A Hard Day's Night (1964)
The
Beatles first feature film was a surprisingly sensational comedy,
which revolved around a fictional 36 hours in their hectic
schedule during a trip to London.
 The mop tops demonstrated that they could excel at clowning
(like reincarnated Marx Brothers) as well as singing, and the
madcap affair came off with enormous energy and good humour.
The Fab Four rush from hotel rooms to trains to studios as
their handlers keep them on an intensely busy schedule of
recording sessions and concert appearances.
In between appointments and mad dashes, the four band members
cook up new songs and have the occasional bit of fun, but they
must always be careful to dodge their many overeager fans so they
don't cause mass hysteria.
Grandfather,
a cantankerous old codger played by
Wilfrid Brambell, is also on hand to make mischief. He convinces
Ringo that he should go off "parading" and thus throws a
spanner into the lads' schedule.
 After much mischief on the streets of London, Ringo is finally
reunited with the group in time for a big concert.
That concert is also being recorded for a television broadcast
by an uptight director who is driven to distraction by the
non-conformist nature of The Beatles.
There were obviously also plenty of favourite Beatle songs,
including And I love her; Can't buy me love; I
Should have Known Better; I'll Cry Instead; I'm
Happy Just to Dance with You; If I Fell; Tell Me Why;
Any Time at All; I Wanna Hold Your Hand; She
Loves you, and the title track.
A Hard Day's Night was an instant hit, making millions
of dollars around the world and inspiring scores of
similarly-styled films by other bands like The Dave Clark Five (Catch
Us If You Can) and Herman's Hermits (Mrs. Brown, You've Got
A Lovely Daughter). A Hard Day's Night is arguably
still the definitive film of the decade.
|
