The Beatles Films Podcast20 Okt 2025

Ebony and Ivory

Strap in for Jim Hosking's deliberately provocative and frustrating take on the "genesis of a song" story. In fictionalising a meeting between Paul McCartney (Sky Elobar) and Stevie Wonder (Gil Gex) at Paul's Scottish cottage, and throwing narrative structure and logic out the window, is he poking fun at how seriously classic rock fans take these stories? We discuss the comedy of repetition, how it can force you to reinterpret simple statements by overexposure to them, and, briefly because it can't be avoided, prosthetic penises.

In the UK you can watch the film on Kanopy, a free streaming service available if you have a library card. But note the films available to you depend on which library you're registered with, so it might not be included: https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/15627467
Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/Y2ebFMjJujw
The video for Paul's solo version: https://youtu.be/JNsh6uMFNTc
Clarification: when we say it was the second most successful single of Paul's career including Hey Jude, we should say it was the one that ran for second-longest at number one in the US charts. He of course had bigger sellers, like Mull of Kintyre.
The full clip of Andy Kaufman's I Trusted You: https://youtu.be/TSYV-nEE300
The "We Are The World" documentary The Greatest Night in Pop on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81720500
The full SNL sketch, with Eddie Murphy as Stevie Wonder and Joe Piscopo as Frank Sinatra: https://youtu.be/0h2jZtuRuic
Paul's quote about working with Stevie is from his book The Lyrics.

Meet the Beatles Films Podcast

The Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed Williamson. We're both film writers and Beatles fans. Between us we've written for TheShiznit.co.uk, Total Film, Den of Geek and Virgin Media.

But tomorrow may rain, so you'll follow us on:

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Episoder(110)

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