[3] It is most notable for its scenes documenting the creative evolution of the song "Sympathy for the Devil" as the Rolling Stones developed it during recording sessions at Olympic Studios in London.

[4][5] Composing the film's main narrative thread are several long, uninterrupted shots of the Rolling Stones in London's Olympic Studios, recording and re-recording various parts to "Sympathy for the Devil".

One scene involves a camera crew following a woman about in a yellow peasant dress (played by Anne Wiazemsky), in an outdoor wildlife setting; questions are asked of her, to which she always answers either "yes" or "no".

At least one quarter of the film is devoted to indoor shots of a pornographic bookstore that sells such diverse items as Marvel's Doctor Strange, DC's The Atom and The Flash comic books, Nazi pamphlets for propaganda, and various men's magazines.

When he discovered that, due to the 1967 Abortion Act, it was no longer a hot topic, he told his producers he would still make a film in London, but on the condition that he would work with either the Beatles or the Rolling Stones.

Roger Greenspun, reviewing both films in The New York Times, wrote: "Why anyone, given the choice, would prefer a producer's version of a movie to a director's escapes me.