Director of 1970 film Let It Be, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, believed he might have been deported when officers crashed the Beatles’ 1969 rooftop concert. The officer who pulled the plug said there would have “been a problem” if he had of known Lindsay-Hogg’s immigration status.
American-born Michael Lindsay-Hogg fully expected police to break up the show on the roof of the Apple Corps building on January 30th, the previous year. The director even went as far as to install a two-way mirror in the foyer in preparation of their arrival. Eager to record the following proceedings, the Beatles director instructed some of the rooftop camera operators to focus on the officers.
However, as Lindsay-Hogg admitted last year, he had personal concerns at the time: “As an American who didn’t really have a work permit, I was afraid of being deported.” In a new interview marking the release of Peter Jackson’s Get Back, retired police officer Ray Shayler said he didn't know of the filmmaker’s legal issue.
“That would actually have been a problem, as we were quite hot on that sort of thing in those days,” Shayler told the Daily Mail. “I had a diplomat who ended up being sent back to his home in Bulgaria, so Mr. Lindsay-Hogg, working without the proper permit, would have been sent straight back on the first plane to his own country. He had a lucky escape.”
Recalling being seen on the classic UK TV show, Top of the Pops following the track’s release, Shayler notes, “because the Beatles weren’t performing it live in the studio, they had to show video of the concert. So, there were me and my colleagues on Top of the Pops for weeks.”
Shyler added that he had later been told by an Apple Corps insider that his arrival had been anticipated for the Beatles film. “Certain cameramen were detailed to film us. I suppose we were unpaid extras.”
