A Hard Day's Night

Excellent production, script, acting and what BRILLIANT music composed under the duress of filming and touring! John Lennon's tour-de-force (he wrote 11 1/2 songs on the album, Paul McCartney wrote half of "And I Love Her" and all of "Things We Said Today"). The script captures perfectly the joys and draining madness of Beatlmania. The Beatles prove in this film that they are deserving of the fame and adulation.

"A Hard Days Night" has got to be one of the funniest movies of all time, firmly holding its place with such classics as "Annie Hall" and "Duck Soup". It is also one of my top five favorite films of all time. The film proved that the Beatles could not only write and perform incredible songs, but that they could act as well. They are assisted in no small part by the extraordinary screenplay by Alun Owen. His dialogue is so unreasonable witty that even Groucho Marx himself would be impressed.

In "A Hard Days Night", we not only see the Beatles as great characters, but we also get some other outstanding characters, such as Paul's mischevious grandfather (Wilfred Brambell) and the dim-witted Norm and Shake (Norman Rossington and John Junkin).

This is a great film with great music and a great screenplay. I recommend this not only to avid Beatles fans, but to movie fans in general.

The Beatles travel down from Liverpool to record a TV show.

If I was to meet Richard Lester I would shake his hand and thank him for recording the Beatles during the middle part of their career when they could entertain but hadn't yet shot off in to outer space. Without this we would have a piece missing from their history - and lets be frank - our history. They changed the world and all they had to change it with were electric guitars and their personalities!

The script is clever in that it showcases the personalities of the group without asking them to do much acting. Wilfred Brambell tags along to give comedy relief and the whole thing fits in plenty of songs that are good - but not as good as what soon followed. They are still tied to the Northern dance halls.

I have always thought that if they had a died in a car crash at this point they would be a mystery to the modern audience - hugely popular at the time - but not particularly stand-out from the other bands around. Like the way we regard Charlie Chaplin or Mary Pickford - both incredibly famous in their prime - but little regarded today.

Whether you like to admit it or not there are three geniuses at work and Ringo Starr. So I guess that it is fitting that Ringo comes across the best of the group: Down-to-earth, chatty, witty and willing to talk to anyone. Even the kids down by the river. John Lennon had a comic wit that could have given him another career had his music not been up to scratch. Talk about being master of the witty comeback.

Anyone watching this film will see London as it really was at the time. Not the swinging sixties that everyone pretends it was. Grubby shops, unpainted windows that look about to fall out of their frames, empty streets bar a few beat up cars.

I guess you could say this is the perfect record of Beatlemania: The driving beat songs (cranked out even quicker on stage), the backstage sieges, the ping-pong put downs that is the hallmark of English humour, the screaming that overpowered the performance. Enjoyable at the time (as light entertainment) it becomes an important historical document now and every generation should see it. Your pop culture education depends on it.

I was in my mid-thirties when the Beatles came to America, and appeared at Shea Stadium and (famously) on the Ed Sullivan. I saw their success, with the screaming girls, as just another teen-age phenomenon. I must have read in some column that this film was interesting for its direction and photography. That was true. What I did not expect was that I would be caught up by the Beatles themselves, both as personalities and as musicians. Those who comment adversely on their lack of acting ability are way off base, because neither they nor the director were looking for dramatic skill; only for a degree of naturalness, which was achieved. Those who criticize the technical aspects are not well-acquainted with new developments in film technique especially in France; for instance, the jump shot. Those who criticize lack of plot must be interested only in straight narrative. I suggest that all the previously mentioned critics see the documentary materials on the making of the film, particularly those contained in the DVD set. They will see, for better or worse, that the creators and performers achieved what they wanted, allowing room for the unexpected. For forty years now I have been an admirer, own all their recordings, etc.; and taught this movie in my history of film class regularly. Don't believe the nay-sayers; see for yourself.

This film is charming. A black and white production that relies upon the music and personalities of The Beatles. It has a 'loose' plot, The Beatles' lives over a 48-hour period, looking after Paul's grandfather, which serves as an excuse for hi-jinks and bursting into song. Directed by Richard Lester, it manages to convey the social feel of its time, what it is like to be alone, ageing, class divisions, and an England that does not exist any more. It is witty,nostalgic and makes you aware of how fresh The Beatles were before they (and the 60's) got complicated.

Here are some of lines from the film, whether they were scripted or spontaneous I know not, but it doesn't detract from the humour:

Who's that little old man? Ringo: He belongs to Paul.

I shall call the guard. Paul: Ah, but what? They don't take kindly to insults.

Have you seen Paul's grandfather? John: Of course! he's concealed about me person.

They've gone potty out there. The place is surging with girls. John: Please sir, can I have one to surge with sir?

What would you call that hairstyle that you're wearing? George: Arthur.

George (about Ringo): He's very fussy about his drums you know. They loom large in his legend.

Well quite frankly I wasn't expecting a musical arranger to question my ability picture-wise. John: I could listen to him for hours.

If you ever wanted to have lived during the 60's a film like this epitomises why. There's a really lively night club scene where you get to watch, almost like a 'fly on the wall', The Beatles being themselves.

Watch it, buy the Hard Day's Night Album and drift away into a pleasant and sentimental 60's daydream.