatest live performances of "Just Like a Woman." On a technical level the music sounds extremely crisp and for the most part the video footage is just fine. Fans of these musicians will certainly want to check this film out as the music still stands up strong all these years later.