The Beatles at Shea Stadium

The Beatles at Shea Stadium documents the band's groundbreaking concert for 55,600 screaming New York fans on August 15, 1965. Made as a TV special using 12 cameramen, the film gives a comprehensive picture of what the event was like, including: setting up the stage, The Beatles' helicopter flyover (they weren't allowed to land on the baseball field, so they had to land on the World's Fair building and travel to the stadium in an armored truck), some of the opening acts (Brenda Holloway and the King Curtis Band, Sounds Incorporated), tuning up in the dressing room, and most of the actual Beatles show (two songs were edited for time). Introduced onstage by Ed Sullivan (they had taped an appearance on his show the day before), The Beatles ran across the ball field to the stage in their new, Help!-style beige military jackets to play to what was then the largest crowd ever at a rock 'n' roll show. The Beatles give their all to entertain the distant, cheering crowd, occasionally cracking up at the sheer enormity of the event.