Filming for The Magic Christian begins - February 3, 1969

From BeatlesWiki

Event
Date	February 3, 1969
Short description	Filming for The Magic Christian, a film which Ringo is in, begins
Location	London

Filminh began for The Magic Christian, starring Ringo Starr. This was Ringo's second acting role outside of The Beatles (The first was in Candy, which, at this time, although it was fourteen months since filming finished, had still yet to premiere). This time, Ringo played a much larger role. This film, based off Terry Southern's 1959 novel of the same name, was about man's greed. The film basically is a set of sketches, all of which feature millionaire Sir Guy Grand (Played by Ringo's friend Peter Sellers) testing people on what tasks they would complete to get some of his money. Ringo played Youngman Grand, his adopted son, who follows his father throughout the film. His role was created especially for the him and was not included in the original book, although the author approved of his part. Another major change is the story being set in Britain when it was originally set in the USA. It was directed by Joe McGrath and produced for Grand Films by Dennis O'Dell (who, coincidentally, worked for Apple). The screenplay, loosely based off the 1959 book, was also written by Joe McGrath, Peter Sellers, John Cleese, and Graham Chapman (The latter two would go on to be famous comedy writers, but at this time, they were not well-known. Both actually played small roles in the film). In addition to Sellers, Starr, Cleese, and Chapman the film would also star Richard Attenburough, Yul Brynner, Roman Polanski, Laurence Harvey, Christopher Lee, Dennis Price, Spike Milligan, Raquel Welch, Wilfrid Hyde White, and Patrick Cargill (who was in Help!). Shooting took place only on weekdays. Most records of filming have been lost, but it is known that Ringo spent most of his time from February to May on this film.

Source

• LEWISOHN M., 1992, The Complete Beatles Chronicle, Hamlyn -- Buy it on Amazon.com