Thursday 7th November saw the inaugural event of this year’s Birmingham Film Festival, and with it the Midlands premiere of Midas Touch, a movie about Brian Epstein, the man without whom rock & roll management might still be a universally loathed profession.
The Beatles are ever-present but not the focus of this film, indeed Cilla Black plays as important an onscreen role, in terms of the musical acts he championed. And that’s very much what a large part of this film is about, portraying the really great things he did for Britain’s Tin Pan Alley music biz; how he made a promise to four louts and didn’t let up, ensuring The Beatles created music that has affected and shaped generations, and for even the jaded among us to live in hope that all you need is love.
Epstein was gay. Homosexual in a time when such practices were illegal in Great Britain. That this affected him of that there’s little doubt, though not so much those who actually cared for him, not even his stoic father in the end, and we do get to share in his family life on screen. While comparisons can be made to The Imitation Game, about Alan Turing, where it helped us return Britain’s great World War II code breaker to the lofty position he deserves, such taboos about sexuality we really ought to now consider old news. There’s also a strong case for considering that when the film was first being written, no-one could have guessed how castigated the Jewish community would again become and therein the film resonates with a contemporary edge, in deed its official premiere was at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival in May this year.
So, we get a story about a middle-class Jewish gay Liverpudlian and how he went down to The Cavern one afternoon and a lightbulb got switched on. From thereon the film takes a heady rush, listing but a small sampling of the successes Epstein and his musical stable made (Obviously, the most longstanding of those remain The Beatles, with Gerry & The Pacemakers‘ rendition of ‘Ferry Across The Mersey’ holding them in a remarkably close second not least for crossover socially historic reasons) but also an internal clocking ticking inside your head as you witness the pressures it brought to bear upon the man, who wearing a smile, resolved those problems, but perhaps not his own.
I’ve read that the deals Epstein made for The Beatles weren’t the best, but he lit the way. Chris Stamp and Kit Lambert would go onto initially foster care for The Who, and when Mick Jagger cannily sought out Prince Rupert Loewenstein he saved The Rolling Stones’ financial affairs, but best of all, and from the Don Arden school of hard clouts, Peter Grant stood up to be counted; doing all he did for “his boys” in Zeppelin, just like Epstein did, but ensuring better deals. It’s fair to say, the likes of Dire Straits manager Eddie Bicknell led the charge for the next generation. So much so, it’s now an almost respectable business.
Brian Epstein’s death was recorded as accidental. Yes, drugs were involved, and he had suffered pressures from many quarters, but, ultimately, he was victim to a horrible quirk of fate. One would like to believe that under today’s wellbeing initiatives life would have treated him better, alas I’m too cynical and presume such experts would just fleece him of his cash.
Did Hippie ideals die at Altamont or a flat in London? Go discuss.
A complex story delivered accessibly. There are some strong performances, notably Jacob Fortune-Lloyd in the title role, equally so Emily Watson and Eddie Marsan as his parents, and nicely portrayed; Darci Shaw as Cilla. The period décor is good, the story overall can be considered light-hearted despite the fact you know the outcome.
After the screening, producer Trevor Beattie, Adam Lawrence who played Pete Best (both Brummies), and director Joe A. Stephenson took part in a Q & A session. Among other things they explained why much Merseybeat music was featured, but not The Beatles; the reason being that is wasn’t for sale.
Midas Touch is being picked up in various international territories for cinema screenings and is also available on Prime Video. It is worth your time watching, and debating over; not just with friends but those from older generations to gain some perspective, greater appreciation, and to share in the love.
