Derek: Sitting by the brilliant blue water of the Caribbean with Ringo Starr, who's also brilliantly coloured; he has red paint all over his suit. Morning, Ringo.
Ringo: Morning, Derek. Good to see you again.
Derek: It's good to see you, Ringo. Particularly in weather like this. Is it too hot for you?
Ringo: Um... it gets a bit hot when you're staked out, y'know, in the sand, and you've gotta lay there for half an hour or so. Fully dressed.
Derek: This suit you've got on, a beautiful suit, which costs I think,something like - what, a hundred dollars?
Ringo: Er, roughly speaking. Yes.
Derek: Roughly speaking, a hundred dollars, and it's covered in red paint.
Ringo: Yes.
Derek: The last one you had on was covered with red paint.
Ringo: And the one before that, too.
Derek: Why the red paint all over your suit, Ringo?
Ringo: Well, it's something to do with the - the film, y'see. I'm not gonna give too much away, but...
Derek: Well, you've given nothing away. I mean - tell us something about the red paint.
Ringo: Well, it's - the film is basically a chase film. And it's about a ring which I have. And it starts off where they're gonna sacrifice a girl, and er... they paint everyone they sacrifice red, y'see, this tribe. But they can't sacrifice the girl, 'cause she hasn't got this magic ring on, which she sent to me, 'cause I wear rings. And so they're after me now, and they - y'know, they can't get the ring off, so they - they're gonna sacrifice me. And that's why I'm red.
Derek: And the - the paint has been put on you so they can sacrifice you.
Ringo: Yes.
Derek: How many times have you been painted up till now?
Ringo: Oh, about four or five. Times.
Derek: D'you like filming? It seems hard work for you, you always seem to be the one who's out on your own when all the other Beatles are in bed.
Ringo: Not all the time, but some of it. I enjoy filming anyway, y'know. It's just - I hate gettin' up in the mornings; that's the only drag.
Derek: What time do you have to get up in the morning, Ring?
Ringo: Well, Malcolm woke me up at twenty-five to seven this morning.
Derek: Malcolm's in the film himself, I think.
Ringo: Yes, that's right, he's a swimmer. Um... a cross-Channel swimmer, but he keeps getting lost.
Derek: I should explain that Malcolm is Malcolm Evans, who's been The Beatles' road manager for many years, since he was employed at the Cavern. A club where The Beatles had their dramatic start in Liverpool. Malcolm's a massive man, and a handy man to have around. He - he's sitting down below with Eleanor Bron. Eleanor Bron is a pretty good actress too, isn't she, Ringo?
Ringo: Yeah, she's marvellous, y'know. Fantastic.
Derek: What was her background in England before she started in this film, d'you know?
Ringo: Um... I don't know too much about it. She was sort of in satirical groups a lot, and she used to do a show on the - on the English TV, called "Not So Much A Programme, More Of A Way Of Life". And then - here she is with us now.
Derek: And other marvellous people in the film, people like Leo McKern, and um - Roy Kinnear, who was also on TV and a great success about two years ago, what was his programme?
Ringo: I don't know, I never saw it.
Derek: I think it was the Saturday night - one of these late, late shows.
Ringo: And Victor Spinetti's back again. Good ol' Vic.
Derek: Victor Spinetti played the harrassed TV man in the first film, and I think The Beatles took a great liking to him, is that right?
Ringo: Yeah, he's marvellous and he's good fun, y'know, we're always having laughs and things.
Derek: You have the same producer and director again, have you, Ring?
Ringo: Yeah, Walter Shenson and Dick Lester. Both good lads, y'know.
Derek: Has Brian Epstein been here during the film?
Ringo: Um... yes, he came out with us when we first arrived, and he stayed about four days, I think. Four or five days.
Derek: How do you stand the separation so soon after getting married?
