The Beatles were just experiencing the beginnings of their fame in the early 1960’s, and naturally, other people besides the band itself were wanting a piece of that fame. Music stars such as Elvis Presley and others had already experienced film success, and, naturally, a film was in the offering for the Beatles. United Artists wanted a quickie production made, giving a mere 500,000 dollars to the production team, in hopes that the film would be made and released quickly, and make enough money before the group faded away, as many pop bands always do............

The result was Richard Lester’s A Hard Day’s Night, which, like the band, did not fade away from the public memory (clearly a shock to the studio who made the film). In fact, the film is the perfect cinematic image of the band’s popularity at the time. Sure, as with any film about a popular band, A Hard Day’s Night is as much an advertisement for the band as anything else, but at the same time, the film is the perfect encapsulation of the band, its popularity, and the good music they made, and also has elements that will work even if you’re not an obsessed Beatles fan.

The film’s storyline is quick, fast-paced, and quite silly. The entire film takes place the day before the band is scheduled to make a live TV appearance. Right from the beginning, we see the band members running away from chasing fans as they attempt to board their train. Inside the train, and later on as well, we witness the humor of the Beatles, which tends to approach the smart-alecky, vaguely antiauthority kind. The boys get into an argument with an uptight old man. John Lennon calls the band’s manager a “swine”. At the TV station, George Harrison, being interviewed by a TV producer, makes many cutting remarks about a hip program aimed at teenagers. And, during a press conference, the boys give mocking answers to pointless questions.

We also witness the manipulations of Paul McCartney’s grandfather, who is described by Paul as “a real mixer, a trouble-maker”. (He’s also described as a “clean” man, which is an inside joke . The actor, Wilfrid Brambell, was in “Steptoe and Son”, the BBC precursor to “Sanford and Son”, in which he was once described as “a dirty old man”, a line which soon became a national catch-phrase) The old man is an equal source of fun, as he gets the manager and his assistant into an argument over height, disturbs a bunch of girls by saying that the boys are his prisoners, and, later on, threatens the live performance when he tells Ringo that life is passing him by, because the band doesn’t give him the respect he deserves. This results in Ringo going off on the town to find himself, although the movie, fortunately, takes this as seriously as it does everything else, which is to say not very.

The look of the film is what set this apart from most other films, rock-or-pop oriented or otherwise. The film was shot quickly, and looks it. Instead of elaborate setups, we get hand-held cameras, fast paced scenes, and quickly-recited dialogue. The best comparison I can make, as others like Ebert have already made, is, strangely enough, to John Cassevettes, the actor who directed many low-budget independent films such as Shadows, Faces and A Woman Under the Influence. If Casevettes had a slightly bigger budget, and made a pop musical, and was funny as opposed to intense, then this might have been the result.

As with Cassevettes, Richard Lester did not have a lot at his disposal, yet didn’t need to, because, as what often happens with lower-budget pictures, the lack of elaborate set-up gives the film an air of authenticity, which is no small feat considering that this movie contains a number of strange, surreal scenes, and much equally wacky verbal humor. The thing is, however, that the use of hand-held cameras and longer takes, as well as the lack of elements used in older films, makes everything appear off-the-cuff, caught on the fly, and so on, even though, of course, almost everything was scripted.

It’s hard to gauge the Beatles as actors, since here they are playing themselves. I must say that there is nothing particularly stellar about them, but they aren’t required to be stellar and serious, but only funny and easy-going, and they all have that in spades. It is rather amazing how smart-alecky they are -- perhaps back in the early 60’s, this was seen as antiauthority, but nowadays is just merely very amusingly played banter. (The best comeback in the movie, for me, was when the old guy tells the boys “I fought in the war for your sort.”, and Ringo replies “Bet you’re sorry you won!”)

I’ve heard most of these songs many times, but now after having seen this movie, I can’t get them out of my head. I’m not exactly a Beatles expert, so I can’t say whether these are their best songs, but songs like “A Hard Day’s Night”, “Can’t Buy Me Love” and others are really fun to listen to. The harmonies, and the rhythms are wonderful; and suit the on-screen images perfectly. To see the Beatles, still smiling, still containing a sense of fun even while being chased by a huge mob (as in hundreds) of fans, accompanied on the soundtrack by the title song, is to be enraptured into the strange feeling that perhaps this one band actually deserves to be chased by huge mobs of fans, as opposed to all those weak bands of today, who shouldn’t really deserve all that attention. As well, the final concert is great to listen to, and to look at, as we see totally unrehearsed glimpses into the sheer ecstasy that these fans feel for seeing their musical heroes.

To call A Hard Day’s Night a “classic” may be stretching it a bit. The film is silly, a lark, but an amusing one, with good lines of dialogue, a great cinematic style, and, of course, great songs by Paul, George, Ringo, and John. If you’re a Beatles fan, this film is a must. And even if you’re not a huge fanatic, this movie is certainly a good way to spend 90 minutes, for some good music and laughs.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV