Rarely Seen Rolling Stones Film Resurfacing in Expanded Form

September 27, 2012, 12:30 pm

By ALLAN KOZINN

With “Crossfire Hurricane” about to offer an expansive view of the Rolling Stones' 50-year history when it opens at the London Film Festival on Oct. 18, a more fine-grain look at an important moment in the group's early history â€" the rarely seen 1965 film, “Charlie Is My Darling” â€" is about to have a handful of screenings and a DVD release.

The film, commissioned by the band's manager at the time, Andrew Loog Oldham, and directed by Peter Whitehead, documents the group's trip to Ireland in September 1965. The band, still performing with its original lineup â€" Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts â€"  had released “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction” as a si ngle in Britain a few weeks earlier, nearly three months after its American release. By the time the Stones visited Ireland the record was at the top of the British charts.

Mr. Whitehead's brief was to capture the band onstage and off, so in addition to performances, he filmed interviews with the band members as well as jam sessions, clowning around, and hotel-room songwriting sessions with Mr. Jagger and Mr. Richards. The film he produced, “Charlie Is My Darling,” ran only 35 minutes in its original form, and has barely been seen. Mr. Oldham re-edited the footage as a 50-minute film in the 1980's, but it too has had limited showings.

Now a new 65-minute version of the film, with a slightly expanded title, “Charlie Is My Darling â€" Ireland 1965,” will have its first screenings at the New York Film Festival on Saturday, with a repeat on Wednesday. It will also be shown as part of an evening in which the guitarist (and “Sopranos” star) Steve Van Zandt interviews Mr. Oldham onstage at the 92nd Street Y on Oct. 5. The new version, directed by Mich Gochanaur and produced by Robin Klein for ABKCO Films, draws on unseen footage filmed by Mr. Whitehead and is said to include the group's first stage performances of “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.”

All three versions of “Charlie Is My Darling” will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on Nov. 6. For completists there will also be a box set that includes both the DVD and Blu-ray discs, two CD's â€" one with the soundtrack, the other with previously unreleased live recordings of 13 songs, taped during the band's September and October 1965 British tour â€" as well as a 10-inch vinyl version of the live material, a poster for the Stones' 1965 Belfast concert, a 42-page hardcover book and a limited edition cell from the film.