Post by yerblues1968 on Dec 16, 2008 1:23:37 GMT -5
BITEBACK: BRIAN EPSTEIN FILM PLANNED
From The Sunday Times
Richard Brooks
December 14, 2008
There are at least five “fifth” Beatles: Stuart Sutcliffe, who left in 1961; Pete Best, the drummer replaced by Ringo; Neil Aspinall, their long-time business manager; George Martin, their producer; and Brian Epstein, their equally famous manager. Now a film about Epstein, who died in 1967, is planned for next year, with a script by the Broadway producer Vivek Tiwary. Don’t expect too many shocks, though. Tiwary believes Epstein died of an accidental, not deliberate, overdose of drugs. He also does not hold to the rumour that he slept with John Lennon.
Ten years ago, there was a fine BBC2 Arena documentary about Epstein. It contained a wonderful line from Paul McCartney, recalling Epstein lying on a hotel bed, smoking pot, screaming “I’m a Jew” and saying he was desperate for sex. That, of course, was Epstein’s problem: not that he was a cannabis addict or a Jew, but that he was hung up about his homosexuality.
richard.brooks@sunday-times.co.uk
entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article5324432.ece