The Concert for Bangladesh (1972)

Director:

Saul Swimmer

Release Date:

7 June 1972 (Sweden)

Genre:

Documentary | History | Music

Tagline:

The Greatest Concert of the Decade! Now you can see it and hear it...as if you were there !

Plot:

A film about the first benefit rock concert when major musicians performed to raise relief funds for the poor of Bangladesh.

Plot Keywords:

Concert | Bangladesh | Musician | Unicef | Benefit

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

George Harrison	...	Himself
Bob Dylan	...	Himself
Ravi Shankar	...	Himself
Ringo Starr	...	Himself
Eric Clapton	...	Himself
Leon Russell	...	Himself
Billy Preston	...	Himself
Klaus Voormann	...	Himself
Jim Keltner	...	Himself
Pete Ham	...	Himself
Tom Evans	...	Himself
Mike Gibbins	...	Himself
Joey Molland	...	Himself
Jesse Ed Davis	...	Himself
Jim Horn	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mal Evans	...	Himself (uncredited)
Allen Klein	...	Himself (uncredited)
Phil Spector	...	Himself (uncredited)

Directed by
Saul Swimmer

Produced by
George Harrison	....	producer
Allen Klein	....	producer

Cinematography by
Richard E. Brooks

Sound Department
C. Robert Fine	....	sound mixer

Production Companies

• Apple Corps
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
• U.S. Committee for UNICEF

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
• Warner Home Video

Runtime:

USA:103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Felt Forum, Madison Square Garden - 4 Pennsylvania Plaza, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Apple Corps

Trivia:

At this concert Eric Clapton plays a Gibson Byrdland guitar designed by Nashville guitarists Hank Garland and Billy Byrd.

Goofs:

Continuity: In between 'Blowin' in the Wind' and 'Just Like a Woman', Bob Dylan attaches his capo to the second fret of his guitar. George Harrison then leans over to speak to Leon Russell, but immediately in the next shot, Dylan's guitar is capoed on the fourth fret and George is back in his regular position. (This is most likely due to the deletion of another Dylan song, 'Mr. Tambourine Man', which was played with a capo on the 2nd fret and is included on the film's soundtrack album.)

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Buck Henry/Leon Redbone (#3.6)" (1977)

Dylan steals the show

George Harrison organized this 1972 Madison Square Garden concert, but Bob Dylan steals the show. Clad in a faded blue jean jacket, his pudgy face surrounded by a halo of tangled curls, Dylan looks like an Oakie and sings like one, too, warbling "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall," "Blowin' in the Wind," and "It Takes a Lot to Laugh" with a definite twang in his nasal voice. Watching him, I was reminded of the critics who insist that Dylan is always reinventing himself. In this film, it's hard to recognize him as the possessor of the contemptuous voice that rode "Like a Rolling Stone" to the top of the charts in 1965. Here he has reverted back to his pre-electric, pre-polka dot shirt days, and once again inhabits a persona reminiscent of Woody Guthrie. His appearance makes this otherwise grainy, unattractive looking film (shot in 16mm and blown up to 35), a cut above the usual rock concert film, although the finest moment is when George Harrison and Leon Russell join Dylan on the chorus of "Just Like a Woman."