BBC Arena - The Brian Epstein Story (1998)

This BAFTA award-winning BBC Arena documentary is the story of a man who had a hand in changing the world. His discovery of the Beatles burst open the door to a British invasion of pop and rock musicians the United States has not seen since. In the process, Epstein's life was changed dramatically.
By 1963 he had become the most successful pop manager in history, with clients like the Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Cilla Black, Billy J. Kramer or the Dakotas dominating the United States pop charts in the number one spot for 37 weeks that year.
Tracing the rise and fall of the man behind the biggest cultural revolution of our time, director Anthony Wall reveals Epstein's profound sense of himself as a Jewish and homosexual outsider. The realization that he was gay during the 1950s and 60s in the working-class city of Liverpool, before the emergence of the gay rights movement and the normalization of homosexuality, only increased his despair. He was able to rescue himself and break out of his provincial existence by reinventing himself through his association with the Beatles.
With an incredible archive of early Beatle footage and interviews with Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden, Billy J. Kramer, George Martin and Epstein's Aunt Stella, this one should not be missed by any fan of the Beatles and 1960s rock and roll.

Part 1: The Sun Will Shine Tomorrow
First in a two-part documentary examining the turbulent life and career of Beatles manager Brian Epstein. Brian went from having aspirations of becoming a dress designer to managing NEMS record department to dominating the music scene in 1963 Britain. When Epstein met the Beatles at the end of 1961, he was a successful retailer in a Jewish family business. In 1963 - his first year in pop music - his acts occupied the No 1 spot in the charts for 37 weeks. Gay when homosexuality was illegal, a gambler, shopkeeper and failed actor, he was also pop king with a midas touch who, in the 60s, was as well known as the band he managed. Features interviews with family and friends, and a look at the birth of the Merseybeat sound.

Part 2: Tomorrow Never Knows
Concluding the two-part profile of the pop manager who brought global success to the Beatles. By the mid-sixties, the group's fame meant Epstein had little time to devote to the other acts under his control. He was also being increasingly lured into a lifestyle fuelled by gambling, sex and drugs. After the Beatles decided in 1966 to stop touring, Epstein began to lose touch with the group whose lives he had organised for five years. He set out to broaden the business interests of his company and bought a historic country mansion in Sussex. But, in August 1967, he was found dead in his London home - killed by a mysterious drug overdose aged just 32.