A Hard Day's Night

I first saw this film way back in the day. Saw it, didn't hear or understand much of it, what with all those pubescent young females screaming their lungs out in the audience. When the young females were resting I had to contend with the Fab Four's Liverpudlian speech patterns which were as yet unfamiliar to me. Still very few soundtracks produced as many hits as did A Hard Day's Night.

As much as The Beatles themselves revolutionized popular music, A Hard Day's Night also was a revolutionary film of its own. What you're seeing here is nothing less than the first music video, albeit a rather lengthy 90+ minute one.

Director Richard Lester wisely eschewed the idea of a plot and basically did a docucomedy with songs about 12 hours in the life of John, Paul, George, and Ringo. They gave Paul a grandfather, played by Wilfred Brambell who when he wasn't getting into mischief on his own was influencing Ringo to spread his wings so to speak.

Will Ringo get back to the studio in time for the big Broacast? Actually 32 years before that in Paramount's The Big Broadcast the same was asked of straying Bing Crosby. Of course you know the answer.

A Hard Day's Night is must viewing for anyone who's trying to learn about the sixties. Or somebody who just likes the music of Paul McCartney and the lyrics of John Lennon.

"The first 60's film to ever waken my musical interest in pop music and electric guitars...not to mention, I wasn't even born then!" The film is full of great music and British humor by the Fab Four. It stars The Beatles themselves - John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr in their first acting debut. The music they perform in this 'black and white' film are 7 'Lennon & McCartney' classics - from the title song, "A Hard Day's Night", to "Can't Buy Me Love" and "She Loves You". In the comedy skits of the film, The Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr, definitely leaves the other lads in a so-call 'run against time'. It's a fun and exciting film...a pop film on what 'Beatlemania' was all about back then in 1964. This classic is a must see for all upcoming Beatle fans from all around the world, as well as people and kids of all ages. "And for those of you who never felt the magic and excitement of The Beatles...like me, I promise that you will by the end of this fab film!"

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.

This is it. There has never been and never will be another band like the Beatles. The innocence of the generation is showcased in A Hard Day's Night. The perfect musical for any audience, the Beatles capture a time that can never be repeated. Like 4 childhood friends knowing that the Old can never get them down, they represented everything good and right of the world. They reflected the generation that wanted to be heard. Almost 40 years later, they are still as young as ever. Timeless, beautiful, true. A Hard Day's Night is perfection!

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.