For years, the Rolling Stones’ film Charlie Is My Darling – Ireland 1965 has existed only as a bootleg for those the hardcore fans who willing to dig, search and — in more recent times — download. Now Peter Whitehead’s original movie produced by early Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham (who is seen in this movie almost as the band) has been restored and “re-envisioned” with additional footage by director Mick Gochanour and producer Robin Klein.
As Klein herself assured members of the media at the 50th New York Film Festival, Charlie Is My Darling – Ireland 1965 will be released theatrically, see a UK television broadcast and sold in a stunning boxset from ABKCO in November (2012). We were assured that the Stones, typically not so interested in their past, is totally “on board” about this historical document that shows them playing live concerts in Ireland after “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” began climbing the charts.
The live footage is the real treat, as we see guys and girls rushing the tiny stages the Stones cavort across. In speaking to Gochanour, I complimented him in how well different performances of certain songs were sown together to make those songs seem like the same performance. He assured me the goal here was not to fool anybody (all you have to do is look at the outfits the band is wearing from verse to verse) but to provide as seamless a picture of the band playing live as possible.
The backstage stuff is telling in that we clearly see a clique forming amongst Jagger, Richards and Oldman. It’s fun to watch Richards slink around fans, hardly ever speaking more than a few words. With obvious attention to detail and the restoration of 90,000 frames of negatives, work and optical prints, Charlie Is My Darling – Ireland 1965 looks and sounds fantastic. There isn’t really a better insight into the world of the early Rolling Stones.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
