This day in 1969: Filming began at Twickenham studios in England of The Beatles rehearsing for the ‘Let It Be’ album. The project ran into several problems including George Harrison walking out on the group on January 10th.

The film includes an unannounced rooftop concert by the group, their last public performance. Released just after the album in May 1970, Let It Be is the final original Beatles release.

The film was originally planned as a television documentary which would accompany a concert broadcast. When plans for a broadcast were dropped, the project became a feature film. Although the film does not dwell on the dissension within the group at the time, it provides some glimpses into the dynamics that would lead to their break-up. Following the film’s release, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr collectively won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score.

Let It Be has not been officially available on home video since the 1980s, although original and bootleg copies of the film still circulate, while early attempts to release the film on DVD and Blu-ray did not come to fruition. In 2019, it was announced that a new version of the film incorporating previously-unseen footage, directed by Peter Jackson, would be released to coincide with the album and film’s fiftieth anniversary, and will be followed by a remastered re-release of the original film.