October 29, 2008 10:52

Fan unearths rare Beatles film

Previously unseen footage of the Fab Four is found in a drawer

Photo Gallery: The Beatles

A silent, colour film of The Beatles playing a concert in Kansas in 1964 has been found by a fan.

Drew Dimmel was clearing out his parents' house and came across the roll of 8mm film still in its photo-lab box.

It is believed to be the only recording of the 31-minute gig at the city's Municipal Stadium, and Dimmel plans to sell it at a British auction house.

The 59-year-old told The Daily Telegraph: "I was going to stand in front of the stage and film the show, but when the lights dimmed a policeman told us to find our seats. A local reporter who was a friend of my dad was in the press barrier and he recognised us and said he would try and get some shots of The Beatles for us.

"The next day I took the film to our local camera store, making no mention of its contents, and waited for them to develop it. I paid four dollars developing fee. I went straight home, checked to see that images on the little reel were The Beatles, opened the drawer of our old desk and placed it in the bottom of the drawer. And there it's been for the last half of a century until we cleared out my parent's estate two months ago."

The sale will be held on November 4.