The legendary Fab four are of course, The Beatles. The greatest Pop band to graze our earth. Their music in the early 60’s would forever change the face of pop music. What some people may not know, is that at the beginning of their early craze of Beatlemania, they starred in a movie that was a fictionalized account of 36 hours in their lives. The movie was produced to become an introduction to their new album. Nobody dreamed that it would become a hit movie. If it was made in modern times it would have been a video special on METV. In 1964 there was no METV or video for that matter, so the publicists and record company had the brilliant idea of making a feature film featuring all of the songs on the new album. The album and movie are titled, “A Hard Day’s Night”, and in the expert hand of the creative, Richard Lester, the subsequent film became the personification of what is a Rock & Roll movie. The movie opens in the band’s home town of Liverpool, where the four band members are rushing on foot to catch a train, while being chased by a gang of screaming girls. The scene is done at a hectic frantic pace, while the hit song and title track, screams out in the background. This opening sets the tone for the rest of the movie as our delightful heroes arrive in London to record a TV show. Each band member plays themselves and each are given their own distinct personality. Lennon is the cynic who detests fame, Harrison loves the attention, Paul is the good kid on the block and Ringo is the outsider. The supporting characters are also quirky and add substance to the proceedings. Especially the aging character actor Wilfrid Brambell, who plays Paul’s Grandfather. Gramps is always being referred to as clean, while in reality being the source of trouble, every chance he gets. For example, he secretly convinces Ringo to escape from his confinement with the band and experience the outside world, which causes a mad rush to find him before the live TV show begins. The way Lester chose to film the musical scenes were revolutionary at the time and stand as a pioneer for the music videos of today. The Beatles sing their songs while dancing at a club and performing on the stage. The musical scenes are happy and energetic, promoting immense joy in each song. Unlike the older Elvis films, where Elvis had his own fictional movie character in each film, this movie has the Beatles, play themselves with no romantic interests. Because the goal of the producers was to promote the music, the plot was not considered important. The studio was shocked when the result was so exhilarating and entertaining, that the movie became a hit. Fans of rock heroes do not need a fictional story while watching their stars, it was discovered. What they did need, was great music and an ability to seemingly get to know their heroes. Lester knew this and was ahead of his time with his fast pace, and slapstick style of filming. One stand-out scene has the boys running onto some sort of sports field that turns out to be a helicopter landing pad. The band members are shown jumping, hollering and running around, as the camera films them from high above and close in while the energetic pounding of, “Can’t buy me Love”, enveloped my ear. I can think of countless rock videos that have copied this scene almost verbatim. It was revolutionary for cinema and music. Of course we can’t forget the music, as the movie would never work without the magnificent music. I envy the audiences in 1964 who heard these beautiful songs for the first time in the movie theater.” A Hard Day’s Night”, placed a smile on my face throughout its 87-minute running time, and if that doesn’t make it excellent cinema, I don’t know what does.
1001 Movies before you die 