FEATURE:
Paul McCartney at Eighty
Twenty-One: The Beatles on Film: A Hard Day’s Night
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AS part of this forty-feature run…
ahead of Paul McCartney’s eightieth birthday in June, of course, there will be more than a few dedicated to The Beatles. I have already spent some time with their albums and best tracks. I will rank the studio albums, perhaps, in another feature. Today, I want to start a mini-run of The Beatles’ films. Starting at the beginning with 1964’s A Hard Day’s Night. Alongside the phenomenal album, I think this was The Beatles’ best film. In terms of the acting, every member is superb. There ia argument that Ringo Starr and George Harrison provide the best performances, though I love Paul McCartney’s acting. I shall explain more and give my impressions on the film soon. Before that, I want to bring in some details about a tremendous film. Here, first, is its synopsis:
“At a railway station, The Beatles (John, Paul, George and Ringo) run, hide and adopt disguises in order to evade their fans.
Cocooned on a London bound train, they are accompanied by Paul's irascible, wayward Irish grandad, their manager Norm and factotum Shake. In their carriage, a middle-aged gent, clearly a member of the class that thinks they own the railway (''I fought the war for your sort") challenges the group over opening a window and playing a radio.
After Ringo rejects a 'come hither' advance from a sophisticated lady in another carriage, they join Norm and Shake in the buffet car, where they make passes at two schoolgirls. Grandad causes a scene and is placed in the baggage compartment, where the lads join him. The Beatles engage in a jam session with the schoolgirls watching. The train arrives at Paddington, where hoardes of waiting teenage fans are held back by police.
In their hotel room hundreds of fan letters have arrived. Ringo receives an invitation to visit Le Circle casino club. This is seized upon by granddad who steals an elderly room attendant's suit and visits the club himself. The Beatles visit a nightclub, and on their return to the hotel find the stripped room attendant in a cupboard, who tells them what happened. Recognised by the Le Circle doorman in spite of their casual dress, the four manage to rescue granddad.
A limousine takes The Beatles to a television studio, where they are topping a variety show (which also features dancers, operetta excerpts and a magician) that evening. Again, there are hordes of fans outside. The four attend a press reception. During rehearsals, the television director becomes increasingly anxious, as the Beatles continually 'do their own thing' rather than follow the diktats of those in authority like himself. They take a break on the fire escape and visit a nearby playing field, where they are told to move on as it is "private property".
George visits an advertising agency where Simon, concerned with spotting "tomorrows trends today", is launching a new range of shirts for teenagers. As George is regarded as a 'trendsetter', Simon wants his opinion (pre-scripted, of course). George tells him what he really thinks of the shirts. Ringo does his own thing and goes walkabout along a river bank, where he chats to an urchin, visits a secondhand clothes shop and a pub. He is soon taken to a police station, as is granddad for aggressively hawking Beatles publicity photos. Granddad escapes and George, Paul and John arrive to rescue Ringo, and are subsequently chased by policemen.
The Beatles perform their songs on the TV show before a hysterical studio audience of teenage girls, climaxing with 'She Loves You'. The performance is a triumph, to the amazement of the TV director. The Beatles are bundled into a helicopter, and as it takes off into the stratosphere their publicity photographs are scattered to the crowds below”.
I often wonder what it was like turning up on that first day to film their very first film. Naturally, there would have been expectation and some nerves. They would have been excitement too! The Beatles Bible give some information about that fateful day in March 1964:
“On Monday 2 March 1964 The Beatles joined Equity, the actors’ union, only minutes before they began shooting their first film, the as-yet untitled A Hard Day’s Night
Their union memberships were proposed and seconded by Wilfrid Brambell and Norman Rossington, their main co-stars in the film. All gathered at London’s Paddington Station, where their train left at 8.30am from platform five. However, no filming took place at the station itself.
The specially-hired train was destined for Minehead and back, where for the next three days scenes were filmed in the suitably cramped setting. There was a dining car for The Beatles to eat in, yet during their designated 40-minute food break they preferred to sit outside the stationary train.
The Beatles’ dialogue was recorded using microphones hidden inside their shirts, but numerous retakes were required due to sound problems.
The train bit embarrasses us now. I’m sure it’s less noticeable to people watching in the cinema, but we know that we’re dead conscious in every move we make, we watch each other. Paul’s embarrassed when I’m watching him speak and he knows I am. You can see the nervous bits normally in pictures: things like the end – you make that on one day, and on the next day you do the beginning. But we did it almost in sequence. The first we did was the train, which we were all dead nervous in. Practically the whole of the train bit we were going to pieces.
John Lennon, 1964
Anthology
One of the actresses present on this day was Pattie Boyd, for whom George Harrison took an instant liking. They began dating shortly afterwards and married in January 1966.
The scenes of Beatlemania which greeted the group as they embarked on their journey caused a rethink in subsequent days’ filming. For the next five days they boarded at Acton rather than Paddington, and in the evenings were met by their chauffeurs at a variety of smaller suburban stations”.
Paul McCartney appeared with The Beatles in films such as Help! and Magical Mystery Tour. Alongside the film and the album, there was promotion. By the time A Hard Day’s Night was filming, Beatlemania was certainly growing! The band are seen in the film’s opening scene being chased by hordes of fans. It is pretty close to what life was like for them! I think A Hard Day’s Night stands out, is because it is the young band in a film that is about their daily lives. Directed by Richard Lester, it wonderfully features Wilfrid Brambell as John McCartney, Paul's grandfather. I love that relationship and story strand. All of the band are great in the film, but I feel McCartney offers a good mix of emotions. He does not ham things up too much; his acting is solid, and he is very charming and funny throughout. I am not sure whether fans and the media would have defined each Beatle in terms of their personality. Maybe Lennon was the more serious one; Starr the funnier one. McCartney was, maybe, ‘the cute one’. Never parodying the band or heightening the reality, A Hard Day’s Night looks and feels beautiful in black-and-white. McCartney is in some of the best scenes and moments. Him trying to keep his mischievous grandfather in check is brilliant! The bond he has with Lennon is especially endearing and important. At an early stage of their career, you can see Harrison, Lennon, Starr and McCartney enjoying themselves! I hope that McCartney remembers the film fondly. As he is eighty soon, it must be strange looking back on a film that is almost sixty years old! A Hard Day’s Night is a hugely influential film, inspiring numerous spy films, The Monkees' television show and a tonne of Pop videos and future films featuring groups (one feels Spice Girls’ Spiceworld was directly inspired by A Hard Day’s Night). In a landmark and still-amazing film, Paul McCartney offers up…
A wonderful and warm performance.