MovieChat Forums > Magical Mystery Tour (1967) Discussion > If you possibly can, see the French movi...

If you possibly can, see the French movie that inspired this


It is a purely magical gem called "Voyage Surprise" from the 40s....not on DVD, may show in an art house somewhere near you....
I am not sure if the Beatles ever credited it as inspiration but I see no indication of that on the credits here....keep wondering if this could be the reason for its unavailability, as a source of embarassment for powerful interests...or perhaps there is no good negative for transfer??? Anyone know?

"Voyage Surprise" changed my life

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Thanks for information, even if it hardly changes my life because I doubt that I'll ever be seeing it...

The Apple Scruffs Corps, 05
In 1822!

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Well, I think that we would need some evidence that The Beatles had ever even heard of the film before accepting any influence.
The reason that the film isn't available is almost certainly that it is thoroughly obscure. You could be interested in film, including French films for decades without having even heard of it. Many films, many much more famous and marketable, aren't available for all sorts of rights problems.
The Beatles were never slow to credit influences, even on their biggest hits, I'm not sure why they would bother to suppress evidence of influence on one of their least successful or visible endeavors.
As has been mentioned elsewhere, Magical Mystery Tours were a very common phenomenon in the UK at the time so if that's the only real similarity then it's a bit like saying that if there are two films set in a fairground then one of them had to be ripping off the other.

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MMT is not based on, or influenced by any particular film, but an impression of the era in which it was created. The Beatles were interested in all kinds of underground art, including surreal images and music, like Stockhausen, Andy Wharhol, and Musique Concrete. The 60s were an experimental time, and this film is an experiment in visual imagery, just like "Tomorrow Never Knows" (and several other of their songs) was an experiment in aural imagery.

I've seen many films, French or otherwise, that were more or less free-form, or plotless amalgamations of odd happenings.

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The whole idea was inspired by Ken Kesey's novel, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/aug/06/lsd-ken-kesey-pranksters-film
Paul was inspired to hire a coach and film whatever happened, in much the same way as the Merry Pranksters did in this novel

Here's the movie version "Magic Trip: Ken Kesey's Search For A Kool Place" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1235790/?ref_=nv_sr_1

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