By Dan Brooks
The last few years, Peter Jackson’s Get Back has dominated the Beatles-movie conversation. And for good reason: The brilliant film/docuseries was a revelation for casual and hardcore Beatles fans alike. It rewrote what we knew about the Let It Be era and was filled with astonishing moments; indeed, to witness Paul McCartney’s genius in real-time as he conjures “Get Back,” seemingly out of thin air, is something for which any Beatles devotee should be grateful.
But the entire catalog of Beatles movies is fascinating, each film playing its part in the band’s growth and myth. And perhaps none looms as large as 1964’s classic A Hard Day’s Night, the first Fab feature, which IPH will screen as the film celebrates its 60th anniversary.
Directed by Richard Lester, A Hard Day’s Night is almost a snapshot of the lads’ lives at the time. Screaming girls, reporters, places to be. Beatlemania. There’s also Paul’s grandfather. The four of them — John, Paul, George and Ringo — a tight group of brothers, in it together and there for each other.
There’s a captivating surrealist and comedic feel to the movie, owing to Lester’s history in TV advertising and work with British radio’s The Goon Show creators, a perfect match for the Fab Four’s irreverent sensibilities. (And they knew it, as they were fans of Lester’s 1959 The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film.) Scenes seem to just happen, from an impromptu performance of “I Should Have Known Better” on a train to George accidentally wandering into an audition. It matters little that the plot is simple; from the iconic opening — “A Hard Day’s Night” blasts as the group tries every which way to avoid unshakable fans — the movie barrels forward with a sense of energy and fun.
A key to the success of A Hard Day’s Night is Lester’s and screenwriter Alun Owen’s approach to the band, which placed an emphasis on authenticity. Lester and Owen spent a few days with the group, using that time to define their personalities — sarcastic John, charming Paul, witty George, happy-go-lucky Ringo — and gain an understanding of their existence as Beatles. For Lester, that honesty was the heart and point of the film.
“On the first day that I met the Beatles,” Lester said in a 1970 interview, “they had just gotten back from Sweden, and I asked John, ‘Did you like Sweden?’ And he said, ‘Yes, very much. It was a room and a car and a car and room and a concert, and we had cheese sandwiches sent up to the hotel room.’ So that feeling of claustrophobia was how we tried to think of the whole first sequence, the whole first third of the film. In closed spaces: prisoners in space, prisoners of fans, prisoners by car, train, small hotel rooms — do this, do that, sign this.” Still, for viewers, Lester makes it all enjoyable, and the Beatles themselves entertaining and endlessly quotable. (“What would you call that hairstyle you’re wearing?” asks a reporter. “Arthur,” George replies.)
Then, of course, there is the music. The rocking, inventive, beautiful music that only these four could make. As a Beatles obsessive, I’ve always considered the A Hard Day’s Night soundtrack to be among the best albums in the group’s catalog, unfairly overshadowed by later masterpieces. The title track, “If I Fell,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “And I Love Her,” “When I Get Home,” the list goes on. It’s a staggering collection of songs from Lennon/McCartney and, I’d argue, the peak of the Beatles’ pure rock ’n’ roll period. I mean, George’s opening chord to “A Hard Day’s Night” — CHLUNG! — defines a generation all by itself.
Today, A Hard Day’s Night remains both critically revered and loved by fans. Time placed the movie on its list of the best 100 films made since 1923, while Roger Ebert included it in his Great Movies series. Some argue that the fast-cutting “Can’t Buy Me Love” sequence invented the modern music video. Whatever its legacy, when it comes to A Hard Day’s Night, everything seems to be right.