Ringo: Oh, y'know, you've just gotta take it, y'know, 'cause we knew when we were gettin' married that - y'know, I had to leave to come out here for the film. Y'know, we just sorta got used to the idea. It's a bit of a drag, y'know. But there was no point fetching Maureen out, 'cause, y'know, we're working like lunatics, and we don't have a day off when we're on location.
Derek: It wasn't a question then, really, of having a Caribbean honeymoon, which is many people's dream.
Ringo: No, no. Well, we - we didn't have an English one, never mind a Caribbean one.
Derek: How long were you actually away from London?
Ringo: Um... we got married on a Thursday, and we went back on the Sunday night.
Derek: It was quite a dramatic story, which broke at a very good time of day, too. How long was it planned before it happened?
Ringo: Well, we decided to get married two - two weeks to the day. And then it started getting planned from then, you know.
Derek: Yeah, well let me say congratulations, 'cause everyone who knows you, knows you both, is delighted. I think it was a marvellous move, I'm sure you thought so too, or you wouldn't have done it.
Ringo: Thanks a lot, Derek, and I thought it was a good move.
Derek: It means that at last we won't have to deny or confirm the query, "Is Ringo married?" So would you now say, into the mic, something for all time, on record: "I married Maureen Cox."
Ringo: I married Maureen Cox, and I'm very happy, and her name's now Maureen Starkey.
Derek: Which is no bad name. And we're all very happy.
Ringo: Thanks a lot, Derek.
Derek: Tell me, the other Beatles in the film, are they detached from you for a time, as - as, um, they were in "Hard Day's Night"?
Ringo: Um, yes, just a - a short time. Not too long this time, though.
Derek: In this film, there's no question of you falling out at all.
Ringo: No, no. No! Well, y'know, as I say, I get captured and things, and they're looking for me. And when they're looking for me, you won't see me on the screen, and when I'm sorta being captured and taken away, you'll see me and not them.
Derek: Is the film in Technicolor?
Ringo: Yes, yes. Well, it's in some colour. I don't know if it's Technicolor or one of the other colours!
Derek: Yeah. Well, we'd better scrub out Technicolor, because, uh -
Ringo: Yes, it's a plug.
Derek: 'Cause it's a plug. Y'see, it's a trade name. It's a beautiful day, Ringo.
Ringo: It's marvellous. I think it's about - must be gettin' 75 or 80.
Derek: It's a different climate from California, of course, 'cause I think there's more humidity coming in from Florida.
Ringo: Well, there's a lot here if you get into the town. It's not so bad while you're on the beach, but in town, it's - it's hard going, y'know, you sweat like a pig.
Derek: This sort of climate suits me very well, which is why - really why I came to live in California.
[EDIT]
Derek: How have the press and the populace been treating you down here, Ringo?
Ringo: Um, well... for the first couple of days, as always, y'know, they were around all the time. But it's eased off now. Y'know, and they just pop in once every two or three days now.
Derek: Are you actually not living in a hotel at all, you're living in a - I think, a cottage attached to the hotel.
Ringo: Well, it - it is the hotel, but it's just that this hotel has cottages and not loads of little rooms in a big block.
Derek: It's very British out here, I notice.
Ringo: Yes, very British, you know, Derek.
Derek: Does it make you feel at home?
Ringo: It's part of Britain, you know.
Derek: Is it?
Ringo: Oh, aye.
Derek: Oh. I thought it was part of America.
Ringo: No, it's not an American island, you know. It's British, this island. Is it not? It is, see.
Derek: Yes.
Ringo: Everyone around agrees.
Derek: I feel quite alien here, actually.
Ringo: Why?
Derek: This is the -
Ringo: Don't you feel British anymore?
Derek: No, I feel American!
Ringo: You don't talk like an American, and you don't look like an American, and you don't act like an American.
Derek: No, well, that's 'cause I'm - don't I? But I feel like an American. There's a contradiction in terms there. [long pause] Ringo...
Ringo: Yes, Derek.
Derek: Give me a moment - give me a moment to think of what to say next, will you?