A Twist on the Fab Four That’s Off the Beaten Path : Movies: The ‘BackBeat’ ad makes references to the band, but the film is really about life before Lennon and McCartney wrote together, before Ringo, and before Beatlemania.

They look like the Beatles (kind of). They dress like them. And the “BackBeat” logo resembles the real band’s typeface. What’s more, this movie is set in the Hamburg era of the Fab Four--when they were five and included bassist Stuart Sutcliffe and drummer Pete Best not Ringo Starr.

Yet, oddly, references to the Beatles in the movie’s promotional campaign could best be described as oblique. The black-and-white photos of black leather-jacketed musicians. The Union Jack. And the one-line slogan: “5 guys, 4 legends, 3 lovers, 2 friends, 1 band.”

Those who pay attention to feature stories about “BackBeat” will learn of the connection. Some movie ads feature critics’ quotes that mention the Beatles. Otherwise, reference by the filmmakers to the Beatles in this context is verboten.

“Beatles” is a trademark and as such, cannot be used without express permission from the owners, which the British filmmakers decided wasn’t worth the time, trouble (and presumably expense) of getting, they were advised by attorneys for Polygram Pictures in Britain and for U.S. distributors Gramercy Pictures.

As it was, one of the movie’s producers, Finola Dwyer, said “out of courtesy,” copies of the script were sent to Paul McCartney and George Harrison before filming for their comments--and only Harrison responded.

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Through his intermediaries, Dwyer recalled that “he didn’t want to be involved, but wished us good luck anyway.”

Since the Beatles are world famous and, by legal definition, public figures, the filmmakers say they were comfortable taking free license creatively with their version of the band’s vainglorious beginnings in and around Hamburg’s avant-garde club scene circa 1960-61. (Also, as precedent, other Beatle-themed movies have been made, notably “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” and “The Hours and Times.”)

Besides, Dwyer said, “BackBeat” is really less about John, Paul, George, Stu and Pete than it is about Lennon’s intensely close friendship with best friend Sutcliffe and the confusion and dissension within the group when Sutcliffe decided he’d rather paint and hang out with his German lover, Astrid Kirchherr, a photographer, than play bass and do covers of other musicians’ songs. This slice of life is pre-Beatlemania and before the Lennon and McCartney songwriting collaboration.

Kirchherr also figures prominently in the film’s acknowledgments, as do members of Sutcliffe’s family. It was they who director and co-screenwriter Iain Softley met with when he began to track the story behind the story of Kirchherr’s now-legendary black-and-white stills of the teen-age Liverpudlians.

No reference to anything Beatles in the end crawl, either.

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Even the music of “BackBeat” is either original, and scored by Don Was, or is a cover of an oldie such as “Please Mr. Postman” or “Twist and Shout,” performed by what is best described as an alternative rock supergroup assembled by Was.

In the “BackBeat” band are Nirvana’s Dave Grohl (drums), R.E.M.’s Mike Mills (bass and backing vocals) and Soul Asylum’s Dave Pirner (McCartney’s vocals), among others. A cross-promotion is under way with Virgin Records, which is releasing the soundtrack.

Despite appearances and Dwyer’s argument “that the (involvement of the) Beatles wasn’t crucial to the film working,” it did seem to make the co-producer happy that Lennon’s first wife, Cynthia Lennon, and their son, Julian, attended the recent premiere for 800 of “BackBeat” in London earlier this month and said they “loved it.”

Others in the audience included rockers Bob Geldof and George Michael, actor Bob Hoskins and director Ridley Scott. The post-premiere party was held at the Waldorf Hotel, where the gritty atmosphere of German bars was re-created.

“BackBeat” opens today in Los Angeles and New York in limited release and will go into a slow rollout to other major cities a week later.

If “BackBeat”-mania develops, it may go wider still.